So, who was the first to use the the phrase: "Beatlemania" ?

Introduction:

For Beatle collectors who own the prestigious Canadian album "Beatlemania! - With The Beatles" will be interested in learning that Mr. Sandy Gardiner, who is quoted on the front album cover, was a music reporter for "The Journal" here in Ottawa (his quote on the cover never disclosed the newspaper he wrote and worked for, only his name appeared in print beneath the caption). According to Sandy on a March 5th telephone conversation I had with him, Capitol Records of Canada "had picked up on the article" and used it for the album cover.

Sandy, originally a native of Scotland, found himself working as a music reporter in Britain in the early '60's. He made a decision to move to Canada in 1962 whereupon he quickly found employment with "The Ottawa Journal." Because of his previous experience as a music reporter in Britain, Sandy was able to bring over his knowledge of England's beat scene, which gave him a bit of an edge in developing his early articles for The Journal. From what Richard Patterson, early '60's drummer for Ottawa's "The Esquires" tells me, is that Sandy was an avid reader of many music magazines, including "The New Musical Express." Thus, Sandy's general knowledge of the music industry, combined with his journalistic research skills, enabled him to put the best possible spin into his articles. His music column appeared every Saturday entitled: "Platter Patter...And Idol Chatter" and wrote on a variety of artists ranging from The Shadows; The Esquires; The Staccatos; The Beach Boys; The Animals; Cilla Black and of course, The Beatles. After having had a chance to read some of Sandy's excellent reviews on pop music, there can be absolutely no doubt as to the reason why Capitol Records of Canada decided to make use of his penmanship by using his quote for their album cover. Sandy's flair and writing style for covering pop music was definitely way ahead of his contemporaries who wrote and covered music in the sixties. Sandy presented his reports not only with an enthusiastic flair, but provided a fresh look into the pop music industry.

I would now like to present you Sandy's article. When you compare the report below against the quote on the album cover, you will notice a slight variation. This is because Capitol Records decided to edit the best part of Sandy's text for its own publication. With two words deliberately changed by Capitol, the rest of the quote pretty much remains intact. Sandy's news article was discovered on micro-film at the Ottawa Public Library after six weeks of research. I sincerely hope you enjoy, as I am sure Sandy does, his reporting on the outbreak of "BEATLEMANIA!" as it appeared on November 9, 1963, in The Ottawa Journal.

John Whelan, researcher for the Ottawa Beatle Site
March 17, 2000

HEAVY DISC DOSE SPREADS DISEASE IN ENGLAND
by Sandy Gardiner, Reporter for The Ottawa Journal

A new disease is sweeping through Britain, Europe and the Far East...and doctors are powerless to stop it.

The name of this new addition to the world of the Ben Casey's and Doc Kildare's is - BEATLEMANIA.

Most of the victims have fallen prey to Beatlemania by desire...and the majority of them are teenagers.

What is it then that a jag from a hypodermic needle or a long hospital confinement can't stop?

Beatlemania first started to spread 10 months ago in Liverpool, England, when a new group, the Beatles, hit the public with their first disc dose.

At first it dazed the public, then with their second waxing The Beatles knocked them out.

The disc -- "Please Please Me" -- written by two of the Liverpoplians zoomed to the top of the charts in Britain as fast as an injection takes effect.

The Beatles are John Lennon, rhythm guitar; Paul McCartney, bass guitar; George Harrison, lead guitar; and Ringo Starr, drums.

Despite the competition of Cliff Richard -- undoubtedly Britain's No. 1 vocalist -- this group of Liverpool born and bred musicians have succeeded in playing to packed houses wherever they go.

The mass rock'n'roll hysteria has British police beat. "It's spreading all over the country," said one spokesman, "and it's causing some anxiety."

The four singing, guitar-playing youngsters became celebrities overnight...and they've maintained a consistent top-of-the charts operation ever since.

Three London newspapers are running series on them. Other papers in Britain, Europe and even Hong Kong carry their pictures and feature stories on the front pages.

None of The Beatles can read music yet their disc outings are outselling some of the biggest record names in the world.

An example of their fantastic stage magic is shown left while they were appearing in Sweden. One Swedish belle got so carried away by their performance that she almost carried away George Harrison, one of the two lead vocalists.

IN CARLISLE, nine teenagers were injured when 600 yelling fans rioted outside a theatre...

IN HULL, 2,000 teenagers gave police a rough time while battling for the boys' Christmas show. More than 80,000 tickets were sold in the first two hours...

IN NEWCASTLE, 7,000 fans went wild during the wait for tickets. One girl had her jeans torn off and reached the box office wrapped in a blanket.

IN WREXHAM, North Wales, two girls were expelled from school for organizing a midnight rum-drinking party. When the headmistress accidentally happened by and caught them red-handed or red-faced they said they were celebrating the birthday of one of the Beatles.

IN LONDON, a girl lost her job because of her love for the group. Her boss saw a photograph of the girl at a Beatles concert. He gave her an ultimatum -- her job or the Beatles. She chose the Beatles.

Last week London Airport -- jammed with 2,000 teenagers -- was busy...

The Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, was due to fly to Kinross for his by-election campaign. Contestants for Miss World contest were arriving.

But the hero worship was for none of these; it was for -- guess who? The Beatles.

The group, returning from a mobbing by rapturous teenagers in Sweden, escaped down a side staircase while screams of their fans drowned the whine of taxing jets.

Record sales wise the wild teenage phenomena goes on...

The Beatles' first extended play disc, "Twist And Shout," sold 150,000 copies in its first two weeks and became the first EP to make the British top ten.

Advance sales of their current hit, "She Loves You" -- a mere 250,000 -- put it at the top of the charts the day it was released.

And their first album proved the fastest seller ever in British disc history.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney dabbled in songwriting and have penned five chart-stoppers: "Please Please Me," "From Me To You" (which Del Shannon covered in the U.S.), "Do You Want To Know A Secret," "Bad To Me" (for Billy J. Kramer) and "She Loves You."

How were The Beatles discovered?

A Liverpool record department manager, Brian Epstein, kept hearing stories from his assistants of a group who were in big demand. They were playing at a club 100 yards away from his store....

So Epstein popped in...and popped out with their signatures on a management contract. Then he began the big build-up for stardom.

At first the record companies weren't interested but Epstein and his wonder boys persevered. Finally one recording manager signed them up and put their earthy, raucous sound on wax. The first hit missed, the second clicked. The glamour of fame was in their grasp.

As Britain's top vocal group they appeared before the Queen Mother and Princes Margaret at the Royal Variety Show Monday night...and had the royal pair swingin' and snapping their fingers. A far cry from the days when they played for Janice the Stripper in a Liverpool club....

Note: I have 20 copies of The Beatles' latest record on Capitol to give away. If you would like a copy, drop me a line at The Journal and it will be first come, first served....

-End of Article

Cartoons

Footnote:

OTTAWA'S BIG URBAN LEGEND ON THE ORIGINS OF THE WORD "BEATLEMANIA!"

The purpose of my research for this article began out of curiosity to determine to see if it were possible that Sandy might have been the reporter who coined the word "BEATLEMANIA!". My decision to explore this was based on the reports that came out of the local record stores back in the '60's and '70's, indicating Sandy Gardiner as the journalist responsible for coming up with the phrase. In fact, even today, I know of at least one older record store owner still making the claim that Sandy was responsible (and informing his patrons up to a month ago who bought the album, no less! He has now been informed of the correct date based on my research.) An explanation as to why the legend existed here in Ottawa stems from Paul White, who was Capitol Records of Canada "Artist and Repertoire Director" at the time (and who later became Vice-President of Capitol Canada), would tell his recording artists, The Esquires and The Staccatos (both excellent Ottawa rock bands), that it was Sandy Gardiner who came up with the phrase "Beatlemania!" Esquires drummer, Richard Patterson, definitely recalls Paul White as "pushing the Gardiner article onto the band, claiming it was Sandy who coined the phrase 'Beatlemania!'" It's obvious now that it was nothing more than "Executive P. R. hyperbole" from White, but at the time, one can imagine the possibilities of various local bands and musicians talking this up in the record shops. However, Fleet Street can rest easy. For fans who don't know the date for when the press originated the word "Beatlemania", it was declared in the British papers -- "Daily Mirror" -- on October 14, 1963, after fans rioted on a October 13, 1963 performance by the Beatles. This information, or the lack-there-of, was not found in the Ottawa newspapers, or at least Fleetstreets usage of the word "Beatlemania!", thus with Paul White's comments combined with the lack of information available at the time to local residents, enhanced this urban legend even more!

Special Acknowledgment:

My very special thanks to Sandy Gardiner for granting us his kind permission for allowing us to re-produce his article he penned for The Ottawa Journal. My research led to many more of his excellent articles that he wrote for the newspaper and while I was speaking to him over the phone, he gave me carte-blanche to re-publish his music articles here at the Ottawa Beatle Site. Thank you so much Sandy, and we are currently working on them at the moment and they should be up very soon. I should also point out, not only was Sandy an excellent reporter, but he took on a keen interest in the local rock 'n 'roll scene which included managing The Esquires -- a very excellent band which prided themselves as a clone of The Shadows. And I can attest to that too, as I still have some of The Esquires music on wax!! They were every bit as good as The Shadows!!

Mr. Gardiner has retired in Sarasota, Florida.