Meeting Paul---What a high

Here is another story from the glory days of meeting Paul McCartney outside of Air Studios in the 1980's.    This one was written by Linda Lampo.   It was taken from the October 1982 issue of "With a little help from my friends."

Photos by Tommy Lampo

Here is the same story that she wrote for Beatlefan.   

What a high

By Linda Lampo

On September 23^rd, I went over to Air Studio.  I told my husband I wanted to ask the guard if Paul was expected today.  After mentioning to him that this was my first trip over here, he told me that Paul was upstairs already and he’d been there all week, coming and going.  He told me to come back around 6 in the evening.

So back I came about 5:00.  I met some very nice English girls, one named Cathy, and a few American girls were there.  One of the girls told me Paul had signed a couple autographs around 10 in the morning and was very happy.  She also saw him and Linda the day before at Abbey Road studios.  As we were waiting, people coming out of the building kept saying, “Are you waiting for Mr. McCartney?”

Cathy told me Linda was excepted back anytime from dinner, so we waiting in the front of the building.  I’d heard Paul sometimes comes around the back.

About 5:30, in the rain, someone yells, “Here comes Linda!”  She was nice, believe it or not, signed a couple of things and went in.  I couldn’t get near her, but took a photo from the side.  She had on a red outfit. 

After 6:30 p.m. someone says to me, “Here he comes!”  I looked inside toward the elevators and Paul was walking toward me arm in arm with Linda, fixing his tie, looking right at me.  The other girls were on the other side of the door, really giving me a chance to see him.  One thing I noticed was Paul being so thin and having such big eyes.  He was wearing a green suit and the same tie he wore to Mike’s wedding.  I went up to him and asked if he could sign my picture and if my husband could take his photo, but as I said that, my husband already had taken it.  Paul said, “He’s already taking the picture!” and laughed!  Then as he was about to sign, John Hammel said they were in a hurry, and to “come back tomorrow, we’ll be here!”  Paul looked at me and also said something like “I’ll be here tomorrow.”  As they went to their car around the corner, I took a photo of Paul and Linda in the crowd.  Everyone had gifts for them but it made no difference as John hurriedly rushed them off.

The next day, the 24^th, started off nice weather-wise and then the rain came.  But it didn’t seem to matter as I saw Paul again.  This time he came alone, around 2:00, and on Linda’s birthday too.  He had on his famous Army jacket, and when I saw him coming around the corner, I quickly ran up to him.  He signed a few photos for others, and then I gave him one to sign.  As he signed, I gave him a gift I’d made, a guitar out of ceramic clay.  I said to him that I’d made it and he said, “Oh, I like that.”  Just then my husband took a photo of him, and he said to me, “Is he with you?”  And I said, “That’s my husband, the photographer.”  Paul said, “Oh, your hubby!”  The Paul shook my husband’s hand, which was a nice gesture, and said to me, “You’re got the autograph, he took the snap, and I got the guitar!”  We all laughed at that.

We said thanks and he went along to sign one more photo for another fan, and we took a photo of that.  He told us he had to get to work.  We waited for some time for him to come back out, but eventually learned he’d gone around the back. 

The last time we saw him was on the 28^th, when we got to the corner about 1 or 1:30.  I waited on the other side of the street in order to see Paul’s silver Volvo coming (MPL 100 is his license number).  All of a sudden, I saw girls moving around, and spotted Paul’s car.  I ran across the street telling the girls, “Here he comes!”  There  were only 3 girls waiting this time, what  a break.

One girl had her baby with her.  Paul stopped and said to her, “Is that your baby?”   He started saying “goo-goo, ga-ga” and we all started laughing.  One of the other girls wanted something signed, but he said, “Maybe later” and started walking away.  Suddenly he turned around, his eyebrows raised, and he said hello to me!  He’s so charming, and I’ll never forget when I met him.  We were lucky because the 3 days we saw him were the only days he came to the studio, we discovered later.  He had on his famous Army jacket the last day again, and also he came alone.  I noticed his hair being so gray now, but he’s still very handsome.  Another thing was, it stopped raining each time we saw him.  Very strange!

How to save money when you are in London

Here is a story from an obvious Paul lover from Austria who met Paul outside of MPL and Air studios in 1982.    Let me say that if I was waiting for Paul to leave a studio, and Ringo came out, I sure would have talked to Ringo and I would not have been worried about missing on seeing Paul.  Anyhow...the time of the early 1980's when Paul was going in and out of Air studios is one of my favorite Paul eras.   

This story was from the October 1982 (issue #40) of With a Little Help From my Friends.

How to Save money when you are in London

By Karin Gattermayr

This is the story of my first meeting with Mr. Paul McCartney.  It happened in the last days of August  1982.  We (Linda, a friend of mine, Mike from the Paul McC club in Germany, Thomas—another friend, Rainer, Jorge, Eva-Maria and Mrs. Brunner, from Beatles Information Center in Germany and I) went to Liverpool for the Beatles convention at the Adelphi Hotel.  We had a table there to sell things of our club during the two days of the convention and a two-day magical history tour with the one and only Bob Wooler.  On our way home to Germany, Linda and I left the party to stay for a few days in London.  Not without any reason – Linda had gotten the message from Doylene (of the McC Observer) that Paul was supposed to be at Air Studios from 1^st September on, and I got the same message for Pat.  Here is the story that happened to us in London on Tuesday, 31 August, Wednesday, 1^st September, Thursday, 2^nd September, and Friday 3^rd September.  About the title – I saved a lot of money because I spent most of my time standing around at Oxford Street #214!

The first time I saw Paul was on Tuesday, August 31 when we decided not to go to Henley-on-Thames.  Linda and I had decided on the day before to go to Henley on Tuesday, to be at Air on Wednesday, to go to Rye on Thursday, and to hang around MPL on Friday, as we had been planning.  I was going to my aunt’s house in Orrington, near London, and Linda went shopping in London. My aunt wasn’t home, so I got onto the train again and went back to London Town.  I thought I would go shopping but I wanted to visit MPL first, so I left the underground at Tottenham Court Road and slowly walked down Oxford Street to Soho Square.  When I arrived, there were a lot (7-8) of young boys and girls, wearing Paul buttons.  I slowly walked down the street and then I heard a voice, “Karin, have you got my message? HE is here!  I got his autograph!” (Linda had left a message for me at the hotel).  I was so shocked that I had to sit down near her on a little stone wall in the park.  Linda tried to write down the order of the photos in her album because she wanted to give it to Paul.  In the meantime she showed his autograph to me.  It looked great, but I just couldn’t believe it at that time Paul was there.   I tried to cover my fears (would he just rush by in a hurry or stop and speak to us; what would it be like to talk to the man you’ve waited for fall your life; would I be able to say one simple word?) by being very student (If he doesn’t come out soon, I’ll leave because I’ll catch a cold”).   Suddenly there was a movement in the office and we crossed the street, not wanting to miss anything.  In the meantime a big limo had parked in front of MPL.  A few minutes later, three men entered the reception and talked there.   One of the secretaries was with them.  It took me some time to realize that one of them was George Martin and the other was the one I’ve waited for a few years of my life—Paul McCartney!

When Paul realized we were standing in front of MPL, he waved at us and really gave us the eye.  I think I turned into a statue.  I really don’t know if I waved back or what I was doing during those seconds.  Then Paul walked upstairs to the first floor and George M. came out.  He really was more than just nice.  He signed records, postcards, and the stuff we brought with us.  He told us that he and Paul would be at Air again as of the 1^st of September for mixing the new Macca LP which should be out at Christmastime!  Then he went to his car, posed for photos inside the car, and then was gone.

We carried on waiting for Paul.  He looked so different from what I expected him to look like.  You know all those photos in the past few months, but he looked even better than in those.  He was so young!   I couldn’t believe my eyes!  I never would’ve recognized him if I would have seen him somewhere else.  All I can remember is that he was wearing a brown leather jacket and that his hair was very short.  When he left MPL, he seemed to be waiting for us.  He laughed and started to sign autographs.  I don’t know why but I was standing very near to him, and whenever he signed something, I could feel him move.  When he signed one for the boys, the boy said, “Another one, please,” and Paul said, “What’s wrong, isn’t that one good enough?”  That was the moment that it really hit me -- Paul was right beside me, talking, laughing, breathing – just there!

When it was my turn to give him my messy-looking “Take it Away” single to sign that I’d been carrying around for some time, I was very surprised to hear my voice, saying, “Excuse me, but did you ever get the photo album I sent for your birthday?”  He looked at me for a moment, touched my hand (he touched my hand!  I’ll never wash it again!  I can remember his soft warm touch….), and said, ‘I think so dear, but I can’t remember properly when, because there’s so much mail coming in!”  I nearly dropped the autographed record when he spoke to me and touched me.  This was the happiest moment I my whole life!  My brain wasn’t working properly from that time on and therefore my memory of the net few minutes is very dim.  Only when Linda got him with her lot of presents, I remember him saying, “You shouldn’t waste your money, spend it on yourself,” and the photo album he wanted to use for his stamps –stupid man!

The next thing I remember was when he jumped into his car with a few byes and see-you’s.  Then I seemed to wake up from my dream again.  He was gone, but the memory was kept in my heart.  I spent the evening with my aunt and her family, listening to “Tug of War” again and again, and in the night, I stood up again and again to look if his autograph on the record was still there.

On Wednesday we (Linda, Carol, a U.S. girl and some English girls) met at Air at 12:00.  Paul kept us waiting the whole afternoon – that means he didn’t appear, and neither did George Martin.  We went home a bit disappointed, but we had seen him the day before, and that was enough…for a while.

I joined my friends at Air on Thursday at about 4:00.  Carol and some other girls had seen him going in, and he was “not in a very good mood” they told me, but we kept on waiting.  During the afternoon a lot of people went in and out, and suddenly, I thought that the man coming out was familiar to me.  He stopped outside the door, looking right and left, when I said to Carol, “that’s Ringo!”  Then he passed by, leaving us staring at him with open mouths.  Ringo was joined by Barbara and two men.  Two of the girls followed him to the other side of the street and talked to him, but I was afraid I’d miss Paul if I’d left and followed Ringo.  But I can say that I was really shocked.  I’ve been to England 15 times without seeing anyone,  then suddenly I’d seen Paul, Ringo, Barbara Bach and George Martin!

Paul came out much later.  Carol and I saw him first again.  This time I was standing in front of him and just stared, with my photo album to be autographed.  When he signed it, he looked at me and grinned.  I was wearing my “Ebony and Ivory” outfit – he must’ve realized that I was waiting for him again!  He signed my book with my pen (I haven’t used it since then!)  When he first noticed the photo in the book, the same as on the back of the “Secret Friend” single, he said, “Yeah, that’s me!”  And silly fool that I was, my answer was “yes!”  After chatting more, he said that he had to go now, but we begged him for another photo.  So he posed for it, but as he’s a very quick moving person, he jumped around after the photo and nearly jumped into a man holding an ice cream cone!  It looked so funny, the man trying to save his ice cream and Paul trying not to crash into it.  Paul said “sorry” and he was off again.  But I had seen him another time –a great feeling.

Friday was our last day in London.  I was with my aunt in the morning, doing a cone for James to be filled with sweets (an Austrian tradition, to give kids a “sweet start” in school).  I reached Air (and Linda and Carol) at 12:15.  We expected Paul to come at 1:00.  At 1:15 the car (number MPL 900) appeared and Paul got out.  Linda wanted to give him a bootleg she’d bought in Liverpool to sign.  He nearly did it, then realizing what kind of record it was, he turned to her and said, “What’s THAT?”  She said, “A bootleg of yours.  Would you sign it please?”  “No, not this one!”  She later asked him if he wanted to have the record, but he said no.  We were told that he was collecting his own bootlegs.  He talked to us some more, posed for photos again, til the moment a lot of young girls recognized him and blocked his way.  He didn’t seem to appreciate the crowd around him, so he headed for the studio.  George martin had gone in 20 minutes before him, with his bike.  Even if he wasn’t in a good mood and he’d hurried into the building, I love him a lot.  The way he looks, his willingness most other times to pose for photos, his way of walking, and just the way he smiles and looks at you ca take your breath away.  Anyway, he left us waiting there til half past 7 when we found out that he used the exit at the back of the building to leave.  Most of the people waiting for him were angry but I couldn’t be.  He’d been so nice before, why should we bother him if he didn’t want us to?  I was happy enough to have seen him 3 times in those 4 days and I appreciate it more than anything else in my life. 

So, whenever you’re in London and you’re trying to save some money, then stay in front of Oxford Street #214, and if you’re as lucky as I was, you’ll catch him and maybe have the same great experiences as I had.

Look my way

One lucky baby

Speak to the Man on the Street

If you have been wondering what Paul McCartney was doing 30 years ago around this time of year, then look no further!   Paul was recording at Air Studios in late August and September of 1983.   He was easily accessible to the fans who waited on the corner.    He was friendly, stopped for photos and autographs and would have a smile and a wave for the groups of fans who waited for him.   It was a great time to be a Paul fan!

Here is a story written by Barb Beden about the times she met Paul in 1983.   We have heard a few of these stories on this blog before, only from the point of view of her friend, Bonnie.   Now we read Barb's side of the story.   This appeared in the Fall 1983 issue of the McCartney Observer.   Some of the photos are from Barb Beden.

Look at the average person.  Speak to the man in the street

By Barb Beden

It is 11:45a.m. on 25 August 1983, and our lives have become complete, for at this time in the city of London we met James Paul McCartney.  My friend Bonnie and I had arrived at the studio about an hour earlier and settled in to wait for Paul.  Finally, at 11:45, he arrived in his green Mercedes and was dropped off on the corner about 30 feet from where we were standing, by the entrance to the studio.  He stopped to talk to a girl and sign an album for guy, then turned and came walking toward us.  He looked absolutely beautiful, slim, healthy and happy.  When he reached us I said, “Hi Paul,” then “Would you do me a favour?”   “What?” he asked.  “Would you sign the back of my shirt?”  I handed him a black magic marker.  He grinned and said, “Oh, that’ a bit public, isn’t it?”   Bonnie said, “Yeah, but look at the shirt.  It’s worth it!”  (I was wearing my “McCartney’s Back” shirt).  I turned around and he signed the transfer on the back of my shirt.  I could feel the pen moving and the feel of his hand rubbing across my back as he wrote.  Another girl walked up and held out her checkbook for him to sign and he said, “You’re not going to cash this, are you?”  Bonnie gave him a 45 record and asked, “Can you please sign my record?”  He did so saying, “Can’t hang around too long cause it causes a crowd.”  He said it was okay to take pics so I raised my camera to take a close-up and as I clicked the shutter he leaned toward me, smiling and said, “Here’s you pen back, luv.”  Paul McCartney called me luv!  I about died on the spot.  He was looking right at me and his eyes are beautiful.  After a few more second he said bye and went inside, leaving Bonnie and I to collect our wits, which was no easy task.

26 August:  we arrived at the studio and found some fans already waiting.  At 10:55 Paul was dropped off on the corner.  Bonnie had gone to stand by the street and I was standing by the studio entrance, which is where Paul headed.  He stopped to sign for the other fans and then continued to the door.  When he reached me I put my hand on his arm and asked, “Paul, can I take a couple photos?”  “Sure, luv,” he answered with a big smile, so I went ahead.  Bonnie had come over from where she had been standing and was also taking photos.  Paul was kind of looking down so I knelt on the sidewalk in front of him and aimed the camera up towards his face.  By this time people seemed to be dropping from the sky, there was suddenly a big crowd.  Paul finally said, “Bye, gotta go,” and made his way in the door.  Bonnie and I clutched our precious film in our hot little hands and beat a path to the nearest one hour Foto Inn.

31 August:  We had spent the last few days in Liverpool and upon our return to London we headed straight for the studio.  At 4:45pm we were standing on the corner wondering if Paul would show up when who should walk by us but…wait for it…Paul!  He was a few feet beyond us when we realized itw as him so I called, “Paul, wait!!” Bonnie said, “Paul!”  And I am thinking “Oh God here we are yelling for Paul McCartney to wait up.”  He stopped and turned around and we caught up and walked the rest of the way to the studio with him.  It was just the three of us, nobody else was there.  I gestured to Bonnie and said, “Paul can I take a picture of you two together?”  “Sure” he answered.  Bonnie was wearing a Liverpool t-shirt and Paul looked at it and said, “Oh, Merseyside.”  “Yeah Paul, your home town,” I said and he grinned.  Bonnie said, “We just got back from the M.B.E.”  “Mersey…Beatles…” said Paul, hesitating.  Bonnie finished for him, saying “convention” instead of extravaganza.  “Oh, M.B.C.” Paul grinned.  He smiles a lot.  I was looking at him through my camera viewfinder and again those eyes were looking right back at me.  I took the pic and he headed for the door, saying, “Sorry, gotta go, I’m in a hurry,” and went inside.  We decided to go eat and got back to the studio at 6:45.  At 7:30 Linda appeared on the corner so we went over.  She looked great and was so nice, very friendly and more than willing to stop and chat.  I asked when she and Paul would be coming out of the studio and she said in a little while and went inside.   A bit later George Martin came out in a hurry and jumped in a taxi.  He returned about 15 minutes later and stopped to talk.  He’s such a nice man, very friendly and quite distinguished looking.  By this time it was 8:30 and quite a few more people had gathered.  At 9:00 Paul’s call pulled up and parked at the corner so we knew it would be long.  At 9:05 Paul and Linda came out, smiling and looking happy.  They really seemed to be enjoying themselves, signing autographs for everyone and posing for photos.  After a few minutes they began making moves to leave, heading for the corner and saying “Goodnight, goodnight.”  Everyone walked tem to the car and they drove off with all of us saying bye.

1 September:  We arrived at the studio and joined a couple other fans.  At 11:45 I spotted Paul’s car stopped at a red light.  Yes, the man does have to stop for red lights!  The car turned the corner and Paul got out and began walking towards us, bouncing along with a coat slung over his shoulder.  As he reached us Bonnie said, “Hi Paul, can we take a photo?”  He smiled and said, “I’m in a hurry today, girls,” and headed for the door, briefly stopped to sign an autograph.  After he went in we went to celebrate because it was my birthday and seeing Paul was a great present!

5 September:  We got to the studio and found lots of people waiting for Paul, some by the door and a group on the corner.  Paul arrived at 11:50 and was immediately rushed and engulfed by the aggressive bunch on the corner.  He finally broke away and by the time he finally reached us by the door he was almost running.  I really felt sorry for him; all he wanted to do was get inside.   What a sweetheart, after all that aggravation he still had a smile for us.  That group of “fans “had been very pushy and hanging all over him and still he smiled.

6 September:  We were standing near the studio at 10am when Bonnie spotted Paul and Linda approaching form the opposite direction, not from the corner.  We began walking towards them and it was a case of them watching us watching them.  We all met up by the door and everybody stopped.  It was just the four of us, no one else was around.  Bonnie said, “Hi Paul, hi Linda.”  And they both said “hi.”  I put my hand on Paul’s arm and said, “Paul, last week was my birthday and I wanted to get a pic of us together, could I get one now?”  Linda grinned and put her arm around my shoulder, going “Awww!”  Paul flashed a big grin and said, “What do you mean, you’ve got a million pictures, you’ve been taking them every day!”  Well that knocked us out because it meant that he actually remembered us!  Bonnie said, “But we don’t have one of you and her!”  Paul laughed and said, “Can we get one, then?”  I grinned and said, “Yeah!” then moved to his left side and stood closerthanthis to him.  Linda was on his right, arm in arm with him.  I put my right arm around his back and hugged and Bonnie recorded on film an event I’ll remember the rest of my life.  I said, “Thank you both very much!”  And they headed for the door.  Bonnie said, “Bye” and they went inside.  That was the last time we saw Paul.  It was all just so fantastic and I still find it hard to believe that I actually met him.  Both Bonnie and I are first generation fans and meeting Paul after all these years is just absolutely the best thing that’s ever happened to us.  He is truly a beautiful person, sensitive, friendly, and so caring.  Paul, if you ever happen to read this I just want to say again, “thank you.”

At the Studio with Paul

If part of this story sounds familiar to you, it should.  I had posted some of this fan story from "The Write Thing" earlier this year.  This version was written for the McCartney Observer and it has more meetings with Paul included.    What stood out to me about this story was how the fans say that young James McCartney was so shy.   And fans today still comment on how shy James is.   Some people think you can outgrow shyness, but I do not think that is true of everyone.   

This story is from the Fall 1981 issue of the McCartney Observer and was written by Laurie Ross.

At the Studios with Paul

By Laurie Ross

 The big news from me is that I was in the U.K. in September and October (1981) and got to see Paul at Air Studios 18 times!  I still can’t believe my luck.  Pat Simmons had written my pal Terry that she had heard he was at Air so on September 21 was went to check it out, not really expecting him to show up.  But, half an hour later there he was.  It was all so easy.  When he got out of the car I was very calm and said “hi” to Paul and James  (Linda was there, too but in my excitement I didn’t even look at her).  I asked him when his new lp was coming out and he told me in the spring.  Later that day when he came back out I asked if I could take a photo and he said yes, but to make it fast as he was late, so I literally threw my purse and shopping bag on the pavement!  He was holding the koala bear Terry had given him and I didn’t even notice when I was taking the picture, but he was winking at me.  The next day I had him sign the photo (I took the film into a one our developing place) and Linda made a rude comment about my photo.

One another day, September 28^th to be exact, I had my first photo taken with Paul.  The situation of that picture happened so fast that I didn’t have time to get uptight.  Terry had her picture taken with him signing her “Rupert” book and being the pig I am I asked him if I could have my picture taken with him that night.  He couldn’t hear me so he leaned over and put his arm on my shoulder.   I repeated myself but he misunderstood me, thinking I wanted my picture taken then.  So, apparently he steered me to his side and luckily Gloria was thinking clearly and snuggled up to his other side.  I put my arm around his waist and it felt so good.  That day was my lucky day as far as getting touched.  When he came out that evening he was running but stopped just long enough to say, “Sorry girls, I’m in a terrible hurry.  I can’t stop now.”  And he reached out to give my right wrist a quick squeeze.  I must have been the closest person to him then or something.   Gloria and Terry left the next day very, very happy.  It was the first time they’d ever seen him so I was very happy for them.

On the day I had my photo taken with Paul the second time the minute he saw me with my camera, he said, “You want a picture, right?”  Just as it was being taken some jerk was about to walk into it, which didn’t upset me too badly, as you can imagine.  In fact both Paul and I figured he’d be in it (although luckily he wasn’t!) so we both have our mouths hanging open commenting about it.  On him it looks adorable.  On me it looks awful!  Not only do I look a mess but I look so bored, which I certainly wasn’t.  My face my look like it was just an everyday occurrence, but my heart was working overtime!

There were many other times we or I saw him but some days it was just “hello” and “good-bye,” although usually he always stopped to say something.  One Monday morning when he arrived her was in a terrific mood and he sang “Good morning, Good Morning” to us.  Not the Pepper version but apparently a tune from some Debbie Reynolds movie.   Also he grabbed Linda’s hand so scratch any divorce rumors you may have heard.  A couple of time he brought James and he is a little love.  A golden haired version of his dad.  He was very shy and whenever Paul stopped to talk to us he’d hide behind his father’s legs!  Paul once thought I was looking at James and pulled him out to say “hello” to us.  “Say hello to the girls, James.” To which James just looked at the ground solemnly and Paul said, “Sorry, too shy!”

We also saw George Martin who I imagine was working with Paul although we didn’t ask.  He arrived just a bit before Paul and left a bit earlier than him.  I had gotten a new photo book on the Beatles so I got him to sign the page on which he is spotlighted.  He remarked that it was a new book so must keep up to date on all the books that come out on the Beatles.  He is a real gentleman, what more can I say?  He is a great person.

My last day there I decided to tell Paul I was going back to Canada the next day and to thank him for being so kind.   Well, you’d think I was rehearsing for a Broadway play or something- repeating what I was going to say over and over again.  I wanted to shake his hand, so I was going to ask.   Well, we waited and waited for him to come out.  It was the latest he had been.  I was getting discouraged as I figured he’d be in a rush and all we’d get as he flew by was a “see ya girls.”  Was I in for a pleasant surprise!  I’ll never forget seeing him come around the corner.  I was so scared!   

He was walking quite briskly but I ran up to him and started blubbering about having to go back to Canada tomorrow and how I appreciated the autograph, the photos, and I started to thank him for his kindness in general when he started shaking my hand and said “You are?  Well I’d like to welcome you here.  I hope you enjoyed your stay on this corner.  We’re renting space here for next year so book early, OK?”  And then he was gone.  All I can remember is his nice warm hand and his eyes.   I think I said a few “I did” and “I wills” in there somewhere.  It was a lovely ay to end a trip.  Of course, I would have loved to stay longer but with a sendoff like that, I was content to go home and sort out all my thoughts.