First time Mark met John

Here is a story that I had never heard before of the first time Mark Lapidos (Founder of The Fest for Beatle Fans) first met John Lennon.  
I found this story on the Fest's facebook page. 

 Friday, June 13, 1969. Mark Lapidos first meets John :::

It was outside Apple Headquarters at 3 Savile Row in London. I had just graduated college, so my friend Bob and I went off to Europe for a few months. First stop was London. First landmark was The Beatles offices on a street just off Picadilly Circus.

We walked into the office and I asked the secretary (not Freda Kelly) if I could have any type of souvenir. She gave me a piece of Apple stationery. I asked where The Beatles were. She told me George was on holiday in France, Paul was on holiday in Greece (or vice versa), Ringo was home, and John & Yoko were in there, as she points to a door less than 10' from us. She said to wait outside and John would eventually come out. The office was Neil's - the front room and the window was open.

At some point John plugged in and played some new music (likely from the not yet recorded Abbey Road album). After 2 1/2 hours of waiting, a truck arrives and the driver opens the back doors and we can all see a fireplace in it. On a warm, bright sunny day at 7:45 p.m., John comes out of the office with three genuine Apple Scruffs and a few other fans. I was the only one he spoke with. He came out to look at the fireplace!!

It was just after their Bed-In for Peace in Montreal, when he wasn't allowed in the states, so I offered him my passport and told him he could use it (tall, skinny, same glasses). He thanked me as he handed it back to me. I took some photos, shook his hand and got an autograph on that piece of Apple stationery! I walked around London all night looking at my hand, saying I shook a Beatle's hand. I told Bob (who sadly passed away last year) I want to work for The Beatles...

Peace and Love, Mark

Best wishes to Beatlefest goers!

Mark Lapidos, Paul and Linda in Paris in March 1976

Sometimes having a "real job" just sucks.   But alas, I am not going to be at the Fest for Beatle fans in New York this weekend.    I have to work.  It is state testing time and I have to administer the PARCC test to students and cannot get any time off of work to travel out and have Beatle fun with my friends.   So I hope all of you have a great Fest for Beatle fans!    There are some great presentations planned!  Have fun for me1

40 years ago today: Mark Lapidos met John Lennon

I know for many of you, it will be hard to believe that this year is the 40th anniversary Beatlefest, which is the longest running consecutive Beatles fan convention.      This year marks my 20th anniversary of going to the Fest, so I have been there for half of the time (not bad for a 37 year old!).    I know that quit a few of you have been to Beatlefests over the past 40 years and have great memories of speakers, music, videos and friends.   While I have a lot of complaints about Beatlefest, overall I have to say that it is my favorite thing that I do every summer.   I look forward to the Fest in Chicago all year round because it simply is fun.   It is the one time of the year that I can be around other people who love the Fab 4 as much as I do (or maybe even more if that is possible).   I can listen to geeky speakers and talk to friends in person and sing all the Beatles songs until my hearts content.     I will be going to the Chicago Beatlefest again this year, although I will have to leave early on Sunday before it is over because I have my first day of the school year that Monday.   So I hope to see many of you there again!

Carol and Mark Lapidos at the 2014 New York Fest

All of this Beatles fun is due to one person.   Mark Lapidos not only created Beatlefest, but he has ran it with very little bumps for the past 40 years.   I can't say enough how much I appreciate Mark Lapidos and all of the work he has done to not only start a Beatles convention but to keep it going.   Many, many other Beatle fan conventions have came and gone over the years and yet Beatlefest is the only one that remains for the longest amount of time.  Mark has to be doing something right.    Do I agree with everything he does?  Heck no!  Do I complain about it every single year when I return?   Heck yeah!   I still think that the Fest needs a make-over of sorts if it is going to continue on after Paul and Ringo are gone, but that is a discussion for another day.     One of the reasons why I believe that the Fest has lasted so long is because Mark Lapidos as always been a true Beatle fan.   I know that some people might not believe this because they have the impression that Mark is just into it to make money off the Beatles name.    But I have seen Mark bid on things with excitement during the auction, I heard him speak about seeing George Harrison at the Bangladesh concert, about going to England in 1969 and hanging around EMI and seeing the Beatles, about seeing Wings over America, etc etc.    He still has passion and love for the Beatles and that is what I think is the most important thing if you are running a fan convention.

Mark with Paul and Linda

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Beatlefest, Mark Lapidos gave a talk about how he came up with the idea for the Fest and how he asked John Lennon "permission" before he went ahead with his plans.   It was exactly 40 years ago today that Mark went to John Lennon's hotel room and talked to him about his idea of having a Beatle fan convention.      And during that talk this past February, I sat right in the front on the floor and recorded the entire time (18 minutes long).   It is really interesting.  I think my favorite part is how John donated a guitar to be raffled off for a charity and how he almost came to Beatlefest to pick the raffle ticket.    You just have to hear the story.   It is pretty amazing.

Come hear me at the Fest!

Well friends, it is hard for me to believe, but it is already time for the Fest for Beatle Fans in Chicago!  This year has flown by so quickly.      If you are going to the Chicago Beatlefest, then you are in for a fun weekend for sure!    I am not too crazy about Chad & Jeremy (does it make me a bad person that I cannot think of one song that they sing?) and I don't know why they are going to be there.   However, the premiere of "Good Ole Freda" is going to make up for it.   I am so excited to see the documentary about Freda Kelly!   

Once again this year I will be speaking on a panel.   It is called "We're Talkin' about Girls now:  Women as Beatles Historians."     The panel will be at 7:30pm on Saturday in the O'Hare Ballroom.   If you are a reader of this blog, it would be great to see you there!    I will be talking all about this little blog of mine and other things of interest along with some top-notch Beatle girls.  

Even if you don't hear the panel, if you see me at the Fest, please come up and say "hello!"  And ask me for a card.  I got these really awesome cards for the blog made up recently and I am pretty proud of them.   I always love to meet blog readers.   I can be a little shy in person, but once you get me talking about the Beatles, I won't stop.    I hope to see many of you at the Fest.   

Mark Lapidos (founder of the Fest for Beatle Fans) with Paul and Linda in March 1976

Report from the Fest for Beatle fans Chicago 2012

Hello to new views of this blog who I met at Beatlefest or who picked up one of my cards that I left laying around and decided to check this blog out!   We are glad to have you join the family!

Also hello to the regular viewer of this blog that I met at the Fest.  It was great to see each and every one of you.   Thank you for coming up and saying hi.   Sitting here alone in my house working on this blog in the evenings, it sometimes gets difficult to remember that there are other fans sitting at their homes looking at the work I did.  It was nice to see the faces of the people who appreciate what I do.

So here is my annual report on the Fest.   I am going to keep this positive.  I could easily write about everything that I dislike about the Fest for Beatle fans.   And there are a lot of things that I have issues with.  However, overall I love going to the Fest.   I always make sure I have fun.   I always do what I need to do so that certain things don't ruin my fun.    I wish all of you could have been there.

Here I am at the Fest in Chicago 2012!  photo:  Coral Schmidt

Friday:  My mom and I left our home in southern Illinois and headed north towards Chicago on the train.   Six long hours of riding in a train. From there we caught the "el" to Rosemont and then walked to the Hyatt Regency O'Hare.    Once the Fest officially started at 5:00pm, we went down to the marketplace to do some Beatle shopping!  Here is where I could complain that there were nearly as many venders as previous years.   But let's stick to positives.   I bought the world cutest and softest plush Blue Meanie.    I also bought a large stack of magazines and photographs for this blog.   My mom and I tried out Beatles Yoga and decided that Yoga is not for us.   It was then time for the Beatles dance party and look-alike / dress up contest.    For the first time ever I dressed up for this event.  I told you that my costume had to do with this blog.   It was a Beatlemaniac from 1965 waiting for the Beatles at the airport.   I might go into details about the costume later.

In my Beatle fan costume.  Photo:  Coral Schmidt

Needless to say, I didn't come even close to winning.   But I had fun!    We listened to Liverpool's (which were pretty good this year) set.  Then we watched a new film called "Beatles stories" which I will be reviewing in an upcoming blog post.


Saturday:   Our Beatlefest adventures began by watching the rest of "Beatles Stories."   I was very happy to see Cathy Sarvers interviewed on it.    Next was time to sit in the freezing cold ballroom and listen to the speakers.  We heard David Bedford (Liddypool) and Bruce Spizer both give wonderful talks.  After a little lunch and a bit of checking out the art contest, we went back into the freeze box of the ballroom and heard most of Ken Scott's talk and then we heard Freda Kelly.   I love Freda.  I think she is a doll.  To keep this as positive as I can, I just wish she was asked different questions.  She has a load of stories to share, and I hate that she wasn't being lead in the direction to share the ones that most of us would have liked to hear.   But her photos were great.  After that was the Beatle auction where I won 3 scrapbooks full of newspaper clippings (more things to scan for the blog!).  I overspent on it, but I think I got carried away in the excitement of the moment.  Oh well. 

Tom Frangione and Mark Lapidos during the auction.  photo:  Sara Schmidt

Next up was watching some of the "Name that Tune" contest (I don't participate because I have learned just how bad I am at that game.).   Then there was a discussion on a new book called Essential Songs of the Beatles Solo Careers (By Andrew Grant Jackson).   It was a great discussion and I am looking forward to reading his book.   Next was time for the panel that I was on!  I mentioned the Write Thing and Barbara Fenick, Lizzie and Gayleen, the Apple Scruffs and all of the wonderful things that female fans have done in the world of the Beatles.   It thought it went over really well.   I would love to be on a panel again sometime.

Talking about this blog at the Fest.  Photo:  Coral Schmidt

Shortly after this I got to meet Freda Kelly in person and have her sign some things for me.  And the rest of the night is a blur.   Did some shopping, some singing, some talking with people.


Sunday:   The only thing to do on Sunday morning is watch the Beatles puppet show.   So that is what I did.  Wanted to hear Bruce again, but my hunger got the best of me and went back to hear David Bedford talk about the Fab 76.    I made sure to stick around to hear Freda again.   Once again I was not happy with the interview.  When someone says that they do not want to talk about something, you should not continue to ask that person questions about it.   Just sayin'.

Freda Kelly at the Fest.  Photo:  Sara Schmidt

I missed out on my chance to enter the Sunday Trivia contest because I was listening to Freda's talk.  I got to watch it and I knew 95% of the answers.   Oh well.  The guy I beat last year won.  I will have to re-gain my title in 2013.    The next topic was photographing the Beatles, which as a Beatles photo blogger interested me a lot.   Then I heard the best discussion about the album, Revolver.   Everyone must get Robert Rodriguez's new book!  I am half way finished with it and think it is great.

The battle of the Beatle Bands was extremely good this year.   In the past there were a lot of "clunker" bands.  But there were some really top notch bands playing.   I didn't even have a favorite. 

Overall I had a great time and I am anxious to go back in 2013. 

Dark Horsing around at the Fest

Mark and Carol Lapidos at a Los Angeles Beatlefest in 1976 with a "Dark horse" donated by George Harrison. photo:  Mark Lapidos.

So friends, I will be offline for several days.   I will open the comments section and I apologize right now for any craziness that may occur.   If I am not responding to emails or messages, it isn't because I am blowing you off, it is because I am in Chicago for the Fest for Beatles fans and I have decided not to lug my old and huge laptop with me.  

One last reminder:   I will be speaking on a panel along with other ladies who write and research the Beatles.   I will be talking about this blog!   I would love to meet anyone who is a viewer and get a photo to post on the blog.   Doesn't that sound like fun?   Please come up and talk to me before or after the talk.  And please come hear me!   I am getting scared that I will be all ready to talk and my mom will be the only person to hear me (thank goodness for my mom!).   So if you are there please see me at 7:45pm on Saturday (look in the Beatlfest booklet when you get there for the exact location).

What did / do the Beatles themselves think of us crazy fans having conventions?  Here is what Mark Lapidos (founder of Beatlefest) said about talk to John Lennon about having it prior to the first one in 1974,

I wasn’t going to do the convention without the Beatles’ permission. I didn’t think that would be right. On April 28th, 1974, I met with John Lennon in his New York City hotel room, told him my whole idea of a Beatles Fans Convention, with Special Guests, Live Concerts, Films, Art Museum and Art Contest, Flea Market, Discussions, Look-Alike and Sound-Alike Contests, Auctions, and a Charity Raffle. John’s exact response was “I’m all for it. I’m a Beatles Fan, too!” It is a moment I will never ever forget. He said he had a guitar in his attic that he would sign and donate for the Charity Raffle, which he did. John chose Phoenix House, (a drug rehab center in NYC) as the charity. All the Beatles contributed signed items to that raffle and to our amazement, we made the cover of Rolling Stone, October 24, 1974!

Mark Lapidos meet John Lennon

I am getting all geared up for the 2010 Fest for Beatles fan in Chicago in two weeks. The founder of the convention is a man named Mark Lapidos from New Jersey. I have heard by word of mouth how he started the conventions, but just recently I actually read the full account in a wonderful book called Beatles FAQ 2. Here is his story. Mark was a Beatles fan since he saw the Fabs on Ed Sullivan in 1964. He worked at a Sam Goody music store in New Jersey and got the idea to have a celebration to celebrate the Beatles 10th anniversary of coming to American in 1974. This when he began to get the idea of having a fan convention and where the story picks up...

Though Joe Pop had been planning along similar lines up in Boston, what made the difference was Lapidos's determination to secure an official sanction. Serendipitously, at a Central Park March of Dimes even with John Lennon in attendance, Mark ran into a fellow who had given the ex-Fab and Harry Nilsson a ride to their Times Square hotel. The Samaritan kindly slipped Lapidos Lennon's room number at the Pierre; summoning all the moxie he could muster, Mark headed over.

It was Sunday, April 28, 1974. Answering the door was Harry Nilsson, who admitted the enterprising young man. Introducing himself, Lapidos ran through his pitch. John listened politely before responding wit the deathless words, "I'm all for it. I'm a Beatles fan, too." With any number of other issues of his plate, the ex-Fab was astonishingly receptive; another year earlier or later and it might have been a different story entirely.

Further upping the ante, Lennon arranged through Tony King for Apple to send some promo films to the fest; he also solicited his fellow ex-Fabs to contribute items for auction to raise money for the charity of his choice, New York's Phoenix House, a drug rehab center. (George donated a tabla used on Sgt. Pepper; Ringo, a signed pair of drumsticks; John and Paul each a signed guitar.) John toyed with the idea of showing up himself to personally present the winning bidder with his instrument, but, after hearing of the four thousand attendees, opted to stay away. (He instead dispatched May Pang to do some buying on his behalf, instructing her to pick up any bootlegs she could find for his collection, as well as ALL copies of Two Virgins, which he desperately wanted to take out of circulation.)

Unfortunately there are no photos of Mark Lapidos with John Lennon. So I am including a photo of Mr. Lapidos with Yoko taken last year in New York City.