Battle for a Beatle Kiss (London 1965)

 

Battle for a Beatle Kiss

No Writer listed

Western Daily Press

December 13, 1965

    Up went the curtains, and up rose 5,000 teenage girls from their seats in the Finbury Park Astoria, London. The Beatles were making a one-night stand there. More than 1000 girls in the stalls moved forward several rows, but were barred from the stage by a shoulder-to-shoulder cordon of uniformed policemen and police women. 

    Two girls got through and over the orchestra pit. One got her arms around Ringo's neck and stole a kiss before being jerked off. The frustrated remainder swooned in the aisles or stood on the backs of the seats, raining jelly babies, dolls, and even a top hat onto the stage.

     Twenty girls were carried out for medical treatment, and the police had difficulty in removing about 100 others who felt unable to leave their seats between the two performances. Forty more girls were wriggled out from various parts of the building, including some under a pile of policemen's top coats.

     Said a Beatles veteran, " Beatlemania is worse now than it was two years ago."