London Tour

Sadly I am back in “the States”, after such an eye opening and life changing experience. Last week before returning home our group took a Beatles tour of London. On this tourwe saw many places important to their adult careers as musicians. It was exciting and sad to see what had been once such important places to these four men we’ve been learning about.

One of the first stops on our London tour was a shop like looking building with wooden carving above the door of MPL. MPL stood for McCartney Productions Limited, and is Paul’s business, and one of the world’s largest privately owned music publishers. I do not believe that specific building is where Paul holds his business anymore, and this place was mostly used as the end of Beatles became closer and after, so although this is a very cool site to see, its better sweet because it rather shows the end of the Beatles and the beginning of the individual careers of the group members.

Another place visited on the tour was this toilet. Seems odd right? Well actually it is quite funny, and significant that we stopped at this specific loo. When this specific restroom became famous, our Beatles were also VERY famous, and well known throughout the world. However, that did not stop a particular nightclub from turning away the ever so popular John Lennon because of his less than proper clothing attire. In retaliation against the club that had rejected him, a popular comedy show BBC showed this toilet that had been transformed into a night club with sign and all “Member’s Only” possible pun intended. Although the Beatles were very famous it seems as though either the bouncer was not a Beatles fan or he truly deserves Employee of the year for so strictly enforcing the clothing requirements. Probably another reason why I have a crush on John Lennon, instead of throwing a fit and being a jerk he had a very clever and "smart" comeback on someone who embarrassed him.

The Beatles not only influenced music, or business , or comedy, but also fashion. One place in particular that many stars went to including the Beatles until it became filled with fans and everyday people was Carnaby Street. It was the “beesnees” according to our guide, and was where if you were someone you shopped. All of the famous stars shopped here and all of the vendors wanted to be located here for their clothing to be bought by the best of the best. The influence of this street and its fashion exploded by the Beatles and other famous stars and it was flooded with fans and ordinary people wanting to look like their most beloved idols. As someone who thoroughly enjoys shopping this was a very exciting stop. If I could afford to shop where my favorite stars shop you can bet I too would flood the stores.

This next photo is a club the Beatles used to hang at. Back then it was called The Bag of Nails club, now obviously The Miranda Club. I imagine this as a place that was very “happening” and hard to get into, but probably not too terribly hard if you were a Beatle. Properly dressed Beatle that is. The Beatles really influenced popular beliefs and things people were interested in. Sounds vague, but as what I stated before they influenced music, business, fashion. They were Golden for their short lived career, and even after.

This was my 2^nd favorite place to visit. It was home to their company Apple Corp, and the location of the Bealtes last performance together as a band. At this time they were “more popular than Jesus”, but also falling apart, they had lost manager, Brian Espstein, and were fighting over management, John was feeling the anxiety of all the fans, and Paul was doing what he could to make the best of what they had. In class we watched the recording of this performance and it was clear these four men loved music and rocking together, but outside circumstances were pulling them apart. Although it is sad it was their last performance I think it was a great performance that really embodied their love for rock and roll.

This was our last stop, and definitely my favorite spot. Another forever loved pose, and timeless image. This is my replica of the Beatles Album Cover for Abbey Road. It is the most duplicated picture. The picture of the 4 on the album cover really depicts how the Beatles themselves had evolved from 4 band members that had been molded into perfect little girl magnets in suits to have their own personas and styles. It almost symbolized their growing apart and their end. I was surprised how few people there were at Abbey Road I expected crowds of people but our group was actually the biggest group there. I felt so cool knowing they had walked the steps I was walking. But it was bitter sweet knowing it was some of their last steps together.

Thank you for the music.