One of those Days

 

“One of Those Days” (November 9, 1973)

By Kris Spackman

With a Little Help From My Friends

April 1974

 

I knew from the moment we got out of bed on Friday, November 9, that it was going to be one of those days!  Actually, it had all begun the night before, when we’d literally tried to eat ourselves out of house and home, so we wouldn’t have so much to carry when we moved flats the following day.  Marla and I were amazed at the amount of junk we’d accumulated in 3 months’ time in London, and though we stayed up half the night packing, we still had a thousand and one things to do that Friday.

As we rode the underground into town for our daily jaunt to Apple.  I half-jokingly predicted, “You watch – just cuz we have all this stuff to do, probably George, Ringo and McCartney will show up today!”   At Green Park Station, we paused to buy an Evening Standard, then made our way to Apple, arriving about noon – fifteen minutes ahead of our planned meeting time with Pattie and Kathy.  Taking up our “places” on the step outside, we began to read the paper.  Minutes passed and we were both hunched over a story, when a voice above us commanded, in a very insistent tone: “All right, you lot!  No sittin’ about here!  C’mon, let’s go…”

My immediate thought was “Oh for Christ’s sake, who in Hell is bothering us now?” and was ready to tell the intruder to buzz off when we looked up into the mischievously grinning faces of Paul and Linda!!  Talk about instant heart failure!  We both scrambled immediately to our feet, Mar repeating, “Ok…. Ok…” while I mumbled some incoherent, “Yes, sir’s” Quite enjoying the whole thing, McCartney slugged Marla in the arm, assuring, “I’m only kidding!” and before we could utter another word, they were on their way inside.  I finally managed to call, “It’s nice to see you again,” to which Linda smiled and waved.

Then we collapsed!  We had been seeing McCartney and Linda almost daily for most of the month of October when they’d been recording “Band On The Run.”  But they're turning up at such an unexpected place as Apple, and taking us so completely by surprise threw us into a mild state of pandemonium!  Through the door, we watched them bop around reception, talking to Roger (one of Ringo’s errand boys), who was on the switchboard, then they disappeared upstairs for a few minutes.  Ringo had not yet arrived, and for a panicky few moments, we thought sure they’d “escape” before Pattie and Kathy arrived, or before our friend Angela (who worked in Apple’s kitchen) was made aware of their presence.  In fact, they were on their way out the door, while we frantically racked our brains for some sane conversation which would keep them there an extra few minutes – when Ringo pulled up, in driver Peter’s little blue Volvo, instead of his own tan Mercedes.

And there we were, folks …. McCartney and Linda to the left of us – Ringo to the right of us, and poor Kris and Marla in the middle, looking slightly more idiotic than usual!  In his usual slow pace, Ringo got out of the car; he was wearing one of his “work uniforms,” a red and black diamond checked sweater, blue jeans, and tennis shoes!  He paused to nod at us and bid us “Good morning,” and when he saw smiling Paul (who was holding the door open) and Linda, his face broke into a big grin and he held out his arm, greeting cheerily, “Good morning, boys and girls!”

McCartney called, “Hello, hello” and in they all went, trooping through reception and on upstairs.  A few paces behind, driver Peter shook his head and grinned at us, teased and amused, for we apparently looked as delighted as we felt!  We did manage to say hello to him, then summoned Roger, who was hopping around and babbling idiotically about getting McCartney’s autograph, and told him to tell Angela to get the hell up here!  When she appeared, we said a grand total of 3 words to her, “Ang, Paul’s here…” and she was off like a shot!

The whole thing was so absolutely insane, like a scene from some crazy movie, that we couldn’t get over it!  We still had no idea where in the world they’d come from, for neither the Rolls nor the Lamborghini were anywhere in evidence.  And they had to have come from the direction of Piccadilly Street to come upon us like they had.  I’d always had a feeling that McCartney would show up at Apple one day, but never expected him to sneak up on us that way!  When he’d been recording, he’d spent most of his time at George Martin’s Air Studios; but when he did the remixing, he spent one day at Kingsway and 2 or 3 at EMI.  We’d always managed to find out where he’d be ahead of time and turn up before he did, until finally, one day at EMI, he asked how we did it! (Kathy merely smiled and Marla told him, “We have our ways!”) (and to digress momentarily here, that was the same day that Mar and Linda had a heart-to-heart chat about Cleveland because her mother was from there!).  Anyway, in our discussion of the Macs’ “ambush” upon us “innocent by-sitters,” we decided that, on seeing us, he probably thought, “All right!  Now it’s my turn!  This’ll really get ‘em!” 

But little did he know that we had Angela on the “inside” who would shortly serve him tea and undoubtedly blow his mind!  Meantime, Pattie and Kath finally arrived, and once they’d heard what they’d missed, vowed never to be late again!  Then Angela came out, all aglow.  She had brought Ringo, Paul, and Linda their tea, and Mr. McCartney had indeed been quite astounded, as though we’d planned the whole thing!  When she came into Ringo’s office, Paul had stared at her in amazement, and said, “You work here?  How long have you been working here?”  She told him, “Three months,” to which he added, “Do you mean all the time at the studio… you were working here?”  He then proceeded to tell Ringo how Ang and her friends had waited for him at the studio, and Ringo teased her about “deserting” him!  Ringo really liked Ang, as does everyone at Apple who works with her; she’s just one of those immediately likable sorts, though basically quite shy.  We were really happy for her and for ourselves.  Later, Ang once again served them coffee.  Linda, who was on the phone, accidentally bumped into her, and was profusely apologetic!

Meantime, we waited outside, anxious to see what would happen next!  We heard they’d come to discuss publicity for the new album, but when they emerged about 2:30, Mccartney was carrying a copy of Ringo’s album.  By this time, we’d all calmed down a bit, and I noticed she was wearing a long coat, a red and blue vest, black pants, and a blue cap.  He stopped in front of us, all smiles, and said, “Your friend works in there! She brought me tea and I was all...”  and he did a darling imitation of his astonishment at seeing Angela!  Mar laughingly told him that’s what he got for sneaking up on us!  And then out of nowhere appeared that magic taxi which arrives the instant he sets foot out the door.   Calling goodbye, he and Linda got in and were off.  As we made our way home, I vaguely recall someone saying she wouldn’t be surprised if Paul returned to Apple later that day.

As per usual, we went back to Apple at 6 to wait for Ringo, and Ang met us with the news that McCartney and Linda had come back.   We’d missed them by just 15 or 20 minutes, and at the time, Ang had been outside talking to this older Italian woman who was a friend of Lucy (of ex-Scruff fame).  McCartney had asked Ang if that was her mother, which just completely broke us all up!

Ang gets off work at 6, and besides the four of us, she and two other friends of ours, Elena and AnnaMaria, waited as well.  Elena had some flowers which she gave to Ang to give to Paul and Linda when they came out.  We passed the time talking to each other and to Dave from McCartney Productions, who was going to drive them home.  Dave was in a harry and assured us they wouldn’t be long.

They came out about 8:30, smiling and saying “Goodnight” to us all.  Then Mar asked, “Paul, can we give you something?” He was quite agreeable and Ang and Kathy gave the flowers to them.  They thanked them, then Dave led them back to his car.  They called “Goodnight” to us again as they climbed in the back seat, then waved to us as Dave drove off.

The night was not yet over, however, for we were soon to be witness to another “phenomena.”  Mr. Richard Starkey at the wheel of his own car.  Apparently, he’d given Peter the night off and someone had brought the Mercedes into town for him.  But when Ringo took the wheel, we worried about him til we next saw him safe and sound.  The Mercedes was parked out front, between one of the other driver’s cars and another in front of it.

Ringo came out about 9:20. I was a bit nervous at the time because I’d been volunteered to ask him to sign a birthday card for a friend of ours, which we’d gotten most of the other Apple employees to sign.  He was saying his “Goodnights” when I approached him with the card, and without a second thought, almost before I’d gotten the word out of my mouth, he took the pen I held out, the card, and told me to “hold it” as he signed “Ringo – xxx.”  It almost seemed as though he were expecting me to ask him, and he was so sweet about it!  Then he moved towards the car, and started to get on the wrong side before he remembered he was driving! As he went around the other side, he winked and smiled at Angela, then got in and started it up.  We all stood by, nervously guiding him out of the parking space, crying for him to stop when he almost backed into the car behind! “Should we go out and stop traffic?”  Elena wondered aloud, but he finally worked his way out of the spot and drove very slowly up the street, as we all crossed our fingers and hoped for the best!

To celebrate the day, we then went to the pub, where Mal joined us a short while later for one drink and entertained us with stories about the ghosts at Friar Park!  Oh, we did finally get all our packing and cleaning done that day, somewhere in between times and when we got home that night.  And even though it was “one of those days,” we wouldn’t have missed it for the world!

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!

 

 

 

 

 

Starrs In Our Eyes

 

 Starrs in our Eyes

By Kris Spackman & Sil Perrone

With a Little Help From My Friends

July 1978

 

Sunday, February 19, 1978, was a day of dreams.  There was bright sunshine, beautiful blue skies and a euphoric, ecstatic haze around us all brought upon by the state of shock we were finding ourselves extras on the set of the Ringo special.  It was one of those days we prayed would never end.  We could’ve stayed on forever!

We’d found out in advance that the special was to go into production at NBC in late February.  And so, bright and early that fateful Sunday morning, the 4 of us:  Pattie, Sil, Leslie, and I went over to NBC to wait for Ringo, and we hoped, George, to drive in for rehearsal.  We spoke to the guard at the gate who said he wasn’t sure they’d be in, then sat down in the parking lot to wait.  Only minutes later, the guard came out of his little booth, strolled over to us, and casually announced, “I just talked to some of the dancers on the set; they said Ringo’s over at A&M Studios today.”  A&M?  My first thought was, “Then George can’t possibly be with him.”  But, we thought, it’s logical they may be pre-recording the soundtrack?  We thanked the guard, hoping he wasn’t just trying to get rid of us, jumped into Sil’s car, and took off.  It was a nerve-wracking drive, mixed with choruses of “I don’t believe it!” to “Do you think he’s really there?”  But at this point, anything was worth a try!

Well – we owe that guard a big bottle of champagne!  The famous A&M Studios are located behind and next to a Safeway Supermarket in Hollywood, with a fence between the two.  The fence is covered over with canvas, leaving only little peep-holes at the bottom.  Sil pulled to a stop near the fence and Pattie, Leslie, and I tumbled out and raced over, dropping to our knees to peek thru.  Silence.  Then from Pattie, a chocked “Omigod, it’s him!”  There, across the parking lot, was Ringo, standing and talking to a couple of people. He was surrounded by TV equipment and lights and we realized with a jolt that they were going to, or in the process of, filming for the special!

After just looking at him for a few minutes and feeling all those crazy things you feel with it’s been 2 whole years since you last saw one of them, I jumped up and said, “I’m going around and walked by the front gate.”

“I’ll go with you,” Sil said and off we dashed, trying to appear calm, cool, and collected as we approached the gate and peeked in.  He was still there, wearing black trousers, a white shirt, and black vest, with a red scarf knotted round his neck, looking as gorgeous and healthy, and as “Ringo” as ever!

“I’m going to go back and get those guys,” Sil said and moments later, we were all peering thru the gate.

As we almost expected, we were immediately approached by a young man wearing an A&M security T-shirt, and we braced ourselves for the inevitable, “Sorry, but you can’t stand here.”

But when it came out as “Would you like to be extras on the Ringo Starr show?” we all just stood there and gaped at him, with our mouths hanging open probably to our knees!  None of us could manage a word.  We must have just nodded somewhat coherently as he ushered us in, pointed to a doorway and said, “Go on into the soundstage over there; there’s coffee and donuts, and someone will talk to you about signing a release.  Don’t wander around and get in anyone’s way and you’ll be fine.”

Zombie-like, we obeyed, and mumbled over and over, “I don’t believe it!”  “I’m gonna die!” “This CAN” T be for real” And maintaining so much cool, I’ll never know how we did it!  The coffee and donut room was a big barnlike soundstage; other extras were there like ourselves, while technicians ran all over the place.  We had our coffee, while a very nice young lady, Shelley, had us sign release forms, and explained they would not be using us for a while, and she wasn’t sure herself, exactly what we’d be doing.  She said she was glad we were there because they’d been dying for people the day before, and pulling them in off the street.  We assured her we couldn’t be happier than to be there. Then she left us and we wandered back and forth, just watching and still feeling like four volcanoes about to explode!

 

Also inside the room was a set-up of TV monitors and Sony video machines.  People were beginning to gather round them, so we followed and found ourselves watching Ringo and John Ritter in the process of filming a scene from the show, the one in which John reads off all the crazy activities Ringo is scheduled for that day, and it was a real crack up to watch as they did several takes.  The errors were even funnier.  In one, Ringo knocked the clipboard from Ritter’s hand, one or the other would fluff a line, and they’d break up.  But Ringo was very serious about getting things exactly right, and we could tell he was working incredibly hard.  As the scene was played back on the monitors, John Ritter came in to watch with us, and accepted our compliments with delightfully shy grins and “thank yous,” hugging Leslie in the process.  He was such a dear.  We all fell in love!  (He is also one hell of a Beatle fan, and was almost as excited to be working with Ringo as we were.  He even told us he felt like he was “14 all over again.”)  Then, Ringo wandered thru, asking, in passing, how we liked it so far.  (Actually, he kinda snuck up on us; we were all so engrossed with the monitors, we didn’t even know he was there until he spoke!)

The next scene they did was when he walked into the studio to play “I’m the Greatest.”  That took several takes because he kept blowing “I’m the greatest, and you better believe it, baby!”  The music wasn’t coming thru to his liking and they stopped for several adjustments, including putting pillows in the bass drums.  While making adjustments to his drums, a muttered “These little fuckers won’t stay down!” broke us all up!

In the meantime, across the soundstage, another “change” was taking place.  A young actor by the name of Hank Jones was being made up to look like Ringo.  And I mean, it was from scratch on up!  We watched in wonder as he acquired, via the wonders of the make-up department, a nose, eyebrows, beard, mustache, and even a head of hair.  Pattie and Sil both took pictures as they progressed, and we were all quite amazed at the results!  (Remember the “Yellow Sub” dance scene?  That was Ringo as Ognir and Ognir (or Hank) as Ringo!)  In most of the scenes, Ringo played both parts and dubbed in his voice, but Hank had his bits as well.  He was there in parts of the recording studio, and at the concert scene at the end.  HE told us he’d been chosen for his build and height more than for any facial resemblance to Ringo.  And with the makeup job that was done on him, that was really all that was necessary.  Meantime, Pattie coached him on how to walk like Ringo.

The scene was the 2 of them in the studio was also done several times.  Ringo blew the word “boulevard” when asking Ognir about his cruising, then kept saying it over and over in a foreign accent as “Voule-vard.”  He also had a hard time with the “Nobody’ll know” line and kept saying it as “Nobody’ll care.”  But best of all was fluffed, “Just tell ‘em you’re on a break and they’ll leave you alone,” which, after several aborted takes, came out as “Just tell’em you’re on a fuckin’ break!”  We nearly died laughing!

From what we’d been told, they’d been filming since 7 in the morning, and they worked straight thru that day until nearly 2 without a break.  By 1, we were starving and at Shelley’s reassurance we wouldn’t miss anything, we dashed across the street to the Copper Penny, ate like maniacs, and came back in 30 minutes to find Pioneer chicken dinners being brought in for everyone!

Ringo had passed back and forth thru the soundstage several times between takes and conversations with the crew.  There were 2 motor homes being used as his and John Ritter’s dressing rooms and they had lunch, we assumed, inside.

After lunch, the crew began setting up outside in the parking lot/courtyard.  We still had no idea what we were going to be doing, and once again asked Shelley if she knew.   She finally found out that they weren’t satisfied with a scene done the day before with the fans converging on the limo as Ringo arrives at the studio (The opening scene in the special).  The director wanted to re-do it, and we were to be in a gang of fans chasing the car.  We found it pretty amusing.  Is there anything Ringo hates more than a scene like that?  We would never have the nerve to do that in “real life.”

A moment later, Ringo emerged from his trailer, now dressed as Ognir and there was Hank dressed as Ringo.  It was getting on in the afternoon and the sunlight was beginning to fade; so, the director was hurrying everyone along.  The scene they were doing was the one in which Ognir is struggling to open the newspaper boxes outside A&M and upend them.  It was an absolute delight to be able to stand just a few feet away from him and watch him do the take several times.  He was just soooo cute!  Sil and Pattie managed to take a couple of pictures while Leslie and I just stood by and just beamed.  Then they moved around to do the bit where “Ringo” invites Ognir in to see the studio; as Ognir-Ringo asked Ringo-Hank if he was going to do “Yesterday,” Ringo-Hank replied, “That’s not my song,” and Ognir-Ringo added jovially, “And Paul did such a fine job on it!”  We loved it!

As they finished the scene, I just couldn’t restrain myself another minute.  I went up to Ringo and said, “Oh Ringo, you’re just terrific!”  He smiled and put his arm around me:  “Thank you, darling.”  And I am still around to tell the tale!

 

After that, he disappeared once more into the trailer for another costume change.  It was then that Shelley came up and regretfully told us they wouldn’t have time to re-shoot the scene they wanted us for after all.  She apologized for hanging us up all day and we were quick to assure her we wouldn’t have missed it for the world!  We were just disappointed we hadn’t got in the scene.  The day’s shooting was still not finished.  We heard later they worked until nearly 3 in the morning that night!  But we were politely told we couldn’t hang around, though they did allow us to wait for him to emerge once more from the trailer.  And we left A&M with “Starrs in our eyes.”

 

But it wasn’t over yet.  The rest of the week was spent with us chasing all over L.A. looking for him on location, staking out NBC at 6am every morning because we heard that tickets were to be made available for the concert segment of the show, then at last minute they weren’t.  That resulted in our making a million panicked phone calls to everyone we knew with even the slightest connection to the record business of any kind in an attempt to get tickets anyway!  It was absolute insanity.

Then it was Tuesday night, February 21, going on 10pm.  After a fruitless night of cruising about town.  Pattie, Sil, Sue, and I decided we’d take one more ride down the Strip, and head on home.  On our way back, Sue and I took a quick look in the parking lot of the restaurant we heard that a certain favorite actor of ours frequents.   Over in the corner as we passed by, I thought and said aloud, “I think I saw a green car back there, you guys.”  AT this point, we were exhausted and discouraged, and Sil said, “Should we go back?”

Said Pattie, “Yeah, let’s.”  And so Sil executed one of her famous U-turns in the middle of Sunset Blvd!  WE returned to the restaurant and sure enough, there was Ringo’s car!  We were in a state of shock – what a chance in a million!  But that wasn’t all:  as we sat in an adjacent parking lot waiting for him to emerge, he was proceeded by another curly-haired guy that Sue and I had been dying to see:  Paul Michael Glaser!  We all went nuts as he turned to get into his car which was brought to the door by one of the valets.  I was absolutely delighted, and we were all freaked out: what in the world were the chances of anything like this ever happening?  Ringo and “Starsky” in the same place at the same time!

It was at least an hour before Ringo emerged, looking like he was thoroughly enjoying himself.  We just sat and watched, not wanting to intrude.  He was with Nancy, but they left in separate cars after chatting for a few minutes, and a very lengthy and cozy goodnight kiss!

And then it was 7am Sunday, February 26, and we were gathered outside NBC.  Our million phone calls and persistence paid off:  13 of us had tickets to get in to see Ringo do the concert bit that night at 8pm!  Yea, we were there at 7 in the morning, because our tickets were yellow, marked “first come, first serve, no guarantee basis” and would admit us after the holders of the “white privileged” tickets got in.  It was one wild and crazy day!  We picnicked, took our turns casing the place, got caught in a four-hour winter rainstorm, and chased everyone who arrived after us (the first of which didn’t show up until 1pm) to the end of the line.

By 7pm, our collective nerves were worn to a frazzle and we were all almost exhausted.  Huddled under blankets and umbrellas, we waited for the doors to be opened.  The tickets said the bearer should be there no later than 7:15. At the prescribed time, we and about 100 other people were escorted inside to a large soundstage.  Holders of the white tickets were seated on one side and yellow on the other.  We were told the rehearsals had gone over time, and it would be a bit before we’d be seated in the room where the stage was.  The next half hour or so passed with agonizing slowness.  But finally, row by row, the white holders were taken in.  We were the first of the yellow bunch, and we were all just deliriously crazy with joy when they finally admitted us.  We were seated at an angle to the stage, which was covered by a pyramid-like screen.  Across the room, we spotted John Ritter, who spotted us back and raised his clenched hands with a big grin as if he was really delighted, we’d gotten in.  The rest of the ticket holders were seated.

Then came the announcement: “And here he is, Ringo Starr!”  We held our breath, then let out a cheer as the screen was raised to reveal him seated at the drums on a raised, star-shaped platform.  He looked just gorgeous in a red jacket and white shirt, but he seemed pretty nervous.  The rest of the audience was the biggest bunch of duds, who just sat there.  We couldn’t believe it!  Here they were, seeing Ringo in a “concert” for the first time ever since Bangla Desh, and they just sat there!  Well, we more than made up for it.  He sang “Hard Times” and “Heart on my Sleeve,” while we clapped and bounced along, and gave a rousing cheer at the finish.  It was such a tremendous thrill.  One of those things you can’t even believe while you’re sitting there experiencing it.

He seemed to loosen up a bit and kept grinning in our direction, seeming to sense how for him we were and how very very much we were enjoying him.  Then he said, “Here’s one you haven’t heard in a long time and probably won’t hear again,” and went into “You’re Sixteen.”  Zonkers!

The director then talked to him over the loudspeaker, asking him to do it once more.  Ringo apologized for the repeat performance, saying that was the way it was on TV.  Little did he know we could’ve sat there forever.  We reacted to him almost every time he opened his mouth, and pretty soon he was throwing out “Milk bottle” and “brown shoe!”  At one point he leaned into the mike and said, looking our way, “that’s not my song.”  Pattie, Sil, Leslie, and I just freaked, because that’d been one of the lines he’d been repeating all day at A&M!  He had to have remembered us.

He introduced the rest of the bad including Dr. John, Keith Allison, and Vini, who was wearing a red jogging suit and boppin’ around in the background.  They began the set again and this time, he messed up a line and dropped a drumstick, which tickled us, then at the finish, the director said they’d need another take because of technical problems.

Ringo sat for a moment then suddenly they broke into “Act Naturally.”  I think we gave off a collective gasp of shock, then a collective cheer.  Following that, he asked if there were any requests.   We sat unable to think of a thing.  Then someone called out, “Photograph!” But Keith Allison sang instead.

As they prepared to re-do the original set again, he reminded us to “be surprised” when they introduced him.  As the saying goes, “the best is last” and he really was tremendously electrifying.  He sang and played beautifully, smiled, and made faces.  That was our sweet Ringo up there, and we loved it to death!

At the end, we went up to the stage in spite of the announcement and ushers asking everyone to leave.  While he was in the room, we weren’t going anywhere!  He walked around the stage for a few minutes, waved and smiled, and bid us goodnight before leaving.  For a few brief minutes, Sil managed to slip backstage and reported Nancy was back there (she’d also been in the audience) and gave him a great big kiss!

We went back out into the rainy night feeling so good, so happy, just high with that crazy feeling you get being around them.  The whole week had been one we’d never forget, one of the best ever!  We’ll always have Starrs in our eyes!

 

Close encounters of the best kind (part 2)

I am so sorry that it has taken me longer than I had anticipated to get the second part of this story up.   

Photo by Karen Dyson 1978

This is the 1978 Long Beach Program like the on  the girls in the story had with them and had George sign.  This one is also signed by George and some of the racers, but it isn't the one that the girls in this story had.

Close Encounters of the best kind

U.S. Grand Prix West Long Beach California

April  2, 1978

By Karen Dyson and Kris Spackman

Up early again and off at 7am, headed for Long Beach.  Someone had stolen our parking permit out of Kris’ car, really great, nothing like having to worry about parking on Race Day.   But things worked out; we went to our parking zone and explained to the guy what happened and he gave us a free permit.  Alright!  So far everything had gone so well; there were chances of rain, but there were showers at night, and the day was gorgeous!  Someone above was looking after us indeed.

At 9:30 was the Formula One “warm up” so we hung out at the pits beforehand; no sign of George.  I decided to use the few shots left on my roll, so I could have a new fresh roll just in case.  So while Kris and Cindy hung out at Jody’s pit, I trekked down to James Hunt’s and finished my roll on him.  I watched James for awhile, then rejoined Kris and Cindy.  Soon the cars were going to the track and there was n sign of George, so we went again to ur seats and eyed the cars passing by.  When there were about 5 or 10 minutes left of the warm up, we headed for the pits.  It really didn’t look as though George would show up, not now anyway.  The actual race didn’t start until one.

So the Grand Prix began and it was so incredible!  When the cars finally came around the first time I couldn’t believe how fast they were moving!  The cars seemed to be passing by faster than before, even fast than qualifying, which didn’t make sense.  It was so exciting when they came around; to see what place they were in.  I love it.  But so sad on the 5^th lap, the cars came around and James Hunt wasn’t there!  I looked won the road and he was obviously slowed down; when he arrived at a wider part of the road, he pulled over.  I could have died.  I felt so sad for James.  He had hit a wall with his front wheel, which mangled it.  My second choice was Jody Schkecter, but he too was eventually out of the race.   The whole thing was so too much!  Most of the crowd seemed to be fans of Mario Andretti.  The event went by so fast.  The two hours were over before we knew it.  Around the 78^th lap we went down to the pits (right after we spotted Rod Stewart strolling by).  James had left and Jody too.  Most of the cars were already in the garage.  We hung around for a while; the crowds were crazy, so we headed for the garage, figuring George would most likely show up there sooner or later.  We waited for ages.  The cars came by but there was no sign of George.  Some guy came along and handed Cindy his VIP pass, saying she could get into the barricaded area of the garage.  So she was in!  Kris and I continued to wait outside.  It was looking hopeless after a while.  Either George wasn’t showing up or he went in without us seeing him.

Jackie Stewart had gone by once; now he was leaving.  He stopped and talked with a couple of men for a while.  One of us came up with the idea of ask Jackie if George was in there, and Kris came up with an even better idea to ask him to sign her program as a good excuse to stop hm.   Jackie finally walked down the ramp and he signed.

Kris:  Have you seen George today?

Jackie:  Oh yeah, he’s around here somewhere.

Kris:  Is he in the garage?

Jackie:  No, I don’t think so.  I didn’t see him.

We two proceeded to wait again.  It was ages.  A couple of young guys were hanging around and they had seen George on Friday as well as Saturday.

Kris headed over to ask someone something from nowhere George appeared!  I could hardly get it out to call Kris’ name and when I did, I wasn’t sure if that was her name!  I tried to focus for a picture, I honestly can’t remember if I did take one or not.  Everything happened so fast, it made me terribly nervous.  I had brought a t-shirt with me that I wanted to give to George.  It’s a goofy t-shirt from a bar in Boulder, Colorado called The Dark Horse.  It’s really funny.  So I thought better now than never. I hurried over to him, and called to him.  George was a few steps away when he finally turned around.

Karen:  May I give you something?

George:  Oh yeah (he came over to me and I held open the t-shirt; he held the ends and looked at it.)  Oh yeah, that’s nice.

He then let it go and began to walk away!  This totally confused me, and I didn’t know quite what to do, so I called out to him again.  George turned back around and I said, “Will you take it?  May I give it to you?”  George came back to get it and said, “Oh sure.”  Then he went up the ramp with Olivia.  Further up, he opened the shirt up and checked it out again.

(Kris speaking)   In the meantime, from God only knows where, I‘d gotten the first stroke of courage of my whole life and captured those very precious moments on film.  While I shook the whole time and didn’t even know if the camera was in focus (somehow it came out beautifully!)

And off he went inside, to encounter Cindy, who saw him the moment he came in the door.  As she hurried towards him, he instantly spotted her Dark Horse t-shirt (a genuine one she’d gotten in a trade), and proceeded to totally blow our Cindy away by saying, “hi darlin’!” to her!  He also saw the camera in her hand and without her even having to ask, promptly posed with Olivia for her!  She stayed close while he talked with other people and tried not to stare, but every time she’d sneak a look at him, he’d be looking right back at her!  The look on his face was one of genuine delight like “Wow you really like me!”

He wasn’t in the garage for very long and by this time Karen and I were inside watching them from a distance.

(Karen speaking)  He had my shirt all neatly folded in his hand.  We thought we saw Cindy talking to him, but we weren’t sure.  We figured she’d see the t-shirt and know we’d seen him.  As he started for the door, Cindy finally approached him and asked him to sign a scrap of paper for her.  He was most obliging and as he did so, asked where she’d gotten her t-shirt.  She explained about the trade to him, then noticed he was wearing an “I think it was the trousers” button!  Without a second thought, Cindy most innocently exclaimed, “Oh George, I think it was the trousers too.”

He started laughing, “Oh yeah?” and asked if she’d seen and enjoyed the Rutles program. They talked for a couple minutes, then he was on his way to the door again.  As we had the day before, we made a mad dash for the exit, racing around the building.  And there he was only a few feet in front of us, walking hand in hand with Olivia.  We drew up shot, not knowing what to do, hating to follow him but wanting so badly to talk to him for just a minute.  

I told Kris that we can’t follow him, but then we took another 10 steps.  I felt so bad.  What should we do?  He headed up a side street toward Ocean Boulevard; it was as if we’d totally lost all control over our legs, as if we were drawn by a powerful magnet.  We were totally helpless.  But he didn’t even know we were there.  

We tried to keep our distance, but there were times they’d slow down and we’d get so close to them.  Once or twice we nearly were standing right next to them.  I could hear George’s voice now and then.  I was so scared he was gonna turn around and be angry with us.  I worried like crazy the entire time.  We followed him for ages; over a bridge, back onto the street, not knowing where in the world we were going, or what we’d do if and when he stopped.  George and Olivia were so cute, holding hands the entire time.  We all continued a block more or so.  At one point George looked at Olivia, gave her a big gorgeous smile, then put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.  Oh, it was just so cute; the two of them were so darling together.

Down the road was a limo, which I suspected was theirs.  We got up to the limo, the chauffeur opened the door, George helped Olivia into the car, and then stood there and talked with the chauffeur, who apologized, saying he couldn’t’ find a closer place to park.  George told him it was ok and the chauffeur said something to make George laugh and say, “Oh yeah?”  George turned around and looked at us:  Kris and I just looked back and him, so he got in the car and closed the door.  I didn’t know what to do, so I asked the chauffeur if he’d ask George to sign my program.  He said, “You go ahead and ask him!”  

(Kris Speaking)  Karen and I looked at each other.  I got down by the window and pointed to her program.  “George, could you sign this for her?”  He rolled down the window, undid his seat belt and scooted forward, as Karen said, “Oh George, we’re so sorry to bother you.”

“That’s ok, that’s ok,” he assured, taking the program from her hand.  (In the program is a picture of George, James Hunt and Leo Sayer.  We’re sure he was tickled to have his pictures in the program.  Earlier Karen had gotten James to sign it and commented jokingly to me, “Gee, if I got George to sign this, I bet he’d say, “Oh you got James to sign, too!”) 

I opened the program to the page Hunt and signed and handed George the pen.

George:  ‘Oh, I see you got James to sign.”

Karen:  Oh yeah, what happened to his car?

George:  He hit a wall with his wheel in the 5^th lap.

Karen:  He’s not doing very well so far this year.

George:  No, he’s not.  (He then signed for Kris)

Kris:  Did you enjoy the race, George?

George:  Oh yes, though I’m not a fan of Carlos (Carlos Reutemann won the race)

Then he looked at me and saw my “the Rutles are coming” button.  “oh the Rutles!  Good!”

Karen told him he looked real spiffy in the show and he started laughing.  Karen then asked what were his plans for the future.  Replied our “hard-working” George, “I’m going home next week to start working on my album.  It’ll be out in July or August.”

“July or August?!” cried Karen, in a tone of “What have you been doing all this time?”

Knowing full well we’d know what he meant, he grinned and replied, “Yeah, well, I’m in semi-retirement now, ya know!”

Karen:  Ah c’mon, now don’t you start giving us that…

George:  (laughing) I am!  I am in semi-retirement!

Kris:  Any plans for a tour, George?

George:  No…no tour.  It’s too much trouble.

Then very nicely he excused himself because people were beginning to gather.  We waved goodbye and watched as the limo pulled away then went absolutely wild and crazy with joy!   We went back to find Cindy and all went nuts together.

There are no words to suffice.  How do you describe the most incredible weekend of your life?  And whoever up there likes us—thank you!