Confessions of a Beatlemaniac

By Val Kamm

n February 1963, I heard a song on the radio that would Our favorite disc jockey was Tom Clay on CKLW, the big change my life forever: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by 50,000-watt station across the river in Windsor, Ontario. Ithe Beatles. The band followed that single with “I Saw He organized an event called the Beatle Booster Ball to Her Standing There,” “She Loves You,” “Love Me Do,” and combat this campaign to malign our heroes. The ball was so many other songs in such a short period, it boggled the an outdoor concert at the state fairgrounds. By attending, mind. I loved everything by the Beatles, and spent hours in we got to listen to great music and demonstrate just how the record department of the downtown Detroit Hudson’s much Detroit truly loved the Beatles. I even made a giant store listening on headphones to their latest recordings. poster with pictures I drew of John, Paul, George, and I liked the other “British Invasion” bands like Herman’s Ringo to take along. Hermits, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and the Dave Clark We spent the summer of ’64 arguing amicably over the Five. But, at heart, I was a “Beatlemaniac.” And as far as I various merits and demerits of one Beatle over another. In was concerned, no one could touch them. July, we went to see the band’s first film, “A Hard Day’s My love for the Beatles, especially Paul McCartney, Night,” all the while anxiously awaiting the concert date. grew exponentially from early 1963 and into 1964. They I knew from reading fan magazines that the non-stop were the first group to consistently rival Motown groups screaming at a Beatles concert was so loud, it was deafening. for the number-one song in Detroit in the mid-1960s. Even the Fab Four complained that it was impossible to Then, inexplicably, a public relations guy at the University hear their own music over of Detroit initiated a “Stamp Out the Beatles” campaign, the din of thousands of prompting a rumor that the band might cancel their besotted teenage girls. scheduled concert in September—inconceivable! My friends Well, I for one was and I thought we would die if we couldn’t see the Beatles. determined to

12 | michigan history remember the time | be a mature 13; none of this silly, schoolgirl-crush insanity friend’s hand, until we ended up directly behind the stage for me. My love for the Beatles was more of an adult with only a few bodyguards standing between us and the appreciation of their music, which I very much wanted to lads from Liverpool. Amazingly, we still couldn’t hear the hear live. band play, but now we were only 10 to 15 feet from our Finally, that day came to pass. On September 6, 1964, idols. despite the unseasonably warm temperature of an Indian My friend, whose favorite Beatle was George, removed summer day, I dressed in a woolen “mod” outfit bought a shoe and threw it at him, hoping to get his attention. especially for the concert. It seemed like the nine-mile Fortunately for me, she was a lousy shot and instead hit trip from Dearborn to Olympia Stadium took forever. Paul, who turned around, looked down, and “waved” at us But, soon, we were there…and stuck in the rafters of the with the neck of his bass guitar. His smiling eyes met mine building with no air conditioning! The temperature felt like and I almost swooned. Paul actually looked at me! Then, 100 degrees. Then the Beatles began to play, and we couldn’t hear a single note! Years later, I would discover that, as a musical venue, Olympia Stadium was acoustically unsound. But that Sunday evening, it made no difference. We couldn’t hear anything—not even one another, let alone the music. And, sadly, from our high-tier seats, we could barely even see the Beatles way down on stage, seemingly a million miles away. What a ripoff! After all, we’d paid a whopping five bucks for our tickets. People were wandering up and down the stairs and aisles, everyone sweating profusely and becoming dangerously dehydrated. We saw one girl who had hundreds of Facing page: The Beatles performed before a sold-out crowd at Detroit’s Olympia Stadium during their Beatle cards pinned to her clothing. first American tour. From the Tony Spina Collection, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University. Again, I felt that such behavior was Above: The author with friends on her way to the Beatle Booster Ball. undignified. Though I wanted Paul McCartney to see me, I I heard a girl screaming at the top of her lungs; it took a certainly didn’t want to appear so ridiculous. moment to realize it was me! So much for acting like an In the excitement of the moment—or the heat—the poor adult. girl fainted and fell down the stairs, Beatle cards flashing as I recall next to nothing about the rest of the concert or she rolled by. the ride home. Paul McCartney had short-circuited my Some people helped her up and she was okay, but I 13-year-old brain. But what I do remember is that Paul was so appalled by the spectacle that I grabbed one of my McCartney had the most beautiful brown eyes of all time. girlfriends with the intention of making a beeline for the And on a sweltering September night in 1964, for one stage. If I couldn’t hear the Beatles performing, I was at least enchanted moment, they looked directly into mine. going to see them. Although Olympia Stadium was demolished 23 years later Down and down we went to the floor of the stadium. I in September 1987, in my memory that moment will live pushed my way through the crowd, holding on tight to my on forever.

Val Kamm, a graduate of Michigan State University, is a writer and horticulturist living in Colorado at the foot of Pikes Peak.

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