It started while I was in the car with Colin the other day. He put The Beatles’ One in the CD player and we sang like assholes stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I’ve had various Beatles songs stuck in my head ever since. My only complaint is that the FreeCreditReport.com jingle seems to sneak in there every once in a while as well.

I actually have a short life experience to share regarding the Beatles. On January 21, 2008, I was an eager-to-please intern at The Late Show with David Letterman.¹ On this particular day, Ringo Starr was the musical guest. This is significant because Late Show’s stage is the same stage where the Beatles made their American television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.

I snuck into the theater to watch Ringo rehearse with his band. Once they finished running through their song a few times, Dave introduced himself to Ringo. I caught what he said:

“Nice to meet you, Ringo. Like what we’ve done with the place?”

I have a very clear memory of my first exposure to the Beatles. It was 1996 and there was a crotchety old boombox in our kitchen. One day my mom disappeared into the garage, rooted through my dad’s oversized CD collection, and reemerged with a copy of Abbey Road in hand. She played it on that dusty crapbox of a stereo and I was immediately intrigued. I listened to it over and over. That CD stayed in our kitchen for weeks until I learned all the songs, forwards and backwards. I must have drove my parents crazy, playing “Come Together” on repeat and banging out the rythym to “Oh! Darling” with spoons on the kitchen counter.

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1. Any time I bring up my stint at Letterman, I feel a certain obligation to mention this.