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The Beatles in Auckland
Television (Full Length) – 1964
Beatlemania hit New Zealand in June 1964, as this footage makes clear. Welcoming 'the Fab Four' to Auckland after they arrive from Wellington, Mayor Sir Dove-Myer Robinson repeatedly asks the noisily enthusiastic crowd to "hold it please". He shakes John Lennon's finger, and the Beatles lark around with poi and attempt to hongi members of a Māori culture group. George Harrison also features in a short opening interview. Lennon threatened not to perform unless police protection was upgraded, after the Beatles encountered large crowds while arriving at their hotel.
...Mayor Dove-Myer Robinson wanted to give the band an official welcome; there had been one for the Vienna Boys Choir a week earlier, and the following week there would be another for pianist Arthur Rubenstein. The mayor's council wasn't keen, mainly at the cost of 60 pounds to the ratepayers, but also because they didn't approve of The Beatles.– Chris Bourke in an AudioCulture article on the Beatles in New Zealand, 19 June 2014
Produced by
NZ Broadcasting Corporation
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