Meet 1964 as The Beatles
Q: How long have you been together as 1964?
Mark: A little over a year and a half.....a year and three quarters maybe. We started in August of '84 to organize. We started playing in September (1984).
Q: How did the group form?
Mark: Ah, the group formed, ah.....the three of us(Gary, Tom and Mark) were in another band before. The drummer of that group and I started that group. As we went through different members I got Gary interested and Tom interested. And then the other drummer left and Tom knew Greg. So we all know who we were in the area.
Q: An interesting point is how you guys formed and the parallels to the real Beatles.
Mark: Yeah, it is odd. We all came together in the exact same way. The same order. And it was not planned that way at all. The other drummer left, you know and Greg came along.
Q: So it was fate?
Mark: I suppose, yeah.
Q: Who's the leader?
Mark: I don't think there's any particular leader. We all have different functions we have in the group.
Q: Are you all Beatle fans?
All: Oh yeah, for sure.
Greg: I'm a fan more than I first realized. The more I got to examine in detail to do the part (of Ringo) I realized how much it is a part of me. it's just in there because you grew up with them. (to the others) I think you guys know a lot more than the person that you're doing than you think you do with all the books that you've read and watching the movies and all that.
Gary: I was going to say that.
Q: Have any of you met the Beatles?
Mark: No, but Ringo's going to be at the San Diego thing (May 6) we're going to so this might be the year to meet the Beatles.
Gary: We've sent McCartney Productions a video.
Q: Your act. How did you prepare for it? The voices, the moves? Magazines, videos?
Gary: Video a lot, yeah. We have this friend in Cleveland and people who would give us vidoes....the tapes of the Ed Sullivan Show...Shea Stadium and all that. And in the beginning we would sit and critique each other for hours and hours and try to get the moves down.
Q: And what about when you perform? Do you have the show video taped?
Mark: Now and then. It's not readily available to us all the time. Unfortunately we don't know anybody who will do it for free all the time.
Q: Now that's the act. How about the personalities? Did you read any books about, say, what George Harrison is like? Do you portray some of the characteristics on stage?
Gary: No, not really. We picked up a little bit from watching the videos. You know, subconsciencly I've grown up with the Beatles and gone through different points in time trying to imitate them.
Mark: I've read all the standard books like "The love you make", "Shout", and those kind of things. But, ah, I've got John's poetry books. It's difficult for me to decipher what's true and what isn't true in those books. I try to read as many different ones as I can to see which ones say all the same thing and pretty much take that. There's so much stuff you read that sensationalizes, you don't know whether it's true or not. And there's so many fantastic Beatle stories, you know, superhuman stories, you take them with a grain of salt.
Q: You state during each performance that what the audience is seeing and hearing is dedicated and inspired by the Beatles and John Lennon. Do you feel that you need to bring the Beatles to the people or are you getting the biggest bang out of it?
Gary: It's fun. It's almost like in the beginning we were trying to do a show that would basically appeal to our age group. But as it turned out we were appealing also to a whole new audience that never got to see the Beatles. And they're growing up wondering, "I wonder what that was like?" Well we're giving them that chance with the illusion.
Mark: We have kids come up to us and say, "Boy, I feel cheated that I wasn't born at the right time. I wish I was born when the Beatles were around. I wish I had a Beatle to grow up with." We all played in bands for years and years. And we'd play 5 or 6 hours a night to a relatively unappreciative audience who weren't necessarily there to hear you but were just there because they go to that club and we happened to be playing there. So instead of being background music anymore we're more of a band...ya know...like lets put a show together where people will come to hear us because of what we do, not just because they happened to come in. It's hard. Gary and I were in a band with our soundmen just before we did this and we found ourselves really trying to like the music we were playing. And there wasn't any fun in it, really. We were playing stuff we liked to listen to but not necessarily like to go out and be 13 and 14 years old again. This was so much of a natural thing once I had convinced him to give it a try and play bass.
Q: When you're on stage is it hard to stay in character? You've got all the moves down but do you feel like...say, for 5 minutes you think you don't want to be Paul McCartney anymore?
Mark: Not really because you've got everything. You're wearing the wig, you're wearing the suit, you're wearing the same guitar, you're wearing the boots, you're standing the same way. It would be foreign to do anything else.
Tom: And to look around and see the three Beatles.
Mark: Really. There's times during the evening when I want to do more...like jump around. But Lennon didn't do that so I don't. I feel trapped a bit.
Greg: And Gary looks like Paul McCartney a lot.
Mark: Yeah, he does too.
Gary: I never feel like getting out of character. I have this feeling, especially of trying to do more. It's like I don't know how to do that yet. I'd look over at Mark and he'd imitate McCartney and show me what to do.
Mark: recently I was having such a good time I started jumping around and I didn't care. The funny thing about this is that naturally our characters are so close to the real Beatles that it's not to much work for us to do what we do. Gary, all his life on stage has been compared to Paul McCartney. His movements, smiling and all that.
Greg: I don't feel stifled. But I tell ya there are times when I want to be Keith Moon for about 10 seconds. (Waves his arm wildly in the air)
Tom: If you catch me playing something different it's because I wasn't paying attention or something...or looking at girls. (laughter)
Q: After each concert you do an autograph session?
Gary: Now we do.
Q: Oh? How long have you been doing this?
Mark: Not very long.
Q: Is the Beatle illusion you've created on stage shattered when the fans see you up close?
Mark: For me it's like....by the time we're done playing and they've enjoyed the show to the point where it's, "I know you're not the Beatles but I've enjoyed myself".
Greg: Another thing too is that it makes us real. We were in such a position at the....
Gary:......beginning of the year we were the illusion and so stand-offish ya know, that we were on stage as the Beatles and we're here and we're gone. It's good to get of and meet the people because afterwards they're thrilled and they come and shake your hand.
Q: How long do you keep the act fresh?
Mark: We were just talking about that. When we were doing Ontario place we thought, man there's such a large turn over of audience. There's always somebody new to play to.
Gary: It doesn't get stale to us. That's what is weird to me. When you do that same darn list every night....we'd think it's boring because we do about 140 to 150 gigs a year. But it doesn't. It's the audience. They make the magic happen. When we do our first song, "I want to hold your hand" and we see them go crazy....we've got them.
Q: And then " I saw them standing there". It knocks them out.
Greg: That's the thing about the clubs. One song you're Bruce Springsteen, one song you're Jimi Hendrix. But the focus...the focus on one era and the songs are so basic that they remember it.
Mark: I've had guys come up to me at the end of the night and say, "I'm not even a beatles fan and I had a blast tonight." You don't realize until you get into a group like this how much they still play Beatles songs.
Gary: Excuse me. (points to Tom) In a minute you're going to be amazed he sleeps like George Harrison. (lots of laughter)
Q: When you first introduce yourself to a club manager without the Beatle look what's their reaction?
Mark: After the paramedics are done with him......
Greg: First his face turns white....
Mark: We come in like this for the sound check....
Gary: It's funny you know....
Mark: They think, "Oh my God I'm going to lose my shirt tonight." They keep coming up to us and saying, "You guys are good aren't you?"
Q: What's the reaction after they see you.....at the end of the night?
Mark: It's not so much the end of the night but when we come out dressed up. They don't know who we are. "Who are these guys? Where did these guys come from?"
Gary: An asset to that is after the show when we're out of the costumes we can have a little bit of privacy. That is really a good thing. We can walk right through the crowd and they don't know who we are. Not like other groups where they can't put it down.
Greg: There will be people waiting outside the dressing room for the band to come out and they say, "Where's the band?"
Gary: And we'll walk right through them.
Q: You were talking about not getting mauled when you're not in costume. What about when you're on stage and things like this happen? Is it frightening?
Gary: It's never been out of control yet. We've had situations that could have been. We usually have people watching.
Mark: Most of our concerts are in theatres with security. What scares me is walking through the crowd if I'm alone. If there's the four all together you can fend anybody off.
Q: When you meet members of other Beatle bands is there a rivalry or a mutual interest?
Gary: Always ( a rivalry) in the beginning. They say, "the Beatles. I was in one of those bands. We were the best." There are an awful lot of bands doing the Beatles out there and they're coming to our shows and enjoying it. That's a tribute to our homework.
Q: What sets you apart from the other Beatle bands?
Gary: The people in the band. We have a chemistry that is so much like the Beatles. The majority of it is because of how old we are. When Mark was going through for the last Beatlemania they were trying people who never saw the Beatles or experienced their records.
Mark: They're into it but never lived through it.
Gary: And it wouldn't work because they couldn't let go. You need people to experience that and dream...like be there for the moments fir the show to pull it off.
Mark: To make it believable.
Gary: Yeah....and I think that's what sets us apart.
Mark: We're not a group of imitators set on stage individually to do individual characters like Beatlemania. We're not dealing with an individual concept. We're dealing with the band as the Beatles...live on stage. Depending on all of us. And that's what we're all about.
Gary: That's what makes this special. There's been nights when people try to get to us with looks and antics. But we got that attitude...like we've got the four of us against the world. There's nothing they can do to make us not have a good time. And after awhile it just rubs off...like, "Geez, they're enjoying themselves. I think I will too." And it works.
Greg: What's that thing the Beatles used to say before they went on?
All: "We're going straight to the top!"
Q: So this is the year 1964 conquers North America?
Gary: Yes.
Mark: You never know.
Greg: Absolutely.
Tom: ZZZZZZZ.