I read about Astrid when I was in 8th grade in the Hunter Davies book…how she took the best pictures of the Beatles before they were THE BEATLES. She became a fan and then influenced them in many ways. She brought her art friends with her to see them in Germany. From there… their hair, clothes, and style changed. It can honestly be said that without her and her friends the Beatles as we know them might not have existed.
Astrid passed away at the age of 81.
Historian Mark Lewisohn Tweeted about Astrid: “intelligent, inspirational, innovative, daring, artistic, awake, aware, beautiful, smart, loving and uplifting.”
#RingoStarr
@ringostarrmusic
God bless Astrid a beautiful human being And she took great photos peace and love
George Harrison
@GeorgeHarrison
Astrid is and was the sweetest woman, so thoughtful and kind and talented, with an eye to capture a soul. Our family loved her and none more than George. I am truly saddened but honoured to have known her. Olivia
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 
Second picture…is that Pete Best with the drum sticks? WHO is on the far right with the dark glasses?
God, they were such cute teens.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The guy with the dark sunglasses is Stu Sutcliffe…He was the bass player and thought of the name… Beatles…he was an art student and him and John were best friends.
He influenced them a lot…he was engaged to Astrid…he died at 21 I believe of a brain hemorrhage. He quit right before it happened to be with Astrid…it was really sad and devastated John.
Yes that was Pete Best with the drumsticks…I met Pete. https://powerpop.blog/2018/06/07/brief-word-with-pete-best/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep. Missed that post. I didn’t return to blogging until June 13. WOW, what an encounter. Cool.
That is awful about Stu. Damn. If he hadn’t quit, would Paul have continued with a guitar (lead? rhythm?)
LikeLiked by 1 person
No Stu wasn’t the best bass player and he was picked on quite a bit. He knew his future was in art…he wasn’t bad on bass either…he won money at an artist contest so John and Paul talked him into getting a bass with the money so he wasn’t as advanced as them…but wasn’t bad.
I didn’t mean to plug myself but it was easier than explaining it lol
LikeLike
I appreciate the link. It helped. Plug away. There is right much of your blog I haven’t seen.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Meeting Pete Best was special to me. I gave him a paper with Ringo on it lol to sign…I asked him “have you talked to Astrid lately?” or something like that….just to sound smart.
I appreciate it.
LikeLike
I saw the signed paper. That was neat.
I remember meeting and talking to Cheryl Ladd. Little thing…had an attitude problem. She was only interested in selling her golfing (boring) book and people just wanted to get her signature or a picture. She was not pleasant to talk to.
I’ve met several “stars” (loose term). Some were really cool and others needed to be punched in the face. The absolute worst was Gary Lockwood. After him, Walter Koenig. Jackasses, both of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cherly Ladd…I would have loved to seen her…she was/is a looker. It sucks that she was like that. They don’t get people want to talk about what they know of them.
Jake Lockwood was in 2001 Space Odyssey right? That sucks…who else have you met?
LikeLike
Gary Lockwood…2001 & Gary Mitchell:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_No_Man_Has_Gone_Before
Dirk Benedict. Denise Crosby. Andrew Robinson. Jerry Doyle. Claudia Christian. Robin Curtis. Garrett Wang. George Takei. Robert Picardo. James Doohan (missing a finger).
I’ve seen Shatner from a distance (he was on stage). I’ve seen Marina Sirtis talk (she is nowhere near as exotic looking in person as she was on the show). She is a bitty-bit, too.
Denise Crosby & Robin Curtis were SO sweet. Jerry Doyle is (was) a scream. Claudia was stiff. Andrew was very gracious. Garrett was nice. George Takei is a big sweetie. Robert Picardo is just as much of a stuffed shirt in person as he is on screen. Dirk Benedict had a bit of an attitude (also trying to sell books) but, we had a nice conversation. James Doohan was this big, grandfatherly dude that loved to talked to people.
I can’t remember anybody else off hand… I’ve met a lot of artists that did comic book and non-sport cards work. They are cool.
LikeLiked by 1 person
WOW….James Doohan I wish I could have met… I heard he was a nice guy.
I’ve never been to one of those conventions before. Bailey has and complained that the lines were a mile long and he stood in lines but by the time he got close they closed that line.
That is cool that you got to meet some from the original series.
You have me beat. I think I’ve told you but I’ve met Don Williams a million times. He lived in the same small town I live in. Nice guy that mowed the City Park for something to do. A very nice guy.
I’ve met John Kay…just met and said hi…I’ve seen Peter Frampon at the airport…I did meet Randy Travis briefly riding a horse in front of our house growing up.
LikeLike
All of those meetings were when I was with my Zappa-loving ex-Bill in the 90s. He was a crazy collector type. He wanted signatures on stuff for extra value. I was chatting up Dirk Benedict when Bill wanted a cigarette. He just did an about-face, right in the middle of Dirk’s sentence. Dirk shouted after him “Am I boring you?” I told him Bill was having nicotine fit & we continued talking.
Walter Koenig was walking down the hall of a hotel with his “handlers” just a bitching. Sawed off little runt…
Jerry Doyle was standing behind me in a line for an artist/dealer. I turned around when I was done & walked right into him. “Oops! Sorry!” He grinned at me…”No problem!” He smiled, again, when I went to his table for a signature.
Denise Crosby, I wanted to hug. She LOVED her fans. Robin Curtis, too. You could tell they were honored that we wanted to meet them. Robin had big shoes to fill when Kirstie left the role of Saavik.
George Takei loved to take pictures. James Doohan sounds weird out of Scottish character.
Remember Andrew Robinson being in a Dirty Harry movie? He is a thin framed man. Jerry Doyle was 6′ 3″.
Comic Cons weren’t the huge attractions back in the 90s like they are, now. There were no long lines back then. Hell, Doyle was notorious for buying drinks for dealers & visitors hanging around after the comic con was over.
These were during Babylon 5, TNG, Deep Space Nine, early Voyager, The Search for Spock…
Shatner showed up at the Raleigh Fairgrounds, drunk.
LikeLike
Oh…Stu was considered a great artist…his paintings are worth a fortune.
https://powerpop.blog/2018/09/01/stuart-sutcliffe-the-beatles-forgotten-artist/
LikeLike
Goodness. How awful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thats the thing about The Beatles….it wasn’t just the music…the story of them is just as interesting. If one thing doesn’t work out…the whole thing could have went down the drain.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She had her part in the story no question about that! Again as we’ve talked before they were for the most part lucky to have been associated with quality people. Only a few villains along the way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hadn’t heard of her until this morning, but I’m sure I’ve seen some of her photos. MAy she rest in peace and be hanging out with John and George ‘up there’ now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is a good thought… for Beatle fans she was one of the main characters on their way up. She never made a dime off of those famous Hamburg photos when they were released…which is sad.
LikeLike
This news made me so sad. She seemed beautiful inside and out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She really did. She hardly made a dime off of those photos but she said they were just photos of old friends….
I never heard any of them say a bad word about her.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is Off Topic but I got into a conversation yesterday about Pirate Radio with someone in Germany and they sent me this link…they grew up with that radio.
You probably have this link already but I thought I would pass it along just in case.
http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html
LikeLike
Not a day goes by that I don’t listen to Radio Caroline for at least a few minutes, and usually a lot longer than that. Seriously, it is an excellent radio station, with ‘real’ DJs who decide their own playlists. I’m glad you know about it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll listen to it tomorrow. I go back to the office…I’m the only one in IT at the moment so I will be able to turn it up without anyone nagging.
Read DJs…that is a novelty now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you have to start going into the office, having it to yourself sounds pretty nice. Being able to play the radio will be a bonus.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Our IT door is electronic…I’ve taken every off everybody’s access including the owner…I told them if I come in I’m not mingling. So yea…it will be turned up.
LikeLiked by 1 person