Richard Starkey was born on July 7 1940 in Liverpool, England. Ringo´s childhood was good, but it was filled with hospital time, and he missed alot of school. When he was fifteen, he could only read and write. But that wasn´t the only problem. He missed three quarters of the 1964 tour of Scandanavia, Holland, the Far East and Australia,because of his health. The Beatles were caught up in Liverpool's Skiffle craze. After starting his own group, he joined The "Raving Texans", a quartet which played while Rory Storm sang. They would later call themselves "Rory Storm and The Hurricanes." During this time, he got the nickname Ringo, because of the rings he wore, and because it sounded "cowboyish", and the last name Starr so that his drum solos could be billed as "Starr Time". The first time he met the Beatles was in Hamburg in October 1960 while there performing with "Rory Storm and The Hurricanes." Ringo joined the Beatles on August 18, 1962. Rory Storm was magnanimous about the theft of his drummer, but Pete Best fans were upset, holding vigils outside Pete's house and rioting at the Cavern Club, shouting "Pete Best forever! Ringo never!" The Beatles' first movie, originally to be called "Beatlemania" instead was called A "Hard Day's Night" because it was something Ringo had said one evening after a long and particularly grueling session.