Hello! My name is Lisa, I'm 15 and I live in New York City. Welcome to
my website about THE BEATLES - the best group in the Whole Wide World!
The main part of this site is my BEATLES LOG. I call it my B-LOG - or
"BLOG" for short. I plan on adding entries every day.
More Fab Stuff!
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December 1, 1963 - Welcome to my new Beatles Blog!
I didn't think anyone else in America knew about the Beatles but me. My friends in school think I'm weird liking a British group. They're into Bobby Vinton. I think he's a real square. The Beatles are really sharp. They sing really well and the music has a beat.
I first learned about the Beatles last summer. My uncle is a pilot for Pan American Airways. For my birthday he brought me an album by a group that he said was very popular in England. The record, Please Please Me, is by a group called the Beatles. I know it’s a funny name, but the album has some terrific songs on it like I Saw Her Standing There, Please Please Me, Do You Want To Know A Secret and Twist And Shout.
After today, I won’t be the only one in New York who knows who the Beatles are. Today’s New York Times Magazine has a 3 page article on the group. It was written by a guy named Frederick Lewis. I think he lives in England because he knows a lot about the Beatles. The story is called “Britons Succumb to Beatlemania” and has three pictures of the group and a cartoon. The guys in the Beatles look so cool. Their hair is real long for a guy. They have cute bangs, sorta like my little 3 year old sister! Their hair wasn’t that long on the album cover. They must have let it grow on purpose. I think they make enough money to afford to get a haircut.
The article talks about battles between fans and bobbies (that’s British for police). The girls gets so excited about the Beatles that they push to get close to the group. The bobbies have to try and keep the girls away from the Beatles. He calls the Beatles a phenomenon. My dad says that means they are a really big deal. Mr. Lewis says “To see a Beatle is joy, to touch one paradise on earth, and just for the simple opportunity of this privilege, people will fight like mad things and with dedication for a Great Cause, like natural survival.” I think hearing them sing is paradise, but I’d love to touch one. Paul, in particular, because he’s so fine.
The magazine says that the Beatles have been the preoccupation of the British for months. Even more so than the government and football. (I didn’t know they liked football in England. I wonder if they like Y.A. Tittle of the New York Giants!) Anyway, Mr. Lewis tells a few stories that show how the British girls go nuts over them. In a place called Carlisle, 400 school girls fought bobbies while waiting to get tickets to see one of their concerts. In Dublin (that’s in Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom), things got a little rough. He says “young limbs snapped like twigs in a tremendous free-for-all.” Ouch! In London, a woman reporter’s hand brushed a Beatle. Girls then began kissing her hand because it had touched a Beatle! (I wish I could be a reporter and interview the group. My older brother tells me girls can’t be reporters, but I told him Lois Lane is a real good reporter. He says that can only happen in the Superman comic book and TV show, but he’s wrong. I’m gonna be a reporter one day!)
Mr. Lewis says the Beatles music is like rock ’n’ roll, but more inventive. I agree. They do play rock ’n’roll like Twist And Shout. My brother has a 45 of that song by the Isley Brothers. They also have harmonica on some songs.
Mr. Lewis says the Beatles act is both hilarious and outrageous. I’d love to see them sing at a concert if they ever come to New York. The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret like the group. They saw the Beatles at something called the Royal Variety Show. I wish I could get the Beatles to play at my school’s variety show!
Mr. Lewis says the British “admire their freshness and innocense so much that it’s almost like giving birth.” I’m not sure what he means by that, but I’m sure he means the English people really like the Beatles. He ends the article with a quote from John, who is the leader of the Beatles. John says, “We’re having a fab time. But it can’t last long. Anyway, I’d hate to be old. Just imagine it. Who would want to listen to an 80-year-old Beatles?”
My dad says it’s OK for me to quote a little bit from the article, but I can’t post the whole thing on my log. He says that would break the law of copywrites. So if you want to read more about the Beatles, get a copy of the New York Times Magazine dated December 1, 1963.
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December 2, 1963 - Beatles on Chicago radio!
I found out I’m not the only girl in America who likes the Beatles! I got an email from someone named Patty who lives in Chicago. She’s known about the Beatles even longer than me. She says she bought a 45 by the group with the song Please Please Me way back in March, 1963. Patty says she first heard it on WLS and really dug the harmonica and words to the song. But here’s a weird thing. She told me I misspelled the group’s name. She claims the group spells its name “BEATTLES” with two Ts. She checked her 45 and her collection of WLS surveys. Both the record and the WLS Silver Dollar Surveys from March 8 and 15 spell the group’s name with two Ts. I’m going to spell the name with only one T because that’s the way it is on my album and in The New York Times. My dad tells me The New York Times is very respectable.
I answered Patty’s email and told her 45 has the wrong spelling. I told her the record might be worth a lot of money one day because it has a mistake on it. You know, like the stamp with the upside down airplane. I told her to be real careful not lose the 45. I warned her that if she took it to a party, she should make sure she has her name on it so she will be sure to get it back when the party’s over. From what she tells me, a lot of people in Chicago like the song because Please Please Me got to number 35 on the chart.
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December 3, 1963 - Beatles on Los Angeles Radio!
I have really exciting news! I heard about a new Beatles song and learned that people as far away as California know about the Beatles!
Judy from Sherman Oaks, California tells me she bought a 45 by the Beatles called From Me To You back in August. She admitted that she didn’t like the song the first few times she heard it on KRLA. Judy says she and her friends are big Beach Boys fans. (That figures. She IS from California!) She thought the harmonica on the Beatles 45 was silly. Judy said “My kid brother plays the harmonica and he’s so stupid. But after a while the song grew on me. It’s a terrific song! I like the idea of the singers wanting to do anything for me! The Beach Boys want to go surfing. Maybe that’s the way boys are, but I want more! I want a guy who wants to keep me satisfied!” Judy didn’t know the Beatles had other records out and asked how she could get the Please Please Me album.
I’m not sure if you can get British records in America. My dad has a reel-to-reel tape recorder he uses to listen to medical tapes. Sometimes my brother and I record our voices on the tapes after my dad has finished listening to them. I emailed Judy that I could try holding the microphone near my record player and tape the album for her. She said her dad also has a tape recorder, so she’s gonna send me a tape. It will be interesting to see if my idea works.
What’s really neat about all this is that Judy has a 45 with a song that is not on my album. From Me To You sounds like a great song. Tomorrow I’m gonna call my record store to see if they have the 45. I just gotta have it!!!
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December 4, 1963 - Beatles have 3 U.S. singles!
I called a few record stores in New York today and none of them had From Me To You by the Beatles. One guy thought he remembered a song by that name by Del Shannon. Must be a different song. Only one store even knew about the Beatles. The man I talked to there saw the story in The New York Times Magazine, but didn’t have any of their records. He looked up the group in something called Phonolog. He said they have three singles out. From Me To You, which is the record Judy from California has. Please Please Me, which is the record Patty from Chicago has. The Beatles also have a song out called She Loves You. I ordered From Me To You and She Loves You, but not the other 45 because I have the songs on my album. He said he might be able to get me the singles by early next week. I can’t wait!!!
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