Last night, Carol and I attended an amazing John Fogerty Concert at the Beacon Theater in NYC. While there I realized it was exactly 35 years ago to the day (November 24, 1974) that the Sgt. Pepper Musical opened up at the Beacon, and John Lennon was there to lend his support. I was also invited to attend the premier and it was there that I got to personally thank John for helping to make Beatlefest 74 possible (2 months earlier). I also was able to tell him how the event went and how exciting it was. It was a very special evening indeed!

History notes that today (Nov. 25, 1968) The Beatles (White Album) was released in the U.S., however my memory is quite clear that I purchased it on the 22nd. The mystery of the real release may never be resolved, but what is clear is that one of the greatest albums of all time was released in 1968 – 30 songs, 2 albums, so varied, yet so tied together. Go listen to it today and see how fresh it sounds, especially in the new remastered version.

We wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. Peace and Love, The Lapidos Family

Paul's New CD/DVD Set

Paul McCartney’s historic Concert opening up Citi Field in New York City this summer has just been released on a 2 CD/1 DVD set (2230). We also have a very limited supply of the Limited Edition 2 CD/2DVD set (2231) which includes the bonus DVD of Paul’s 40 minute concert on the Marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater the day he appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman.

ABC-TV is presenting a Paul McCartney Special on Thanksgiving night at 10PM EST. Scenes from The Beatles Shea Stadium Concert are going to be included.

On The History Channel the night before – Wednesday, Nov 25th, 10PM EST, there’s a one hour special called The Beatles On Record. It was put together by the director of the Anthology shows and it is supposed to be an all new program, using only the voices of John, Paul, George, Ringo and George Martin.

Update on the USB APPLE being released on December 8th. We ordered extra quantity of this item and are still taking pre-orders on it – (1256). We also have the Stereo and the Mono Sets in stock.

Here are some more updates on the newest items in our webstore. The popluar new Duvets are in stock next week and the Yellow Sub Shower Curtain is still set for early December The Beatles Black Logo Towel and the  4 Beatles Wall Decor have been delayed until Feb, 2010. You can still pre-order these (or any other new item not in stock). The Beatles and John Lennon Pens, Magnets and Mugs are not in yet, but hopefully most will be in be early December. We do not bill until they arrive.

Stereo Remastered USB Apple – 12.08.09

Apple-Shaped USB Includes Complete Audio and Visuals from The Beatles’ Re-mastered Stereo Collection. (Item #1256). The exquisitely crafted, apple-shaped USB drive is loaded with the critically acclaimed re-mastered audio for The Beatles’ 14 stereo titles, as well as all of the re-mastered CDs’ visual elements, including 13 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicated original UK album art, rare photos and expanded liner notes. A specially designed Flash interface has been installed, and the 16MB USB’s audio and visual contents will be provided in FLAC 44.1 Khz 24 bit and MP3 320 Kbps formats, fully compatible with PC and Mac.
*16GB USB stick housed in a green aluminum apple
*Contains full contents of The Beatles’ stereo box set.
*All stereo songs in FLAC (44.1khz) and in DRM-free MP3 (320kpbs) with a one-click ‘Export To Media Player’ function
*13 mini-documentaries in MPEG4 video format
*Custom-designed FLASH player menu system with full booklet artwork, album cover wallpapers and photo gallery.
IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS MUST BE PRE-ORDERED BY MONDAY NOVEMBER 9TH TO GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL GET ONE.

Our Brand New Fall/Holiday 2009 Catalogue is being mailed out tomorrow. We have a few hundred new items, all of which are now shown in our webstore. We also wanted to let you know that the Beatles Mono Box Set is in stock and all reserved copies are shipping tomorrow. The Stereo and Mono Sets are now both inour warehouse and ready for immediate shipping.

Today, October 9th would have been John’s 69th Birthday. Although we can only imagine what the last 29 years would have been like, musically, we must accept his body of work and LISTEN TO IT, today. Just about John’s entire catalogue is remastered, so put on a CD and think about John and all the peace, love and happiness he gave to the world. A very precious gift indeed. We send a Happy Birthday wish to Sean, who celebrates his 34th today. On a personal note, my (Mark’s) Father also shared John’s birthday. Every year I would tell him, “Hey Dad, today is also John Lennon’s Birthday!” He would say, “Really”, every year for many years. It was a running joke for a long time. Thanks for the image, Lou.

It was 40 years ago today, October 1, 1969 that I walked into the Sam Goody Record Store in Paramus, NJ, looking for a job.But there it was, the brand new Beatles album. There was no name on it, no title, just John, Ringo, Paul and George crossing a road. I immediately bought it, took it home and listened to it. How did The Beatles know, from 4000 miles away, that I (Mark) was “Out of college, money spent, see no future, pay no rent”? It totally blew me away (and still does). The next day I went back and got the job as record saleman. The 5 years there help to lay the groundwork for my Beatles Fan’s Convention idea, that 35 years later as THE FEST is still going strong. Plus, we have created the world’s largest Beatles Mail Order/Webstore as well. We thank you for your wonderful support over these past 35 years. Go out and have a great day and listen to Come Together at 12 Noon. Peace and Love.

For all of you waiting for the Stereo Remastered Sets, they have arrived and we expect to ship them out today and tomorrow. This time we have plenty of stock. If you haven’t ordered, we can ship to you immediately. The Mono Set will be back in stock within two weeks.

It is 1964 all over again! The Beatles have 9 of the Top 10 CDs and 16 of the Top 25 on Billboard’s Top Pop Catalog Chart. Not only that, The Remastered Stereo Set entered Billboard’s Top 200 at Number 15 and the Mono Set at #40. If they counted the sets as sales time number of CDs in the Set, then both would have been in the Top 10 and the Stereo would have been #1 or 2!!! On the eve of the 40th Anniversary of the release of Abbey Road (Oct. 1, 1969), an astonishing 89,000 copies were sold last week, putting it at Number One! The Beatles now have a realistic chance of becoming the biggest selling artist of this DECADE! – 40 years after the breakup!!!

♪♫ COME TOGETHER! ♪♫
This Thursday, October 1st, is the first official ROCK YOUR BEATLES Day, hosted by The Fest For Beatles Fans.
We invite fans around the world to connect and celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Abbey Road by doing 2 things:

1. WEAR SOMETHING BEATLES.
2. LISTEN TO COME TOGETHER AT NOON (your time zone). Play it at work, Rockband it, call it into your local radio stations! Play the entire album, too!

Spread word… tell your friends! Share this on your Facebook profile! Can’t you feel the love and Beatles spirit in the air already?

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=141424257747

We completely sold out of our full allotment of both the Stereo and Mono CD Box Sets on September 8th. he great news is that more are on the way. We have all of your orders in the system and will ship as soon as they are back in stock, within the next 2-3 weeks. We will post exact dates of availability as soon as we hear from Capitol Records. With the exception of the West (your sets should arrive today or tomorrow) almost 100% of orders arrived on the 09.09.09 release date. Our staff came in early and worked late to meet the demand. We thank all of you who ordered from us for your business.

What a weekend it was!! With so much Beatles excitement around, the FEST FOR BEATLES FANS 2009 CHICAGO was the perfect place to be last weekend. Paul performed in Atlanta on the Saturday night and a FEST regular took the last flight back to Chicago so he could join us. He has some photos and said that Paul was in great form (of course). Then there was the buzz of the 09.09.09 releases of both the Beatles Remastered Box Sets and the Beatles RockBand. Bruce Spizer had a Q & A session on the main stage with Matt Hurwitz talking about the box sets and why they are a must for all Beatles fans. See further down for our very special offers on the Box Sets.
The RockBand Demo Room at the FEST had a continuous stream of fans trying it out and we heard nothing but positive feedback about it.
Our Special Guests were a terrific mix of musicians from various points in the Beatles careers, starting with the one and only Ronnie Spector, who graciously spoke about her association with The Beatles, and George and John in particular. She greeted fans, signed autographs and posed for pictures for everyone who waited in line. Her appearance with Liverpool was definitely a show stopper, performing Baby I Love You, Try Some Buy Some, My Sweet Lord, and the classic Be My Baby. Our condolences go out to Earl Slick and his family. His father passed away the night before the fEST and he still showed up by late Saturday afternoon to do his talk and performing at night. He played a mean guitar two of John’s songs that he appeared on: I’m Losing You and Nobody Told Me. Greg Hawkes showed off his musicianship during his Ukelele Concert and playing one of is Cars’ hit My Best Friend’s Girl. He also led the World Record Attempt for A Ukelele ensemble. Around 100 ukes joined in for a rousing version of Love Me Do. No record was set, but it was lots of fun. Mark Hudson added a tribute to Michael Jackson with a super version of Say Say Say with Liverpool. Brother Brett joined in and there was loads of Rock and Roll to enjoy. In Honor of its 40th anniversary, Liverpool performed both sides of Abbey Road in their entirety (Side 1 on Sat and Side 2 on Sun) Speaking of Anniversaries, it was 40 years ago TODAY (August 22, 1969) that The Beatles had their final photo session!!
There were more Photo and Art Exhibits than ever before and they were a treat to all who viewed them. The Beatles Trivial Pursuit was world premiered over the weekend and we had daily competitions based on its questions. Needless to say it was the bestselling item at the FEST over the weekend. The Sunday Musician’s Forum saw Steve Holley join our other musical guests for perhaps the best session we ever had. There were many participants in all contests this year – Art, Sound-Alikes, Kid’s Trivia, Name That Tune and 13 bands in the Battle of the Bands, won by The Bugs. Congrats to these young fans who wowed the crowd.

Driving to the concert, I received a call with the sad news that GORDON WALLER had died of a heart attack, at the age of 64. We had the privilege of having getting to know Gordon personally, as he had been a Special Guest, by himself, at The FEST numerous times many years ago, and then more recently, in the historic reunion of Peter and Gordon in the past 3 years. We were honored to be able to be a part of that and to see and hear them together again was truly special.

Peter Asher has issued a statement and we wanted to share it with you here, in its entirety.
Gordon played such a significant role in my life that losing him is hard to comprehend – let alone to tolerate.

He was my best friend at school almost half a century ago. He was not only my musical partner but played a key role in my conversion from only a snooty jazz fan to a true rock and roll believer as well. Without Gordon I would never have begun my career in the music business in the first place. Our professional years together in the sixties constitute a major part of my life and I have always treasured them.

We remained good friends (unusual for a duo!) even while we were pursuing entirely separate professional paths and I was so delighted that after a hiatus of almost forty years we ended up singing and performing together again more recently for the sheer exhilarating fun of it. We had a terrific time doing so.

Gordon remains one of my very favourite singers of all time and I am still so proud of the work that we did together. I am just a harmony guy and Gordon was the heart and soul of our duo.

I shall miss him in so many different ways. The idea that I shall never get to sing those songs with him again, that I shall never again be able to get annoyed when he interrupts me on stage or to laugh at his unpredictable sense of humour or even to admire his newest model train or his latest gardening effort is an unthinkable change in my life with which I have not even begun to come to terms.