This weekend marks 60 years since Beatlemania took New Zealand by storm.
In June 1964, The Beatles touched down in New Zealand as part of their historic world tour, playing sold-out shows in Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin and Christchurch.
To mark this anniversary, the new book When We Was Fab: Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour, has been released.
Rock historian and co-author Andy Neill says the hysteria from fans was unlike anything the nation had seen before.
"This was this new force that was coming over from the other side of the world, this new pop force. It wasn't only just the music - which of course, was extremely fresh and original and vital - but it was also the look."
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
During the twenty second nineteen sixty four, sixty years ago.
This weekend, beatle Mania hit New Zealand. The Beatles played
sold out shows in Wellington, Auckland and En and christ
which are their only visit to New Zealand. A very
comprehensive new book has been released for the anniversary. It's
called When We Was Fab Inside the Beatles. Australasian Tour
(00:33):
gisban Born, UK based rock historian Andy Neil is one
of the authors and he is with me now.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Good morning, Good morning, Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
How big was this tour for New Zealand at the time.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Well, where do we start? It was massive. There had
been rock and pop tours to New Zealand before this,
but the Beatles was just totally unprecedented, just in terms
of the amount of organization or should I say the
lack of organization before it, because nobody really knew what
to expect and so when they are caught, so many
(01:07):
people unawares, not just like the tour organizers, but the police,
city councilors and even the public. Nobody expected the crowds
that gathered wherever they went.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Because the authorities in the police completely underestimated what it
was going to be, certainly purity wise. There just wasn't
enough in place, was there.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
No, there wasn't. I mean you know that.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
There was a famous anecdote which we repeat in the book,
when the Beatles were about four or five days into
the tour and they couldn't work out why there was
inadequate police protection, not so much for themselves but just
for the for the public, to stop the public from
falling under cars and getting trampled, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
So they asked.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
One of the reporters was saying, you know, does this
happen to you all the time? Were you coming and
out of buildings and you're getting mobbed and torn to bits?
And George apparently said, well, we told your police that
there were going to be crowds and there were going
to be scenes like this, And the police commissioner said.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Enough to talk to us about crowd control. We've had
vera lynn through here.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Sorry, the hysteria. I mean it was like unlike anything
we've ever seen, really, wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
It was?
Speaker 4 (02:21):
And I don't think you've ever seen it since. You know,
this was this new force that was coming over from
from the other side of the world, this new pop
force that it wasn't only just the music, which of
course was extremely fresh and original and vital, but it
was also the look. You know, these guys were the
scandalously long hair, which seems ludicrous now it was quite
(02:42):
short by comparison, but it was It was this whole
of the fashion, the suits, the boots, it was all
part of this package and it was a sort of
a you know, the Beatles were the crest of this
new force that was pretty much the start of the
sixties if you like, you know, because the early sixties
was still like a hangover from the fifties and New
Zealand was under Keith holy Oaks stewardship, and it was
(03:05):
a pretty it was it was a safe time, but
it was a pretty dull time.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
But the Beatles sort of.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Was this new emerging thing that totally swept the board
and signaled a new era. And of course it led
to what happened in the late sixties with Woodstock and that,
you know, the counterculture and the festivals. So really this
was the start of it.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
There was also a sort of moral panic around it,
which is quite funny given the pop stars our kids
are listening to these days.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
That's right. I mean again, parents and authorities didn't know
what to expect.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
And when my co author Greg Armstrong and myself were
going through all the papers and we were just looking
for Beatle stories, we were looking for the Beatles stories
that were relating to society at the time, and there
was this sort of like almost moral panic about you know,
especially when the tickets went on sale. These kids, you know, nowadays,
(03:57):
you know, everyone just sits at home on a computer
and hits the refresh button. In those days, kids was
sort of queuing up on the footpaths overnight for up
to three days at a time to try and get
tickets to the shows, which was unheard of. And so
you know, there was this sort of like question about
what's happening to our kids. You know, we've never seen
them react like this before. And it really was this
(04:18):
epidemic that just swept everybody, everybody and everything before it.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
What did this tour do for the music industry here
in New Zealand? Did it have a lasting impact?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Very much so?
Speaker 4 (04:30):
It completely kickstarted I mean there've been a local New
Zealand music industry, a rock and roll and pop since
the mid fifties. But the Beatles example was revolutionary in
the fact that it inspired so many bands to sort
of use that model that the Beatles had presented as
(04:51):
a blueprint for their own careers. So, you know, you
had bands like for example, Ray Columbus, Ray Columbus and
the Invaders had come up from Christchurch based themselves in Auckland,
and I actually interviewed one of the guitar players, Whilie Russell,
and he said that we couldn't go the Beatles shows
because we were a working band.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
And we had a gig that night.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
But during the day we went up to the Auckland
Town Hall and we saw their guitars and we went
and bought a set of We went to a local
music shop and imported the very same guitars that John
Lennon and George Harrison were playing, you know. So it
had that effect, and other bands followed, Max Meriton, the Meteors,
and then of course singers like Dinah Lee. You know,
(05:32):
it all started this industry that carried on right through
you know, the Lardie Dars, Larry's Rebels, et cetera. And
you know, they were the ultimate blueprint to.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Follow Ringo start almost didn't make it to New Zealand.
In fact, he didn't play in Australia.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
That's right, he didn't. He missed the start of the tour. Literally,
you couldn't make this up.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Talk about drama.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
That the day before they were due to fly and
start the tour in Denmark because they played some shows
in Europe and then they sort of headed out to
the South Pacific. They went to Denmark and Amsterdam with
a stand in drummer that they had to hire at
very short notice, a guy called Jimmy Nichol, who's sort
of like the mystery man of the whole piece. He's
(06:15):
just vanished into obscurity. No one even knows if he's
still with us. He was literally hired at the last
minute to depth for Ringo, and because there was no
guarantee when Ringo would be able to rejoin.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Because he was under doctor's orders.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
So by the time they got to Hong Kong, which
was a couple of shows that were added on the way,
Jimmy Nichol was still in place, and when they got
to Australia, he was still there, so there was probably
a lot of anxious.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Kiwis wondering, you know, would we see Ringo?
Speaker 4 (06:44):
But luckily Ringo was well enough to rejoin the tour
in Melbourne. So from Melbourne onwards they played Melbourne, Sydney
and then they got to New Zealand and Ringo was
back in. And not only was Ringo back in, but
he was back singing because when he was first, when
he first rejoined the tour, he couldn't sing because the
doctors had told them. I had told him you must
rest your throat because he had Tom Soliders. The Wellington
(07:07):
town Hall shows were unique because the setlist was back
up to eleven songs and Ringos there, singing Boys, showcase
of the first album.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Amazing. Thank you so much, Andy, you appreciate your time
this morning. The book was called When We Was fab
Inside the Beatles Australation Tour. It is very comprehensive. If
you are a Beatles fan, you remember that or you
want to relive it, I'll tell you what. It is
all in there, Every little bit of information and everything
is in there. It is fabulous.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to news talks there'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
During the twenty second nineteen sixty four, sixty years ago.
This weekend, beatle Mania hit New Zealand. The Beatles played
sold out shows in Wellington, Auckland and En and christ
which are their only visit to New Zealand. A very
comprehensive new book has been released for the anniversary. It's
called When We Was Fab Inside the Beatles. Australasian Tour
(00:33):
gisban Born, UK based rock historian Andy Neil is one
of the authors and he is with me now.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Good morning, Good morning, Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
How big was this tour for New Zealand at the time.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Well, where do we start? It was massive. There had
been rock and pop tours to New Zealand before this,
but the Beatles was just totally unprecedented, just in terms
of the amount of organization or should I say the
lack of organization before it, because nobody really knew what
to expect and so when they are caught, so many
(01:07):
people unawares, not just like the tour organizers, but the police,
city councilors and even the public. Nobody expected the crowds
that gathered wherever they went.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Because the authorities in the police completely underestimated what it
was going to be, certainly purity wise. There just wasn't
enough in place, was there.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
No, there wasn't. I mean you know that.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
There was a famous anecdote which we repeat in the book,
when the Beatles were about four or five days into
the tour and they couldn't work out why there was
inadequate police protection, not so much for themselves but just
for the for the public, to stop the public from
falling under cars and getting trampled, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
So they asked.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
One of the reporters was saying, you know, does this
happen to you all the time? Were you coming and
out of buildings and you're getting mobbed and torn to bits?
And George apparently said, well, we told your police that
there were going to be crowds and there were going
to be scenes like this, And the police commissioner said.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Enough to talk to us about crowd control. We've had
vera lynn through here.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Sorry, the hysteria. I mean it was like unlike anything
we've ever seen, really, wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
It was?
Speaker 4 (02:21):
And I don't think you've ever seen it since. You know,
this was this new force that was coming over from
from the other side of the world, this new pop
force that it wasn't only just the music, which of
course was extremely fresh and original and vital, but it
was also the look. You know, these guys were the
scandalously long hair, which seems ludicrous now it was quite
(02:42):
short by comparison, but it was It was this whole
of the fashion, the suits, the boots, it was all
part of this package and it was a sort of
a you know, the Beatles were the crest of this
new force that was pretty much the start of the
sixties if you like, you know, because the early sixties
was still like a hangover from the fifties and New
Zealand was under Keith holy Oaks stewardship, and it was
(03:05):
a pretty it was it was a safe time, but
it was a pretty dull time.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
But the Beatles sort of.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Was this new emerging thing that totally swept the board
and signaled a new era. And of course it led
to what happened in the late sixties with Woodstock and that,
you know, the counterculture and the festivals. So really this
was the start of it.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
There was also a sort of moral panic around it,
which is quite funny given the pop stars our kids
are listening to these days.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
That's right. I mean again, parents and authorities didn't know
what to expect.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
And when my co author Greg Armstrong and myself were
going through all the papers and we were just looking
for Beatle stories, we were looking for the Beatles stories
that were relating to society at the time, and there
was this sort of like almost moral panic about you know,
especially when the tickets went on sale. These kids, you know, nowadays,
(03:57):
you know, everyone just sits at home on a computer
and hits the refresh button. In those days, kids was
sort of queuing up on the footpaths overnight for up
to three days at a time to try and get
tickets to the shows, which was unheard of. And so
you know, there was this sort of like question about
what's happening to our kids. You know, we've never seen
them react like this before. And it really was this
(04:18):
epidemic that just swept everybody, everybody and everything before it.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
What did this tour do for the music industry here
in New Zealand? Did it have a lasting impact?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Very much so?
Speaker 4 (04:30):
It completely kickstarted I mean there've been a local New
Zealand music industry, a rock and roll and pop since
the mid fifties. But the Beatles example was revolutionary in
the fact that it inspired so many bands to sort
of use that model that the Beatles had presented as
(04:51):
a blueprint for their own careers. So, you know, you
had bands like for example, Ray Columbus, Ray Columbus and
the Invaders had come up from Christchurch based themselves in Auckland,
and I actually interviewed one of the guitar players, Whilie Russell,
and he said that we couldn't go the Beatles shows
because we were a working band.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
And we had a gig that night.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
But during the day we went up to the Auckland
Town Hall and we saw their guitars and we went
and bought a set of We went to a local
music shop and imported the very same guitars that John
Lennon and George Harrison were playing, you know. So it
had that effect, and other bands followed, Max Meriton, the Meteors,
and then of course singers like Dinah Lee. You know,
(05:32):
it all started this industry that carried on right through
you know, the Lardie Dars, Larry's Rebels, et cetera. And
you know, they were the ultimate blueprint to.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Follow Ringo start almost didn't make it to New Zealand.
In fact, he didn't play in Australia.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
That's right, he didn't. He missed the start of the tour. Literally,
you couldn't make this up.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Talk about drama.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
That the day before they were due to fly and
start the tour in Denmark because they played some shows
in Europe and then they sort of headed out to
the South Pacific. They went to Denmark and Amsterdam with
a stand in drummer that they had to hire at
very short notice, a guy called Jimmy Nichol, who's sort
of like the mystery man of the whole piece. He's
(06:15):
just vanished into obscurity. No one even knows if he's
still with us. He was literally hired at the last
minute to depth for Ringo, and because there was no
guarantee when Ringo would be able to rejoin.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Because he was under doctor's orders.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
So by the time they got to Hong Kong, which
was a couple of shows that were added on the way,
Jimmy Nichol was still in place, and when they got
to Australia, he was still there, so there was probably
a lot of anxious.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Kiwis wondering, you know, would we see Ringo?
Speaker 4 (06:44):
But luckily Ringo was well enough to rejoin the tour
in Melbourne. So from Melbourne onwards they played Melbourne, Sydney
and then they got to New Zealand and Ringo was
back in. And not only was Ringo back in, but
he was back singing because when he was first, when
he first rejoined the tour, he couldn't sing because the
doctors had told them. I had told him you must
rest your throat because he had Tom Soliders. The Wellington
(07:07):
town Hall shows were unique because the setlist was back
up to eleven songs and Ringos there, singing Boys, showcase
of the first album.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Amazing. Thank you so much, Andy, you appreciate your time
this morning. The book was called When We Was fab
Inside the Beatles Australation Tour. It is very comprehensive. If
you are a Beatles fan, you remember that or you
want to relive it, I'll tell you what. It is
all in there, Every little bit of information and everything
is in there. It is fabulous.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to news talks there'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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