My love for music was born earlier than my love for the Beatles, but not by much and without the Fab Four -- who had already been kaput for a few years by the time I discovered them -- I wouldn't be the inveterate music geek I am. (Now you know who to blame!)
A $1.99 cut-out bin copy of "Let It Be," arguably, started the collecting freak-out, too. Yes, it had the red Apple label (instead of the more typical green) and yes, I should have bought a bunch and kept them sealed for Ebay, but who could have known in 1976?
More to the point, my mom -- who always indulged my interests (I bet she can tell the difference between Burning Spear and Black Uhuru!) -- packed the 10-year-old me and my brother on to the D train and took us to the Winter Garden Theater (Broadway!) to see the original cast of "Beatlemania!"
Yup, the one with Leslie Fradkin as George, Joe Pecorino as John, Mitch Weissman as Paul and Justin McNeil as Ringo. I even took pictures, which I still have, along with the original Playbill and the embarassing pics of my brother and I outside the theater in our stripey, flared pants and mushroom-y haircuts. Hey, it was 1977!
I loved the show, although I suspect the cynical 40-year-old me would scoff, if it weren't for the fond memories. Now that two of the fab four are no more, there's really no hope of seeing the Beatles play together again, so "Beatlemania Now,” at the Milwaukee Theatre on March 30 at 8 p.m. is the closest one can come.
I can't speak to the quality of this cast, since I haven't seen it, but this version of the show has been on stage for almost a decade, so the kinks (heh, geddit?) have certainly been worked out by now.
Moms and dads, bring the kids who love music and you just might make a life-long music fan out of them.
Beatlemania! fun facts:
Did you know Marshall Crenshaw was the fifth person to portray John Lennon in the original show?
Reed Kailing, who played Paul McCartney, was previously in the Grass Roots, subsequently in the Beatles-related Liverpool band Badfinger (which was managed at the time by Milwaukee's Jack Koshick; he owned the Odd Rock Cafe, trainspotters). Kailing lives on a farm near Milwaukee these days.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
