The Western Massachusetts-based "UnionJack British Invasion Band" was invited to be one of 23 Beatles' tribute bands from throughout the world to participate in a video project celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles’ "From Me To You.”
UnionJack is part of a worldwide video honoring The Beatles. Around the world.
And that project includes a local band.
The Western Massachusetts-based "UnionJack British Invasion Band" was invited to be one of 23 Beatles' tribute bands from throughout the world to participate in a video project celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles’ "From Me To You.”
“We were very honored, obviously, to be a part of it,” said UnionJack drummer Dave Lempke of Southampton. “Only three bands from the U.S. are in it. We were pretty blown away.”
The project is a World Wide Video Relay in which each invited band videotaped the tune and sent it to The Cavern Club in Liverpool for consideration.
The Beatles played there regularly in the early years of their career.
Each band appears for but a few seconds; UnionJack for about three. “You hear the whole song with no hesitation,” Lempke said. “You’re just hearing different voices. It’s a fun video to watch.”
Some of the bands are in costume to emulate The Beatles, wearing wigs and suits.
UnionJack is not a costume band.
The music video’s world premiere was on the 50th anniversary of the single’s release (April 11, 1963) at The Cavern Club to a packed house of fans, tourists and international journalists.
The legacy of The Beatles has created a network of tribute bands throughout the world; the “From Me to You” project is believed to be the first time that these global tribute bands join forces to create a single video spanning the continents.
Video entries came from Liverpool, Hungary, Brazil, Japan, Slovakia, Switzerland, Canada, France, Spain, Australia, Israel, Argentina and the United States.
The results were edited into a two-and-a-half minute version of “From Me To You” that takes the viewer around the world and back to Liverpool.
“We wanted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of ‘From Me to
You’ in a way that showed the world The Beatles’ enduring influence and engaged with fans and musicians from across the globe,” said Martin King of The Beatles Story, a visitor attraction dedicated to the 1960s pop group in Liverpool. “We hope that people like the film as much as we do and that it showcases The Beatles’ and Liverpool’s contribution to global culture in a unique way.”
“I still can’t get my arms around the fact that 50 years later The Beatles are still one of the largest-selling acts on iTunes. It just blows me away,” said Lempke, a purchasing manager. “It just blows me away. And they haven’t produced new music since 1970!”
Lemke remembers the evening he saw The Beatles first perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. He was nine, and it was Feb. 9, 1964. He was in his pajamas in his family’s Holyoke living room with his parents and siblings when the “Fab Four” appeared on the television screen. “I knew I wanted to play music when I saw that,” he recalled. “I think they did that to an entire generation.”
Though Lempke first took up the guitar, “that didn’t work out so well” and he ended up a drummer.
He played football and baseball at Holyoke Catholic High School and didn’t even get into bands until after he graduated from American International College with a degree in history.
He said people of all ages attend UnionJack concerts; often “the music has been passed down from parents to kids.”
He said John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison—three of The Beatles—are “probably three of the best songwriters,” and “their music kind of grew up as the generation grew up.”
“It is a music that has its own legacy,” Lempke said.
The music video, in which Lempke and UnionJack perform, forms part of the official events program of “Liverpool Celebrates 50 Years Of The Beatles.” During 2012, a variety of events celebrated key dates in the history of the world’s most famous band.
Events will continue throughout 2013 and 2014.
Separately, UnionJack will present the Beatle's LP's "A Hard Day's
Night" and "HELP!" in their entirety at the Exit 7 Theater in Ludlow on Saturday, May 18, at 8 p.m. (tickets at www.exit7players.org), and will be featured at the World's Largest Beatles Festival, Abbey Road on the River in Louisville, Ky., on Memorial Day Weekend and in Cleveland during Labor Day Weekend.
For more information, visit www.abbeyroadontheriver.com.