For the win: Chatting up game show idol Bob Eubanks at Rhode Island Comic Con
If there is a complaint to be made about the Rhode Island Comic Con, it’s simply this. It’s just too much.
Let me explain.
There’s too much to see. There’s too much to do. There are too many panels to attend. There’s too much cool merch to purchase (or put on your Christmas list). There are way too many photo ops. There are so much great cosplayers in action. There are too many legendary and up-and-coming comic book creators, artists and writers to meet. And there are too many beloved celebrities of the big and small screen from the past, present and future to see.
In other words, there are not enough hours in three days to experience everything, even though we gain an hour over the weekend, which isn’t necessary a bad thing.
As for all the great things about the Rhode Island Comic Con, there are simply too many to mention.
After personal facetime with one’s idols at their autograph table or getting a professional photo op or a selfie, the best thing about the Rhode Island Comic Con, held Nov. 3-5 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, are the panels. And, this year, there were so many to choose from.
The awesome Anson Mount panel; the out of this world Anthony Daniels (aka C3PO of the “Star Wars” franchise) panel; the bodacious “Brat Pack” panel featuring Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy; the very funny “Futurama” panel featuring Billy West (Philip J. Fry, Dr. Zoidberg and Zapp Branningan), John DiMaggio (Bender), Lauren Tom (Amy Wong), Maurice Lamarche (Kif), and Phil Lamarr (Hermes); the very relaxed and likable Linda Hamilton panel; the kind and considerate Carrie-Anne Moss panel, the superior “Star Trek: The Next Generation” panel featuring Brent Spiner (Data), Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar), Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher), John De Lancie (Q) and LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge); and the excellent “X-Men: The Animated Series” panel featuring Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler), Alison Sealy Smith (Storm), Alyson Court (Jubilee), Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Chris Britton (Mister Sinister), Chris Potter (Gambit), George Buza (Gambit), Larry F. Houston (show’s producer and director), Lenore Zann (Rogue), and Ron Rubin (Morph) are the ones that I were able to catch.
And I am still trying to find the end to the Seth Green line.
But of all the celebrities in attendance, one of the most fascinating one at the Rhode Island Comic Con (that could freely speak and didn’t seem too concerned with what they could or could not say due strike regulations) was Bob Eubanks.
That being said. I couldn’t squeeze in Paul Williams, Paul Williams, Barbara Eden and Vicki Lawrence, all which I bet would be as fascinating (if not more) than Eubanks.
While all beloved what better time to talk to Eubanks especially since the Beatles have a smash single and the Rolling Stones have a hit album.
Video and the radio star
Long before he was asking couples unorthodox questions such as “Where is the weirdest place you’ve had the urge to make whoopie?” as the host of “The Newlywed Game,” Bob Eubanks was a popular radio DJ at KRLA 1110 in Los Angeles who was responsible for producing the Beatles’ first West Coast performance at the fame Hollywood Bowl, as well as producing concerts of the Rolling Stones during their the first two years of their American tour.
Eubanks produced the Beatles’ '64 and '65 concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and the ’66 concert at Dodgers’ Stadium, which turned out to the be the second to the last proper Beatles concert.
With a youthful gleam in his eyes, Eubanks, a spry 85-years-old, still has the radio announcer voice and all his marbles. And he has a lot of vivid memories of the Beatles and the Stones that he enthusiastically tells to anyone who comes to his table and asks.
“I had a young adult nightclub called the Cinnamon Cinder and every Wednesday night was talent night. So I would buy acts from the agency, GAC (General Amusement Corporation), and I was also a dis jockey on the number one rock ‘n’ roll station KRLA,” Eubanks explained. “The fact that I was on the radio buying talent, it made it much easier for me to buy the Beatles, even though I never produced a concert before.”
For the Beatles’ inaugural show at the Hollywood Bowl, Eubanks reportedly mortgaged his home and had to pay for everything, including the sound systems, the stage crew and a few expenses he didn’t immediately count on.
“I’m standing there waiting and, all of a sudden, a bus shows up full of marshals,” Eubanks recalled. “I said, ‘What are you guys doing here?’ One said, ‘We’re here to protect the houses up behind the Bowl.’ I said, ‘Wonderful. Who’s paying for you?’ He said, ‘You are.’”
Memories of the Fab Four
Eubanks, at his table at the Rhode Island Comic Con, was selling photos of the 1964 and 1965 press conferences with the Beatles (with Eubank prominently pictured with the Fab Four and Beatles manager Brian Epstein) and copies of the original contact between him and the Beatles for the first Hollywood Bowl concert.
“It was an August concert. We put the tickets up for sale in April, sold them out in about 30 minutes,” Eubanks recalled. “Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, he cost the Beatles so much money because all three years, he would only allow me to charge $7 top price. Paul McCartney played the SoFi Stadium. There were some $4,000 seats. So you can see what he (Epstein) cost them.”
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At first, Eubanks didn’t become a rich man producing the Beatles. But that all changed in year two.
“I had a partner. We ended up making $2,000 a piece on the first one. But, on the second and third years, I got real smart,” Eubanks said. “I went to the radio station KRLA. I said, ‘Look, the Beatles made you guys number one. Why don’t we make it KRLA and Bob Eubanks presents.’ They said, OK. ‘But, I want a 100 grand.’ And they said, OK. So the second and third years, I made as much money as the Beatles did.”
On Nov. 2, “Now and Then,” subbed as “the last Beatles song” was released. The song reached number one on iTunes in the United States and United Kingdom.
Eubanks explained one of the reasons why the Beatles conquered America and, subsequently, the world, was the band consisted of four distinct personalities in a time when bands often had a non-threatening frontman backed by three or four non-descript players.
“With Elvis, you either liked Elvis or you didn’t,” Eubanks said. “But, with the Beatles, you had a choice of four.”
Another thing that made the unsuspecting U.S. collectively flip their wig was the fact the Fab Four were all smart, funny, charming, extremely talented, could think on their feet and handle anything the press threw at them, Eubanks said.
“I got along really well with Paul. George and Ringo were fine. John and I had a big issue, especially in ’66,” Eubanks recalled. “He (Lennon) just made the statement ‘We’re more popular than Jesus Christ.’ And when they got over here there were all kinds of demonstrations and everything. So he was a little difficult but they were all wonderful. I mean, they changed the world of music. To this day, the Beatles are still popular…I would never have guessed that.”
Not only was he responsible for bringing the Beatles to the Hollywood Bowl, Eubanks also arranged a meeting between The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the Fab Four. But it was a gadget that made more of an impression on the Cute Beatle, Eubanks said.
“In ’65, the Beatles wanted to meet Elvis. So we made an arrangement with them to go over to Bel Air and meet Elvis,” Eubanks fondly recalled. “They went over there. No press. No cameras. They were waiting for Elvis to come in and McCartney found something that he never seen before. It was this thing you hold in your hand and it would change the television channels. He was mesmerized by that.”
That's the ticket
After producing the Beatles, the next logical, rock ‘n’ roll progressing was producing the Rolling Stones. The first year in 1964, Eubanks said he paid the Stones $4,500 and, in the second year in 1965, the Stones were paid $20,000.
“I did the Stones for two years but Jagger and I couldn’t get along very well. I said to Jagger, ‘Look, do me a favor. When you guys are done put your instruments down and get out of here. I’ll get you out of here.’ So, they were done, put their instruments down and Mick hung out on the stage so 4,000 girls could run out in back,” Eubanks said. “The last time I saw the Rolling Stones, I swear to God, this is true, they were laying on their backs with their feet up to keep the roof from falling in on the limousine and there was a mountain of girls. Their music was wonderful but Mick was difficult.”
On Oct. 20, the Rolling Stones released “Hackney Diamonds,” their first album of original material since 2005 and first since the 2021 death of drummer Charlie Watts. It landed number three in the Billboard Top 100 charts.
Still active, Eubanks entertains audiences with “seldom and never heard” stories of the Fab Four with “Bob Eubanks Presents Backstage with the Beatles” with Beatles tribute band “Ticket to Ride.”
To acknowledge the 50th anniversary of the Beatles playing the Hollywood Bowl in 2014, Eubanks tried to book Paul McCartney to mark this legendary musical milestone. But Sir Paul wasn’t having any part of it and who they got instead still stirs utter disgust in Eubanks.
“I wanted to do a 50th anniversary concert of the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl and I got in touch with McCartney and I said, ‘Would you be interested in coming?’ And he sent me a note back that he was going to be on vacation with his family,” Eubanks shrugged. “You know who got to replace him? Cyrus Billy Ray Cyrus. Come on!”
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Chatting up game show idol Bob Eubanks at Rhode Island Comic Con
