Broadstreet in New York

Jennifer Campbell posted this on the Beatles Social Network and gave me permission to post it here for you all.   Much thanks for Jennifer for sharing her Paul photo and memory

  Here's the back story to the photo. I was 18 and in college in upstate NY. I had attended a Beatlefest in NJ and must have put my name on something because they sent me a postcard to "welcome" Paul at the movie debut at 8:15 or so. So I take the train down from Albany and start walking to the theater (I wanna say it was around 56th St., but I found it because of those overhead movie premier lights going back and forth in the sky). It was 7ish, the barricades were already up with the line of police asking the crowd to stay on the side of the street opposite the theater. I remember being in front of a McDonald's with about 100 other people -- 5 lanes (no traffic) between us and the theater. Then the limos start arriving. I remember seeing Yoko and Sean get out...and Julian. Big hurrays from the growing crowd as each celebrity got out. Then his limo pulls up and we knew it was him because he rolled the backseat window down about 5 inches and waved to us. I remember putting my foot on the barricade, pushing the policeman down (I actually stepped on his hand), ran across the 5 lanes to that same window, tried the door, and then put my camera on top of the limo. I got 6 or so shots off before the policeman grabbed my shoulders and escorted me back to McD. I was a 110 lb., 5'2" giggly girl, but this was 1984 in NYC, so I'm sure Paul's security wasn't too happy to see me sprinting towards him. I don't think anyone else broke the barricades. I thought about hanging around until after he came out of the movie but I needed to find a place to stay. So I called my Mom back in Texas and asked if she knew anyone in NYC. She did. It's a nice memory for me.

Broadstreet press conference

Paul at the press conference for "Give my Regards to Broadstreet" in October 1984.   He had such high hopes for that film.

Extra Extra!

Being an extra in a movie sounds like it would be a lot of fun. But how much more fun would it be to be an extra in a Paul McCartney movie? This young man pictured here with Paul and Linda was an extra in the movie, "Give my Regards to Broadstreet." Yeah....it wasn't the best film ever made, but hey....he got to meet Paul McCartney out of the deal, so it turned out great for him!

Hello from Broadstreet

Paul waves to the crowd at the opening of the Broadstreet film. Little did he know at the moment of this photo that his film was going to be a disappointment to many.

Paul "leather" jacket

During the "Broadstreet" years, Paul McCartney was often seen wearing a leather jacket. But obviously the mega-veggie Paul that you and I adore would not been ever seen wearing REAL leather. So obviously this isn't a real leather jacket that Paul was wearing during that time. Still it amazes me how often you saw him wearing this jacket. Paul seems to be someone that gets hooked on one article of clothing and wears for a long time.

Give my Regards to Broadstreet

In 1984, Paul McCartney hit the streets of NYC, L.A. and London big time to promote his major motion picture called, Give my Regards to Broadstreet. Now any of you who have seen "Broadstreet" will know that it is the greatest piece of cinimotrography ever made. Okay, so it is a little lame. However Paul and Ringo are both in it (along with Linda and Barbara) and it has some good moments. Really Paul should have released this film straight to VHS or to a cable company instead of putting it out as a movie. But straight to video films were not common in 1984 (I don't even think my family owned a VCR yet).

But as Paul was heavy hitting to promote his movie, he didn't know what we know now. And during this time a lot of Paul fans got the chance to meet him. Besides getting to see him as he was going to do hundreds of interviews, there were also lots of contests held to meet him. If you see photos where Paul is wearing a black and white checkered shirt, know that is from fall of 1984 when he was promoting "Give my regards to Broadstreet"