Mach Schau! 50 Beatles Moments for 50th Anniversary of Their First Hamburg Shows

According to Malcolm Gladwell's 'Outliers,' the Beatles' astonishing success was mainly due to the group's work ethic. Unknown outside their native Liverpool, the young Beatles were first invited to play in anything-goes post-war Hamburg, Germany, in August 1960. Gladwell estimates the group practiced and improvised onstage for more than 10,000 hours – the magic number, he says, that ensured the group's future as the greatest rock 'n' roll band of all time. To honor that milestone, we present 50 nifty Beatles facts that tell the story of their beer-, pill- and ambition-fueled early days.

Red Light District

George Harrison once recalled Hamburg as "the naughtiest city in the world."

Vecchio / Three Lions / Getty Images

Arts and Letters

Liverpool College of Art students John Lennon and Stu Sutcliffe were part of a group of writers, artists and musicians who vowed to become famous as the Dissenters.

Humble Beginnings

Lennon, Harrison and boyhood friend Paul McCartney were part of a skiffle group, the Quarrymen, which changed its name to the Silver Beetles in 1960.

Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

Hamburg Bound

After touring Scotland in May 1960 behind Liverpool singer Johnny Gentle, the Silver Beetles were asked to take an extended engagement in Hamburg.

Gentle Rhythms

Johnny Gentle, like Billy Fury and Georgie Fame, was a product of the impresario Larry Parnes.

Popperfoto / Getty Images

Promotion in Motion

Promoter Allan Williams had already had success in Hamburg with another Liverpool group, Derry and the Seniors.

Silver to Gold

Williams first saw the Silver Beetles perform at his Liverpool club, the Jacaranda.

Take It Off!

Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Sutcliffe once backed Janice the Stripper at Williams' New Cabaret Artistes club in Liverpool.

Third Time Lucky

Two well-known Liverpool groups, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and Gerry and the Pacemakers, turned down Williams' Hamburg offer before the Beatles accepted.

Monumental Task

En route to Hamburg, the newcomers stopped for a photo. Lennon refused to leave the van; the rest posed by a war memorial that read, "Their Names Liveth for Evermore."

John Lennon, Keystone Features / Getty

Beatles With an 'A'

Now billed as the Beatles, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe and drummer Pete Best arrived in Hamburg on Aug. 12, 1960.

St. Pauli Boys

The group was booked into the Indra Club, a dive bar in the notorious St. Pauli quarter of Hamburg, along the Reeperbahn.

Yukino Miyazawa, Flickr

Night at the Movies

For sleeping quarters, the Beatles were put up in a dismal space behind the screen at Bambi Kino, a porn cinema run by Indra Club owner Bruno Koschmider.

Bigger and Better

After a short, successful run at the Indra Club, the Beatles were moved to Koschmider's larger club, the Kaiserkeller.

Mach Schau!

Koschmider often stood at the edge of the stage, urging the Beatles to "Mach Schau!" (make a show for the customers).

Speed Limit

To get through long sets, the band members began gobbling Preludin, a diet pill.

Keith Beaty, Toronto Star

Bathroom Humor

Lennon often held a black comb to his lip, mocking Hitler, and he once took the stage in his underwear, with a toilet seat around his neck.

AOL

The 'In' Crowd

At the Kaiserkeller, the group's biggest fans were a trio of art students – Klaus Voorman, his girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr and their friend Jurgen Vollmer.

Revolution in Art

Voorman went on to design the Beatles' 'Revolver' album cover.

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Mr. Bass Man

Voorman later played bass in Manfred Mann's group and produced Trio's single 'Da Da Da.'

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Climbing a Rung?

Voorman was once rumored to be part of a post-Beatles group called the Ladders with Lennon, Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Picture This

Vollmer, a photographer, took the 1961 picture of John Lennon that was used on the cover of his 1975 covers album 'Rock 'n' Roll.'

Moptop Mama

Although Kirchherr is often credited with giving the Beatles their famous "moptop" hairstyles, many of her art-school friends were wearing the style at the time.

Astrid Kirchherr, K & K / Redferns

Stage Crashers

With the Beatles alternating sets with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, the two groups vied to be the first to break the stage – planks of wood set on beer crates – at the Kaiserkeller.

The Sixth Beatle

Horst Fascher, a former featherweight champion working as a bouncer after a manslaughter charge, befriended, protected and sometimes sang with the group.