Back To The Sixties 1

'If you remember the Sixties, you weren't there' - that's a well-worn popular quote that, of course, bears no relation to the facts. I have so many memories of that exciting period of my life and, believe me, I was there!

I was 18 when the Beatles first arrived on the scene in 1962 - the effect on me was instantaneous. I sensed, from the first time I heard 'Love Me Do' being played on the local coffee bars' juke box in London's Ladbroke Grove, that here was a group with something 'distinctly different from the rest'. In fact, unbeknown to me, I had already been in the company of a future Beatle for ,when I went on holiday to Butlins holiday camp in Skegness, I had danced to the music of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes whose drummer at that time was ,of course, our Ringo. Little did I suspect that Mr. Starr would one day become well known throughout the world - nor, for that matter I suspect, did he !

Living in London, I was able to see and experience, first hand, the change in society's attitude towards young people in the 60's. In particular, youngsters like myself who had grown up in the post-war years. There was a definite 'new dawning' in the earlier part of the Sixties as clothes became more colourful and the popular music of the day began to reflect the tastes of 'teenagers'. Carnaby Street was the 'fashion centre' to begin with -it was there I went each week for my Ben Sherman shirts with button down collars, knitted ties, corduroy trousers, suede jackets etc. And it drew people in from all walks of life - on one occasion the only customers in the Lord John shop, were Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, his girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg & me!

The London music scene was also begin to gather momentum - the 2 I's in Old Compton Street had been the place where it was 'all happening' in the late 50's, the coffee bar which had nurtured the talents of Tommy Steele, Adam Faith, Joe Brown, Cliff Richard and The Shadows among many others. As the Sixties rolled into view, new clubs began taking up with the R&B sound that was now proving popular with youngsters - The Flamingo,The Whiskey-A-GoGo and The Marquee. Bluebeat, the forerunner to Reggae, was a different and popular sound creating interest on the Mod scene. And, of course, leading the way over all this was this raw, fresh exciting sound of The Beatles from Liverpool. I was one of the lucky ones who got to see the lads perform on their first appearance on ATV's 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium' in October 1963. My father worked for the ATV company and was lucky enough to get hold of a couple of tickets for the show. It was a memorable evening and I remember The Beatles breaking with tradition by opening the show, replacing the customary routine from the Tiller Girl dancers. As my sister and I settled into our centre stall seats in anticipation, the opening theme music finished, the curtains opened and there, taking us all by surprise, were John, Paul, George and Ringo - they played one song and then were gone. "If you want to see them again, they'll be back in 42 minutes…" the compere, Bruce Forsyth, announced. And return they did at the end of the show, performing 'From Me To You'; 'I'll Get You'; 'She Loves You' and finally 'Twist and Shout'. The newspapers the following day, described the scenes outside the Palladium that night in one word 'BEATLEMANIA'.

The great thing about that Palladium show, from my point of view, was that I was able to hear every word and every note that the boys sang and played. The 'screaming' girl fans were in limited numbers, way above in the upper circle. At subsequent trips to the Christmas shows, in '63 &'64, it was an entirely different matter. Then, it was rather like standing in front of a dozen jet planes getting ready for take off - from the moment the Beatles appeared on the stage until they left, the girls in the audience screamed continuously. Believe me, you had to be there to believe it! At Finsbury Park, my mates and I were just ten rows from the front and yet it was virtually impossible to determine just which number was being performed up there onstage. At one point in the proceedings, one of my friends turned to face the screaming masses behind him and shouted at the top of his voice "SHUT UP!!!" At least, I think that's what he said - at that precise moment, it was only possible to lip read… Even though struggling to hear anything above this continued verbal onslaught, it was difficult not to be moved by the electric atmosphere that generated all around us. I have never ever, before or since, witnessed such incredible scenes.

The following year, 1964, the Beatles came to 'my manor' Hammersmith for their Christmas show. Being just a short bus trip away, this meant that I would get to see the show on several occasions. The first couple of times, I paid out for a seat but quickly realised that it was cheaper to stand at the rear of the auditorium - nobody remained in their seats anyway once the Beatles took the stage! Like the Finsbury Park show, there was again a mixture of supporting acts - Freddie And The Dreamers; The Yardbirds; Elkie Brooks & Sounds Incorporated. The show was presented by the flamboyant disc jockey, Jimmy Savile. The venue may have changed but the formula was much the same. Comedy, music, pantomime and that continuous barrage of screaming from the girl fans. As the show came to its familiar end - the final chords of 'Twist and Shout', I made a swift move towards the foyer in a bid to get to the front of the bus queue in nearby Shepherds Bush Road. The crowd inside were still calling for more as I made my way out onto the Hammersmith Broadway. Suddenly, a black limousine slid into view from the side of the Odeon and drew to a halt right in front of me, the rear door still slightly open. I couldn't believe my eyes, for there inside the car were the four Beatles - they were in high spirits and were pretending to force Ringo back out of the car as the driver waited for a break in the traffic. It was only a few seconds and yet it seemed forever as the four of them skylarked around, collapsing on top of each other in a giggling heap. And then they were gone, swept away into the darkness…

George Douglas
TWIL Issue Seven February 2002