*On this day in 1964, Joel Daly met and hung out with the Beatles. Here is the excerpt from his book The Daly News...
It was September 15, 1964. I went to Public Square after the 11:00 News, to watch the screaming crowd, awaiting the group’s arrival at the Sheraton Cleveland Hotel. Somehow another reporter and I got swept up by the security detail guarding the rear entrance, and wound up in the Beatles’ suite. I spent most of the night in casual conversation with the Fab Four. I didn’t realize until years later what a big deal it was! The Beatles were on the last stop of a month-long tour and were bone-tired. Acknowledging the “groupies” who besieged them everywhere they went, Ringo complained: “My ‘peter’ hurts”.
While I was there an 11-year old girl arrived with a stolen key for a room; a young boy hid in a packing case being delivered; another tried to get into the Kon Tiki bar, pretending to have a reservation; and another pretended to faint outside, only to request that she be given first aid inside the hotel.
The police asked that the Beatles stay on the same floor where the press conference was held, rather than the Presidential suite, to throw fans off the scent. The press conference provided little news. The Beatles were fidgety, twisting the microphone cords and lighting cigarettes. Someone asked John Lennon: “How did you find America?” He replied “We turned left at Greenland.” It was downhill from there. “How many rings does Ringo wear?” “When was your last haircut?” “Don’t you trust American barbers?”
Later, the Beatles were spirited by the police to the Public Auditorium for their show. During the third song, “All My Loving”, about a hundred fans stormed the stage. Police stopped the show and forced the Beatles to take refuge in their trailer. When peace was restored, it became a “Long Day’s Night.”
*On this day in 2013, WLS morning host Don Wade passed away. The following stories about Don made it into the final version of Records Truly Is My Middle Name.
This first one is about their time together at WIBG in Philadelphia…
“When I worked with John in Philly at WIBG, I was doing mornings and John was doing evenings. Our schedules were opposite, but we saw each other at weekly meetings that were a complete waste of time. We’d eat pizza and try to be serious, but nobody was. Before or after the meetings a bunch of us would go to this par-three golf course and drink beer, and hit balls. We didn’t fit in at all at the golf course — we didn’t know how to golf, we all had long hair, and got dirty looks from the real golfers, the business executives. When we weren’t “golfing,” we were playing softball. Rick Buckley, the son of the owner, would get a keg, and would show up wearing sweats, and we would go out and bat the ball around. We all loved working for Rick. All he wanted to do was have drinks and have a good time. He was one of the guys.”
The second story is about the final days of the music format on WLS in the late 1980s…
“In those days we were only playing about four records an hour because John Gehron, who was running the place — and really is a radio genius, recognized that the future of music on AM radio was pretty grim. It was great working with John again. I’ve always considered him to be a great guy — always smiling and always positive. He was genuinely supportive of everyone else on the air. He would go out of his way to let you know when he heard things that he liked on the air. The other thing I’ve always admired about him is that he really works at his craft. He may come off like he’s goofing off, but trust me, he really works at it. He takes it very seriously.”
This is the way John recalled Don during the writing of the book…
Although there weren’t many highlights from that second WLS era, I did get to work with my old friend Don Wade, who I had worked with in Philadelphia at WIBG. He’s known as Mr. Conservative now, but when we worked together at WIBG he was a long haired hippie with bellbottoms. He did a scripted bit show there, the same kind of show he was doing at WLS in the 80s in the midday slot. When WLS changed formats to news/talk a few years later, Don was the one they asked to stay.
