Mark Lapidos makes no bones about being a Beatles fan. In fact, as founder of the traveling Beatlefest conventions (held annually in Chicago, LA and Secaucus), he could legitimately lay claims to being the world’s greatest.
Although that alone should have been enough to give him a place in musical history, New Jersey native Lapidos was actually manager of the Garden State Mall’s original Sam Goody store (in Paramus), which was an early-1970s mecca where anything from sheet music to rare singles could be acquired back in the day. It was also the platform from which he launched the first Beatlefest in 1974. Along the way, he has managed to meet nearly all the essential people behind the band’s success, as well as all four Beatles, and turned three new generations of fans onto the Fab Four.
Al Sullivan: The 1999 Beatlefest marks the 25th anniversary of the event. Tell us how it all started.
Mark Lapidos: Because of my unique perspective as the manager of the Sam Goody, I knew how much people missed the Beatles. I met thousands of fans and musicians. Everybody was being marketed as the new Beatles, but no one really had that kind of impact. Many people were offended by “Beatlemania,” which was a group of imitators playing in New York. It was the 10th anniversary of the Beatles arrival in America, and I thought we should be doing something besides sitting around. So I went to see John Lennon, who was living in New York. I didn’t want to be like “Beatlemania” – I wanted his blessing.
AS: What did John Lennon say?
ML: He told me, “Why not. It’s a good idea. I’m a Beatles fan, too.” AS: Putting on an event like this must have cost a lot of money. Where did you get the funds to start it up?br> ML: I dug into my savings. I never had a second thought about it. I never looked back. It never occurred to me that I might lose money. I knew that there were plenty of people out there who felt just like I did about the Beatles. My aim was to bring out people who respect the music, and maybe bring back a little sense of wonder.
AS: So you just carried on from there, year after year?
ML: When we started this, it was supposed to be a one-time thing. I never meant it to be a career. It hadn’t occurred to me that we would do what we did, or that it would last this long. But that first show ended up on the cover of “Rolling Stone” magazine, and we started getting calls from all over the country to do it again.
AS: The Beatlefest has been held in Secaucus a long time at the Meadowlands Hilton. Recently the hotel has been sold. Does this mean the Beatlefest will move?
ML: Absolutely not. We have held the Beatlefest at that location since 1980. We have been the hotel’s best customer. Each year, the hotel is completely booked because of us, and I see that continuing into the future. It is a weekend in March where people can come together and remember, and as far as I’m concerned, it will stay there for a long as there is a Beatlefest.
AS: And how long will that be?
ML: I think the whole thing was summed up by John Lennon’s 1979 message to the fans. It went straight to the heart of everything. John said “The music is the thing.” It’s the music that brings people to the Beatlefest. It is the music that has made fans out of people who weren’t even around when the Beatles were together.