By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
October 15, 2000
We asked our readers to tell us which Beatles love song was the most romantic. We wanted to know, in 100 words or less, what special memories you might have attached to that song.
Of the many readers who entered, 10 of the best responses garnered copies of “The Beatles Anthology.”
But the best and most charming entry came from Judy “Jude” Finkel of Chicago, who told us how “Hey Jude” brought her and her husband, Harvey, together.
“The Beatles played a huge part in our relationship,” she told us. “If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know if I’d be married to Harvey.”
The year was 1967, and Judy and Harvey worked together in the same office. Judy had a crush on Harvey, who didn’t seem to notice.
Then one day, Harvey, now 56, asked if he could tape record some of her Beatles albums.
“I was thrilled,” said Judy, 54. “A friend of his was in the Peace Corps in India. Harvey would make tapes of the latest rock songs to send him. He started coming over every Saturday to listen to records and make more tapes, and my mom would invite him to stay for dinner and make us cheeseburgers.”
After a couple months of this Fab foreplay, the couple began going on dates that didn’t revolve around the Beatles.
Still, when “Hey Jude” started climbing the music charts in 1968, Judy was ecstatic. And for fun, she liked to pretend that the song was written for her.
“When I found out it was written for a little boy [John Lennon’s son Julian], I was happy for him,” she said. “I was just glad it wasn’t written about another woman.”
Harvey was less enthralled with the song and especially disliked the “na na na nanana na” chorus.
“We worked together and saw each other every day, but by Saturday I would already be missing him,” she said, laughing. “So I would call him up and have my record player speaker right up to the phone. I’d put the refrain from the song on. He knew it was me, and he never hung up. He would wait until I had my fun and then talk to me.”
Harvey popped the question on Valentine’s Day in 1970. Though Judy had dreamed about marrying John Lennon when she was younger, she said yes immediately.
She already had traveled to England twice as a teenager in the hopes of wooing a Beatle (to no avail) and was ready to settle down with Harvey.
Not that he didn’t fuel her fantasies a little. For their honeymoon, the Finkels vacationed in Great Britain.
Let it be.
9 others win `Anthology’
These nine contestants will receive copies of The Beatles Anthology.
Margaret A. Carrillo, Chicago
Steve Cushman, Crete
Sharon Ionetz, Burbank
Donald Richards, Cicero
Marina E. Sokolewicz, Palos Hills
Matthew Kotheimer, Oak Lawn
Gregory K. Crosley, Burbank
Kelly M. Wilcots, Chicago
Rosemary Backes, Chicago
