The Beatles at The Odeon, Manchester 30
May 1963
Copyright: Yesterday Once More
In late 1992 an article appeared in the Liverpool Echo
asking for Beatle Fans to attend a meeting to be held in The Abbey Road Pub
in Mathew Street, next door to the Cavern Club, with a view to re-establishing
a Beatles Fan Club in the city. There hadn't been a fan club in Liverpool
since the original fan club of the 1960s, and given that we get millions
of Beatle tourists in the city every year it was felt that there should be
a focal point, an organisation where people could contact other Beatle
fans.
The first meeting was attended by about 12 people in total. All were
fans of The Beatles and felt that there should be an organisation in the
city that promoted The Beatles, their music and their lives.
They met each week for a couple of months and during this time they sought the
help of legal bodies in order that they established the Fan Club in a professional
and legal manner. During these months they chose a name, designed a logo
and stationery, opened a bank account and topped it off with a written
constitution.
As the time came closer to launching the Club many people had dropped off
and they ended up with just 3 of them. They had come so far with their plans
and the organisation of the Club that they decided to to go ahead and launch
it because we believed in what we were trying to do and that it would be
a great asset to the city and other fans..
In February 1993 Bill Logan, Mary McGrath and Jean Catharell paid the
membership fees and became the first 3 members of this new and exciting
fan club, administered in the city where it all
began. With their own fees
in the bank they used the money and began advertising in some well known Beatle
publications. Within weeks of the adverts appearing they began to receive
mail from people enquiring about the club. In the beginning they anticipated
the club being available to people in the UK only. This was not to
be!! They received letters from people all over the world asking of they
could become members too. Why not? The music of The Beatles is
not restricted to UK fans and their mere existence has brought the people
of the world together in the name of music, peace and love. So within
a very short time they went from being a locally based fan club to a highly
successful and respected international one.
In the past years our administrative personnel has dropped from 3 to 2 when
Mary found she didn't have the time to commit herself any longer. Bill
and Jean remained committed and continued to be so for many years.
They worked hard to keep people in touch with what was going on with The
Beatles and their solo careers, and it's a labour of love, they enjoyd it so
much.
The club became a focal point for visitors to Liverpool and was supported
by John's first wife, Cynthia Lennon who is our Patron, together with Alistair
Taylor, Brian Epstein's former Personal Assistant and General Manager of
Apple Corps, our Honorary President. Both were active contributors
to our quarterly magazine appropriately called "Across The Universe" because
that's exactly where it goes!!!
So visit our site regularly and join our growing family of Beatle
fans and help us to continue to keep the flame alive, a flame yet to be
diminished by any other recording artists of the 20th Century.
Fan Club Update
In late December 2000 the club decided to take the fan club on line and cease with the paper version of the Fan Club Magazine, "Across The Universe". So they were more easily able to provide everyone with up to the minute information this way.
Update 2018
Last year (2017) this site was badly deleted by the webmaster. Fortunately we were able to restore everything so it was saved from oblivion for you, and for next generations.
Links to other Beatle related sites.
Please sign my Guestbook
Return to top of this page |
Back to Home Page