Arunabha Sengupta
March 1966.
Beatlemania was raging through the world. John Lennon gave an interview to London Evening Standard voicing: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first—rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”
A few days later South Africa Broadcasting Corporation banned Beatles songs. As a result, Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ and SGT Barry Sadler’s The Ballad of The Green Berets were the greatest hits on South African radio in 1966.
December 1970
About 1,000 demonstrators marched to the stadium at Aberdeen—the biggest the city had ever seen. A mass meeting was held outside.
Part of the massive protests that dogged the visit of the Springbok rugby team to Britain in 1969-70, precursor to the Stop The Seventy Tour movement against the cricket team’s visit during the 1970 summer.
Immediately after the start of the match against The North, about 100 demonstrators invaded the pitch. Two even mounted on the goalposts, flashing out the Nazi salute from atop. The police danced about underneath, asking them to come down. Some of the policemen had donned shirtsleeves and football boots for easy tackling. It took more than 10 minutes to remove the protesters.
The match continued after that, bar two small interruptions.
The Scottish authorities had made clear that invading the pitch would be a breach of peace in accordance with the Scottish law. The invaders were charged and 98 were arrested, including 29 girls. The fines amounted to a whopping £1,500, quite shattering for the students.
One of the protesters who had been arrested had spent some time working for New Musical Express. His bright idea was to phone the NME office, get hold of the New York number of John Lennon, and leave a message. Would Lennon consider doing a concert to raise the £1,500?
Within the week, a letter arrived from Lennon. No, he did not see the need to do a concert, but he could shell out the money. Enclosed was a cheque for £1,500.
John Lennon was born on 9 October 1940.