Beatles cover bands come together in Tokyo out of love, admirationSun, Jun. 22, 2003 / Knight Ridder News Service
TOKYO - By day, they are weary managers or clerks tied to office jobs in this notoriously workaholic city.
At night, they line up at the door of a smoky bar called the Cavern Club, waiting eagerly for four Japanese musicians in mop-top haircuts and shiny silver suits....
They have never been to Liverpool, and only one member of the Silver Beats speaks any English, but none of that has not stopped them from delivering eerily perfect imitations of a plethora of Beatles songs.
The Silver Beats have been packing in crowds recently at the Cavern Club, a replica of the famous Liverpool venue where the Beatles got their start. The club has been operating for 22 years in Tokyo, and interest in the Beatles here hasn't waned. If anything, it's been growing lately....
''We are all middle managers, and life is so hard now in the company,'' said Hiroyuki Murakami, 50, who works for Tokyo Sankyo Trust Bank. ``But when we come here, we feel relief.''
