The Beatles began their first British tour on this date in 1963 as the opening act for Helen Shapiro. Shapiro had her first hit single in 1961 at age 14, and had been voted Britain’s “Top Female Singer” by the time the Beatles emerged. During the tour, the Beatles had their first hit single (“Love Me Do”) and Lennon and McCartney wrote “Misery” for her, but it was “actually turned down on my behalf before I ever heard it,” Shapiro later reported. “I never got to hear it or give an opinion. It’s a shame, really.” Her pop career quickly declined in her late teen years, though she remained a cabaret, stage and jazz singer for more than 40 years. Over the past two decades her music reflected her turn to Christianity and/or messianic Judaism. For a video of Helen Shapiro lip-synching her hit song, “Look Who It Is,” to John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, click here.
“I got on great with them and John was like a brother to me. Very protective.” —Helen Shapiro
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I am mesmerized by the clip of Shapiro singing to John, Ringo and George. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it is because the whole structure of the performance is the opposite of what we expect. Usually it the man singing to a woman, with the women looking adoringly, but passively, at the man. Here Shapiro is in charge. She even spins Ringo around, so that he faces the camera. Or perhaps it is this–from the Mormons to the Beach Boys, men have rhapsodized about “two girls for every boy.” But here we have one women toying with three boys (and three Beatles, no less!). Or perhaps it is her knowing wit. She is every bit the match for the Beatles’ mugging. Her eyes and body movements are cleverly mocking the whole bit. I just love it–in fact, I’m going to go watch it one more time.