#annotations

Book Title: You Won't See Me - When The Beatles Ghosted Imelda
Author: David Guerrero
Release Year: 2026

Review

I'd like to preface this review by saying, if you're ONLY interested in the chronological events of the 48-hour visit of The Beatles in Manila in 1966, then this is NOT for you; you can have the biographies and documentaries instead. But if you're like me, who seeks the context of context of context of things and sees the value of history in a pop culture lens, this book is a delight; you would definitely have a field day in making annotations.

Behind the list of opening acts and setlist, the book gave us a backstage pass on the political climate during the 60 s and its roots all the way back to Spanish colonization, giving us context on how the Manila leg of The Beatles' tour went in shambles. From arrival to departure, anecdotes are carefully woven into one big blanket to cover all the bases from the organizers, VIPs, press, local fans, and the band members themselves. Not only a franken-collage of articles and interviews.

What got me hooked the most, whether intentional or not, is the side-by-side view of 2 kinds of fanatics: one is for a rock & roll band and the other is for a political clan. I observed two things they have in common. One, they like music. The Philippines is the karaoke capital for a reason. If it weren't for Imelda's singing, they would not give a damn about whatever Ferdinand had been promising back then. Fast forward to today's campaign season, where it's make or break for a candidate depending on whoever they invite to perform. Also make or break for artists whoever candidate they support. What I've been trying to emphasize is the close relationship of history and culture and how one shapes the other. Two, both of them are willing to fight verbally for their idols (sometimes physically because some of them attacked The Beatles and their management at the airport; there were death threats involved too). We didn't have comment sections back then, but the amount of heated exchange in the publications was, I'd say, notable.

I have more things to yap about in this book, especially on the topics covered aside from the band. Perhaps that would be for another essay.

Overall, I'd say this book is a good starting point for your RRL if you'd like to write about history-pop culture adjacent.

Annotations

The Philippines, being a former US colony, had the highest number of commercial TV and Radio stations in Southeast Asia, as well as the most developed advertising industry and largest in record sales. (p.18)

This was based on the 60s but I'd still believe it's relevant that the Philippines is big in PR/Marketing/Advertising because the amount of work done to soften the image of the Marcoses over the past several decades. Also, aside from cheap labor, note that Filipinos were outsourced to clean-up some Jeffrey Epstein's digital footprint.

(more to add later)