Paul McCartney and Wings
By Margit Oettinghaus
McCartney Lovers and Friends
March 1973
Hello, everyone! I finally got myself together to try and point out some of the most fantastic moments of my life. That means meeting Paul!
I had finally made it. I was in Berlin after a 30-minute flight, and couldn't wait to find the hotel Paul was staying in. My friend Silvia, who lives in Berlin, was concerned as well as to where to find him! Finally, there we stood, sure that he was inside, unsure of what to do to get a glimpse of him, and nervous as hell! Then this super idea hit us.
We thought that he might be having lunch or something inside. So both of us went in and asked if we could have dinner up in the restaurant. We acted all snobbish and kind of rich, and having had such a great teacher for pulling those bored-to-death faces, we seemed to succeed quite well. The porter told us that the restaurant was still closed and suggested we go to the bar instead, but we went out again because money wasn't one of our stronger sides.
There, we noticed two boys sitting at the entrance of the hotel. Apparently, they were waiting for someone. Well, I swung open the door (the store swung both ways), and that's indeed what it did. And according to the boys, we went out on the right side and on the left side, the whole McCartney family came in. Trust us! Whenever will I learn to really see the things I'm looking for? They had taken the kids to the zoo and asked the boys not to follow them. (Congratulations, monkeys! At least Paul is allowed to give you a nice long look from those eyes!) We had missed him. So what! Didn't we all learn to wait at London's Abbey Road?
After some hours, they all came out and headed for the white Mercedes standing outside the hotel. With all, I mean, the McCartneys and the rest of the group. Paul had some clothes packed over his arm. They filled two cars. Paul did us a great favor and posed for some pictures. His charms were still the same as in 1968, if not more charming than ever. Linda was showing us the peace sign. Our photos later assured us that she did indeed give us a peace sign, and it wasn't the other way around (you know the FU sign that she usually charms us with). We were surprised.
God, I felt so sick standing there right in front of Paul. I didn't know what to do. Anyway, as I woke up again, the Mercedes had gone in the direction of the Deutschlandhall where the concert took place. Is is hard to guess where we went? Yes to the Deutschlandhall!
Silvia and I had three cards instead of two to make sure we had a seat where we could put our cameras and other things. My poor nerves were playing hell, and I moved up and down on my chair. And of course, I had forgotten that it was one of those chairs that go up and down when you don't sit on them. So I stood up and then sat down again. That was it. As the seat was up, I fell right down on the floor and bumped my head against the chair legs. Everyone hearing that noise stared at me. They didn't seem to understand the state I was in, which was making me do stupid things like that.
The concert began half an hour later than planned. The audience began to get more and more impatient, all that time, the top 20 stuff was being played through the loudspeakers. I felt so hot and sticky that I thought I couldn't take it anymore. When I looked around, I saw Paul's secretary walking in with Heather and Mary, who were both dressed like poor gypsy kids. They jumped behind the stage and came back shortly, and Heather's face was full of glitter. They disappeared somewhere among the audience, which was not too numerous.
Then after a few minutes of nerves, hot cheeks, and excitement, the curtains went up. I was shocked! There was Paul just in front of us, singing away with a mask on his face --a mask of an old man! (see photo) I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. Was this what I had waited for? "Please take that thing off!" I began to pray. I was really desperate, but then he grabbed it and threw it away.
Don't any of you ask what I felt then, because I don't know --that's the truth! I was going daft or something. My God, that face! But do I have to tell you the details? It was all too much!
He wore pink trousers and a white jacket with glittery embroidery, and under it, nothing but skin. The group sang quite a few songs, or better, he did, and then one song came from Linda. It's called "Seaside Woman", which caused some applause, though I didn't think much of it, but that's another story altogether.
Paul tried to get the audience going. He wasn't very satisfied with all the people standing there like lumps of ice, and in lovely German with a fantastic English accent, he asked us all to start clapping hands. There were some voices shouting out for "Yesterday", "Michelle", etc, but he completely ignored that. When someone asked for "Backseat of my car", he said, "Thank you very much!"
After the break, he came out dressed all in black with tight-fitting trousers --a smashing sight, as you well might imagine. The concert was finished before I got used to the thought that he was standing just in front of me. During the concert, Linda kept staring at us, and then she said something to Paul and pointed at us. She couldn't have forgotten that we had the nerve to wait for him at Cavendish this past summer. Of course, he then looked as well, which wasn't the worst thing in my life, but a bit more than I could stand.
In the end, they gave two encores, "Hi, Hi, Hi". They did a good job. (If I could have understood the words at that time, I would have died) and" Long, Tall Sally." There he stood, singing, screaming, and bouncing away like in the old days. Even though he does not like to be called a Beatle, I'm sure he felt like it, as I've never seen him look happier during the concert than in those final minutes when everyone in the audience was getting with it.
Hundreds of balloons and tons of confetti came down on the group and all of us standing so near the stage. It's amazing how he still has the whole audience under control. Only one scene reminded me of long-ago Beatlemania. It was when a girl threw her camera onto the stage, and there it smashed into hundreds of pieces just in front of Paul's feet. He saw it and just kicked the pieces away with a raised eyebrow and a short grin.
We walked out of the hall in a complete daze, but managed to catch a taxi back to the hotel, and we arrived just before he did. He came out of his car with a glass of Coke in his hand, and I nearly knocked it over. He smiled with such a great grin-it was killing me! Some boys asked for an autograph, and Linda watched eagerly to make sure that no one got more than one. I asked for his signature on my Wings poster. Any of you who stood in front of him, watching him write, know what I mean when I tell you about the feeling as if lots and lots of butterflies were swarming in your stomach? Incredible!
Linda was staring at us, yes again, and pointed at me and said, "I've seen you in the audience". And this was said in a halfway normal voice too. This was a big change for us. For usually she was shouting. The only thing I could say was, "Oh, really?" She forced a slight smile and continued, "We are friends, aren't we?" Believe me. That was when I almost flipped over. I replied, "Certainly." And then asked her for her autograph as well. She was obviously very pleased about that, and she signed it. "Love Linda."
"Paul, when are you going home tomorrow?" I managed to ask. "We're going back home tomorrow morning, back to England." And then he said in German, "Good night everyone. Sleep well." But he didn't go in the morning. He went in the afternoon. They had stayed in bed until midday.
As they were leaving, Linda thought that it would be wise to bring out some of her German as well, and shouted, "Arrivederci!" (which is Italian). I called Mary, who was walking inside the hotel on Heather's hand, and there she turned around and waved. She's so cute with her huge eyes and brown hair. Paul smiled when he saw that. And then they all disappeared.
For Sylvia and I, one of our greatest days of 1972 had ended. I wouldn't mind living through it again and again.
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