Tonsil duty

Fans were on such high alert in early December 1964 when Ringo got his tonsils taken out that the Beatles offical fan club started up a hotline for fans to call to hear a recording about how Ringo is doing after the surgery.   The fan club employees and members worked nonstop to answer calls and sift through the get well cards and gifts for Ringo.   

It's because of his hooter

Fans wrote a lot

Keeping up with the fan mail

Write to the Beatles

I don't really expect for anyone to know the answer to this, but you never know.   I recently won the Omega auctions for a large lot of Beatles scrapbooks and clippings.  Well most of the clippings and scrapbooks are of these "Beatle Box" part of Valentine magazine.   I have these from 1965-1967.   Let me tell you, they are really interesting.   Some of the photos are new to me and the questions and answers are really insightful at times.

What I am wondering is who answered these questions?   I usually assume that editors of the teen magazines answer the questions the fans send in and pretend to be the Beatles.  However, the answers to these questions are too good and too detailed to just be magazine editors.   For example, one of them I was reading was asking Paul if he had any pets.   He said, "I just got a new sheepdog puppy that is named Martha."   Now that isn't something that I think just anyone would know.   So either the actual Beatles answered these letters or Mal or Neil or some insiders answered them.   If it wasn't the guys themselves, then I think it was Mal, because the answers about Paul's trip to Kenya was just too detailed for anyone else to know. 

Who do you think answered this column? 

George's 21st birthday

George Harrison had the privilege of being the first Beatle to have a birthday after Beatlemania hit America.   Actually, George's 21st birthday occurred just days after the Beatles landed back in the United Kingdom.

Letters and gifts came pouring into not just the Beatles fan club in London but also into George's home in Liverpool from all around the world.  Girls sent cards, stuffed animals, cakes,  drawings and plenty of keys (and one person even sent a door).   Keys?   Why keys?   Well...in parts of the world (including England, Scotland and New Zealand) there is a tradition of giving someone the "keys to the house" on their 21st birthday as a symbol of them being an adult and the head of the household.  I am not sure if this was a custom in the United States at the time, but I know that typically they give people alcohol on their 21st birthday around here and no one gets a key.

And as silly as it sounds, today we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of George's 21st birthday.  But most importantly, we celebrate the life of George Harrison, a man I know we all love and miss dearly. 

Meanwhile back home in Liverpool....

Dream jobs at the Beatles secret HQ

There are a few things in Beatles-dom that remain a mystery to me.   The two biggies that I am forever trying to learn more about are the Apple Scruffs and the Beatles fan club.    Since I am snowed in, I decided to look through my old magazines that I have stored away and so I dug out Datebook from the summer of 1965.  Inside I found a charming article about two girls named Susan and Pam who worked at the Beatles Fan Club Headquarters in New York.   As I read the article, I found myself wishing I could have gone back and worked with them.  They just seemed like they had so much fun working for the Beatles Fan Club.

Then I recalled something I had posted on this blog quite  a while ago about a fab club worker who was was auctioning off some personal Beatles items.  Sure enough, it is the Susan from this Datebook story!   She even mentions in her story that I posted originally that she was written about in Datebook.   The whole thing is found here.     In the comments it was decided that her autographs were not authentic.   They were signed by Neil Aspinall and a UK secretary.   However, the card was written by Brian.    

Dream Jobs at the Beatles HQ

By Laurie Brandel

Summer 1965 Datebook magazine

I visited the secret headquarters of the official Beatles fan club.   Right in the middle of Manhattan, on the fifth floor of a deceptively ordinary building, hidden behind the reception desk of an office which does not even bear its name, I found the bustling center of activity for millions of American Beatles enthusiasts.  And working away in the midst of all this exciting activity were two 17 year olds fortunate enough to hold what most American teenagers would consider the dream teen job of the decade—assistant to Lynn Hargrave president of the Beatles Fan Club.

I met them.  I chatted with them.  And they turned out to be pretty, bright, marvelously kookie 17 year old olds.  Blonde, 5 foot 8 Susan Friedman is a senior at Martin Van Buren H.S. in the borough of Queen New York.  Brown-haired 5 foot 4 Pamela Barlow is a senior at Francis Lewis H.S., also in Queens.  Both girls study dance at the June Taylor School of Dance in preparation for what they hope will be careers in the theatre.  But not until after they graduate this year and work full time for a while in the Beatles organization.  Since September they’ve worked 1:30 to 5:30 pm after school and all day on Saturdays.

“How did you two get these dream jobs?” I asked the girls.

“Well,” Susan began, “do you want the truth?”  I nodded and both girls giggled.

“It was really sort of simple,” Pam chimed in.  “We’d gotten tickets to the benefit performance of the Beatles at the Paramount last time they were here.  Then we heard about a cocktail party being given for them after the concert.  We wanted to come.”   

“Pam’s father knows somebody out there,” Sue pointed to the other offices served by the reception desk, “so we learned about this secret place.  We decided to come here and see what we could maneuver.  When we found Lynn Hargrave, she was so surprised to see us that she showed us around the offices.  We talked for a while and both of us at one point exclaimed, “Gee, wouldn’t it  be great to work here!”  Lynn looked at us strangely then smiled and said, “Fine.  You’ve got jobs, them.”

“We never got to the cocktail party, of course” Pamela broke in, “But that was all right because the Beatles never got there either.”

“We got something much more important,” Sue smiled.  She fingered a shiny disk which hung around her neck on a gold chain.  Pam swung hers in a circle jokingly, too.

“What are those?”  I rose to the bait.

“Nothing really, “Pam said coolly.  I looked.  They were gold circles on which were engraved the following words, “To Pamela (Susan), with luv, from Brian and the Beatles.”  Both girls now wear these Christmas gifts around their necks at all times. 

 However, neither of the girls has yet met the Beatles personally.  Both admit they “just can’t wait” until the Beatles come back again in August.  Before the jobs the girls had been fans of the Beatles, although they do not claim to have been the most enthusiastic fans.

Said Pam, “I’d never even been to an airport –which is more than some people can say,” She looked over at Susan who made a sign of mock protest.  The girls had been good friends before the job and remain so now.

Which of the Beatles do they favor?  The girls looked at each other.  “Well…” Pam began.  “Really….all of them….” Susan continued.  “After all…you know…we do work for all of them…”   “Of course, we can’t deny a special feeling for Paul and George…”  Pam admitted.   “You realize that those two are the unmarried ones!” Susan explained, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

The Beatles know of the existence of the girls through Brian Epstein who met Pam and Sue when he was in New York.

NEMS publicity chief, Tony Barrow had a very exciting introduction to the girls when he first arrived at the secret headquarters.

Pam was walking through the reception area, saw the rather nice looking English gentleman and decided to play one of her practical jokes.  

“You over there,” she commanded, “put your hands up, all the way up over your head.”  He obeyed, puzzled.  “Higher…higher…okay, now, sweetie, I want you to spell the word URGE and say the word BULB after it”  

Hesitantly, tony did as he was ordered, then laughed when he realized that Pam was putting him on and that he was the victim of an office kook.  Pam laughed nervously too, when he introduced himself as one of her bosses!

Fan club head Lynn Hargrave broke into our conversation at this point.  “You must realize, Laurie,” she said, “these girls are quite insane.”  “I realize, I realize,” I said.

“The Beatles will be arriving on August 13,” Lynn continued slyly, “and I’m planning to fire these two on August 12.”  She smiled when she said it.

Sue and Pam slid to their knees, “Please…please master,” they mockingly begged, “spare us!  You wouldn’t!”  Then they giggled hysterically.  Lynn shook her head and looked at me in resignation, then went about her work while the girls continued chatting. 

“We’ve met such marvelous people here,” Pam said.  Gerry and the Pacemakers, Cilla Black, Brian Epstein, Tony Barrow and so many others.  It’s made a great difference in my attitude.  I have never felt more confident in my long life.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well,” Pam continued, “no matter what goes wrong, I always feel sort of ... like…well…at least I can say that I work for the Beatles, which is more than anybody else can say…except her,” she pointed at Sue.

“What sort of job skills do you have?” I asked.

Both girls can type although Pam admitted, “When I first came here I couldn’t’ type very well…but I improved, didn’t I Sue?”  Sue shook her head at me and smiled secretly.

I asked what they had learned about teenagers from their constant contact with them through the mails.  

“They’re all basically the same,” said Sue.  “no matter where they come from.  The letters all seem to ask for the same things in just about the same way.”  

“After all,” Pam broke in, “they have one very important thing in common – love for the Beatles!”

“It’s not just a childish thing either,” Sue said, “I mean that more and more of the kids in the club are collecting money for charities by washing cars, cake sales, variety shows.”  

“Yes,” went on Pam, “since October it seems to me that there’s been a big change in the character of the fans writing in.  They’re not so involved in just hollering anymore.  They’re more involved in community activities and other responsible things.”  

“How old are the members of the fan club?  “Well,” said Sue, “I guess the youngest is a girl of 1 ½.  And the oldest is an ice old gentleman of 74.  I’d say about 10% are boys.  But each day’s mail seems to vary.  One day I’ll say to Pam, “Look, they’re getting older – here’s a whole batch of married ladies.  But the next day, there’ll be a whole batch of 15 year olds.  So you can’t really tell.”

The girls, Lynn and myself then spent some time seriously discussing the fan club and its workings.  I thought you might like to know some of the following facts.  First of all, the proper address for the club is Beatles Fan Club, Box 505, Radio City Station, New York, N.Y. 10019

What happens there to your Beatles mail?  After being picked up at the post office, it is taken to a mailing service which opens it, sorts it, send out membership forms and processes memberships of those who send in their $2 fees.  All other mail is then forwarded to the Beatles headquarters.  This includes personal communication to the Beatles, requests to form chapters, request for pictures, scripts of “A Hard Day’s Night” ($1) and for fact sheets, requests to form Brain Epstein fan clubs, for information on tickets, for pen pals (send name, age, interests), correspondence with chapter presidents, general complaints and requests for information.  All personal mail and gifts addressed to the Beatles are processed through this office.  Mail addressed to England is also returned to this office for processing. 

During the lulls between Beatle appearances in this country, about 6,000 letters per week are processed.  When the Beatles are around this figure more than triples.

What are the club’s major problems?  First –the impatience of teenagers.  The girls who write in don’t seem to realize that there is such a great volume of mail.  Since each piece is read and processed carefully, there is usually a time gap of about six weeks between receipt and final disposition.  Letters which inquire about previous letters simply increase the volume of mail and slow the whole process down even further. 

Also, many girls forget to send in their changes of address in time – or don’t include their addresses in the body of the letter.  Addresses on separate sheets of the paper or on the outsides of the envelope are apt to get lost.

Beatles fans have sent thousands of gifts to the fab four.  Included have been rings for Ringo (including one huge rattle ring, six inches in diameter), sculptures and drawings, four-leaf clovers, used barrettes, guitar picks, lockets, ID bracelets, watches, wedding bands, class rings, tie clasps, diapers, towels and pillow cases (for Ringo and Maureen), shirts, sweaters, scrapbooks, Playboy Club keys, hair oil, combs, etc etc.

One girl, whose name is Sandra Williams, recently sent four portfolios of excellent drawings and poems without putting her address on the material.  So there they lie at Beatles headquarters, beautiful but anonymous.

“What do you girls hope for when the Beatles arrive?”  I asked.  “Are you hoping to get to know them personally?”  

“Are you kidding!”  Pam and Sue chorused.  “Of course we hope to get to know them!”  “We just hope that aside from seeing them here at the office,” Pam said, “we’ll be able to talk with all of them and show them what the average American teenager is really like.”

“And we’d like to be casual,” Susan continued.  “Get to know them like human beings rather than just celebrities.”

“Is there any chance f their dream coming true?”   I asked Lynn.

“Who knows?”  She smiled.  “Ringo now, all such plans are secret.  Of course, if we fire these kooks before the Beatles ever arrive…”

The girls chuckled and I could tell that it was a good relationship they had with Lynn.  I knew they’d still be there when August 13 rolls around, working at their teen dream jobs.

“Sometimes,” Pam said, “when somebody asks me where I work and I tell them, power!  They just can’t believe it.”

“Sometimes,” Sue said, “We can’t even believe it ourselves.”

Paul draws Pattie

This is such an interesting item.   And it is available (where else?) on ebay right now.     This really does show how kind the Beatles girls were to the fans.   Pattie had her own career in 1965 and the last thing she HAD to do was calling her boyfriend's fans in the United States and chatting with them for hours.    And yet that is exactly what Pattie was doing....calling up fans and chatting with them and putting John or George on the phone with them if the timing was right.    And yet Pattie feels badly for one particular fan named Kathryn from Michigan.  It seems that when Pattie rang her up one day, Kathryn got a bit tongue tied and didn't know what to say.   I am sure MANY of us would have became the same way.   Kathryn might have hung up feeling embarrassed and like she missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime, but because of her shyness,  Pattie sent her a very special gift.   Paul had drawn a pencil sketch of Pattie (I have no clue why) and signed it on the bottom.   Pattie signed it on the top and passed it along to Kathryn.  Wow!   I can't make this stuff up!   Sometimes this Beatles fan history just blows my mind.

Just a side note:   I had to laugh when I read the part in Pattie's letter about John and George going to the dentist at 9pm.    We ALL know today what type of special dentist these two had in 1965!

Remember to make things larger so that you can read them, you can click on the image.   If anyone is still have problems reading the letter, please let me know and I will transcribe it.  

Sixties Fanmail

I have been watching the Freda Kelly documentary and that re-sparked my interest in the Beatles fan club and fan mail.   I found this article written by Tony Barrow in the January 1992 issue of the Beatles Book Monthly and found it interesting.   I especially enjoy the little stories of the fans who met the Beatles 

The Beatles backstage in Stockholm in 1963

Sixties Fanmail

By Tony Barrow

In dressing rooms at theatres and television studios, the Beatles passed many of their free moments reading bundles of fan mail and discussing the contents of letters with one another.

In the really early days before their national success, they wrote long, personal replies to individual letters by hand, particularly when they were away in Hamburg.  Later, if a fan letter was handed in at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios and the Beatles were there for a recording session, there was every probability that it would be read in detail on the spot and within the hour by one or more of the boys, and even the possibility that John, Paul George or Ringo would slip outside during a break for a chat with the writer.

Individual Beatles often dropped in unexpectedly to spend an hour or an afternoon at their fan club offices, first in Liverpool and later in the capital.  Widespread fame never really changed their attitude towards keeping in touch with their fans, although it was more difficult during tours abroad.  The boys fairly regularly visited their club’s central London headquarters at 13 Monmouth Street, off the top end of Shaftesbury Avenue, staying long enough to sign pictures, look through letters and collect their own birthday or Christmas presents.

I have never forgotten (and I’ll be he hasn’t) the extraordinary gift one fan sent through the mail to George for his 21^st birthday – a full-sized front door “to put all your silver keys in!”  He was also sent a pair of gardening shears by someone hinting that the Four Mop tops might like to give themselves a drastic do it yourself haircut!

Apart from the fan club, people wrote to the Beatles c/o Johnny Dean at the editorial offices of “The Beatles Book” and reliable, informative replies were printed in subsequent issues.  Such was the close contact between the Beatles and their followers at the peak of the group’s professional lifespan. 

Other than in exceptional circumstances, fans of today’s major pop and rock superstars in the Nineties stand little hope of having their letters read or answered by the big names in person.   Fans clubs are big businesses nowadays, often part of lucrative, commercially prosperous, professionally-operated merchandising machinery geared up to sell products rather than proved a truly personal information service to followers of the artists.

In the Sixties, and throughout the height of Beatlemania, the majority of those who wrote the Beatles could expect a reply, one way or another, apart for one period of several months in the autumn of 1963 when the U.K. fan club, freshly established in London at that time, was overwhelmed by a totally unexpected avalanche of mail.  We’re talking about something like 50,000 letters which took both the tiny fan club staff and Brian Epstein’s management organization totally by surprise.

Until the club was re-arranged to cope with such vast number of enquires, the system broke down for a while.  When it was up and running properly again, there was not only effective letter-answering but also a Covent Garden phone line number via which callers, fan club members or not, could get instant answers to questions about The Fab Four.

Perhaps the most significant point of all about the way the Beatles’ fan mail was handled was the constant element of personal contact with members of the band.  Whether at the various fan club offices or at the HQ of “The Beatles Book”, people knew the Beatles were personally responsible for answering letter and phone enquires).  There was no deception, no sales pitch (because neither Johnny Dean’s firm nor the official fan club offered merchandising facilities) and, as a rule, not much of a delay in dealing with incoming letters from fans.

In 1963, after the Beatles had become the nation’s top new recording group, one of the earliest letters to “the Beatles Book” was a poem from a girl named Mary in Shewsbury:  “Please could you change your name?  To me you’ll never be the same, since podding the peas last Sunday morning, There amongst them without warning—a BEETLE!  Ugh (P.S. Happy Birthday Ringo).

Some fans devised ingenious reasons for claiming priority treatment, “I was in the scullery when I heard you singing ‘Roll Over Bethoven.’  I rushed to turn the wireless up, tripped, lost my shoe, and broke my toenail.  Now I can hardly walk as my foot is hurting so bad.  So I think that your autograph would compensate for my disablement.”

Isn’t it fascinating to see words like “wireless” and “scullery” in there to remind us just how recently they were in common use?  And how long it is since you podded peas on a Sunday morning instead of defrosting a packet of read-shelled ones from the fridge?

After Christmas each year, fans wrote to club secretary, Anne Collingham with queries about the special record the Beatles made for members, “I think Ringo’s swing version of Good King Wenceslas is fab and everyone laughs when they hear that bit about Ricky the Red Nosed Ringo.  I’m puzzled about one thing—who says Merry Christmas in that hearty Santa Claus voice at the very end?”  Sheila Barry of SW1 was told the voice belonged to Paul.

In reply to another letter, the fan club’s Bettina Rose told this anecdote, “I remember meeting Brian Epstein and the Beatles for the first time just after I had been given the OK to begin the first Southern Club.  Brian asked me how many members I had enrolled and all four boys looked at me in anticipation.  I went very red and said, “Nine.”   Three weeks later I had a hundred times as many – after just one advertisement in a music paper.”

At the height of the group’s fame, the fan club in the U.K. alone rose to an unprecedented 80,000, a figure which I believe has remained unmatched by any other pop or rock act to this day.

For many devoted collectors of the Beatles records, it was disappointment to come away from one of the group’s concerts having seen but not heard the Fab Four, the playing and the singing being drowned by constant screams from several thousand people. 

The relatively lo-fi sound system in theatres simply would not cope.  One Birmingham fan wrote, “It would be truly splendid to be able to go to a Beatles’ concert in 1964 knowing that everybody was going to get both sides of the performance – the hearing as well as the seeing!”

A lot of letters used to report on information meeting with one or more of the boys.  Christine Ramming’s uncle had a hotel near St. Moritz and she stayed there when John and Cynthia were at the nearby Palace Hotel in 1965.  She waited outside for hours, having been told that the Lennons were asleep.

“Eventually John emerged,” she wrote, “with George Martin, to hail a taxi; I went straight to him, greeted him and gave him a little Beatle doll which I had made myself and he thanked me.  I was very happy that I had seen him so near and could talk to him, without being surrounded by policemen and hundreds of other girls.”

Angela Crossland met Paul and Ringo outside Manchester’s Granada Television studios in February 1963, “When I asked for his autograph, Ringo replied that he had his hands full.  Seeing a bag in his hands, I grabbed it so he could sign autographs and through my good deed (for the other fans) I nearly didn’t get an autograph.  Paul and Ringo walked to a green car with a Beatle playing a guitar on the front.  Paul got into the driver’s seat.  Ringo got in next to Paul, got his bag from me and said, “Thanks luv” in that adorable scouse accent.  I will treasure these autographs forever.”

Irene Snidall accompanied a local reporter to a concert at Sheffield City Hall on May 25, 1963 and managed to meet the boys backstage in their dressing room, “John and Paul were changing from their stage clothes into something more casual, a black T-shirt topped by a grey denim shirt for John, Paul struggling into a black polo-neck sweater from which his tousled Beatle-cut and grinning face suddenly emerged.   I felt terribly self-conscious, clutching my handbag and LP cover, but my nervousness disappeared as soon as Paul began talking to me.  That was my first impression of Paul, very friendly, and soon he was chatting as though we had known each other for years.  He signed my LP with such a long message I really believed he must be writing his autobiography and passed it across to John who did the same.  When asked if he would like a cup of tea, John answered, “Ee, aya, bah gum, a will’ in his very best broad Yorkshire accent.  Then in his Professor Lennon voice, “And a little something to eat please.”  This is something I found terribly attractive about John, he is always changing from one thing to another, his humour is off-beat, and it would be pointless to write down any of the things he said as they would never be as hilariously funny in print.”

Anne, Vicky and Marie met the boys at the Liverpool premiere of “A Hard Day’s night”:  “When the Beatles came into the Odeon, we were standing in the foyer.  We couldn’t believe that we were so close to them, it was the nearest we have been since the good old Cavern days.  The next evening in the Liverpool Echo, George said ‘The best welcome I had was when I saw six girls that used to sit on the front row of the Cavern.’  Three of them were us, so you can imagine how thrilled we were that the Beatles still remember their old Cavern friends.”

Jean Westgate saw the film’s Royal premiere at the London Pavilion:  “My seat in the theatre was to the back, immediately near the entrance to the ladies cloakroom.  I happened to glance sideways and see the Beatles all coming through the door marked LADIES saying “Shh!” to each other!”

Fans who made a pilgrimage to Merseyside to check out old haunts of the Beatles used to be delighted with the meetings they managed to have with relatives of the boys.  James Park came down from Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1964 and regarded himself as one f the luckiest fans in the country, “I went to Ringo’s house and was given a warm reception by his mother.  Then she ordered a taxi to take me to George’s house.  I was invited in by George’s father and met his mother and brother, Peter.  Mr. and Mrs. Harrison drove me in George’s former car to Paul’s house in Allerton but his father wasn’t in.  They continued to John’s house in Woolton where I spent four hours talking to John’s wonderful Aunt Mimi.  After supper there I went to the Cavern Club where I spent two fabulous hours.”

What Barbara St. Reid of Middlesex wrote to “The Beatles Book” in the summer of 1964 nutshelled a general view.  Barbara admitted that until recently she thought that the Beatles must have become big-headed due to their phenomenal success.  “Why do I suddenly change my mind?  Earlier this week I actually met Paul, George and Ringo (John was at a luncheon) when they were filming near where I live.  They were taking quite naturally and when they explained to us that they could not sign autographs because it would hold up production.  Paul especially seemed very regretful about it and even asked people if there were any photographs for us.  I thought this was one of the nicest gestures I have seen.  Now when anyone calls them big-headed slobs or anything else insulting, I shall know what to say!

Other fans aimed to set or break records.  Sheila Sullivan wrote from Stepney to say how she’d enjoyed “A Hard Day’s Night”:  “My friend Tina has seen the film 13 times and I have seen it 15 times.  Our mums saw we are both Beatle nuts, we can’t agree more.  Please hurry up and make another film!”

We get the mail it never fails....

Dear Jenny

I love reading the correspondence between the Beatles and their fans.    

This one'll keep you busy

Ringo gets down to business with the fan mail.  

A note to John

She Loves you: 50 years of Beatlemania

It is hard for me to believe that the song "She Loves you" has now been around for 50 years!   This particular Beatles song was basically the springboard for Beatlemania that happened in the fall of 1963.   It is the song that the fans could relate to and loved to sing along to.   It was a fun song and a tad bit rebellious with the "Yeah yeah yeah" part (wasn't it Paul McCartney's father who thought it should have been yes, yes yes to be more proper?).   She Loves you had beautiful harmonies but the fans didn't care too much about that.   Just one head shake from the four Beatles during the first "whoo" and screaming and Beatlemania would erupt like something that had never been seen before.

My very first Beatles memory has to do with this song.   I was 7 1/2 years old and it was the summer of 1984.   I would regularly spend my Saturdays at Mr. T's roller skating rink (if anyone else out there is from the Alton, Illinois area, then you'd remember Mr. T's as being an awesome place to go!).   Songs by Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Cyndi Lauper filled the place and for the price of a quarter you could request a song to be played.    So I remember going to the counter and requesting a song I had recently heard on the radio and totally loved.   The song sounded like nothing else I had heard.  It was so much better than the other music out there.   I wanted to hear it at the roller skating rink.   The song I requested was "She Loves You Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah"  (as I thought the song was called) and I didn't know who sang it.    I was quickly told by the guy who ran the counter that they didn't play "oldies."   I was confused.  This wasn't an oldie.  I had never heard the song before!   The guy laughed and said that the Beatles were oldies and that song came out a really long time ago.   What disappointment.   I had no clue!

And just as I thought in 1984, today in 2013, 50 years and 1 day after "She loves you" was recorded I still think the song sounds great.   When I hear it, I will still turn into a fan girl and want to scream, especially if I am watching a video and the Beatles head shake happens. 

The website, "Do you Remember" has a great article written by Jude Southerland Kessler about this subject.   Jude is a real sweet Beatle fan who has written several John Lennon books.  We were on that panel at the Fest last summer together.    I highly recommend reading this article.   Enjoy!

The whole "Do you Remember" site is a lot of fun and it is a great way get lost in memories of the past. 

http://www.doyouremember.com/news/8459

Fan swarm the Beatles at EMI studios for the first time during the recording of "She Loves You."

The guys read fan mail and sign autographs during a break in the "She Loves you Session" on July 1, 1963