The 39th Annual NY METRO FEST was another amazing weekend Beatles Party! All the special guests went over very well. Having Billy J. Kramer premier his new CD live with his band on Saturday afternoon was super. His new tribute single – To Liverpool With Love was very moving. The Nutopians performed a Sunday afternoon concert and they received standing ovations after almost every song. We will be offering signed CD copies of both artists on our site in the coming weeks. Peter Noone proved to be the entertainer we always thought he was, and MORE! And he still sounds great! Hearing him sing I’m Into Something Good, I’m Henry the VIII, I Am, Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter and There’s a Kind of Hush  had the female fans swooning as if it were still the 1960s! And Tom Scott. What can we say about one of the true legendary horn players around. His sax playing added so much to the Musician’s Forum and the nightly jams (with Mark Hudson & Liverpool). It seems the music just flows out of him directly into the horn – like magic. Ken Scott described what it was like to be in Abbey Road Studios working along side Sir George Martin, putting Beatles tracks together – in 1967-1968. More magical moments. Liverpool was in great form with fabulous live Beatles Concerts each evening. They keep getting better! We also had Pat Dinizio of The Smithereens do a Sunday afternoon Concert of his interpretations of Beatles classics (with our own Tom Frangione as his second guitarist). For the young Beatles Fans, mr. Ray entertained with a little help from 4 young fans as his back up singers. To see you fans exposed to the greatest music is always SPECIAL. It was Ireland’s Georgina Flood’s first area FEST (Ken Dashow’s favorite Beatles artist) and fans couldn’t get over her unique talent in creating such likenesses of The Fab Four. Congratulations to Rock Show, the winners of this year’s Battle of the Beatles Bands. The lead singer of the winners of the previous contests is a current contestant on The Voice– He is Garrett Gardner and we wish him all the best.

With all that going on in one Beatles filled weekend, the biggest buzz was our announcement of our return to New York City for our big 40th anniversary FEST, where it all started – The Grand Hyatt on 42nd St. It was the Commodore Hotel when we began in 1974. The dates we have are the EXACT 50th Anniversary of The Beatles Arrival in America – Friday -Sunday, FEBRUARY 7-9, 2014. We have already started planning to make the the biggest and best one ever! Reservations can now be made at the Grand Hyatt by calling 212-883-1234. Be sure to tell them you are coming to the FEST to get the great rate (for NYC) of only $219.00 per night. Or go to the Hyatt Site where you can reserve your rooms on line. Even though the hotel is very large, our room block is anticipated to fill up. We hope you can join us for this historic FEST.

Getting all the last minute details ready for next weekend’s 39th Annual FEST FOR BEATLES FANS at the newly renamed Empire Meadowlands Hotel in Secaucus. All our Special Guests are geared up for their trip into the area for this Beatles Thanksgiving, as our co-MC Ken Dashow (Q104.3FM) calls it. Yes you have to attend to see what really goes on over the weekend. Like The Beatles themselves, The FEST is much bigger than the sum of its parts. It is a tribute, a salute, a pilgrimage, a fund time, too! We have published the full Schedule of Events on our website, plus all the details of the FEST are on the website as well.

And, Don’t forget our 3rd Annual Las Vegas Beatles Getaway Sweepstakes. You have until next Sunday to enter this FREE contest, with no obligations of any kind. It is a facebook only contest and the Winner will be announced Live on Stage at 8PM Sunday, April 7th. Winners need not be present to winner. Airfare from anywhere in the continental U.S. is included.

We are saddened by the passing this week of early Wings Guitarist Hugh McCracken and legendary record producer Phil Ramone, who produced, among a who’s who in popular music, Julian Lennon’s breakthrough album Valotte. They will be missed.

As February, 2013 draws to an end, we want to take a quick look at the shortest month 49 years ago, the month that changed the world, 1964. THE BEATLES were almost totally unknown in the U.S. five weeks earlier, but they began February with the top two songs – I Want To Hold Your Hand and She Loves You and 4 other songs on the Top 100! Beatlemania was well under way. They landed at JFK Airport on Friday the 7th to a welcome with thousands of screaming teenagers. They gave their first press conference at the Airport and immediately won over the press. When they got to The Plaza Hotel in midtown NYC there were 400 fans waiting there, too. Almost every other song being played on Top 40 radio was a Beatles song. Sunday Night’s (9th) Live appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show was viewed by 73 Million people, over 40% of the population at the time (Superbowls are seen by about 30%). There was also no crime reported during the hour! After their first concert (11th) at the Washington Coliseum, they returned to NY to play two shows at Cargenie Hall on Lincoln’s Birthday holiday (12th). Next it was off to Florida for another Live TV appearance from the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach. A few days of public appearances and some R & R and they departed to a hero’s welcome in London. Before the month was over, George turned 21 and they immediately began recording music for their first movie. As the month ended, The Beatles had a dozen songs on the charts, were on the covers of all the major magazines and millions of teenagers (myself included) took to growing their hair and learning to play guitars or drums! There has never been a month in the history of entertainment that was more important or exciting!!!

This Week in Beatles History February 13-21, 1964. After The Beatles went to DC for their first U.S. Concert (2/11 at the Washington Coliseum), they headed back to NYC for two performances at Carnegie Hall (It was Lincoln’s Birthday holiday back then so they played  afternoon and evening performances.) on the 13th, they flew down to Miami for their second live Ed Sullivan Show appearance on the 16th at the Deauville Hotel. Although they had numerous rehearsals, they did get SOME time for much needed R & R. On Friday the 21st, The Beatles left the hotel for a triumphant return to London, in time to celebrate George’s 21st birthday (2/25) and to begin recording and filming A Hard Day’s Night a few days later. How’s that for a hectic, Beatlemania filled schedule!! On a personal note, I (Mark) happened to be walking by the Deauville Hotel when they were getting ready to leave. My Mother and I waited until they left and that is when I got my first and only up close look at all of The Beatles at the same time. I knocked on their car window and they all waved back to me. A moment I will NEVER forget!

On a sad note, TONY SHERIDAN passed away this past Saturday. He was 72. He moved from the UK to Hamburg in 1960 and lived there pretty much for the rest of his life. The Beatles got their first recording studio experience with Tony, during the Hamburg days in the early 1960s. They recorded My Bonnie and Ain’t She Sweet among others. Paul noted on his site, “He was a good guy who we know and worked with from the early days in Hamburg.” Tony was a special guest at our NY METRO FEST in 1996.

February 18, 2013. Yoko Ono turns 80 years young today. She is as busy as ever, performing a concert to a sold out audience in Berlin Germany last night to commemorate this milestone. It was billed as Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band and Sean joined his mother in the band as its leader. She continues to crusade for important environmental and peace causes, currently pressing NY’s Governor Cuomo to prevent dangerous fracking for Shale Oil. Yoko was the love of John’s life and for those few who still don’t understand what they had, listen to Oh Yoko, Woman, and Dear Yoko today. It’s all there in the grooves! Happy Birthday, Yoko, and thanks for showing us that 80 is now officially the new 60.

Peace and Love,
The Lapidos Family

We congratulate Paul McCartney for winning the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Grammy for Kisses On The Bottom. Paul stepped out of his Rock and Roll shoes and gave us a CD full of songs he grew up listening to, plus a couple of new ones including the beautiful My Valentine. He was also on Jimmy Fallon’s Grammy winning Best Comedy Album for Blow Your Pants Off. Paul joined Jimmy for a unique version of Scrambled Eggs.

On a personal note, we also want to congratulate Jack Antonoff and fun. for winning two major Grammy Awards for Song of the Year – We Are Young and Best New Artist – fun. It was quite exciting seeing a family friend/former staff member (NY METRO FEST about 10-12 years ago) win top honors. Well deserved.

February 7, 1964 – 49 years ago today, The Beatles landed at the newly named JFK Airport in NYC and the world started to turn in a different direction! A music, entertainment and cultural explosion that had never, ever been seen before or since. And it was just the beginning. That weekend culminated in their first Live Appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show that Sunday (2/9/64), which still boasts the largest TV audience in history (relative to the population). It is difficult to explain the phenomenon to those not old enough to have experienced it, but you can start by listening to The Beatles first two albums, Please Please Me and With The Beatles (in the U.S. we got them as Meet The Beatles and Introducing The Beatles). We got all of those sensational songs almost at the same time, as radio stations were playing a Beatles song – EVERY OTHER SONG! 49 years later, those memories are so clear. If you want to share your memories of early 1964, please go to our facebook page.

Also, in honor of this anniversary, our friends at Vegas Entertainment Radio are playing all Beatles today from 1:20PM (The exact time of their PanAm Plane landing) until 8:00PM EST. Check it out!

One of The Beatles biggest influences, the great Buddy Holly, died in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa, February 3, 1959 after a concert at the Surf Ballroom. What made Buddy so important to The Beatles and to music history was a combination of not only his talent as a singer AND a songwriter (a rare combination in the 1950s), but his looks and his rock and roll attitude which paved the way for countless others. In 1958, John, Paul & George  made their first record. It was That’ll Be The Day. (Anthology 1). As The Beatles, they recorded Words Of Love. In their solo careers both John and Paul recorded Peggy Sue. His songs, owned and in good hands by Paul McCartney, are now known world wide with big hits by Peter & Gordon, James Taylor and Linda Rondstadt so name just a few. His legend and his music will live forever. For those who may not be old enough to know, The Day The Music Died, is from Don McLean’s classic American Pie. Long Live Buddy.