One time outside MPL...

 July 8, 1986 -- MPL

Paul at MPL (guest blogger post)

Paul outside MPL in 2022.  Photo taken by Louise Guthrie

I have a special treat for you all tonight!  A rare treat at that!  I rarely have guest writers on this site simply because no one ever asks.  But I received a lovely email from Louise Guthrie offering to share her story of seeing Paul outside MPL on this site, and how could I turn down a great Paul sighting story?  That is what this site is all about!   So please enjoy Louise's story and take some time to read the longer version on his site: Just click here.  --  Sara S. 

 You have to be incredibly lucky to see Paul McCartney step out of his MPL Communications offices on Soho Square right on cue.

I witnessed the almost cruel irony of this unwritten rule firsthand last summer. A friend and I had arranged to meet at the Radha Krishna Temple, which happens to be just around the corner from MPL. Thanks to a quiet insider tip from a local Beatles tour guide, we knew that Sir Paul himself was in residence that afternoon. So we waited outside for a while, quietly chanting on our Hare Krishna beads and chatting. While we stood there, a vibrant, Spanish-speaking tour group arrived with their dedicated Beatles guide. Jubilant and filled with infectious energy, they waved, postured, and posed delightedly for each other's cameras. These Latinos were determined to stay. It was a once-in-a-lifetime scenario for them.

We knew what they didn’t know—that Paul was not only in there, but about to leave—because my friend and I had recognised his chauffeur-driven car (the Macca-mobile!) as it pulled up to the kerb. But "The Big Man" (as they reportedly call him inside) wasn’t going to come out while a large crowd was actively gathered at the doorstep; he was probably in a rush to get to Liverpool, where he would join Bruce Springsteen on stage the very next day. Eventually, the Spanish-speaking group walked away (although the last one practically had to be dragged!). Seconds later, the doors opened, and out stepped Mr McCartney himself, larger than life. The irony was heartbreaking. Those tourists had likely travelled halfway round the world, perhaps from South America, and gone on a Beatles tour, only to miss him by a matter of seconds. We were the lucky ones that day.

Another crossroads moment: Back in 2022, I noticed lying on the pavement directly in front of Sir Paul's office a brand-new copy of the Bhagavad-gita that must have come from the Hare Krishna Temple—an odd place for someone to have left it! As I picked it up, I struck up a conversation with a gentleman in a Beatles T-shirt standing nearby. He had actually moved to England from Austria purely because of his love for the Beatles, and he had been regularly waiting outside MPL for five long years without catching so much as a glimpse of Sir Paul. I remarked that he looked quite a bit like Sean Lennon. The man smiled and confirmed that his mother was Japanese. I told him he was likely going to be in luck today, as the strategically-placed Gita had to be a good sign.

Meanwhile, with great cosmic timing, Jayadev John Richardson, a senior Hare Krishna devotee, had arrived at the Soho Street Temple ready to command a very rousing street kirtan. The air filled with the rhythmic pulse of drums and the soaring, hypnotic cadence of the Hare Krishna mantra as the devotees all sang and danced with Jayadev. As if on cue, the heavy doors of MPL swung open. Stepping out into the London daylight was Paul McCartney. He gave us the famous "Macca thumbs-up" before going on his way.

Fast-forwarding to May 2026, we romped into Soho Square with Jayadev on Harinam, our procession filling the air with the sound of the drums and the cymbals. Right on cue, the doors of MPL swung open, and Paul stepped out. He quickly entered his waiting car. But he didn't rush his departure. Intrigued by the sound, Paul wound down his car window to listen to the music. Seizing the incredible moment, one of the devotees stepped forward toward the open window, offered him a mantra flyer, and shook his hand. Paul accepted it with that easy-going warmth, giving a gracious nod before the car slowly coasted away.

One of the devotees, completely overwhelmed by the sheer proximity of the moment, turned to me with wide eyes and remarked, "I have seen Paul McCartney, I can die now."

Call it absolute coincidence (or madness), but for me, these on-point encounters have arguably shown that it is the power of the Maha Mantra itself that brings Sir Paul out. It witnesses the beautiful, enduring overlap between the history of Western pop royalty and the timeless lineage of Eastern spirituality. Decades after the Beatles first sat in meditation in Rishikesh, that same spiritual current is still flowing. In fact, these synchronous events run parallel to the extraordinary journey of Jayadev John Richardson himself. As the founder and former drummer of the 70s glam-rock band The Rubettes, Jayadev walked away from selling 30 million records to embrace Eastern mysticism and pioneer his global 'Mantra Choir' movement—bringing the very spiritual music Paul smiled upon in Soho into mainstream Western spaces today.

Meeting Paul McCartney wasn't just a stroke of immense luck. It was a real-life reminder that the music, the mantra, and the magic of that era are still very much alive, echoing through the streets of London and continuing to come full circle.

Something New

 

I enjoy searching the Internet and discovering what appears to be abandoned sites that share Beatles information.   I found this funny story on a blog by someone I believe is named Mark Savas.    At one time he had a blog called The Elegant Variation .   The last entry on the blog was from 2018, so he hasn't updated it in quite some time.  In 2007 he shared this photograph and story about meeting Paul in 1981.  

You have to go back to April 1981. I'm a 16-year-old on my first solo trip to London for a week. (Different times.) I'm also a rabid Beatles fan who played Paul in a Beatles sound-alike band), so I spend most of the trip checking out London's (and later Liverpool's) Beatles sites. After visits to the Cavern, Abbey Road, Penny Lane, and the rest, I find myself at the Soho Square office of McCartney's MPL (McCartney Productions Limited).

Standing across the street, photographing the building, I can see the top of a head in the second-floor conference room window, and that's all I need to know that Macca is in the building. I find the nearest lamppost and shimmy up as far as I can for a better view, holding on with one hand, Kodak Instamatic Pocket 20 in the other. I snap a few shots, slide down the post – to find two Bobbies waiting for me.

Now, this is only five months after John Lennon has been murdered, so the police are naturally uncomfortable about anyone getting too close to the remaining Beatles. They're in the process of patting me down when McCartney comes down and steps out the front door.

"Oh, he's all right," he says. "I know him. You can leave him."

I'm stunned and speechless and all I can manage to do is stick my camera into the hands of one of the Bobbies and stand beside Paul. Paul chuckles and says, "Oh, they can't do that." But the officers are clearly every bit as thrilled as I am and say they're happy to. The photo they took appears below. No jokes about the hair, please.

(The autograph is there because I had the chance to interview him three years later when he came through New York on a press junket. When it was over, I gave him the photo and said, "You might not remember this, but I nearly got arrested climbing up a lamppost outside your office." He lit up at the memory, smiling as he took the photo and signed it. "Ahh, that was you. Ya drip." There are few moments in my life that compare with being affectionately called a "drip" by Sir Paul McCartney.)

It's worth noting that McCartney was holding something in his right hand, so when he took leave of me, we shook hands my right to his left – and all I could think walking away was, "I just shook the hand that wrote 'Hey Jude' ... "

Jukebox leaning

 

I am a sucker for a photo of Paul with his MPL office jukebox. 

Cute kids and Paul outside MPL

 

Paul at MPL

Photos by Tore Skaar and Anne Kristin Ekern

Paul at MPL

McCartney Observer

By Tore Skaar and Anne Kristin Ekern (Norway)

Summer 1980

 

After a lot of struggling, we managed to meet Paul and Wings for the first time on June 15, 1979 – the very last day of our visit to London.  It was merely an hour before our bus left for the airport!  Wings were being interviewed live on Capital Radio when “Back to the Egg” had just been released.  Ray Brown (at the Musique Boutique) had hinted that the group was to be interviewed live about 3 pm.  It was our last chance to see them, and we had to hurry.  Naturally, we were somewhat depressed this last day in London, after all the seeking that gave no result.  Well, Wings arrived, all of them in good spirits, and the dream of seeing Paul had come true.  He was very nice, joked and smiled, ever the diplomat!  We took some pictures and well, the end of the story is rather sad.  Somehow the film disappeared when it was sent for developing, and we’ve never seen anything of it since.

So, therefore we set out with bigger hopes when we made our trip the second time around this year.  Having arrived in London on Saturday, July 5^th, we went up to St. John’s Wood on Sunday.  Paul was not living there this time either, so we walked to Abbey Road/EMI aftwerwards.  We didn’t really expect Paul to be there, and we were right.  Someone there said, when we asked where Paul was, “I think he’s in Scotland.” Now, that made us a little depressed again.  After all, it was July, the album (McCartney II) was out quite a while ago, and it wouldn’t really be strange if Paul was on holiday.  But we were determined not to give up.  Having gained quite a lot of experience from the first trip, we learned one thing:  Trust no one!  They all tell you different things!  Whether it’s Tony Brainsby, Sue at MPL, or someone at the EMI Abbey Road – well, it’s a shame, but you can’t really trust any of them.  One of them says Paul is out of the country on holiday; the other says he’s rehearsing at a secret place (far away from London, of course) or that he’s in Scotland, etc etc. so once again – here’s the advice that you all ought to go by: TRUST NO ONE!  THEY ALL TELL YOU DIFFERENT THINGS!

Soon already the next day, this statement proved to be true.  On our way to Oxford Street – we came from “Musique Boutique” – we decided we might as well drop by the MPL in Soho Square.  It was just after 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and the door was locked.  However, a girl came out and was actually very friendly.  Answering the questions about where HE was, she said, “He’s upstairs.”  We couldn’t believe it, and we got so excited.  So, of course, we couldn’t leave the place now, and we started to wait for him to come down.  A Mexican boy called Enrique was also there.  And whom did we see when we had just crossed the street and looked toward the first floor, but Paul! It made us so happy, and we waved at him with a lot of gestures.  He smiled and waved back.  It looked as if he was happy to see us.  He was sitting in a chair, so we could only see his head.  He had a conversation going on with an unidentified person.  Apparently, it was a day of business meetings for Paul, and we were pretty lucky to be here this day, as he's very seldom at the MPL.  Later on, we also saw Linda and baby James on the 3^rd or 4^th floor.  We waved at them, too, and they waved back.  Linda helped every smiling James with his waving.  They all seemed happy that day. Well, Paul finally went out of the room and seemingly took the elevator to another floor, so we had to wait longer.  And, would you believe it, who came walking towards MPL just after we had arrived there – George Martin!  We didn’t get to speak with him when he arrived, but after an hour or so, he came out again, so we ran to him and said “hello” and “thank you for all the great records that you produced.”  He was very nice, wrote autographs and posed for us.

And we waited for Paul.  After two hours of waiting, he finally came down with James on his arm.  Linda also came.  As we started for the front door, Paul suddenly opened the door and waved us towards him!  “What the hell, is he going to invite us in?” we thought.  He didn’t do that, but he asked us if we were going to take photos, and we said yes, and he just said, “OK.  Well, just wait and few minutes, and we’ll come out.”  We could hardly believe it.  It was so nice of him!  It just goes to prove that he cares about his fans.

There were some people inside, and they chatted for a couple of minutes.  Then they came out, and Paul started posing at one, and then Linda too.  We clicked away with our cameras, and we managed to get some good photos of the event.  Paul then said that they had to leave, and they went into their Rolls.  We ran out into the street to take as many photos as possible.  Paul rolled down his window, and James sat on Linda’s knees.  Linda smiled – so did Paul – and we all said goodbye to each other.  Then they drove away. 

It was Monday, July 7, 1980, at 6 pm, and a day we’ll never forget. 

Paul outside of MPL in Soho

 August 31, 1982

MPL at SoHo

 

May 18, 1982

On Wednesdays we wear pink

 

Fans at MPL

 July 8, 1986 - MPL 

Leaving MPL

Photo by Vinnie Zuffante

Green Monday in front of the jukebox

You know I'm a sucker for a photo of Paul standing in front of his MPL jukebox!   Another one to add to the collection. 

January 17, 2020

New Juke Box photos

September 5, 2019

Always someone waiting to see them

Leaving the office

Macca spotting

The right place at the right time

A group of fans were standing outside MPL in London, hoping that when Paul McCartney exited the building, he would sign autographs and allow photos.    Lucky for them, that is exactly what happened.   Even luckier was the delivery guy that just happened to have been making deliveries that day in Soho.  (noticed the yellow helmet in the photographs above)  He was on his scooter and noticed the commotion going on outside of MPL and spotted Paul McCartney in the small crowd.   He got right up there and got an autograph too and then got back to work. 

Saw him standing there

A moment to himself

Inside MPL

This seems to be a fairly recent photo and it appears that Paul still has the same couch and jukebox in his MPL office that he had in the 1980's.    Paul...a man that doesn't change thing very often.