Unmoved By Mops (Los Angeles 1965)

Unmoved by Mops

By Penny Bleile

The Van Nuys News

August 31, 1965

 

The city editor said, “Go cover the Beatles press conference.” It was Sunday, and I really wasn't very happy. Mother said, “Thousands of girls would love to go.”  I said, “Mother, you could go.”

 We arrived at the secret press location to find about 200 teenagers waiting for their heroes to arrive, plus a large sign on the front door saying, “Welcome Beatles”. Several teenage girls mobbed us. I told mother, “short haircuts on girls and long ones on boys would only lead to trouble.”

 We were about to offer the girls our autographs. They wanted the photographer's camera and our press credentials. We said, “No”. They were mad. We were nervous.

 We walked up to the door and showed them our press credentials. The policeman and the young lady at the door said, “Step aside. If you don't have a gold ticket, you can't come in.” We stepped aside. The teenage girls laughed.

We waited 10 minutes and tried again. We stepped aside again. The girls laughed louder. Finally, they let us in. I was lucky and got a white slip that allowed me to sit while my associate and the news cameraman had to stand.

 Officials said I could ask a question when the Beatles came in.  A guy stood on stage and asked that there be no demonstrations when the Beatles walked in, a silly thing I thought to ask members of the press. Then I looked around and could find only about half a dozen authorized members of the press. The rest were young girls and long-haired boys.

The Beatles finally came in. No one demonstrated. I poked my cameraman. He had almost fallen asleep. The press conference began. I took out my pencil and paper and wrote down my question. I raised my hand, and they put the microphone near me. I opened my mouth,  and the girl next to me grabbed the microphone and asked Ringo if he answered all his fan mail personally. “Sometimes”, he said. They took the microphone away.

The Beatles sat on stools on the stage and drank Cokes and smoked cigarettes. Someone asked if the Beatles appreciated women more now that they were famous. “We always appreciated them”, said Paul McCartney.

They were asked if they would grow old gracefully. “We’ll try to,” said John Lennon. He smiled. The girl next to me sighed. I looked puzzled.

 Next, they were asked about what they thought of the police protection during their Los Angeles stay. “It was so good”, said Paul, “that even our friends couldn't get in to see us. “

There was a pause. Some photographer fell off a chair. The girls laughed.

The Beatles were asked about the new picture they would be working on. They said it would be a Western film, with 90% of it  would be shot in Spain, “because it's cheaper than filming in the United States.”

 Someone asked Ringo if he knew what was his basic appeal. “I don't know. Maybe my smile.” He flashed his smile.

 A child psychologist asked how they react to the public pressure, which tries to turn them from people into symbols. “We only do it two hours a day, the rest of the time we’re people,” said  Ringo. “That's a very good answer,” said  the psychologist. The girls applauded .

Next, they were asked about the empty seats at their concert in San Diego. They said they added that concert at a later date. Ringo chewed his gum.

 Another girl asked where they got the inspiration for their music. I smiled then “out of our mind” came the answer.

 And so it went until an hour had almost passed and the grand finale came. The President of Capitol Records gave them a gold record because their album of “Help” had sold over  1,000,000 copies in less than two weeks, something their other six albums had also done.

The man on stage said to clear the room for security reasons. The Beatles had to get to the Hollywood Bowl. We got up to leave, and the girl I sat next to ran toward the stage. She stole Ringo’s Coke, and her friend took the cigarette butts that once belonged to George and Paul. I wanted to go back and get something of John's so he wouldn't feel bad, but some guards were tearing him away from one of his fans. So I left.

We got Cokes on the way out, but of course, they didn't belong to the Beatles, but they tasted good anyway. We walked outside, and there were about 300 girls waiting. The Beatles walked out, and the girls rushed them. The guards held the girls off, and the Beatles jumped into their armored truck and headed for the Bowl. Three people stepped on my feet as they ran after the truck.

 We walked to the car in the parking lot. “What's going on here?” Asked an elderly woman. We said, “The Beatles were here.”  “I should have known,” she said, and drove away with her husband.

 I drove home to tell my family about my visit with the Beatles. My father said to be quiet. He was watching a movie, and my mother said I just didn't appreciate the finer things in life. The Beatles got $45,000 for their work Sunday night. I got a sore foot and hunger pains. I should have known, too, Lady.