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My first contact with the Beatles was in 1963 when I was still just 14.
My best schoolfriend Ginny and I used to go to lots of pop concerts together.
We also used to spend hours upon hours waiting outside stage doors in order
to collect autographs. When we heard that The Beatles would be playing at
the ABC cinema in Croydon we were one of the first in line buying tickets
and we managed to get front row seats. The Beatles were, however, not top
of the bill. The show starred two Americans, Chris Montez and Tommy Roe.
There was a cafe adjoining the cinema and whenever Ginny and I attended
one of the many pop concerts held at the cinema we would go into the cafe
(still known as a coffee bar in those days) and listen to music on the juke
box. We were avid autograph hunters but rarely saw and never expected to
see any pop stars of significance in the cafe. When the great day of the
Beatles concert arrived Ginny and I turned up at the cafe as usual. On entering
through the door I was absolutely blown over and surprised, for the cafe
was empty but for three people sitting at one of the tables…The Beatles!
(John was backstage with his wife, although none of us knew he was married
at the time). I was awestruck…I just lit up and exclaimed “It’s The Beatles!”.
Paul asked us to join them at the table. I could hardly believe that something
so amazing was actually happening..… that Paul McCartney of The Beatles
was asking me, a 14 year old schoolgirl besotted with The Beatles, to sit
with three of them at their table. The only thing that I could think of
was to ask them for their autographs.
I was so crazy about The Beatles that I really would have liked to have
had their autographs a hundred times over. I got out sheets of lined paper
and asked them if they could sign their autographs as many times as possible
on the papers. Paul took the lead and the other two followed along gladly.
George commented that it was like doing lines at school, but then added
with pride that he was now signing his name! I told them that I wanted to
give everyone in my class at school their autograph (which is what I did
the following day). Then we heard that John had emerged from the stage door
and so we had to rush over there to get his autograph as well. Collecting
autographs was the most important thing and we were so excited. As we were
rushing out of the cafe Paul called after us “Are you coming back?” I said
“Yes” and rushed out. I failed to spot John myself but Ginny got me his
autograph on a piece of paper (which I later stuck into my autograph book
on the same page with the autographs of the other three Beatles, each of
whom signed their names with three kisses. After I had missed John we returned
to the cafe but The Beatles were gone. Ginny said to me “Did you see the
way George was looking at you?”, but I was too excited to have noticed anything.
When I left school at 15 I had to find a job and so I wrote to The Beatles'
press office in London asking if they had any vacancies. It was very easy
to get jobs in those days. Tony Barrow, who was The Beatles press officer,
contacted me and asked me to come in for an interview. He then gave me a
job working in The Beatles fan club department of their press office in
Monmouth Street, just off Shaftesbury Avenue and very close to Denmark Street
which was, and is, known as 'Tin Pan Alley'. The office had only been open
for three months. Brian Epstein still had his headquarters in Liverpool
and “Beatlemania”, as it later became known, had not fully taken off. I
was the 'Beatle girl' that was there right from the start.
The NEMS company in Monmouth Street was on two floors. On the lower floor
was Tony Barrow’s office. He was my direct employer and he was the spin
doctor for The Beatles and some other of Brian Epstein’s artists. In the
adjoining office was his very hard-working secretary, Jo Bergman. I noticed
that she was always up to her ears typing away all day. She later confided
in me that Barrow was lazy, and that all he did was drink coffee and socialise
all day whilst she in the adjoining office did all the work. I worked on
the floor above with Tina and Mary who were the joint fan club secretaries.
Barrow, however, saw fit to use the fictitious names of Ann Collingham and
Bettina Rose for these two girls. I was there to help them by opening letters
from the sackfuls of fan mail that arrived for The Beatles each day and,
after reading the letters, putting them in the appropriate pigeon-holes
according to their contents. It must have been a bit like being a post office
sorter! I was also the person who had to make endless cups of coffee on
demand whenever anyone requested it. |
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