Antoinette Powell

Author: Antoinette Powell

It Was 50 Years Ago Today

This item appeared in the Milwaukee Journal on September 5, 1964: “Let it be graven on tablets of jade that at 9:10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, in the year of our Lord 1964, the Beatles walked onto the stage of the Milwaukee Arena and sang a tune called, ‘I Saw Her Standing There.’” Several singers and combos had the thankless task of being warm-up acts. The entire show lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes. This was the first and only time the Beatles appeared in Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee newspapers, along with the entire population of young people and even some adults in Milwaukee, had been anticipating this event for a while. One such person was a young lass who, with her sister, chronicled the months preceding The Greatest Experience of Their Lives with scrapbooks and a count-down calendar (pictured.)calendar

If you would like to have a first-person, primary source account of The Most Significant Event in History, make your way to the Seeley G. Mudd Library and sit at the knee of your Music Librarian to learn how it really was.

Yes, in 1964 $4.50 got you in to see the Beatles.
Beatles ticket stub

Good Ol’ Freda

fredaIn conjunction with the Mudd’s celebration of The Year of the Beatles, the documentary film Good Ol’ Freda will be shown Wednesday, November 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the Warch Campus Cinema. Admission is free.

Freda Kelly was a teenager in Liverpool in 1961 when she was asked to be personal secretary and fan club president for an up-and-coming local band. She stayed with the Beatles for 11 years.

From the Good Ol’ Freda official website: “In Good Ol’ Freda, Freda tells her stories for the first time in 50 years. One of few documentaries with the support of the living Beatles and featuring original Beatles music, the film offers an insider perspective on the beloved band that changed the world of music.”

The Pirate Song

You wouldn’t think we could find a link between Talk Like a Pirate Day and the Beatles. But you’d be wrong.
George Harrison appeared on BBC TV for Eric Idle’s Rutland Weekend Television Christmas Show, which aired on December 26, 1975.
On the show he poked fun at the legal problems over the supposed plagiarism of “My Sweet Lord.”
The performance, naturally, is on YouTube.

It Was 49 Years Ago Today…

On September 4, 1964, The Beatles appeared in concert in Milwaukee. Tickets ranged from $3.50 to $5.50 and sold out within a week of going on sale. In order to purchase tickets one had to cut out an order form from the Milwaukee Journal, fill it out, put it into an envelope with a check and mail it. Then the wait began for the tickets to arrive.

During this academic year the Mudd will celebrate the Beatles’ emerging popularity in the United States beginning in the fall of 1963.

To get into the spirit, watch videos from the previous century posted on the WTMJ4 website in anticipation of Paul McCartney’s return to Milwaukee, July 16, 2013.

America’s Music is Coming

Lawrence University, through the Seeley G. Mudd Library, is presenting a 6-week program on the genesis and influence of American popular music and how it is deeply connected to the history, culture, and geography of the United States. Told through award-winning documentary films, each program will feature an introductory talk by Visiting Assistant Professor Erica Scheinberg, the film screening, and a discussion afterwards.

This weekly series is free and open to the public and will begin Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. All programs will be held in the Warch Campus Center Cinema except the February 28th program which will take place at the Appleton Public Library.

For complete information, go to the America’s Music web page. And join the Lawrence University America’s Music Facebook page for updates and a chance to chat with scholars and music fans. Think of it as that popular music class you always wanted to take, but with no homework or grades.

National Carry a Tune Week

You may be able to carry on, Carrie Nation and karaoke, but you may not be able to carry a tune. Even so, check out National Carry a Tune Week, October 7-13, 2012. This is all about tunes American in origin from 2001 or before, like the one Paul Simon wrote (ask your grampa,) so don’t be expecting to hear any of those non-American tunes.

“National Carry A Tune Week is held annually near the birthday of America’s first tune composer, William Billings, born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 7, 1746.” Of course.

There’s also an “online event” associated with this celebration which is a little foggy but supposedly involves sending in 10 tunes of your choice and possibly winning a CD, but we’re sure all will become clear next week.

Room With a View

porta pottyThe Mudd has outsourced its, you should pardon the expression, sanitary functions. This summer the happy roof workers who are enjoying the 90 degree weather will give it a go, so to speak. After the faculty and students return in the fall they will revel in the continuous stream of fresh air and the spectacular views while visiting the upper-reaches of the Mudd. And they will literally be able to answer the call of nature while answering the call of nature.

Oh My Gosh! The Ship Isn’t Moving!

Soon it will be Memorial Day, then the 4th of July, and then the giant holiday void that is August, and then … International Talk Like a Pirate Day! At the Mudd we can’t wait for September 19th to roll around. Now, you too can practice your pirate platitudes, pronouns and participles.

Mango Languages, a language-learning company, is offering a Pirate Course FREE now through June 30. As they so accurately put it: “Pirate is bold, brazen and chock full of eccentric insults.”

Some of your “Conversational Goals” may be:

  • Call someone names
  • Express surprise
  • Give sailing commands
  • Greet a friend and a superior
  • Pay a compliment

As an added bonus you get cultural notes, cool graphics and genuine pirates pronouncing the words.