John was happy to meet fans

 

Dollars for a good cause

 

A ciggie and a smile

 

The sounds of Philadelphia

 I sure hope there wasn't anyone else on the other side of that girl that thought she was in a photograph with John Lennon.   

Tie for auction

 Over the years we have learned that while raising money in Philadelphia for the Helping Hands Charity, John Lennon auctioned off his sock and his hat.   Now, thanks to a current eBay listing, we learn that he also auctioned off his tie.  If you look closely, you can see in the photograph that John is holding the tie.  I personally could not find a photo from that day of John wearing this particular tie.  

Here is what,  Ted Vollmer,  the person that originally bought the tie directly from John says about that experience:

John Lennon spent a weekend in Philadelphia in May 1975 to assist local news anchor, Larry Kane with the Helping Hands Charity marathon.  He made appearances at WFIL studios to greet fans. 

I attended one of these events. Mr. Lennon, to garner money for charity, removed his own necktie from around his neck.  He held it up asking who would want to buy it. In spite of trying to act cool and calm, I was star-struck and rushed to the barricade offering my last $20 for the tie.  Mr. Lennon accepted the money for the charity and signed the tie. 

I have had this tie in a plastic bag for the past 46 years. I am now ready to release it. I will no longer have the tie, but I will always have a good story.  

The tie can now be yours for just under $10,000 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/294805012602?hash=item44a3bf807a:g:LpEAAOSweFxiA~6n

Seeing John in person

 

Nice close ups of John

 

John Lennon did NOT crash a wedding!

 

Time to squash a story that has been spreading around the internet for the past few years.   The story goes like this:

The story behind this photo is very interesting. John was doing one of his daily wanderings around New York when he came across a Wedding Reception in progress. John, being John, invited himself in and no one complained. He enjoyed the reception buffet and even joined the band playing for the wedding and performed a number of songs at their request. The bride and groom even had him join them for a wedding photo.

That is a nice story.   Just picture it -- John Lennon crashing a wedding and playing with the wedding band!   Wow!   Too bad it is just that -- a story.   There is absolutely NO TRUTH to this story!   Please do not believe this made-up story.   

The truth is still pretty cool, but John didn't eat a buffet or play with a band. 

This photo was taken in Philadelphia in May 1975 while John was in Philly for the  Helping Hands marathon.  This was written by one of the girls that worked for WFIL at the time.   

 

Jay Cook, WFIL-AM Program Director brought us all into the recording studio to answer the phones for the telethon. We posed for pics with John Lennon & the following nite was Marple-Newtown's Jr. Prom. Sue Cook, Jay's daughter, is far right. Those were the days. Mrs. Cook had to tell us to stop following him as he was headed to the bathroom! 

So there you have it --   there was no wedding.   There WAS a prom.  The program director of WFIL was at the prom and that is why John posed for the photo.   Yes -- I do think it is strange that the girls at the prom have bouquets instead of corsages, but it was the 1970s.  I don't get it.  

John signed for Karla

This story is from the April/May 1976 issue of the Write Thing and was written by Karla Wambold


That Monday morning when I first turned on the radio, I thought Iw as hearing things.  WFIL radio in Philly said that their Helping Hands Marathon has been scheduled for that weekend May 16-18 and their special guest was John Lennon!!

I got to WFIL that Friday at about 1pm to a crowd of about nine other people.  We were all nervous about meeting John.  this would be the first time any of us had met any of the ex-Beatles.  2pm arrived and so did John!  The television part of WFIL was taping his arrival for the news.

During the taping, John embarrassed the hell out of me.  See I was wearing a Beatles t-shirt and I asked John to sign it.  He said to me, "Where am I?  Oh, there I am!"  Then he pokes me in the chest.  After John autographed my shirt he said, "I'm signing her boobs!"  I nearly died!  (and it was even more embarrassing when they showed the entire thing on TV).

After a few minutes, John went inside the studio, stayed there for about half an hour, came out again and left to go back to the hotel he was staying at.  But before he left he stopped to sign a few more autographs.  He came back about 4pm and he came out periodically to sign autographs and the usual before he went back to his hotel about 9 (the crowd had grown to a few hundred by the way).

The 2nd day when John came out he surprised me.  He remembered me -- which I didn't expect  More people were there then and poor John got writers' cramp within five minutes.  Everyone must have brought about one-fourth of their collection for him to sign.

About noon -- when John came out for a third time that day, the days of Beatlemania returned.  This one girl got overly excited and her excitement spread quickly through the rest of the crowd and john had to hurry back inside.  That was the first time the entire weekend the studio's guards and the Philadelphia cops actually worked.

about 11:45 Sunday night, the deejays dedicated the song "When Will I See You Again" to John and I almost cried.  John was so very nice and well, I can't really describe how nice he really was.  As for the marathon, WFIL raised between $114,000 and $115000.  Most of which were donated by Beatle fans on John's behalf.  After that weekend all  I could say is that I have a special place in my heart for John.  And I'm glad I had those few moments to spend with a great man like him.  Thank you, John, for everything!

The side view

A once in a lifetime experience

Snapping Turks

Dr. Winton O'Boogie Visits Philadelphia!

Every time I post photos and stories of fans that were fortunate to meet John in Philadelphia in 1975, I think that will be the end of it, but then I find more and always want to share them.    These are from the "New Beatles Fan Club" 

Written by Tracy Geoghegan from Delaware

On Friday, May 16, 1975, John Lennon arrived in Philadelphia to do a radio marathon, his first, for the benefit (no, not of Mr. Kite) of the handicapped children of Philadelphia area.  It was broadcast over WFIL a well-known radio station in that area.   It went on for three days, started at 3:00 in the afternoon on Friday and continuing until 12:00 midnight Sunday.  When it was over a grand total of $117,000.00 had been raised.  Some of the highlights were as follows:

John received two long-distance phone calls, both of which were broadcast live over the radio.  One was from Yoko, and the other was from Neil Sedaka (who you may recall dedicated his song, "The Immigrant" to John).

John had a lot of fun picking out records, doing the weather report, jumping in the middle of commercials, saying things like "Gay people are beautiful," and singing along with Ringo when "Yellow Submarine" was played.

Mr. Lennon also spent a lot of the weekend in the parking lot signing autographs, posing for pictures with fans, and kissing people.

All in all, it was a delightful, typically John Lennon weekend.


Written by Karla Wambold from Pennsylvania

Guess what?  I met John Lennon on May 16th and 17th, 1975 in Philadelphia,.  See, every year WFIL radio has a marathon to help raise money for all kinds of handicapped kids (by all kinds I mean blind, crippled, deaf, etc.).  This year John agreed to come and help out with it.  He signed autographs for fans who came to the studio to see him, posed for pictures, and the usual bit.  The marathon was to start on May 16th at 3pm, and I knew John would be there early and naturally, I wanted to be on hand for his arrival.  I got to the studio about 1pm with a few things I wanted him to autograph, plus my trusty camera was with me.  John arrived at about 2:00 to a crowd of about ten or so people.   All of us there had thought we'd never get to see him because of his deportation and all.  We had fun.

He signed for me an 8 x 10 picture (the one from the White Album), my autograph book, "In His Own Write," by J.L. (who else but?), my Beatles t-shirt (which I was wearing at the time), and a poster about the marathon which I had "borrowed" from the front desk.   And John posed for as many pictures as he possibly could before he had to go back in.  By the time 3pm came around the crowd grew.  And he would come out off and on during the evening to sign autographs and stuff.  But he went to the hotel to rest until about 9:00 the next morning.

On the 17th, I went with all the Beatles magazines I've collected over the years to have John sign.  What got me is that he remembered me from the day before!  And he was more than happy to sign all those magazines for me.  Anyway, at one point around noon, the days of Beatlemania returned!  When John came out for the third time that day this one girl got overly excited, and her excitement spread quickly through the crowd.  Naturally, John had to hurry back in, and the cops and guards tried their damnedest to get us in a state of normalcy!   Of sure, the Philadelphia cops and the WFIL/WPVI guards were around to keep order, but they let us the fans and John to ourselves because we all wanted to meet him and he us.  And we were a good enough crowd that we got no hassles.  Other than that one incident everything was great!

But everything went cool!  I couldn't go on the 18th even though I wanted to.  I did take some pictures, thought and they turned out beautiful.  As for the marathon, they raised over $115,000.00 for the kids.  And most of it was because of John being there.

The weekend was over too soon, and at the end, I felt like crying.  I always wanted to meet a Beatle, and I finally did.  I never thought I would and never thought if I did that he'd be so nice.  I heard all these things saying that John was this or he was that, but they were all implied.  All I can say now is that all those rumors are just rumors and I should be ashamed for in any way believing them.  John was just the nicest man. All I could do is love him.  I really can't describe my feelings towards him after that weekend.  John is nice and not the "thing" people say he is.  He is human, too!

WFIL Helping Hands Marathon with Special Guest Star John Lennon

I just can't get enough of the stories from the fans that met or saw John Lennon in 1975 at the Helping Hand marathon.    This story comes from issue 10 year 2 of The Mess and was written by Rosemary Tully .

Photo by Rosemary

Every year, one of the local radio stations in Philadelphia, WFIL holds the "Helping Hands Marathon."  It raises money for 23 different charities in Philadelphia.  Several personalities usually come to help out.

This year someone from WFIL management decided to ask John Lennon to help.  He went to New York, had dinner with John and talked it over.  John agreed. 

A friend of mine who works at WFIL told me about John's upcoming appearance.  I got really excited and asked if there were any way I could get in.  He said sure if I would like to help out and answer phones.  Of course, I agreed.   I also got my best friend, Cindy, in.   She nearly died when I told her!

The marathon took place on the weekend of May 16, 17 and 18.  We found out two weeks in advance.  The longest two weeks I ever spent.

The Tuesday before the marathon, I managed to sprain my ankle.  The doctor and my parents didn't want me to go to the weekend.  I refused.   We had a big argument and it turned out we both won.  I would only be allowed to go if I wore crutches.  I thought that would be the end!  Everyone would stare at me, plus I'd feel like an idiot! (They did, I did.)

Friday finally arrived and so did we.  We went into the wrong end of the radio station and with a little help from a guard, we found our way to the loading dock where the marathon took place. 

We were told to fill in the tables in the back where nothing could be seen!  that is where the crutches really came in handy.  Cindy and I were allowed to sit up front, in perfect view of John and the rest of the crowd.

At 3pm, things got underway.  Phones started ringing, people started out materials (sic) and heads started spinning.  I'm not sure why, but John was late.  Word got round that he'd arrive about 4pm.  So we all kept our minds on work.

At a quarter to 4, there was a slight rumble towards the back entrance, everyone turning around and there he was, John Lennon.   He was being mobbed right and left.  Cindy got up and went to get some autographs.  And he made his way toward the front, I flagged him down and asked him to sign my shirt (a Beatles shirt, of course!)  He didn't say anything, just started signing.  I couldn't believe it!  John Lennon!  On my back!  I was truly on Cloud 9.  Then I started to take some pictures.  The girl across the table from me just kept saying, "I can't believe it."

Soon John had to leave to broadcast over the radio.  He was telling everyone to send in their pledge.  We all went back to work.

Every hour, John would come down for about 15 minutes.  He posed for the T.V. cameras, talked to some people on the phone and took pledges from the crowd.  Outside he autographed everything from posters to album covers, sneakers to shirts, and books and arms.

Other celebrities like Yoko Ono Lennon, Neil Sedaka, Barry Manilow, Paul McCartney, and Flip Wilson called in or stopped by (Paul and Yoko only called).


To raise extra money, auctions were started.  John auctioned off his stars and stripes, red white and blue socks for $50.  Later, he auctioned another pair of red ones for $50 again.  I painted a poster of the Yellow SUbmarine and characters for the auction.  John was just supposed to sign his name but he wrote, "To Ro, Luv John Lennon."  Now it's on my ceiling.

The rest of the weekend went along fantastic.  John was so great about everything.  He really went crazy on the phone.  "Hi this is John Lennon, send in your money" was one of his calmer remarks.  It was all fantastic! 

Four months have passed since then and I still feel like I'm just waiting to see him.   That one little weekend seem to go so fast.  I still can't believe, I met John Lennon!

To serve and protest

John's socks

How many rock stars take off their socks and auction them on the spot for charity?   John was one of a kind. 

Cracks in the photo -- still amazing.

A great day for John fans

Photo removed at the request of the owner. 2018

John Lennon helps out

Banana Joe