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Did you know? - the Beatles in 1964

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'Did you know?' postcard from the 'My Brighton' exhibit

Comments about this page

  • Can you tell me if any of the photographs taken of the fans in Middle Street are available? I know I was on the front page and would love to have a copy.

    By Joy Padmore (05/09/2007)
  • I was also a fan on the street outside the Hippodrome waiting for the Beatles show, along with several friends, Avril Darby, Alan Cooper, and many more. If there are photos available I would love to see them. I don’t remember a girl jumping onto the stage, but we were all quite hysterical.

    By BonnyCother/Veronica Bentley (05/04/2008)
  • I had a ticket to see the Beatles here but would have been sitting next to a girl who, by then, was my ex-girlfriend (Carol Danks of Southwick). I had paid 7s 6d (37 1/2p) for the ticket and managed to sell it outside on the night for £1 12s 6d (£1.62 1/2p). I like to think that I’ve been a capitalist ever since! Thinking about it though, perhaps she didn’t show up either.

    By Alan Phillips (23/02/2009)
  • The Rolling Stones appeared here in 1964 also.

    By Alan Phillips (23/02/2009)
  • Does anyone have a program with the support acts? I was there, but can’t for the life of me remember who else was playing. Also went to the Stones concert, and wonder the same about programming for that show.

    By Lesley Revell (06/11/2010)
  • Support acts of the Stones concert (July 19, 1964): The Echoes, Kevin Scott and The Kinsmen, Julie Grant, Marty Wilde and The Wildcats, Kenny Lynch.

    By Gualtier Maldè (22/08/2011)
  • I have always been a big fan of the Beatles but when I was 7 years old my parents wouldn’t take me to see them at The Hippodrome as they said it would be too dangerous for me with all those teenagers. I was very disappointed but to my amazement in 1966 as a family they took us to see ‘The Who’! Does that mean they thought teenagers were more dangerous than ‘Mods and Rockers’! Apart from that it was brilliant as it was my first gig. Topping the bill was Dusty Springfield with Eden Kane and The Who. I remember how loud it was and my Nan came with us (she was 68 at the time), she was okay with the volume and to her dying day she always said that Keith Moon was the best drummer she had ever seen! That’s brilliant isn’t it for someone born in 1898!

    By Paul Clarkson (08/02/2012)
  • With regard to the comments by Paul Clarkson, I think Paul has got his dates mixed up. The show he refers to, starring Eden Kane and Dusty Springfield, actually played at the Hippodrome on 23rd August 1964. The full bill was Eden Kane, Dusty Springfield, Val McCullam, the Interns, Jon Best and the Challengers, the High Numbers and the compere was Dave Reid. The Who were playing one of their last gigs under the name the High Numbers and changed their name to The Who just a few weeks later. Just a couple of further points of trivia, Keith Moon, the drummer that Paul’s Nan liked so much, was celebrating his 17th birthday that day and the most expensive ticket for the show was 10s 6p (52.5p).

    By Derek Lake (09/02/2012)
  • I was there. They appeared twice at the hippodrome in 64. I got their autographs. My next door neighbour Michael was a police officer inside the hippodrome and got the autographs for me. I still have them today and I’m told they are now worth around £2000…….sweet.

    By David Deacon (20/07/2012)
  • When I saw the Beatles they were supported by Mary wells, The Rustics and the Remo Four. Ticket was 7/6(37p).

    By David Deacon (20/07/2012)
  • I went twice to see The Beatles and once queued 17 hours for tickets. I remember Tommy Quickly, the Fourmost being on one show and Mary Wells another time, but remember being hysterical and unable to hear much. Great times.

    By Marilyn Jones (14/12/2012)
  • I recall The Who on the bill with Gerry and the Pacemakers and my idol Billy J Kramer. My work colleagues and I had a box on the stage and I was able to give Billy a little stuffed elephant that I had made. Don’t know why an elephant, he can’t have been impressed as he kicked it off the stage when singing.

    By Carole Harvey (15/12/2012)
  • I’m writing about the Beatles gigs in Brighton for a local magazine. Could anyone with any memories please get in touch? Thanks  steveramsey@vivabrighton.com

    By Steve Ramsey (17/12/2012)
  • Steve, I recall driving seawards in my Morris mini-van down Middle Street on the evening of the Beatles gig and being surrounded by fans obviously thinking I had them in the back. It was quite a frightening experience. I was not an avid fan, and, after that I didn’t want to know.

    By john Snelling (20/12/2012)
  • With reference to the Rolling Stones Hippodrome concert in 1964, some may remember the Stones did a voiceover to a Rice Krispies tv advert that summer with “Not Fade Away”. Lots of fans somehow managed to smuggle loads of packets of the cereal into the theatre and ran to the front and threw them all over the stage. Jagger had to dance over them all through the performance. Our crowd included Richard Hill, Mick Mason, Helen Wheeler and Tina Wilson. Happy Days!

    By Michael Dartnell (26/12/2013)
  • I was back stage  for the Beatles and Stones concert in 64 and met them all and have their autographs.    

    By Rosemary Stone nee West (15/03/2016)
  • I interviewed the Beatles at the July show for a local Worthing magazine, Teen Topics. We heard George talk about his accident that day, we went into a room with the Beatles, and sat with Helen Shapiro, Anne Nightingale, and Brian Epstein, we also spoke with Mary Wells. I remember the day as if it was yesterday, we watched the show from the  wings, it was great, we also met The Stones twice and took pictures of them.

    By Janet Wilson (05/01/2018)
  • Whilst only 10 at the time we went as a family, Mum & dad, my brother & I to the Beatles show at the Hippodrome in 1964 although all I remember was trying to look over all the waving arms & the screaming. I remember nothing about the music sadly! Somewhere in the many old cine films my dad took I have a 50 foot colour reel shot inside the show on a mechanical standard 8 camera with fleeting glimpses of them on stage as in an effort to get above all the standing screaming girls there is a lot of footage of the red curtain above the Beatles heads! I must try I dig it out & see if our old projector still works. We saw them again at the Hammersmith Apollo which I remember more about being a little older, before they stopped touring.

    By Rob (Bob) Tasker (07/01/2018)
  • I saw the Beatles and the Rolling Stones at the Hippodrome in 1964. I couldn’t hear much because of all the screaming. Other acts included (I think) Roy Orbison (everyone quiet for Roy) and Gerry and the Pacemakers (there was giggling during the slow songs). I hear that Gerry actually has a pacemaker these days. First went there on a cubs trip to the Pantomime. I hope they manage to preserve the fine and unique interior – but everything in Brighton seems to be down to knocking down the small, old and characterful and building big, ugly and boring. Oh, and making lots of money in the process.

    By Nick Burdett (21/07/2018)

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