Enlarge image
A serenade for Sir Paul: video shoot on May 7th at the Beatles-Platz in Hamburg
Photo: Daniel Reinhardt / dpa
For Paul McCartney's 80th birthday, the band Salamanda shot a flash mob video on Hamburg's Reeperbahn.
Numerous fans had come to Beatles-Platz to support them, some holding up signs with slogans such as "Happy Birthday Paul" and "Hamburg loves you".
Enlarge image
Soon to be 80: Paul McCartney (2021, performing in Ohio)
Photo: Bob Andres / Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Flensburg musicians want to release the music video with the song "Song for Paul" on June 18th, just in time for the ex-Beatle's 80th birthday.
"The song should be a huge thank you for his work and his art on behalf of all of St. Pauli and Hamburg," they said.
One hopes to reach Paul McCartney personally with the clip.
The Beatles have a lot in common with Hamburg.
On August 17, 1960, they started their world career there.
They were previously called The Silver Beatles, then changed their name and were booked for two months in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg.
The musicians gave their first concerts in the Indra Club on the Große Freiheit, then in the Kaiserkeller, in the Top Ten and in the legendary Star Club, all in the vicinity of the Reeperbahn.
The later "Fab Four" were five at the time, completely unknown and "complete beginners," as Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn told SPIEGEL.
Paul McCartney was 18 years old, George Harrison was only 17 - too young for nightclubs.
In November 1960, when he was reported to the police, he was forced to return to Liverpool.
In the Indra Club, the Beatles played mostly cover versions for four and a half to six hours six days a week because they didn't have enough songs of their own.
They performed there 48 times before the club had to be closed due to noise complaints from neighbors.
In Hamburg, the band received numerous impulses.
There the Beatles also made friends with the graphic artist and musician Klaus Voormann, with the photographers Jürgen Vollmer and Astrid Kirchherr.
In June 1966, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon returned to the Elbe for the last time.
nga/dpa