AN INTRODUCTION
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GREATEST BAND OF ALL TIME. PERIOD. The Beatles. The Fab Fours, The Mop Tops. And The Band of the Century. Now what can I write about The Beatles that have not already been written. I was barely out of diapers when they were conquering the world so I couldn't really say I have first hand experience of their presence but I can certainly feel their presence 'cos during the sixties, you just cannot escape them. They were everywhere. There were in the newspapers, magazines and they were constantly on TV too. My eldest brother was the one who brought their albums to our house and I was hooked ever since with a fiery passion that still burns to this day. He have a few of their albums and singles which he loaned to his friends and I never see them again. I remember whenever The Beatles appeared on TV, I would rushed to my brother's room and started banging on his door furiously in excitement informing him. He was with his wife-to-be then. Boy, what a pain I must have been and my brother, bless him, never once reprimanded me about my thoughtlessness but then what does a lad of 10 know about the birds and the bees.. While boys my age would be excited about toy guns and spiders, I would be excited by any sight of The Beatles. When my brother and his friends were listening to "The White Album", I was on the floor singing along and knowing all the words to all the songs. Again, what a pain I must have been. They were listening to The Beatles, not a pesky 9 years old.. But then, what do I know. When I happened to stumbled upon a Beatles magazine in my brother's cupboard, I've been searching that cupboard in the same space for years hoping to find another, which I never did of course.
I would cut up all their pictures from every newspaper and magazines and even from the newspaper wrapped on the oily meats or vegetables that my mom brought home from the market. When The Beatles broke up, I was still too young to comprehend the impact it have on the rest of the world. I couldn't watch the "Let It Be' movie 'cos it was shown for one day only. As a form of taunting me further, even thought the movie was not shown anymore, for some reasons or other, the movie poster was left on the cinema. Imagine how tantalising it was for a lad of 10. There was a moment when I was really considering breaking the cinema displace shelf with all the glorious pictures of The Beatles from "Let It Be'. I was this close to breaking the glasses and grabbing the pictures but I didn't of course. Common sense prevailed. Looking back, I guess I should have broke the glass and ran off with the pictures. As a young boy, the worst that could happened was that I'll get a trashing from my father but I would have had the pictures to show. What a treasure it would be if I have it now and what a tale it would make. The Beatles broke the law playing on the roof top disturbing the peace while I broke the law stealing The Beatles' pictures. I contended myself by purchasing my first Beatles SP proper, the 'Let It Be' single with picture sleeve.
When I was in college and given an assignment to write on a big of paper so as to improve our handwriting. Guess what I wrote. I filled the whole paper to the blink with Beatles facts. Their albums, their songs and all their achievements. My lecturer who was a great Beatles fan too was impressed. He later asked me to see him after class and offered to sell me one of his old albums, With The Beatles which I bought duly. As years went by, I got all their albums and eventually their CD too, including their solo offerings. There was a weird experience many years later when I just started working. I was working late, feeling tired and weary, I passed by this cinema at Sungai Way and it was showing a Beatles flick. It was definitely not ' Magical Mystery Tour' and till today in spite of all the information at our finger tips via the Internet, I just could not for the life of me recall what movie it was. It was called "The Beatles Story" but our operators here most likely have changed the title to make it easier to remember so this will most probably remain one of the mystery of my life.
The Beatles were the only T-shirt that I wore although I did wore The Bee Gees and Robin Gibb for a brief while during the sixties when self printed T-shirt was the rage and it was printed by my cousin. Well, sometimes you just gotta make allowance, right. Since then, it was only The Beatles for me and I have quite a few of them. All of them were gifts given to me by my sister, nieces and nephews. I've never actually bought any of them. Oh, it just crossed my mind. In the 80's, I got myself a Michael Jackson's Dangerous T- shirt. I didn't buy it. I got it through a question and answers quiz show from the radio. I wasn't really a Michael Jackson fan but I knew enough of him to win myself and my friends a few T-shirts. Throughout the years, I've accumulated quite a collections of Beatles songbooks, magazines, posters, etc. In the eighties, I received a very nice and warming letter from my niece who was studying overseas, telling me that she have got top mark for a composition that she wrote about The Beatles, from all the tales that I've told her during her growing up years. Even her professor was amazed at the knowledge she have regarding The Beatles, considering that the band have long ceased to exist when she was born.Anyway, for better or worst, The Beatles have remain a steadfast present in my life and here is my little tribute to the four lads who have brought so much joy in my life. John, Paul, George and Ringo, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
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