I just got up, turned on the radio and heard of the death of George Harrison.

They're playing Beatles tracks and the memories have come flooding back.

As a teenager of the sixties I remember listening to my tranny under the covers on Sunday night for the Top 20 on Radio Luxembourg.

When I first heard Love Me Do, many, especially us Southerners, hadn't heard of The Beatles before.

They may have been known at The Cavern on the Liverpool club scene and in Germany but to me it was a revelation - somehow I just knew it was the start of it all.

The pop group then followed Gerry and the Pacemakers, Freddie and the Dreamers then the London groups like Brian Poole and The Tremolos.

The hardships following the war and the stuffiness of the fifties - when it wasn't the done thing to play vulgar pop music on the Beeb or scream at Cliff Richard - was all over. It was a new dawn and it was all there for the taking - the music, the fashion, the freedom, pirate radio, flower power. We were the children of the revolution. Life was for living and we were going to live it.

The Beatles were there every step of the way. They were part of our lives. I don't believe there will ever be another time like it and as George would have said, Peace And Love To All Man.

Dee Palmer

Croydon

December 5, 2001 17:30