Does Fab Four visit seem like Yesterday?

Back in 1962 a young Liverpool band called The Silver Beatles came to play during one of the regular dance nights which featured live rock groups.

No one was to realise at the time, but these unlikely lads were about to become the hottest property in Britain - and then the world under the moniker of The Beatles.

Yet that night, it was a very different story because they were practically booed off!

Now a Blackpool author wants to revisit that evening in Fleetwood and write a book about it.

And Richard Houghton wants anyone who was there at the time to get in touch and contribute to his book.

Richard, who has just published a similar volume about the Rolling Stones in Blackpool, circa 1964, said: “I’d love to hear the memories of anyone who saw The Beatles in the 60s, because they set the entertainment world alight when they came along. There will be lots of people out there who heard them or saw them and just thought ‘wow’.

“I want to make a record of these people’s experiences before it is too late and gets lost in the passage of time.”

Back in 1962, no one at the venue realised what was just around the corner. The Silver Beatles’ rhythm guitarist and co-lead singer, John Lennon, knew Fleetwood well because he’d often stayed in the town with his aunt when he was a young lad. Also on the bill were Fleetwood bands such as The Zeros, The Rainbow Rockets and The Haloes - local lads who were well known and well liked by the audience, playing familiar and popular fare by the likes of Cliff Richard, Buddy Holly and Bill Haley.

The Liverpudlians, stomping on the stage and wearing leather, did not go down particularly well with the audience.

The young people on the dance floor wanted the Fleetwood boys, not these city upstarts!

Frank Ramsbottom, 71, of Manor Road, Fleetwood, is of 10 thought to have played that night with his band, The Dolphins.

Lead guitarist Frank, whose sons Paul and Mark and grandson Elliot now play Beatles songs in their own bands, said: “There’s a story among some in Fleetwood that we were there, but sadly we weren’t.

“But we were around at that time and we heard they got booed! Funnily enough, when their records came out, all us local bands realised they were brilliant. They knew so many chords and we all wanted to know how they did it.”

You can share your Beatle memories with Richard Houghton by emailing [email protected].