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Biography:
Sam
Leach was, and indeed still is, an out and out Rock'n'Roll
fan.
In 1957 he organised a night for The Blue Diamonds. During
the interval he put his records on an old dusty turntable
and when he saw the kids bopping around the small garage that
served as a meeting place, Sam knew where his future lay.
Promoting.
He told me he got greater pleasure putting shows on than performing
onstage… even with The Beatles.
Sam
launched his first full time promotion at the historic St
George's Hall in the City centre. With wildly fluctuating
results, Sam continued his merry way toward his destiny -
meeting The Beatles on 10th January 1961.
Sam
famously organised "Operation Big Beat" at the Tower Ballroom,
New Brighton, November 10th 1961. Headlining on that first
night were The Beatles alongside Gerry and the Pacemakers,
Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes
and The Remo Four. Around 4,300 fans pack into the Tower Ballroom
for the first in a series of Sam Leach's " Operation Big Beat"
shows.
For
almost two years he was swept along on a roller coaster ride.
He then decided to launch his own independent record label,
Troubadour Records and followed that with a bid to become
The Beatles' manager. He tried to introduce them to reluctant
London agents by promoting shows at The Queens Ballroom, Aldershot.
That failure became part of Beatles folklore.
In February 1964 Sam bounced back from adversity. Anticipating
that the Beatles would soon conquer America following exposure
on the Ed Sullivan Show, he produced a magazine 'Beatles on
Broadway', which sold almost a million copies in eleven languages.
In the money again, Sam ran a group agency for a while but
with The Beatles gone forever his heart wasn't in it and he
settled down to his most successful promotion .... his young
family, wife Joan and three kids, Debbie, Paul and Tony.
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