I have always been a Beatles fan. Or at least ever since I was in the fifth grade and walked across the bridge from Devon to Herbie's Music Store on Queen Street to look at a picture of them in the window. Imagine that! There they were - a small black and white photo cut from a magazine and taped to the inside of the glass, and I was hooked. I hadn't even heard them sing yet - they were nothing more than a rumour! This sort of phenomenon could not happen today and if you are too young or too old to have missed it, I feel a little sorry for you. But fear not - you can read about all the excitement right here.
Ah Beatles memories - where do I start? I was in grade 6 by the time the Beatles finally hit the airwaves. They were all over the radio which in those days meant 8 to 9 pm on weeknights (The Nightwatch Show! With Denny Miller!) and Saturday afternoon with Wee Willie. But the big event was when they first came on Ed Sullivan on a freezing cold Sunday night in February 1964. Picture this: we were all seven of us crammed into my parents bedroom, where the TV was kept - probably because it was the warmest room in the house. Mom, Dad and 5 kids ranging from 8 to 18 all sprawled on the bed and the floor watching - THE BEATLES!
I often wonder what my parents were thinking as this was happening all around them. Mom being from Scotland sort of liked the Beatles, I think because they were British and she felt a connection to them. But for Dad they were more of a religious experience because every time he heard them on the radio or saw them on the news his reaction was always a disgusted but heartfelt "Jesus Christ!"
How happy he must have been when we all began to sing their songs every waking hour and even after we went to bed. My brother and I used lay in bed at night and sing in what I am certain we thought was perfect two part harmony. Our specialty as I recall was Please Please Me.
And then there was the hair. We did not have the nerve yet to actually grow our hair like the Beatles but we could comb our bangs down and that is what we all did. Drove our parents and our teachers crazy - how could we learn with all that hair in our eyes? And if we couldn't grow our hair fast enough then the next best thing was, you guessed it - Beatle wigs! Someone got their hands on a Beatle wig and never has a wig seen more active duty on more heads than that particular piece of woven polyester. I remember getting the nerve once to wear it to school and as I walked down the street my friend Ian Sedgwick saw me coming from a whole block away and actually screamed - such was the power of the wig.
Eventually the wig was replaced by actual hair much to the disgust of parents and teachers alike but at least I had one adult on my side in my quest for Beatledom. One Sunday night my Aunt Ruby was at the house to give me a hair cut and actually stood up to Dad and convinced him to allow her to give me a Beatle hair cut. She was from that day on, and remains - my favorite aunt.
And I even had a brush with Beatle fame in the person of my grade 6 art teacher - a very young and attractive Mrs. Roberts who was from Liverpool, had an accent just like the Beatles and wore miniskirts and fancy fishnet stockings which she caught me admiring more than once. She claimed she had been to art school with John Lennon and was very forthcoming in sharing this bit of news with all us eager students. I believed her - no one could lie wearing stockings like that!
Who would have thought that after all these years I would still be a fan? But I am. I still play their music and follow the exploits of the remaining Beatles. And "with a little help from my friends" I can still harmonize after we have had a few too many and the hour is late. And who knows - maybe one of these days I'll invite all my friends over and we will have a little Beatles party. Now let me think - where did I put that wig?
Ah Beatles memories - where do I start? I was in grade 6 by the time the Beatles finally hit the airwaves. They were all over the radio which in those days meant 8 to 9 pm on weeknights (The Nightwatch Show! With Denny Miller!) and Saturday afternoon with Wee Willie. But the big event was when they first came on Ed Sullivan on a freezing cold Sunday night in February 1964. Picture this: we were all seven of us crammed into my parents bedroom, where the TV was kept - probably because it was the warmest room in the house. Mom, Dad and 5 kids ranging from 8 to 18 all sprawled on the bed and the floor watching - THE BEATLES!
I often wonder what my parents were thinking as this was happening all around them. Mom being from Scotland sort of liked the Beatles, I think because they were British and she felt a connection to them. But for Dad they were more of a religious experience because every time he heard them on the radio or saw them on the news his reaction was always a disgusted but heartfelt "Jesus Christ!"
How happy he must have been when we all began to sing their songs every waking hour and even after we went to bed. My brother and I used lay in bed at night and sing in what I am certain we thought was perfect two part harmony. Our specialty as I recall was Please Please Me.
And then there was the hair. We did not have the nerve yet to actually grow our hair like the Beatles but we could comb our bangs down and that is what we all did. Drove our parents and our teachers crazy - how could we learn with all that hair in our eyes? And if we couldn't grow our hair fast enough then the next best thing was, you guessed it - Beatle wigs! Someone got their hands on a Beatle wig and never has a wig seen more active duty on more heads than that particular piece of woven polyester. I remember getting the nerve once to wear it to school and as I walked down the street my friend Ian Sedgwick saw me coming from a whole block away and actually screamed - such was the power of the wig.
Eventually the wig was replaced by actual hair much to the disgust of parents and teachers alike but at least I had one adult on my side in my quest for Beatledom. One Sunday night my Aunt Ruby was at the house to give me a hair cut and actually stood up to Dad and convinced him to allow her to give me a Beatle hair cut. She was from that day on, and remains - my favorite aunt.
And I even had a brush with Beatle fame in the person of my grade 6 art teacher - a very young and attractive Mrs. Roberts who was from Liverpool, had an accent just like the Beatles and wore miniskirts and fancy fishnet stockings which she caught me admiring more than once. She claimed she had been to art school with John Lennon and was very forthcoming in sharing this bit of news with all us eager students. I believed her - no one could lie wearing stockings like that!
Who would have thought that after all these years I would still be a fan? But I am. I still play their music and follow the exploits of the remaining Beatles. And "with a little help from my friends" I can still harmonize after we have had a few too many and the hour is late. And who knows - maybe one of these days I'll invite all my friends over and we will have a little Beatles party. Now let me think - where did I put that wig?
4 comments:
Yeah, where was the wig????
I remember Ian fondly too. I used to sneak him food when he was the starving Piano player at Howard Johnson's way back in the late 70's.
And the Beatles, still love them as much today.....
another well written column...I probably bought the beatle wig at Metropolitan store...I remember we sold them there and it seems every one was grabbing them up !..they were pretty pathetic but all the rage !ahhhh good old days..
Jacqui
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