The Most Important Day In FEST History, April 28,1974 Part Two (short version). It’s a warm 82° Sunday in NYC and I am in Central Park, along with 100,000 other people waiting to see John Lennon and Harry Nilsson come on stage with NY DJ Cousin Brucie for the March of Dimes. I am wearing my brand new 10th Anniversary Beatles Shirt that Capitol Records had made. I had the shirt because I worked at Sam Goody (NY’s largest music store) and we happened to have a sale on Beatles records that week. I heard about the shirts and had Capitol send me a box for my staff to wear in store all week. NO ONE else had these shirts. That morning, I spot a guy wearing the same shirt in the park that morning and I don’t recognize him. I manage to get through the crowds and ask him where he got the shirt. Well, it just so happened the night before, he met John and Harry, and lucky for him they needed a ride back to their hotel! He drove them there and was invited up to their suite, John signed an autograph and gave him THAT SHIRT! I asked him What Hotel, and he told me. I asked him What Room and he told me that, too! The only person in that park of 100,000 who would know that information and because it was such a warm day, wore the shirt that John gave him the night before, and I found him!
An hour or two later, John and Harry enter the park and arrive on the stage, to a thunderous NY welcome. The hotel where they were staying was just outside the Park. I walk into the hotel, sit down, calm down, and get my nerve up to get into the elevator for the trip of a lifetime. I walk up to the suite door, take a few more deep breaths and knock. Harry opens the door. I say “Hi, I’m Mark Lapidos and I want to speak to John about Beatlefest”. He looks at me and says, “Come on in”. A few long, minutes later, John enters the parlor, we shook hands and sat down. I proceeded to tell him my idea of a Beatles Fan’s Celebration honoring the 10th Anniversary of The Beatles Arrival in America, in Feb, 1964. I had already booked the hotel, so I told him it was to take place at the Commodore Hotel on 42nd Street on September 7-8, 1974. I told him I was a manager at Sam Goody, and he could tell I was a fan. The event I envisioned was a hotel full of Beatles Fans celebrating a common love for The Beatles, with films, live concerts, guests, discussions, a flea market, an art museum and more. John leaned forward in his chair, got very excited about the idea and said, “I’m All For It. I’m A Beatles Fan, Too!” 39 years later, I can still close my eyes and see and hear him say those exact words to me. I told him I also wanted to have a charity raffle of signed items from The Beatles. He said he had an old guitar in his attic that he would sign for the raffle (and he did). He picked the Phoenix House in NY, a drug rehab center as the recipient of the money raised (We raised $3,000 that show and have had Charity Raffles at every FEST since.) John asked me to return to the suite two days later, where his associate called Apple in London to fill Neil Aspinall in on the event details and the rest is history. The show was a huge success and it even made the cover of Rolling Stone! I did get to personally talk to John a few months later to tell him how is went and to thank him for all his help. He was happy to hear it went so well.
Realizing a dream can only happen if you truly believe in your abilities and to pursue them with 100% of your being – and with a little luck!
