Hysterical girls

“The Courier’s recent Beatles Caird Hall feature brought memories flooding back,” emails Andi Lothian of Broughty Ferry. “I promoted the Beatles in Dundee twice. The first occasion was October 1963 and the second was their October 1964 concert on which Stefan Morkis’s article reported. On each occasion I paid the ‘Fab Four’ £500.

“The ‘ 40 powerful stewards’ protecting the stage at the 1964 event were from the Dudhope Boxing club and included Olympic Gold medallist Dick Mctaggart. The stewards mysteriously vanished at the second interval for a light refreshment in a local pub.

“With the stage unprotected, the police insisted that the show must go on. I then co-opted any young man I could see who was at least six feet in height to act as bouncers. This conscripted army is the ‘ 35 Beatle protecting giants’ to which your article refers.

“Bedlam ensued when I introduced the Beatles to the stage. The protecting giants were under siege! The army of six foot volunteers were overwhelmed just as the boxing club stewards staggered back from the pub, removing hysterical young ladies from a pile of humanity piling down at the front of stage. I recalled at that moment, the words of the BBC reporter beside me who cried out: ‘What’s happening?” My instinctive response came forth in the phrase: ‘Don’t worry, it’s only Beatlemania.’ The now famous word was first articulated at the concert in the Caird Hall.”