Tuesday, June 10, 2014

BEATLEMANIA


Fifty years ago this week, The Beatles landed on Australian soil -
and changed our lives forever..



The nation fell in love with The Beatles, their cute mop-tops and Liverpudlian accents, cheeky repartee, and, of course, 
The Music!! 




Do you want to know a secret?


When they came to Brisbane, I was in the audience!
I was very young, it was my first stadium concert, at Brisbane's Festival Hall,
my natural inclinations were towards classical music -

but -

 I loved it!!!

At first I was bemused by all the screaming girls around me and my friends;
I thought it disrespectful not to listen nicely to the music;
then finally I joined in, and yelled out 'Paul' with the best of them.
Sore throat next day.  




Here they are, in Brisbane, at the old Lennon's Hotel, meeting some bewildered Australian fauna brought in to be shown off.
That poor wallaby on the left.  Oh Dear.


and I still have my programme...


We loved them, Yeah, yeah, yeah,
YEAH

What are your memories of The Beatles?

Have a happy week

xxxx




27 comments:

  1. A post dear to my heart, as I was so taken with the Beatles, like most other teenaged girls in the world. How neat you saved your program. I suspect it would fetch a nice price on eBay or elsewhere. My memories include standing around the hallways at school with groups of girls arguing over which one was the cutest, and cruising around town listening to their music on the car radio, windows down and singing along as loud as we could. Thanks for the memories, Patricia!

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    1. Ha, no way will I sell that program, Sanda, although I have been offered money for it. My memories are similar, involving daily talking with girlfriends about them, sharing the tiniest detail we learned about the Fab Four. What an innocent time it was!

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  2. The thing that strikes me when I look at the pictures of them you have posted is how very young they were! What an great opportunity to have been able to go to one of their concerts. I was going to say it's something you can tell your grandchildren about, but that makes me wonder. Do young kids even know who the Beatles are?

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    1. They were very young Kristie, when they wrote so many enduring songs, and we were much younger. This week on TV they are showing a lot of film of their time here, and all those young girls - so young and innocent, screaming their lungs out. Doubt my grandchildren will ever know much about them, but you never know.

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  3. I have always wished I'd been alive during that time. The other night I was watching a documentary about John on Netflix and they showed a few pieces of film footage from shows during Beatlemania. I was amazed at the screaming. You couldn't actually hear any of the music for all the screaming! It must have been an exciting time to be a teenager.

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    1. Such a funny time to be young, Jennifer. Very different from today. It is true, it was not really possible to hear the music for the screaming, which I thought was odd at the time. From the bit I could hear, they were off-pitch quite a lot, so they couldn't hear either!

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  4. Patricia,
    Aahh, the Beatles.....I have always loved their music too, and "do you want to know a secret" is one of my favorites. How fun that you got to see them when you were young.

    You know, the song "Let It Be" is very special to me and there is a story behind the song that happened to me that I will remember forever.

    love,
    ~Sheri

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    1. They wrote so many excellent songs which have endured over the years, always being played or sung somewhere. 'Let it be' is very special, quite profound. I'm glad it is your special song. xx

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  5. I have no Beatle memories, but I do remember singing Beatles songs amongst others on car journeys as a child, there was no radio in the car back then! xx

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    1. Those Beatle songs make great singalongs, Amy. The early songs were simple but catchy tunes, with easy lyrics, which captivated the world. No doubt we'll be singing them at the Old Folks home one of these days :)

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  6. I have a Beatles story to share with you - my father worked for a well known engineering group, in the UK. While the Beatles were still not quite known, they did a "gig"there. I was so totally not impressed!!!

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    1. P.S. I was also not a teenager at the time - so perhaps a little too young to be impressed by a teenage activity. I preferred my dolls!

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    2. Great story, Sarah Liz! You had a free concert :)
      I think it was necessary to be a very young and impressionable teen to get maximum Beatlemania value! I never went to another rock or stadium show; it was a one off for me.

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  7. That is a good memory, Val, the live television arrival. Apart from remembering being at the concert, I don't remember much else. Watched the doco last night on the ABC, which filled in much of the detail.

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  8. Oh, the Beatles. I really loved them and their music and envy you your chance to see them live, Patricia. They actually played a gig in my home town, but this was before their first big hit, so it didn't occur to me to go. My friend who went raved about them afterwards, so I wasn't surprised when their first record was such a hit. I'm still sorry I didn't go....

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    1. You loved them too :)
      Australia was very lucky - the deal to tour was made at that early time, before the big hits and the trip to the US earlier in 1964 which put them on the world stage. We were lucky they agreed to honour the deal, and came out for quite a low fee. Judging by the film footage, they had great fun here, so I guess they didn't mind.

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  9. I do not think that there has ever been any other contemporary group of singer/songwriters who have captured everyones heart quite like the Beatles, old, middle aged, or todays young that weren't even born.
    They are the only group whose many songs I can readily recall to mind and hum in my head.

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    1. You sum it up beautifully Rosemary. Like you, I easily recall all the tunes from back in the day, (but not those of any others). What musical genius was there, especially at the beginning.

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  10. I remember when then appeared on the music scene. I'm was a little old to be one of the screaming girls but was and still am a fan of their music.

    Darla

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    1. The music has now become timeless, I think. I now enjoy the symphonic versions of many of those classic tunes. They seemed to fit perfectly into the 1960s, or did they create it all?

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  11. My grandfather bought me my first Beatle´s record, since everyone else thought that it rubbish.
    Naturally we divided all the four guys between us. Mine was Paul, had dreams about us " meeting ", etc.
    Yesterday was and is still one of my favorites!!!

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    1. I love Yesterday too, Mette, it is a beautiful melody. And of course, Paul was my best Beatle... It was funny how the parents thought it was all rubbish, and the melodies will last forever.

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  12. Oh lucky you Patricia. Even though I was their BIGGEST fan unfortunately I never had the chance to see them live. I still play their music a lot which brings back so many memories of those lazy hazy days of the sixties - the best days of my teens. x

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    1. So good to hear you were another Beatle fan, P. I enjoy their music to this day too....brings back the happy days of young teens. xx

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