A few of the Good Guys

 

Introducing the Beatles

 

Introducing The Beatles

By Michael Zitz

The Free Lance-Star

February 20, 1999

    Jack Alix was just a 21-year-old novice disc jockey at W E E L- A M in Fairfax, but he knew he was onto something big the first time he saw a picture of the new band from England. "At first, their music wasn't anything special", he said," but they had a look." A look that he knew would ignite the imaginations of rebellious American teenagers. 

    It was December 1963, and Alix began pushing the Beatles hard on his show. The Beatles were so new to America that Capitol Records hadn't released their first US album yet, and the station had only a reel-to-reel tape.

     Thirty-five years ago, this month, the Beatles arrived in America, first appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show on national television, followed by a live concert in Washington.

     But well before the Beatles crossed the Atlantic, "it became evident to us that this was completely different for a rock and roll group," Alix said today, "and the days of crew cuts and conservatism, we knew the long hair, the attitude and the infectious music might be the wave of the future."

     For three months, Alix, who now works at WGRQ in Spotsylvania County, spent much of his time and energy dreaming up ideas to promote the Beatles on his 9 to 11 p.m. show on WEEL.  He developed a "Beatle burger" contest in which teens would submit their ideas for a new sandwich based on the new group. A local burger chain agreed to sell the new burger.  The winning entry had shredded lettuce for hair, olives as eyes, and pimentos for lips. It was served for weeks leading up to the Beatles' first live American concert at the Washington Coliseum. 

    Alix also aired live remotes in which teens were interviewed about the Beatles, mostly girls, raving about the look and sound of the new band. 

    The Beatles made their American debut on the Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, then took a train from New York to Washington's Union Station, arriving in a driving snowstorm for a February 11 concert in the nation's capital. 

    Because he had been so enthusiastic about the Beatles, Alix was asked to introduce them, along with Carrol James of WWDC- AM in Washington and Johnny Dark of WCAO- A M in Baltimore.

     That night, the sold-out Washington Coliseum was a maze of police officers, harried parents and chaperones trying to control 1000s of frantic teenage girls and boys. "There was an air of excitement I don't think has ever been recaptured," Alix said.  "It was cold, snowing, and some schools had been closed because of the storm, and yet it was sold out and the crowd was frenzied," he recalled.

    "Nothing like this had happened to pop music in this country for years." Alix said he was aware at the time that similar excitement had surrounded the early days of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. Sex appeal wasn't the only factor. "There was also rebellion, and long hair was an expression of that rebellion. It sounds silly today, because people think that the Beatles' hair was short by current standards, but the element of rebellion helped the Beatles catch fire before their music caught up with their sex appeal. The music was good, but I wouldn't say we thought it was sensationally different at that early stage."

     Alix said it was "just good pop music. Later, when it went on to the Sgt. Pepper thing, the hair got longer and the music got better," Alix said, "but in the beginning, it was the old thing that where the parents say, 'oh, that music is horrible', and that makes the kids like it even better.

     Alix was backstage with The Beatles before the February 11, 1964 show. Then introduced them to the crowd. He did the same thing when the Beatles played a 1966 show at DC stadium (later renamed RFK Stadium).

    "When we did the first one, everyone was down to earth and having a good time," Alix said, "but the only one who was outgoing and friendly was Paul McCartney. The others were pretty shy, not distant, but pretty quiet. Paul is the one I remember distinctly from that first concert."

     Alix introduced an opening band, Jay and the Americans, then went backstage to wait with The Beatles. Finally, he brought the Beatles out to cheering, squealing and swooning. It was the first time Alix had been in front of a big audience. 

    He had gotten his start while still a student at John Carroll High School, where he was in the same homeroom as John Thompson, later the Georgetown University basketball coach.  "After school, I would go to Channel 5, which had a TV show based on American Bandstand that was called the Milt Grant Show."  It was a live dance party show, and Alix was a regular dancer. Stars like Chubby Checker and Connie Francis appeared live on the show. "I just got the bug", Alex said. And after graduating from high school, he became a disc jockey. He also began promoting concerts, working with the Beach Boys. Janis Joplin, Eric Clapton, the Doors, and the Jefferson Airplane, among others. Then, in the early 70s, Milt Grant bought channel 20 and decided to start a live dance party show on that station. Grant hired Alix, as the as the host, and he worked with co host. including Stevie Wonder and the Monkees. 

    Now, Alix 56 is the general sales manager of WGRQ, an oldies area station. Even though he's been on TV many times before that first Beatles concert, he found himself filled with anxiety by that moment in February 1964.

     "A film of the concert shows me welcoming Paul McCartney, who was the first to climb up on stage,". Alix says.  "My whole body seemed frozen, and there was a bit of a lull before I could get any of the words to introduce anyone."

Meeting Beatles Some Experience!

 

Meeting Beatles some Experience!

No author listed

Kingsport Times

August 19, 1965

    Two Kingsport disc jockeys who returned here today from Atlanta, Georgia, may well be the envy of scores of teenagers in the area. 

    They returned with pictures, tape recordings, and at least one bonafide souvenir from a face-to-face interview with The Beatles, a British rock and roll singing group. 

     As DJ Gary Morse put it, "It was some experience!"  Morse and fellow WKIN announcer Rusty Cury were among the 200 press representatives attending a press conference with the teenage idols prior to their appearance at Atlanta Stadium Wednesday night.

     Among other things, the disc jockeys learned that Ringo Starr, a member of the mop-headed group, will become a father "before too long" and that the singers don't think too much of another rock and roll singer, Elvis Presley. "We liked him a lot better when he was a little newer on the scene." The singers told the Kingsport disc jockeys, but they added, "he's middle aged"now.

     Cury has what some teenage teenagers would value as a priceless memento of the occasion, a pencil which Ringo idly chewed on during the press conference and left behind following the interview. 

John in his warm winter hat

 February 13, 1975 

Ringo on the radio

 

Clark Race Meets the Beatles in London

Pittsburg's Clark Race talks to Ringo backstage during the "Around the Beatles" performance. 

Clark Race Meets Beatles in London

Pittsburg Post-Gazette

May 1, 1964

Written by Clark Race

    KDKA, radio, Deejay Clark Race is now conducting a pilgrimage to the land of the Beatles.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  In company with South Hills teenager Jacqueline Labarton and her father, Miss Lebarton is the winner of the station's contest in which young people were asked to complete the statement "I'd like to meet the Beatles because..." Prior to his departure, Mr. Race accepted a commission to report on the momentous meeting arranged in London. It arrived yesterday by pigeon post, and I have rushed it into print. -- Win Fanning

    I met the Beatles today. It was an experience I'm sure that will never be equaled in my lifetime. At 10:30 this morning, Tuesday, I was taken by a chauffeur driven limousine to the outskirts of London, where the Beatles were videotaping a "pop music spectacular". Those who predicted the early demise of the Beatles should have been in attendance, as they say in Britain, at the studio session. Belying this sedateness of this formidable exterior Associated Redifusion is, or at least was today, the fortress against an exciting, screaming mom of several 100 people.

     Word had circulated around the suburban communities, which ring the television building, that The Beatles were coming; and all the disciples had gathered.

     Beatlemania, no matter how intense in Pittsburgh, can't match the enthusiasm for it here in London. Most men and boys wear Beatle suits, Beatle boots, and yes, even Beatle haircuts. If you didn't know the Beatles, it would be difficult to extract them from the crowd of other young people gathered at all the studio entrances and restrained by polite,  but firm bobbies.

     We first met Brian Somerville, the public relations man for the Beatles, in the television studio coffee shop. Next to Brian Epstein, The Beatles' manager, Somerville knows more about the Beatles than anyone. A veteran of 16 years in the Navy, he looks more like the president of a successful London bank than one of the keen minds behind the growth and development of Beatlemania.

    By close associates, The Beatles are referred to as "the boys", assuming that everyone in the conversation knows that the term means the four popular singers. Brian Somerville, formerly with the London Express, said that the reported rift between him and Brian Epstein had widened, and there was a good possibility that he would leave the Beatles organization.

     For the next six hours, I moved from the studios where the television program was being taped, to the Beatles dressing room, trying desperately to cover the Beatles in an interview. Although they had been popular here for more than two years, hundreds of people jammed the station studios to watch them perform.

     A photographer from every London newspaper was represented, along with newspaper writers, correspondents and the like, who came from all over the world to cover every move that The Beatles made. The Beatles newspaper reports might be compared to the coverage given daily to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

     Finally, late in the day, a magical path was cleared through the crowd at the Beatles dressing room door for my private audience with the world's most popular singing stars. It was an interview conducted while the boys changed into their costumes for the Shakespearean number, which they were going to do on the show.

     George laughed when I asked him about the personal appearances that his sister, who lives in Chicago, was making on behalf of The Beatles. "I don't know what she's talking about," he said. "She left home when I was nine years old, so I don't know how she could talk about me and the boys."

     Ringo compared their popularity to a two-edged sword. "We must watch movies in a private screening room," he said. "We don't dare go to the cinema because of the crowds."

     John talked about clothes. He said that The Beatles have their zippered boots made in a London shop. "Actually, we invented these boots," he said, "and we bloody well ought to have a patent on them."

    . Paul urged the rest of the group to "Come on, boys, we've got to leave. Can't keep the telly waiting."

     You know, probably one of the biggest requests I received from Pittsburgh listeners was for autographed pictures. Forget it! Very few exist as The Beatles were heard out of their dressing room, I noticed a road manager signing Beatle pictures with two different pens. "Got to make them look authentic," he said.  "Aren't you afraid people will know the difference?" I asked.  "I doubted," he said, "I've been signing these for the last five years."

     I leave tomorrow for Edinburgh, Scotland, where the winner of our contest, Jacqueline Labrton will see the Beatles concert backstage, along with her father, John.

Rockline

 May 29, 1989 

Flo & Eddie Crazy Radio show

 April 14, 1974 -

Whenever fans talk about Ringo's public drunkness - two things always are discussed:  Ringo's appearance with Barbara on the John Davidson television show in 1980 and Ringo with Keith Moon on the Flo and Eddie radio program in 1974.    Not one of Ringo's best moments, but it is all part of the history. 

Dollars for a good cause

 

Backstage in Toronto

 I think this is one of the few photos of The Beatles backstage with people where all four Beatles are smiling and looking at the same camera!  

Hanging out with the Beatles in their suite

 

September 4, 1964

Sitting around the table

 George on the radio promoting the George Harrison album in 1979.  

DJ Hari

 

On a desert island with Paul

 January 20, 1982 -  Paul McCartney was on the "Desert Island Disc" radio program and listed the songs he would want with him on a desert island.   Here are his choices and why - I wonder if he would choose any of the same songs 40 years later. 

1.  Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley

“It takes me back to when I was first buying records,” “I remember being at school when this record came out.

2.  Sweet Little Sixteen - Chuck Berry

With Chuck Berry, I choose ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’ because it sums him up for me,”  “To us, he was a magician making music that was exotic, yet normal, at the same time,”

3.  Courtly Dances - Benjamin Britton and the Julian Bream Consort Orchestra

“My preference will always be for rock’n’roll,” “But I do like a lot of classical music. I don’t know much about it but I like the great tunes in classical music… There’s just something special about it, I’ve loved it for years.”

4.  Be-Bop-A-Lu-La - Gene Vincent 

“The first song I ever bought was Gene Vincent‘s ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’,”  “Those are the kind of things that just sent tingles up your spine. To me [rock ‘n’ roll] seemed like a whole new direction of music… All these people in crazy clothes with guitars and slicked-back hair!” 

5.  Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) - John Lennon

“I haven’t chosen any Beatle records,” Paul shares. “I haven’t chosen any of my records. So to sum up the whole thing I’ve chosen one from John Lennon‘s Double Fantasy, which I think is a beautiful song. It’s very moving to me.”

6.  Searchin' - The Coasters

“Now this is one we used to do at the Cavern,” Paul enthused. “There were to girls called Cris and Val and they used to say, ‘Sing Searchin” Paul. That used to be the big request from Cris and Val so we always used to do this one. It was a big favorite with the group.”

7.  Tutti Frutti - Little Richard

“Again I’ve just chosen one to sum him up,”  “He’s a friend of mine from the Hamburg days.

8.  Walking in the Park with Eloise - Wings

“This one was one written by my dad.  “He really used to love this one,”

Pat and George

 George with disc jockey Pat St. John.   (Photo found on the Deep Beatles Facebook Page)

John plays D.J.

February 13, 1975

Everyone wants a photo with the Beatles

August 27, 1964 - Cincinnati, Ohio

The trailer out back

These photos from Cleveland in 1966 have been posted before, but these are large and more complete.

Loving the Beatles

These photos are from when a radio disc jockey in the United States named Gene Loving went to London and met the Beatles as well as George's parents and sister.     

Awkward meeting

I just wrote about this photo for my book about the fan clubs and briefly spoke with the girl in the photograph next to John.    Tom Clay (photographed on the end next to George) was an interesting character.