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Archive Beatles audio released on 50th anniversary of Aussie tour

The National Film and Sound Archive have released an unedited version of an interview that John, George and Ringo gave to Melbourne radio ahead of their 1964 tour.

beatles_getty.jpg
15th June 1964: Workmen and schoolchildren mob the car carrying British pop sensation The Beatles from Adelaide airport during their Australian tour. (Getty Images)

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By Julia Calixto


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Impromptu singing, and cheeky jabs at Australians are part of a 16 minute conversation that Beatles fans will be able to hear for the first time.

The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) have released the recording to mark the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' Australian tour on 11 June.

Edited versions have been broadcast and included on special discs over the years, but the full interview had never been released.

Rolf Harris, their upcoming tour and an apology for missing Beatle, Paul, are just some of the topics playfully discussed in the interview with Melbourne Radio presenter Binny Lum.

Radio curator Maryanne Doyle says getting the interview was quite a scoop.

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"The Beatles were at the height of their popularity and it was a real coup that an Australian radio personality, unknown in the UK, had managed to secure an interview with the English rock band, the hottest property in show business. The fact that this occurred says as much for Lum's tenacity as her well connected network of contacts."

Lum's recordings - including interviews with a young Barbra Streisand, Fred Astaire and many other Australian and international personalities - were donated to the NFSA by her husband Geoff Charter and her daughter Sharon Terry.

The NFSA blog will publish additional Beatles-related materials throughout the week - including oral history interviews with Frank Ifield and Martin Benge, both of whom worked with the Fab Four, and newsreels and other footage from the era.

Full transcript of the interview


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