Beatlemania and Suicide city

Strange title you're thinking? Read on....

Not many people would admit to being kicked out of the school choir in their youth. I did! There I was singing my heart out when an old nun wandered up and down the rows of young girls, she got to me, listened and tapped me on the shoulder and said “out” I was devastated and went on my way mumbling a name under my breath that no nun should ever be called. Despite being this I love music, lots of different artists: Robbie Williams, The Pogues, Bee Gees, Elton John, Billy Joel, Dr Hook are just a few and my old time favorites the Beatles. When Beatle mania gripped NZ I was there! Well wanted to be, I was at primary school and my best friend and I tried desperately to work out a way to get from the Hutt Valley into Wellington to their hotel (along with the plans of hundreds of others) quite remember what happened but somehow we didn’t make, maybe the parents cottoned on or we didn’t have the train fare but we didn’t get to see them.

We still spent a good part of the next couple of years playing their music over and over again, we knew every word and the parts of the songs we loved we would stop the record and replay. Loved them. Last night took me back a few years – we went to a Beatle/Roy Orbison Tribute concert. As we went in MM commented a lot of the audience was quite old – well I though the Beatles came out over 40 years ago, what did he expect. The Roy Orbison guy was brilliant, we had been at the same theatre a few years ago to see the real Roy and I cold have sworn we were back there again. Then out came the Beatles – I wasn’t sure what to expect and to start with was disappointed – it didn’t look like them! Paul was short and puny (and right handed), Ringo – well Ringo was a bit chubby – it was a rather roundish, chubby Ringo, George just looked wrong, the first swong was o.k. then off they went and at times the music was so similar, especially the guy doing John Lennon, he stood like him, sung like him, the harmonizing was beautiful, by the end of the night the oldies were up dancing, clapping and yelling for more! LOL I must email my friend who now lives in Melbourne and tell her I got to see them! Well almost. The ‘Beatles’ got a real cheer when they said they loved the audience as they had heard about us…….