Sitting on a sofa with a Beatle wife or two....

 

Back in court

 January 24, 1984 

The McCartneys had their last drug bust for pot while traveling in 1984.    

#Relationship Goals

 January 1984 

I am sure I am going to get some comments about how much people dislike Paul's hairstyle during this time.   I actually like it.   It is one of my favorites of his.  

Meeting people in Barbados

 

Paul in the water

January 15, 1984 -  Barbados holiday 
 

The McCartneys jet off again

 January 3, 1984

Paul invades the U.S. (New York) 1984

 Paul Invades the U.S. – New York

By Pat Deese

Believe it or not, walking down Park Avenue in NYC, I actually spotted someone I knew – Jennie, so I rushed across the street, caught up with her, and asked if she knew where Paul might be.  She said she had just seen Trevor go by in the limo and was trying to figure where he was going.  She then told us that she had heard that Paul was supposedly going to do an interview with “Entertainment Tonight” at the Carlisle Hotel on 76^th Street.  So Kathy and her friend LouAnn and I headed off to look.  We saw a group of fans there as we arrived.

A little while later we saw some “ET” people arrive, so we thought he must be coming.  The security got ready to some cops arrived.  At about 1:20, Paul arrived. As he got out of the car, he was besieged with the fans, handing him boxes of flowers and presents.  Some were really shoving and he said, “Please don’t crowd.”  I stood back and snapped a few photos.  He proceeded to go in as it was a bit wild.  He wore dark pants and a jacket.

As we waited to see him leave, we were across the street when someone yelled, “Julian!” and we looked to see him bouncing out of a car.  After that, we decided to wait across the street.  A while later, Linda arrived, and still later, Heather came (to see Julian perhaps).  They left later and I got a photo of Julian leaving, but he would not slow down for anyone and basically everyone let him be.

The security started joining forces and the cops arrived once more, so we knew that Paul would be leaving soon after.  It was about 4:15 when he left. This time Linda was with him, and he had changed and was wearing a red jacket.  This time he did not even attempt to stop, just walked towards the car.  The crowd waiting was quite large and passersby were also waiting across the street in hopes of catching a glimpse.

We were then told he was attending a party at a club on 60^th Street at 6pm, so we headed off in that direction.  IT was much more crowded with fans and photographs alike.  Kathy and I managed to get close to the entrance and proceeded to wait as various celebrities, including most of the MTV crew, arrived.  We were rewarded finally around 7:30 to the sight of Macca bouncing out of his car and proceeding to entertain the fans and photographers with a lot of bouncing and smiling and posing and jumping about!  I caught a fabulous glimpse of this as I was standing not 10 feet away and the photographer directly in front of me was bend down leading on a table they had earlier put up as a barricade.  I took a few photos at first but was unable to tell if I was in focus, plus I was being jostled by the crowd. I switched to my movie camera.  I was rewarded with a wild pose and a knees down arms outstretched pose right at my camera.  Needless to say, I nearly dropped the camera.  He looked gorgeous and wore a dark suit and tie.

 

Some of the people left there then and headed for the premiere, but we decided to wait at the exit as we would be much closer to him there.   I got up and kneeled on the table for close to an hour.  Kathy eventually stood on it along with Louann.  I was so sore, but I was not about to let that stop me from catching a glimpse.  He came out somewhere after 8:30 (which of course made him late for the premiere!) and after snapping a few photos and getting a good look, we headed for the theater, which was about 5 blocks away.  We sure had a feat ahead of us, and that was to get there ahead of Paul.  So, everyone was running.  Picture maybe 50 of more fans setting off running up the street, across streets, probably in front of stunned drivers, yelling, laughing, passing bewildered New Yorkers casually strolling down the street, turning, looking, staring, wondering why was everyone running, what was happening, who did you see?  I could barely breathe after the first two blocks, so I slowed to a fast walk.  Actually, the only thing that had kept me going was that he was going to be there.  It was like the chase scene in “Hard Day’s Night.”  We had not sat down or eaten in over 12 hours, and had walked and run all over New York.

We got to the premiere and there were tons of people.  Luckily, we did beat Paul there, although with all the people there, we did not see him.  I did however see his hand go in carrying roses and giving a victory sign to the screaming crowd! It was wild and I guess he really enjoyed it and did a whole number of the crowd and press.

After that we decided to watch him leave from across the street at McDonald’s, where we could actually see him in the distance.  Jennie and her friends stayed there and saw him arrive, so that’s how we knew he “milked” the crowd.  We saw the mounted police arrive on their horses and knew he would be soon departing.  He left ahead of everyone else and waved wildly to the enthusiastic crowd.  We walked across the street and managed to get copies of the programs and some girl gave us tickets that had been handed out for the premiere.

The whole thing was an exhausting experience, but I would do it all again for the man. 

Los Angeles - Take 2

 Los Angeles – Take 2

By Gail Nowak

With a Little Help From My Friends

Issue #48

October 1984

 

October 23, 1984 – I knew ahead of time that Paul was one of the guests scheduled to appear on the Tonight Show.  I have a friend, Robbie, who works for NBC, so I planned to take a half day off from work and figured that Robbie could get me tickets, no sweat.  Much to my dismay, the employee tickets would go to the studio at 8:00 a.m. the morning of the show.  This was an impossibility for me since I had already made up a story to take off a half day.  So I resigned myself to the fact that I would not get into the taping, but since I had a half day to kill, I went down to NBC anyway, but myself, armed with my camera, in hopes of at least getting a glimpse of the man.

I arrived at NBC at approximately 3:00p.m. to find about 800 fans waiting in line (a record for the Carson Show).  This blew my hopes even further.  Then I spotted a friend of mine (Mike, who owns the GREAT Pepperland Records in Anaheim) up toward the front of the line.  He had spent the night at NBC waiting to get tickets.  Not only did he let me in line, but he also got me a ticket from a girl behind us who had an extra (Mike, I will love you forever!)  At this point, I was as good as in.

While waiting in line I became instant buddies with a girl named Janice, and we teamed up for the remainder of the afternoon/evening.  We got great seats for the show; about halfway up and right in the center.  It was the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen since the studio is really small, so we were really close.  The audience was really primed and it was like Beatlemania all over again.  Paul was out on stage for almost an hour, since he was the first guest on, and remained onstage throughout the taping.  Fortunately, the video crew ran into technical difficulties when trying to show the “Broadstreet” clip.  This added about 15 minutes of extra time that we were allowed to gape at that gorgeous face.  A guy next to us had binoculars which he shared with us for a super closeup view.  During commercials, Paul and Johnny joked and chatted.  Once in a while Paul even answered fans that were yelling things to him from the audience.  I’m sure you all saw the broadcast of the show, so I won’t go into that.

After the show, Janice and I went to the side of the building to try to see him leaving.  There was a fence to keep the public out, but we could see a limo and a crowd of people at the exit door.  Sure enough, before long, we saw Paul (though not very well because he was surrounded by people) get into a black Corvette which pulled away and drove off.  About 5 minutes later I was on the phone with Robbie (NBC employee) when Janice starts screaming to me that there was a black Corvette out on the street right in front of us.  Needless to say, I hung up the phone and ran over to the curb.  In between the cars, I could see that Paul was driving the ‘Vette and had the window rolled down.  Janice and I grabbed hands and started running across the street towards his car, which was stopped at a red light.  Paul saw us coming and was smiling and laughing.  As we reached the car he said, “Hello, girls.”  Janice said hello, shook his hand, and gave him a kiss.  Then it was my turn.  I also shook his hand and gave him a kiss (on the lips!).  Unfortunately, the light turned green (drat!) and the cars started moving.  He then said, “Watch out, girls.  Gotta go!” and off he drove to some unknown destination in LA.  It all happened so fast it seemed like a dream.  Of course, Janice and I are now friends for life due to this common bond that we shared.  I didn’t get a picture or an autograph, but I wouldn’t trade that kiss for anything in the world!

Happy 81st birthday Paul!

 

Mac'd Out in Hollywood

 

Mac’d Out in Hollywood

By Kris Spackman

With a Little Help From My Friends

October 1984

 

The ol’ boy’s done it to us again, gang!  What a mad, wonderful two days were October 22^nd and 23^rd (1984) in LA Beatle history!  As he did in New York and Chicago, Paul breezed into town to promote “Broad Street,” and gave us the chance to see him again.  I hadn’t seen him since the ’76 tour, so I was both thrilled to pieces and absolutely determined we were gonna track him down!

Good old Simmons phoned to let us know he’d left Chicago Friday morning and was LA-bound.  We cruised around town a bit on the weekend, but the weather was so lovely, we guessed that they could be at the beach, Disneyland, the zoo visiting the Chinese pandas?  Anyway, wherever they were was definitely where we weren’t.

But Monday evening was another story.  Thanks to a good friend, we found out that the official press party was being held at one of those fancy Beverly Hills restaurants, the Bistro.  I zoomed over there immediately after work and was joined shortly by my two good pals, Leslie and Sue.  As the legions of Hollywood press descended on us, along with the video camera, crews from Entertainment Tonight, half a dozen local TV stations, and even a film crew hired by Mac himself to film his arrival for his archives.   Tension began to mount as the 6 pm arrival time drew near.  The Beverly Hills police assisted Fox publicity people in lining everyone up in a half-orderly fashion on either side of the doorway, and Sue and I found ourselves sandwiched behind a video cameraman and his boom-mike man on one side while Leslie peeked between two photographers on the other side.

We waited…and waited…and waited…while Jane Seymour, Michelle Phillips, Richard Perry, Michael McDonald, Victoria Principal, D.J. Rick Dees, and Weird Al Yankovic all arrived.

I guess they must’ve been waiting for the eggs to boil again because it was 7:15 before they finally turned up.  And there he was!  What a sight for sore eyes!  In the shock of drinking in that face again after all these years, all I could do was just look at him.  They paused momentarily to pose for the press, and Linda made a funny face at “our” video cameraman as she went through the door.  I remember thinking he seemed smaller to me and that he was wearing an iridescent green suit!  I couldn’t swear to it at the moment, though.  But oh, how gorgeous he still is!

In a minor state of shock, and that glow you feel after seeing one of them, I had to rush off then to the next part of the day’s adventure, leaving Sue and Leslie to await his departure for the LA premiere of the film.  Of course, he was late leaving the restaurant, but the girls reported that there were less people around, so they got another brief but good look at him.

Meanwhile, I connected with my good friend, Kim, at the UA Egyptian Theater in Westwood.  Kimmie miraculously had managed to secure a ticket for herself and guest to the premiere itself!  Westwood was absolutely one gigantic scene!  On both sides of the street, barriers had been erected to hold back hordes of cheering, yelling crowds who’d come to wish him well.  Spotlights crisscrossed the night sky while the Broad Street soundtrack blasted over speakers set up outside the theater.  For a panicked moment, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find Kim in the mass of humanity, but there she was, right at the arranged point of meet.

On pins and needles, we went through the barriers and were admitted to the theater.  It was only about 7:45, and we were among the first to arrive.  A friend of Kim’s who was an usher pointed out to us the row of seats reserved for the Macs among the four set aside for “celebs,” so we promptly sat down in the next row behind.  And what a choice of seats!

 

We could tell when Paul and Linda arrived by the spontaneous roar of the crowd outside.  And in they came, flashbulbs and TV lights going off around them.  Paul was signing a hasty autograph for someone at the door, and then, as Trevor escorted them down the aisle, the whole audience broke into applause.  It was fantastic!  He looked so happy, smiling, and proud.  He and Linda edged down the row of seats, past friends seated in the first 5 or 6 seats, and then there he was, seated directly in front of me and only two rows ahead.  I couldn’t believe it!

Before he sat down, though, he turned around he gave a thumbs up, and thanked everyone for coming to another burst of applause.  The security people made sure he was surrounded by people he knew.  Bob Giraldi was in the row directly in front of us, Paul in front of him, so we had a wonderful view of him the whole time.

As he and Linda settled in their seats, Michelle Phillips asked him if he wanted the rest of her popcorn, and he accepted, ate some, and handed it to Linda.  Then he turned around and said to the guy next to Giraldi, “And who are you?” so Bob introduced him to whoever it was.  He also chatted to the guys seated to his left, who looked like musicians but no one we knew (Toto maybe?).  When the lights went down, Kim said she thought he was biting his nails.  He made comments to the guys on his left and to Linda.  They leaned heads towards each other during “Here There and Everywhere” which was real sweet.  When her first appearance came during “Ballroom Dancing,” Linda kind of laughed and leaned toward him to say something, almost as if she were a bit embarrassed…and she did the same almost every time there was a closeup of her.  For the most part, Paul seemed to be listening to the audience’s reaction, and he got lots of applause for all of the wonderful songs.  I wished I could see his face, but I was glad to be behind him, so I didn’t have to turn around to look.  Occasionally, his head would bop to the music.  At one point, I was reaching under my seat for my Coke and knocked it over!  In a moment of horror, I imagined it running down under the seats and getting his feet wet, but thank God, the lid stayed on tight, and I was saved!

As the film ended, he and Linda got up immediately to leave, and he danced down the row to the aisle.  They were quickly escorted outside where we heard the waiting crowd roar a farewell.

Kim was absolutely blissed because it was the first time she had ever seen him, and I wasn’t much better, since I hadn’t seen him in so long.  And to be close for two whole hours!

After the movie, Kim and I raced back to her place to pick up her sleeping bag, and we were off to Burbank and NBC, where we joined Sue for an all-night campout for the “Tonight Show” tickets.  God bless Sue!  She’d gone directly to NBC after Paul left the party at the Bistro, arriving about 9 p.m. to find she was 7^th in line.  Kim and I got there about 11:30, and we all spent a long, cold night huddled together in sleeping bags and blankets, trying to catch a couple of hours sleep.  People continued to arrive all night long, and by 7 a.m. the next day, at least 300 people were in a long line, stretching away from the building and around the corner.  The box office opened promptly at 8:30; clutching the precious bits of paper in hand, we raced around to the front of the building to the Carson studio entrance.  And so began a long day of waiting.  We didn’t date leave for fear no not getting in, though Kim had to go to work for a while, so we held her place and ticket.   

The taping itself was not scheduled to start until 5:30 p.m., so we spent the day gabbing with each other and others around us and eating out of the cooler Sue had brought. 

As the day wore on, the old “natives are restless” syndrome began to set in; as more and more people arrived, the line grew behind us and in front of us.  Some people in front of us seemed to be collecting new friends by the minute, and we finally had to protest to the NBC pages, who confronted the culprits and sent them to the back of the line.  As it was, by the time they began to allow people into the studio at 4:30, there were at least 350 people in line and a group of about 40 stand-bys, all of whom, amazingly, made it inside!  We found out later that Paul insisted that tickets be distributed to the fans who had waited all those hours and not to family/friends of NBC and Carson show staff.  Yey Macca!

We were among the 2^nd bunch to be let in, and we decided to split up for single closer seats.  Sue and I were about 8 rows up, and Kim and her friend, Mary Ann, were up a bit higher.  The problem with the Carson Show is making sure the huge cameras and boom mikes don’t block your view.  I had a great view of Paul while he was in the main chair but not when he moved to the couch, and for Sue, it was just the opposite.

Anyway, by the time the taping was to start, the crowd was practically hysterical with excitement, almost to the point where I was afraid, they’d start throwing people out.  I can apricate all the enthusiasm we can muster for the man…but when it gets to the point of spoiling things for him and for the people who want to hear him, it just isn’t fun anymore.  If all those fans who screamed and yelled every time his name was mentioned had just shut up, he would’ve been on stage and on your TV screens five minutes sooner.  So please, folks…remember that in the future.

 

As you know, he looked just great.  He seemed just a bit nervous and a trifle low-key at first, but there was our Mac underneath it all!  During the commercial breaks, fans kept yelling down at him.  Some were ok, and then there were the idiots who made fools of themselves (like the girl who yelled, ‘You’ve got a great bum!’ which embarrassed him at that point; he just ignored them and conversed with Carson).  He responded to an “I love you, Paul” with a cute “I love you too!”  and to “How’s Linda?” and “How’s Ringo?” with “Just fine!”  Then one girl said, “Thank you so much for all the music,” and at that, he really smiled, half stood with thumbs up, and replied, “Thank you!” and everyone applauded and cheered.  Some dumb guy yelled at him, “Hey Paul, sing ‘Hippy Hippy Shake’” and in his best NY-American accent, Mac mocked him back, “Yeah…yeah, sure man…yeah!”  He mostly chatted with Carson in-between, though.

One funny moment was when they went to play the tape of the Broad Street clip, and for the first half a dozen tries, the tape would not play properly.  Carson’s comment was, “Where’d you get this thing? Fotomat?”  And Paul protested, “I didn’t touch it!”  He said he’d never looked at it, so he didn’t know if it worked on not.  The producer then stopped action until they finally got the tape going and said they’d re-start from there.  So all the “bad starts” wound up on the cutting room floor.

While Mary Gross and the magician were on, he talked to her or Ed McMahon during commercials.  He seemed rather bored with the magician and kind of looked around, swinging his foot in time to the music. 

At the show’s end, he shook hands all around and waved goodbye to the audience.   We all headed home, exhausted and overwhelmed.  Hurry back, Mac!

 

 

 

 

 

Don't eat the flowers

 May 21, 1984 - Chelsea Flower Show 

Interview with Jimmie Nicol (1984)

 

Jimmie Nichol has always been quite a mystery.  Jim Birkenstadt unraveled much of the Jimmie mystery in his book, The Beatle Who Vanished.    Jimmie was only heard from a handful of times since he departed from the Beatles in 1964.   One of those times was when he appeared at a Beatles convention in 1984.   I found an interview Jimmie did with Evert Vermeer (EV) for Beatles Unlimited and was published in April 1985.   I am going to just share the part of the interview that is Beatles-related.

EV:  It has been said that technically you were a better drummer than Ringo Starr. 

JN:  Without being unkind, Ringo Starr isn't really a drummer.   On some of the recordings he played really well, he's got a good feel when they get together.  But the Beatles weren't  the greatest band.  In fact, as a group, they were pretty bad.  

EV:  Well, some of the live appearances may have been appalling, but the atmosphere was there. 

JN:  Well, they didn't really care about live concerts.  And the equipment didn't match the acoustics.  Nowadays you can hire a company to handle just the sound acoustics, but they didn't have that. 

EV:  Are you doing anything at all in music now?

JN:  Oh yes, I'm composing and recording my own music now, but just as a hobby, because I'm mainly concentrating on my company.  I have to be able to create the right environment to make music. 

EV:  Would you say those days with The Beatles helped you on in your career, or do you see them as  a disadvantage?

JN: No, nothing in life has been a disadvantage to me.  And if it has, I've always turned it into an adventure. 

EV:  How did you feel you fitted into the act with the other three Beatles, who had been a close unit for eight years or so?

JN:  As I said at the convention, I'm not prepared to disclose that now.  But that will come out in the book, because I think that's very interesting. 

EV:  But you must have had the feeling you were more or less the odd man out. 

JN:  In retrospect, analyzing what actually happened, I get that impression as well. 

EV:  It must have been a fascinating experience to be inside that circle for a while. 

JN:  It was disappointing.  Not fascinating, because I had been used to it before.  When rock n roll first hit I was touring with screaming kids.  That was another reason why they chose me.  They knew how I would act as a person coming into a pre-made image. 

EV:  But you had to be a bit of an actor playing a Beatle?

JN:  They didn't want to admit, even though it was written in black and white, that there was anybody else playing the drums except Ringo.  They wanted to present The Beatles as The Beatles, as a whole.  Obviously, they were extremely afraid of a failure on the tour, of an outsider coming in. 

EV:  There is a photo of you leaving Australia after Ringo got back, on which you're waiting for your plane.  You look awfully lonely on that. 

JN:  Oh yes, that's a beautiful picture.  Well, if you look at that photograph, that answers your question.

EV:  Did you feel you were being dropped at that point?  And afterward, did you ever hear from Epstein or any of The Beatles?

JN:  No, not at all.  Ringo came back one day and I left the following morning.  I will include my suppositions in the book.  Obviously, because I was part of the internal politics, I saw and heard many things, but I never commented on them.

EV:  Were you contracted for the whole tour?

JN:  No.  It was on a daily basis, actually.   I never knew from one day to another whether I would be going onto these different countries.  Probably, that put a lot of pressure on me, this situation makes you uneasy, and I wasn't as mature as I am now. 

EV:  How were you received by the fans?  Did they accept you as a Beatle, or did they really make you feel like a stand-in?

JN: Basically, the fans had no choice. It was either The Beatles with me or no Beatles at all.  But of course, no one is indispensable.  If I hadn't been the right person in the right place at the right time and with the right background, obviously someone wise would have done the job.

EV:  Was there any audition?

JN:  Just one rehearsal in the studio with George Martin.

EV:  After you went back to England, did you ever meet anyone?

JN:  No.  Never. One time I was playing in a club in London, and George happened to come in one evening with a lady friend, and he sent the waiter with a drink.  But I declined the offer.

EV:  ....??

JN:  My dear sir, I have my self-respect.  I will not be bought by anyone, even if it's to my disadvantage.

EV:  Did you feel George wanted to make up for something?

JN:  Ooooh yes, of course.  We both knew what had happened.  It was one of those situations where no words have to be spoken.

EV:  Do you have any fixed ideas about your book yet?

JN:  No.  There's a lot of work to be done.  We want to be in complete control of everything.  The book does have potential and distribution possibilities worldwide but won't have a bad publisher.  It will not be a Beatles book, although commercially speaking, the Beatles will be the selling point. 

EV:  Aren't you afraid that some fans will be offended by any negative remarks in the book like some of them were by things in Peter Brown's book that harmed their idea of The Beatles?

JN:  I think negativeness can be taken by rational people.  Of course, the dirty bits will be good for the sales, but it would be pretty sensationalism.  But my intention is not to do an expose-the-Beatles type of book.  That's all been done before. 

Cutest Couple

 

George Hangs Loose

 

Chelsea Flower Show

 

Giant Ringo

 

Live From New York ...

 

December 8, 1984

A big thank you to "Brother Michael" for finding this great photo.   If you have never seen Ringo on SNL from 1984, it is worth checking out.   Funny opening scene.  

We all stand together

 Did you all go check out the remastered animated "Rupert and the Frog Song?"    It is Rupert the Bear's 100th birthday and so the animated short from 1984 was all fixed up and put on Youtube just today.   

I found it to be really enjoyable.   I had only seen the short on an old bootleg VHS with washed out colors.   The colors for the 2020 version are very rich and beautiful.   I especially like the colorful hot air balloons.   

Hearing Paul McCartney's voice as Rupert and the little boy frog is great.   Paul and Linda helped write the script.   

My complaint?   Youtube sticks stupid commercial ads in the middle of "We all stand together."   There were WAY too many ads for a 15 minute video.   

  

George and Derek on their book tour

 

November 10, 1984 in Australia 

The lucky Broadstreet winners