Antiques Roadshow shocks designer of original Beatles logo with value of his sketches
The old friend of the band was a sign writer and designed the logo as a favour in 1962.
Watch: The Beatles original logo sketches’ value revealed
The designer of the first ever Beatles logo joked he’ll “finally get paid” after having his sketches valued on the Antiques Roadshow.
The guest on the BBC show revealed the band asked him to design a logo for their drum when Ringo Starr joined The Beatles in 1962.
The band eventually dropped the design – featuring beetle antennae on the letter ‘B’ – choosing the now famous logo designed by Ivor Arbiter instead.
Read more: Antiques Roadshow guest shocked at value of Lewis Hamilton’s helmet
The guest said: “I was quite close and they were all at my 21st [birthday]. I’m a sign writer, shopfitter.”
He revealed that pencil alterations to the antennae on one of the banners were done by either John Lennon or Paul McCartney.
He laughed: “They had to do their bit, didn’t they?!”
The banners were made to be attached to Ringo Starr’s drums.
But the designer revealed: “Ringo didn’t want them on the drum, because it might interfere with recording, they had to be able to come off.”
And he insisted he was not offended when The Beatles went with Arbiter’s logo design, featuring the dropped ‘T’.
“I was an unbelievably busy lad, this was just another job. We were just good mates at the time. And they didn’t pay me! Never.”
Antiques expert Mark Hill, collectibles specialist, told him: “My feeling is that if these came up for auction, they’d probably fetch somewhere up to £15,000. So 60 years later you’d finally get paid!”
“Amazing! I get paid eventually. I don’t particularly want to sell them at the moment, but who knows. I still like them.”
The latest series of the BBC antiques show, which has run for 45 series since 1979, previously revealed a signed helmet and overalls belonging to Formula One star Sir Lewis Hamilton to be worth £10,000.
Read more: Why Paul McCartney stopped signing autographs
And a collections of locks of hair belonging to romantic poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth were given an estimated value of £30,000-40,000.
Antiques Roadshow guest who created The Beatles’ first logo has his designs valued at HUGE price – but he claims he was NEVER paid for his work
An Antiques Roadshow guest who designed The Beatles’ first logo was left in total shock after some of his deigns were valued on Sunday night’s episode.
The man appeared on the show being held at Sefton Park Palm House in Liverpool this week where he brought two sketches of his logo that were intended for the iconic band’s drums.
While he was astounded that they could bring up to a whopping £15,000 for the designs he claimed he was never paid for the work when the band went with a different artist – Ivor Arbiter.
At the start of the segment the expert asked: ‘We’re a stone’s throw from Penny Lane and these guys need no introduction. So what’s the story with this?’
‘Well, the Beatles approached me and wanted a logo for the drum…,’ the guest replied.
Wow! An Antiques Roadshow guest who designed The Beatles ‘ first logo was left in total shock after some of his deigns were valued on Sunday night’s episode
Art: The man appeared on the show being held at Sefton Park Palm House in Liverpool this week where he brought two sketches of his logo that were intended for the iconic band’s drums
Interrupting, the expert was shocked to confirm the guest had designed the logo when Ring Starr joined The Beatles in 1962.
The guest added: ‘I was quite close with the band and they were all at my 21st birthday.’
The expert added after taking a closer look: ‘We’ve got these little antenna here so you are presumably playing on a beetle. It’s interesting to note here, that by these little antennae of this bug logo… you’ve got little pencil drawings here.’
The owner revealed those drawings belonged to either John Lennon or Paul McCartney.
‘That’s remarkable. They had to do their bit!’
The expert then asked: ‘So we’ve got two banners produced for, I’m presuming, drums?’
The owner went on to explain: ‘Correct and Ringo didn’t want them on the drum, because it might interfere with recording they had to be able to come off’.
The expert said: ‘So what we’re effectively looking at here are the very earliest logos ever produced for The Beatles with their band name on it… it’s quite a pair of objects.’
Shock: While he was astounded that they could bring up to a whopping £15,000 for the designs he claimed he was never paid for the work when the band went with a different artist – Ivor Arbiter
Icons: Interrupting, the expert was shocked to confirm the guest had designed the logo when Ring Starr joined The Beatles in 1962 (L-R: Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison)
The guest then revealed The Beatles who he was ‘really good mates’ with ‘didn’t pay’ him before the expert valued the items at £15,000.
The astounded owner replied: ‘Amazing! 60 years later you finally get paid!’ – before saying he didn’t want to sell the items but didn’t rule it out for the future.
The expert then concluded: ‘Here we are in Liverpool, what can you imagine you’re going to get?
‘Beatles, yes, but the first ever logo produced by the man who produced it and designed it, with the Beatles annotations!’
Last night’s Antiques Roadshow served up a piece of brilliant logo design history we didn’t know we needed – initial sketches of an early The Beatles logo from 1962. The designs are complete with small alterations from “John or Paul”, and look very different indeed from the dropped-T logo that came to be so well known.
A guest brought the sketches onto the show, explaining that he was asked to create the design around the time Ringo Starr joined the band. With the “B” made to look like an actual beetle and a beautiful handwritten cursive font, the logo was meant to adorn the drums. But, said the guest, Starr didn’t want anything on his drums so the logos were never used and consigned to history (as we’re sure first drafts of many of the best logos have been).
John Lennon or Paul McCartney’s annotation on the first sketch (above) moved the antennae to a wider position with the note “alter to”. The second sketch (below) shows the amended version, with the antennae moved into position.
The guest revealed he was never actually paid for the logos but that he didn’t mind as he was “unbelievably busy” at the time, and he was surprised to find out the value of the logo sketches – a very-nice-indeed £15,000. Better that payment comes late than never, we guess, though he did also say he wouldn’t want to part with them just yet.
We’ve reported before on the surprising history of the Beatles logo, and this chapter is another twist in the tale. Music band logos are an integral part of a band’s personae, and super-important for fans, as the Pink Floyd logo drama from last year proves. Poring over the detail is as interesting for designers as it is for music fans, and we were delighted to get a peek behind the curtain of the design history of one of the world’s most successful bands.
You can watch the Antiques Roadshow episode on BBC iPlayer right now.
An artist who designed an unused logo for the Beatles in 1962 has learned the value of his sketches after they were uncovered by TV programme Antiques Roadshow. The sketches were made before the band settled on their iconic drop T design, which was released in 1963. Despite never being paid for his work, the artist admitted he wasn’t upset, saying he was “unbelievably busy” at the time. The sketches could fetch up to £15,000 ($20,220) at auction.
Antiques Roadshow uncovers original Beatles logo artwork
An artist who designed an early unused logo for The Fab Four in 1962 was shocked the learn the value of his sketches after not being paid by the band.
Video Transcript
– The very earliest logos ever produced for the Beatles with their band name on it?
– Correct. That was it, the very first.
– It’s quite a pair of objects.
– Quite hard, isn’t it?
– Were you upset when it was replaced with the new logo with the drop T?
– Not really. I was unbelievably busy. I was a unbelievably busy lad, you now?
– So this was just another job?
– It was another job.
One of the most famous bands in history.
– Well, they were just good mates at the time, and they didn’t pay me my salary.
– They didn’t pay you?
– No, never.
– Ever?
– Never, never.
– I mean, my feeling is that if these came up for auction, they’d probably fetch somewhere around, I don’t know, up to 15,000 pound.
– Amazing.
– So 60 years later, you finally get paid
– Get paid, eventually.
Antiques Roadshow guest gobsmacked by value of first ever design of The Beatles logo
Antiques Roadshow expert Mark Hill was thrilled when he was presented with early designs for The Beatles logo, which were drawn by the guest 60 years ago.
Medals tell story of WWII letter bomb on Antiques RoadshowMark Hill left one Antiques Roadshow guest gobsmacked as he revealed their designs for The Beatles logo could sell for thousands.
The guest explained they knew the band well as they’d attended his 21st birthday but was never paid for his early designs.
“We’re literally a stone’s throw from Penny Lane and these guys need no introduction. So what’s the story with this?” Mark asked.
The guest replied: “Well, The Beatles approached me and wanted logo for the drum.”
Mark interrupted: “Whoa, whoa, whoa! So you’re telling me you designed this logo?”
“Correct,” the guest replied. “Just as Ringo Starr came in.”
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Antiques Roadshow guest gobsmacked by value of first ever design of The Beatles logo (Image: BBC)
They added it was in 1962 and when quizzed on how he met The Beatles, the guest elaborated: “So I was quite close and they were all at my 21st and I’m a sign-writer.”
Mark gasped: “I see. So this isn’t the logo we know with the dropped T by Ivor Arbiter.”
Pointing at the designs, he continued: “We’ve got these little antennae here, so you were presumably playing on a beetle with The Beatles. It’s interesting to note here that by this little bug logo, you’ve got ‘alter to,’ and you’ve got little pencil drawings here. Was this you?”
“No, that was either John [Lennon] or Paul [McCartney],” the guest explained. “And the alteration at the bottom. They had to do their bit didn’t they?”
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Mark exclaimed: “Okay so that’s a fantastic sign. We’ve got two banners, I’m presuming produced for drums.”
“Correct and Ringo didn’t want them on the drum incase it might interfere with recording, they had to be able to come off,” the guest said, giving more insight.
Mark continued: “What we are effectively looking at here are the first ever loos produced for The Beatles with their band name on it. It’s quite a pair of objects.
“Were you upset when it was replaced with the new logo with the dropped T?”
The guest replied: “Not really, I was unbelievably busy. I was an unbelievably busy lad. It was just another job. They were just good mates at the time. And they didn’t pay me I might add!”
“They didn’t pay you? Ever?” Mark gasped. “My feeling is that if these ever came up for auction, they’d fetch somewhere around £15,000. So 60 years later you finally get paid.”
The guest was gobsmacked as he joked: “I’ll finally get paid but I don’t particularly want to sell them at the moment but who knows? I still like them, thank you for your time.”
Antiques Roadshow airs Sunday on BBC One at 8pm.
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Antiques Roadshow guest ‘finally gets paid’ for Beatles logo he claims to have designed 60 years later
Published
| Last updatedA guest who appeared on Antiques Roadshow got some great news this week after his logo that he designed for The Beatles was given a large valuation.
What’s more, he’d never been paid for the work that he put into designing it.
The episode was taking place not too far from the birthplace of the biggest band in the world, with the broadcast coming from Sefton Park Palm House in the city of Liverpool.
With that in mind, Liverpool’s most famous sons were almost guaranteed to come up at some point, and – sure enough – a man appeared with some sketches that he’d done for the band, with the intention of them adorning Ringo Starr’s drum kit.
In the end, it didn’t quite work out like that as the band ultimately went with a different logo, and the guest ended up never being paid for what he’d done already.
The iconic design with the dropped T was eventually chosen, designed by Ivor Arbiter.
Still, these prototype designs were valued at around £15,000, much to the astonishment of the guest.
At the start, the AR expert said: “We’re a stone’s throw from Penny Lane and these guys need no introduction. So what’s the story with this?”
The response came: “Well, the Beatles approached me and wanted a logo for the drum.”
He expanded: “I was quite close with the band and they were all at my 21st birthday.”
Discussing the design itself, which is quite different to what was actually chosen, the expert said: “We’ve got these little antenna here so you are presumably playing on a beetle.
“It’s interesting to note here, that by these little antennae of this bug logo… you’ve got little pencil drawings here.”
Then, the guest told the programme that the annotated drawings were done by either Paul McCartney or John Lennon.
That’s the sort of thing that really pushes value up, where Antiques Roadshow is concerned.
The guest went on: “Correct and Ringo didn’t want them on the drum, because it might interfere with recording, they had to be able to come off.”
The expert then summed up: “So what we’re effectively looking at here are the very earliest logos ever produced for The Beatles with their band name on it… it’s quite a pair of objects.”
It certainly is.
Because The Beatles were his ‘really good mates’ the guest said that they ‘didn’t pay’ for the designs.
After they were valued at £15,000, the expert told him: “Amazing! So 60 years later you finally get paid!”
In the end, the owner said that he won’t be selling them just yet, but might consider it in the future.
Summing up, the expert said: “Here we are in Liverpool, what can you imagine you’re going to get?
“Beatles, yes, but the first ever logo produced by the man who produced it and designed it, with the Beatles annotations?!”
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