Well, 09.09.09 has come and gone, and we here at Amoeba San Francisco partied like it was 1964! Beatles Day was enthusiastic and joyful, as customers and employees came together to celebrate probably the most significant band the world has ever seen. If you missed out on the action, allow me to describe some of it for you!

Before the store opened, there was a line of customers waiting on baited breath to get their hands on the mono box set -- I sold the last copy at 11:30, so they went fast! The limited edition box set includes the first 10 Beatles album in their original mono glory, plus all their mono-mixed singles on a disc and many other special goodies. A customer and I had a conversation about how very different the mono mixes of Beatles songs and albums are, including different "oinks" on "Piggies!" Beatles die-hards say you haven't heard The Beatles yet if you haven't heard them in mono, since most of their records were originally mixed and released in mono! And those die-hards were finally satisfied yesterday, at last grabbing every Beatles album in mono in one giant swoop with the new box set.

DJs took to the Amoeba stage from 11am on, playing their own mixes of The Beatles music from the early years to the end, and including sets of covers, b-sides and solo career cuts. It's amazing that we could play only Beatles/Beatles-related music from 11am-6pm and cover so much territory -- considering The Beatles were only around and recording for less than 10 years, the amount and breadth of the music they created is mind-blowing.

Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Yes, 9/09/09 was Beatles Day at Amoeba Hollywood, and fans lined up before opening to purchase the long-awaited stereo and the mono box sets (the mono sets sold out at 1pm), plus sundry standalone albums and other Beatles “stuff.” (It must have been the Bob Smeaton documentary that was included in the stereo set, right?) Beatles songs were played throughout the day in their upgraded forms (miraculous), and the atmosphere was festive from the time the store opened until late. It was like an actual holiday, a warm eggnog and feety-pajamas feeling...only with a guy who looked like John Lennon (circa his Lost Weekend era) staying for the duration, and a couple of employees dressed in Sgt. Pepper’s regalia.


Beginning at 1 o’clock, Amoeba’s own Daniel (of Mandala fame) took the microphone and hosted Beatles trivia on the hour until 4 o’clock. His accent swayed between Brummie and Sherman Oaks, but he definitely looked like one of the Lonely Hearts Club Band. He even sported a vintage mustache. A throng holding cardboard fans stood in eager anticipation to prove they knew Ringo’s middle name and that Paul is a birthpath 4 Gemini and that he’s the exact same height as Lolo Ferrari. This crowd could not be stumped—though Daniel tried his best. One of the questions he asked was “what is ‘you’ referring to in the song ‘Got to Get You Into My Life?’” This set off a torrent of people going “ooh-ohh-oh” with their arms stretching to heaven. The answer was, of course, Chong, from Cheech and Chong (or, the green leaves that made Chong Chong)! With each right answer, Elicia (drums) and Becca (sax), also in garb, played some fizzling dying thing as a show of triumph.

It was 20 years ago when The Beatles’ discography was first released on compact disc, and since then, they have been left untouched (with the exception of Let It Be…Naked). However, on 09.09.09, their albums have been re-released and remastered individually or in limited edition box sets available in both stereo and mono! All 3 Amoeba stores celebrated this with giveaways, DJs and the support of Beatlemaniacs!

The Berkeley Branch had its leaves shaking with the Fab 4’s music all day long. At 1pm, DJ JoNasty played favorite songs of the Liverpool quartet, as well as some of their solo work and covers by others. At 2pm, the giveaways began with MC Emily announcing each of the trivia questions, at the top of every hour.


At 4pm, DJ Ken Kubla took over the decks, playing songs that inspired The Beatles, ones they covered or people covering their material.


Here are the trivia questions:

1)    Who was the original drummer for the Beatles?
2)    Which songs have the word “walrus” in the lyrics?
3)    How many times did [they] appear on the Ed Sullivan Show?
4)    In which song has their one & only drum solo?
5)    What was the working title for “Yesterday?"
6)    Which Beatle met his future wife while filming A Hard Day’s Night? What was her name?

So, it's Beatles Day, big deal. No, really, it's a big deal! Think about it, what other band has earned their very own special day of celebration? That's right, no other band, because like it or not the Beatles are, have been and probably forever will be just that special. I cannot speak personally about any particular Beatles revelation in my early life, the best I can do being that in my formative years I remember reading interviews with guys from the bands I liked in magazines like Rip and Metal Edge where they'd always, always cite the Beatles as a major musical influence right along side bands like the New York Dolls, Deep Purple and Uriah Heap. I took note, but skipped the breakthrough introductory listen --- my excuse being that Mötley Crüe's version of "Helter Skelter" was enough Beatles for me.

It wasn't until the late 1990's that I finally got the message via Revolver. I listened to it repeatedly for, well, how do you measure time when you've got a new favorite record on repeat? I felt like I finally understood why that "Fab Four" band meant so much to so many and I liken the feeling to recognizing blind love for something after having lived so long in its shadow. I fell for them Beatles pretty hard, but I also kept it a secret. I mean, how would you break your fledgeling Beatles romance to a jaded herd of veteran music-retailer colleagues and still expect to be included in all their future reindeer games? My secret was safe, but one of my most precious Beatles moments was yet to come.