The Beatles arrived at NEMS on Monday afternoon to sign the contracts with Brian. Sandi still hadn’t figured out why Brian wanted to manage The Beatles. Oh, Sandi wanted to see her Winston and the fellows achieve success, that was for sure, but with Brian?? Sandi believed that Brian was just too shy and timid to be a rock manager. She always believed managers needed to be real go getter, pushy, thick-skinned types. Sandi didn’t mention these concerns to John, he was just way too happy and excited about this; she didn’t want to burst his bubble. Who knows, I may be wrong and Brian may just be what the boys need. she concluded.
Sandi was on the sales floor putting up some new records when the meeting of Beatles and Brian ended. John came flying out of Brian’s office, shouting loud enough for the whole store to hear:
“I’M NOT DOIN’ IT! GODDAMMIT, I’M NOT GONNA DO IT!!”
Sandi came rushing over to John, trying to find out what happened.
“You’re not going to do what, Winston?” she asked softly.
“I’m not gonna wear those suits. You ought to see ’em!! I’ll look like a fuckin’ fairy!!!” he was still yelling, but not quite as loudly.
“Eppy is tryin’ to change our fuckin’ image!” John added. Sandi put her arms around John, trying to comfort him.
“Shhh, I’m sure they can’t be all that bad,” she said gently.
Paul,George and Pete came out next and told Sandi that, yes, the suits were all that bad. The suits Brian wanted the boys to wear were these gray, collarless suits with ties. The boys thought those were the ugliest suits they had ever seen .Brian felt the boys should wear suits for all their performances and personal appearances. John despised the idea.
Sandi knew Brian was going to have his work cut out for him. John was a very strong personality. John was a non-conformist and could express his individuality almost to the point of rudeness at times. He had a quick temper, but was also quick to forgive. Sandi had been with John long enough now and had seen all sides of his personality.
John was still mad. “I’ll talk to him,” Paul said.
Paul had thought about the suits and thought it would be good to smarten up their image instead of running around looking like a bunch of hoodlums. If dressing up in suits would help their chances at stardom, Paul reckoned, they should do it. Paul talked about it with John, George and Pete and got all of them to agree to wear suits on stage.
From now on when Sandi and her friends went to see The Beatles play, all four of them were smartly dressed in suits and ties. They always knew what songs they would play and in what order. No more smoking or horseplay on stage.They were to look sharp and be sharp. Also, after every song, the fellas were to bow in unison. Brian said, “It looks professional.”
One December night, John rushed excitedly over to see
Sandi. He was screaming with joy, he could barely contain
himself, “Kitten!!! Guess what. We got a recording
session with Decca records on New Year’s Day!!! We’re
going to LONDON!! Eppy’s come through for
us!”
Written by Sandi. This is original copyrighted work and
may not be reproduced without the permission of the
author. Permission may be obtained by e-mail.