Meet The Beatles
Looks like it's not gonna happen.
I will never meet a Beatle.
It was their explosion onto the music scene in the '60's that inspired me to get into radio in the first place. As a young boy, I spent my after-school hours listening to my favorite station waiting to hear Beatles records. I had the posters, the trading cards, the stamps, the sweatshirt, the sunglasses, the magazine covers, and albums. I wrote them letters as a child. I repurchased all their albums when they came out on CD. I own the movies on VHS and DVD. I cried when John Lennon died. I cried when George Harrison died. I've seen Paul McCartney in concert 3 times, and Ringo twice. I have a clock in our family room that plays a snippet of a Beatles song at the top of every hour. I have Beatles collectible figurines in my home recording studio. I dragged my wife to Liverpool during our honeymoon trip to Europe. We walked down Penny Lane, and visited Strawberry Fields. I took my daughter to the Abbey Road studios in London and took a picture of her crossing that famous street just as the Beatles had for the album cover. I've done my part! But the Beatles have been content to keep me in the crowd of people who feel they are the world's biggest fan.
I've had some painfully close calls. When the Beatles tour came to Cleveland, my cousins got to go. I didn't. When Paul McCartney played the Citrus Bowl, I managed to get a front row seat at the press conference. I had my camera. I schooled my wife on how to use it and take the picture that would define my life. But as I walked up to pose with him after the Q & A, security formed a human wall, and he was gone. I was within 6 feet of fulfilling my dream! A few weeks later, my friend Charlie, an afternoon deejay in Minneapolis, got an exclusive interview with Paul. He sent me the pictures and the cassette to rub it in. He thinks I think it's funny, but it's kinda not.
A couple of years ago, our Stairmaster was on the fritz. The local certified repairman came over to fix it. When he noticed all the Beatles paraphernalia around he told me all about his chance meeting with Paul, and how they had developed a friendship. I just about pleaded with the guy to hook me up, but he went into turf protection mode. After all, why would the most famous musician in the world want to meet a guy who plays records for a living, when he could get a discount on cardio equipment?
When our former sales manager found out I was a Beatles fan, he told me about how his wife had been in the hospital as a child, and during a promotional tour, the young Beatles did a promotional visit there. They stopped by her room, chatted a bit, and autographed a picture. It's worth thousands now. A classic case of the right illness at the right time.
I've chatted and had pictures with Bon Jovi, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Kenny Loggins and hundreds of other superstars. I've been on rock stars' tour busses. I've been on stage to introduce Matchbox 20, Maroon 5, Pat Benatar, NSync and many others. It's always cool to do that. And in the eyes of their fans I can see how envious they are of me as their versions of The Beatles come out and shake my hand as I bring them on to perform. But after decades of meeting fans, the surviving Beatles still haven't gotten to ME yet.
He's a billionaire, a british knight, and the most famous person of our time. He probably feels he's done it all. Somebody tell Sir Paul McCartney that he's almost right. There's just one more thing.
