Lonesome, Onry and Mean didn't get in much trouble in school. So his parents were a little disturbed to find the eighth grader in the principal's office on the afternoon of February 10, 1964. He and his best friends, Mike Clowdus, Brad Rutledge, and Larry "Suitcase" Simpson, had been written up and sent to the office by Mr. Stephen Haynes, the eighth grade honors algebra teacher.
The infraction? Combing our hair like the Beatles.
We'd been hearing about the Beatles for a few weeks. Ed Sullivan, the host of the popular television variety show, The Ed Sullivan Show, had the full weight of CBS Television behind him as a hype machine, and it had been made very plain to the American public that the Beatles were a phenomenon of Elvis-like proportions -- and possible cultural danger. So, of course, we awaited this terrible moment with all the tingling anticipation of a horror movie.
Some of our friends had parents so strict that they forbade their children to even witness the telecast, but LOM's parents were not of that persuasion, so we all gathered in the living room eagerly awaiting the blessed event. I don't remember clearly, but knowing my Mom there was probably a large bowl of popcorn.
