Big Bob Francis brought the Fab Four here — and Adelaide still loves him for it

IT WAS 50 years ago today but Bob Francis still gets stopped in the streets of Adelaide and thanked for bringing The Beatles to town.

Bob Francis, centre, on the Adelaide Town Hall balcony with The Beatles, from left, stand-in drummer Jimmy Nicol, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon, on June 12, 1964.

IT WAS 50 years ago today but Bob Francis still gets stopped in the streets of Adelaide and thanked for bringing The Beatles to town.

The 75-year-old retired radio broadcaster can’t believe where the years have gone but still marvels at his time with the Fab Four.

“They were just really likeable down to earth lads – but a good bit of cheek about them,” Francis said this week.

No act has been bigger in Adelaide than The Beatles – 300,000 fans spilled out on to the streets – and Francis was at the centre of the excitement.

Remarkably, The Beatles were set to bypass Adelaide for the lack of a suitable music venue and the misconception the City of Churches just wasn’t ready for the swinging ’60s.

As a young DJ with 5AD, Francis suggested 3000 signatures would be enough for the state government to consider building a suitable pop music venue.

Within three days he received 80,000 signatures – including several sent through on rolls of toilet paper – that led Beatles management to add Adelaide to the itinerary.

“People shouldn’t think Adelaide was a backwater back then as there was a very vibrant music scene happening even before The Beatles came,” Francis said.

THE WAY WE WERE — HOW ADELAIDE LOOKED IN 1964

“We had the Princeton and Oxford clubs and it was all rock and roll. This was the era of the stomp and the twist and it was all bubbling along.

“It took The Beatles to make it explode though.”

Francis got nothing but earache – from all the high-pitched screaming – for compering four Beatles concerts at Centennial Hall in Adelaide in June 1964 but has dined out on the fabulous stories ever since.

“I didn’t get paid a cent but I was the only one allowed back stage with them and that experience was priceless,” he said.

“I was the only Australian who got to introduce them on stage which was a real honour.”

Even today, Francis still riles at the reference to Adelaide as the City of Churches.

“That’s bulldust as it suggests the place is dead and stuck in the past,” he added.

“There’s not too many going to church these days – they are all getting turned into discos – even the Synagogue became a disco.

“Adelaide’s a live city with plenty happening and I love it. Take Mad March – it’s amazing.”

A 50-YEAR PRICE COMPARISON BETWEEN 1964 AND 2014

ADELAIDE POPULATION:
(Greater metropolitan area)

THEN: 680,000

NOW: 1.3 million

COST OF TICKETS:

THEN: All Beatles concert tickets cost 36 shillings or the equivalent of $3.60. (That is $98 each in today’s money)

NOW: Rolling Stones concert tickets at Adelaide Oval in October begin at $79 for general admission and stretch to $510 for premium reserve.

COST OF PETROL:

THEN: 13 cents a litre

NOW: $1.50 a litre

AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES:

THEN: $47.60.

NOW: $1282.60

AVERAGE HOUSE PRICE:

THEN: $9000

NOW: $400,000

ALBUM:

THEN : Beatles albums sold for $5.75 for mono and $5.95 for stereo.

NOW: $20

SCHOONER OF BEER

THEN: 20 cents
NOW: $4

CIGARETTES

THEN: 75 cents for a
pack of 20

NOW: $15 for a pack of 20

CAR:

THEN: EH Holden standard sedan was $2102.

NOW: Around $30,000

BUTTER:

THEN: $1.10 for a pound of butter (450g)

NOW: $4 for 500g

DOZEN EGGS:

THEN: $1.40

NOW: $4.60

FAB FOUR INVASION WAS LIKE A REVOLUTION FOR AUSSIE YOUTH

THOSE who were there claim Adelaide changed forever the day The Beatles came to town 50 years ago today

For many the social turmoil and hysterical reaction created by having the “Mop-Tops” in town was the end to the staunch conservative attitude dominating the “City of Churches”.

South Australia’s youth had found its voice and was at the forefront of social reform that swept the state during the late 1960s under Premier Don Dunstan.

So looking back, apart from longer liquor hours and the ability to place a bet virtually all hours of the day, what are the major changes to have occurred in that time?

Over 50 years, the population of the greater metropolitan area of Adelaide has almost doubled to 1.3 million from around 680,000 in 1964. Population increases seem inevitable, but not everything has been on the up and up.

Home ownership is in decline, with the average price for a property in Adelaide being $9000 in 1964 and rising to more than $400,000 today.

All Beatles tickets for four Adelaide concerts were the equivalent of $98 today – not that exorbitant to see the biggest band in the world.

Rolling Stones concert tickets at Adelaide Oval in October range from $79 to $510.

Speaking of the Oval, it was then and now the centrepiece of football in this state. But that overlooks 40 years in the “wilderness” at Football Park.

Apart from the City to Bay, trams disappeared from Adelaide streets in 1958, but they returned this century.

Car ownership is the other major change over 50 years. There are now more motor vehicles registered in the state than individuals live here.

Increasing traffic congestion has seen major infrastructure investments over the half-century, with the building of the O-Bahn in the 1980s and freeways north, south and east of the city.

One thing has stayed consistent over 50 years though.

Under captain/coach Neil Kerley, South Adelaide won the SANFL premiership in 1964 and have never won it since. Perhaps this is the year for the Panthers to finally break the drought!

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