Hello Beatle Brunchers!
I think a formal introduction is in order. My name is Nikki, I'm a 22 year old college student and rookie Beatles fan.(casual listener my whole life, but hardcore ever since I attended Paul McCartney's Citi Field shows)
On Tuesday December 15th, I had the honor of meeting Julian Lennon when he came to New York City to promote his new single entitled "Lucy", a song he has written about his friend Lucy who had recently lost her battle with Lupus. I had found out from the station's website that he would not only be performing his new single (his first piece of new music in ten years) but he would also personally meet all of the fans who would come to see him.Golden Opportunity, right?
So on this chilly Tuesday morning, I found myself outside the CBS studios on 59th and 5th Ave at 6:30AM waiting (and freezing) with a group of fellow die hard Julian/John/Beatles fans, hoping to catch a glimpse of Julian as he prepared for his sound check through the enormous glass windows of the studio.Unfortunately for us, the sound check had already been wrapped, and Julian was nowhere in sight. Upon arriving, I quickly noticed that I was the youngest one there (a recurring theme whenever I enter a Beatles fan environment) so my nerves got the best of me and I hesitated to strike up conversation.
Luckily,one of the older women broke the ice and announced to the small group of us that she ran a website called BeatlesRadio.com.She informed us that she had brought a tape recorder and invited us to record a "promo" for the site; meaning we'd say our name, where we live and attach a cheesy "and you're listening to beatlesradio.com!" message.I suddenly thought "hey, if she's apart of a Beatles website/radio organization, she might know Beatle Brunch!" Okay,so here's the deal with me and Beatle Brunch. The amazing Tom Frangione is a cousin of mine (and Beatles genius) and whenever I find myself in situations such as these, I tend to "namedrop" his name as well as Joe Johnston's in order to see what type of reaction I'll get (As well as to establish some street cred,since I'm still a rookie in this Beatle game). I'm happy to report that the reaction I received was an awesome one. There were a whole lot of folks whose heads turned at that point. The Beatlesradio.com woman looked at me wide-eyed as if I said that Paul McCartney was my father.
"Joe Johnston's your cousin!?!?" "No, Tom Frangione is my cousin" I say as-a-matter-of-factiously "He writes for Beatle Brunch and also does the Beatles trivia at the conventions." "I know him! I go every year!" she exclaimed. After that, everyone shared stories about the conventions of years past,talked about who they saw, what they saw and most importantly, how great of an experience it was.I must say that the Beatle Brunch chatter really helped make the time pass quickly!
After about an hour and half of waiting in the freezing cold, we were told that Julian was going to come outside to meet us soon.They lined us up behind barricades and we all hurriedly pulled out what we had for him to sign. I had his "Photograph Smile" album and upon glancing around I noticed that many other people were clutching the same album.After waiting there for a few minutes Julian finally emerged from the studio and towards the barricades to our little crowd of people. We all watched excitedly as he began signing the items that were being held out for him.Almost immediately right after he began signing, he stopped for a moment to talk to one of his band members, who happened to be directly in front of where I was standing. I now had Julian Lennon standing 3 feet away from me. So what did I do? Get his attention, of course! I called out "Hey Jules!" to which he looked over, saw me, and smiled."I cut school to come see you!" I continued,expecting to get a laugh out of him. But what happened next will probably go down in history as one of the most unexpectedly AWESOME moments of my life. He walks over to me, smiling, and says in his infamous scouse accent "oh my naughty naughty girl!" and precedes to kiss me on both cheeks, European style. Best reception ever. He signed my album and agreed to a picture and continued to do so for every one else that was in attendance. Afterward he returned inside to perform "Lucy", much to the dismay of the other fans, who thought he would be doing an outdoor performance. He then gave a short interview,and then exited the building once again, still stopping to sign autographs on the way to his waiting car.
It was quite an experience that morning, and definitely a highlight for me. I now know that Beatle Brunch is hot stuff! I can't wait for the next time when I can mention it and up my street cred again. Hopefully I will get the opportunity whenever I get to meet Sir Paul McCartney (It's my goal in life). Hope you enjoyed this experience as much as I did Beatle Brunchers! Peace and Love!
Song of The Moment: Name- Goo Goo Dolls
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