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 PRESS RELEASE



I SAW THEM STANDING THERE
Adventures of an ORIGINAL FAN During BEATLEMANIA and Beyond

- By Debbie Gendler
- Foreword by Robb Weller

978-1-4930-7974-2 $32.95, Paperback / softback

Imprint: Backbeat Books
February 6, 2024
304 pages
Size: 6 x 9
Category: Biography & Autobiography (Music)
Includes: 67 Illustrations and Photos


On February 9, 1964, many teens across the country wanted to be Debbie Gendler. She was among 728 lucky fans who were seated in the live audience for the Beatles’ iconic performance on The Ed Sullivan Show—a television event experienced in the living rooms of 73 million Americans. I SAW THEM STANDING THERE: Adventures of an ORIGINAL FAN During BEATLEMANIA and Beyond (Backbeat Books; February 2024; $32.95) follows Debbie, a New Jersey teenager, who shares her struggles to get to the Sullivan show, describes the overwhelming emotion of being part of the screaming audience, and who eventually manages to accomplish what millions during the 60s only dreamed … meeting the Beatles!
At age 13 in early November 1963, Debbie met with their manager Brian Epstein regarding the establishment of a U.S. Fan Club and to assure him that the Beatles would be well received. That meeting proved to be her ticket to the Sullivan show. It was also the start of a lifetime of zany Beatles adventures with the group’s fan club, the Beatles’ families, and the major players who participated in their meteoric successes.
In I SAW THEM STANDING THERE, Debbie transports readers back to 1964, when the country was reeling from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the music industry grappled with decline. Suddenly a glimmer of hope and revitalization appears with the arrival of four long-haired Liverpudlians with a striking sound and a whole new look. It was amidst this backdrop the Beatles made their legendary debut on The Ed Sullivan Show with Debbie shrieking in the audience.
Traditionalists across the country felt threatened by the Beatles and even Debbie received hate mail for her support of the group. But by the time the Beatles filled Shea Stadium with over 55,000 fans just 18 months after their first arrival in New York, America came to understand that they were no longer one hit wonders. Only two days before this celebrated stadium concert Debbie meets her idols!
As an invited guest to their 1965 press conference to “welcome the Beatles to America” at New York’s Warwick hotel Debbie grapples with aggressive DJ’s and the press to secure her place in front of the dais. She is pushed and prodded, but after the circus ends and the Beatles return to their suite, she is told to remain in the now emptied conference room to await her introduction. Then, a once in a lifetime opportunity presents itself: to grab their trash! She surreptitiously empties into her bag a half-full glass of water used by Paul McCartney, George’s linen napkin and Ringo’s cigarette pack and ashtray. Debbie arrives in the Beatles’ suite and as she looks into John Lennon’s eyes which are titled downward. “What’s this,” noticing a slow stream of water and cigarette ash dripping from her bag. Startled that she had been busted, “used items for my memorabilia collection,” replies Debbie meekly. Mockingly Lennon instructs Debbie to open the bag for inspection leaving the 15-year-old devastated. From that point on she was known as “rubbish girl.”
Representative Adventures:
● The mayhem outside the Plaza Hotel in 1964 as the Beatles settled into their suite
● Organizing a campout overnight on Broadway for the premier of A Hard Day’s Night
● The madcap action at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium when a McCartney look-alike arrives
● An impromptu visit to Abbey Road Studios when two Beatles stop by
● Sharing insights on the man who crafted the Beatles - manager Brian Epstein
● An overnight visit with George’s parents in Liverpool
● Coming full circle working for The Ed Sullivan Show
I SAW THEM STANDING THERE is a must read not just for Beatles aficionados. More than just a trip down memory lane, Gendler’s adventures in I SAW THEM STANDING THERE are a testament to the power of formative experiences and the serendipitous events that provided her a front row seat to music history.

I SAW THEM STANDING THERE has already received Advanced praise:
“In this heartfelt, personal and engaging memoir, Debbie Gendler has perfectly captured the fun, the passion, the insanity and all of the raging hormones surrounding 1960s Beatlemania. Having lived through it myself, it was a thoroughly enjoyable—and accurate—trip back in time.”
--Bob Gale, co-writer, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Back to the Future

The Author:
Debbie Gendler is a four-time Emmy® nominated television executive and producer who worked at CBS and ABC. She also served as Women in Film’s first Los Angeles-based Executive Director and was VP of Development for Weller/Grossman Productions the foremost producers of cable programming at its earliest stages. As an “original” Beatle fan who was in the studio audience for the group’s first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, she has given countless interviews to television, documentaries, radio, print and podcasts. A magna cum laude graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication Debbie currently works as a co-producer at SOFA Entertainment, owner of The Ed Sullivan Show. 
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