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Tiger Beat - April 1970
My Greatest Fear
 Of all the famous faves that ever were, no fave has
loved his fans more than Bobby Sherman loves YOU! That is why
he is about to reach a very important decision - to QUIT touring!
Why? Because he places your welfare above his career! At
every place Bobby stops during tours he is mobbed by fans, and he is
afraid that one day one of you will be seriously hurt by the careless
few who overlook the safety of others in their excitement to get to
him! Bobby is determined that this will never happen for it would
break his heart. Read now in his very own words why he feels he
must QUIT!
My fans are very important to me. Not because
they make me popular and help my career, although I really appreciate that and am so very
grateful for their support. The real reason I care for each and every one so much is
almost impossible to put down on paper. It would take just hours and hours of
private, personal talking together with you alone to make you really understand, I guess.
You see, I've learned so much from my fans, about Life
and Love. I've discovered what few persons have ever felt in all of history...the
wonderful feeling of being loved by so very many, many persons all at once, and the
beautiful experience of getting to know as many of them as individuals as is humanly
possible.
I've come to understand very deeply that each and every
fan is a strikingly different and unique individual, and the way the personality of each
blends into the warm vibrations of all is really outasite! That's why I would never
knowingly do anything to hurt even one of my fans. But there's something I must say
in this article in Tiger Beat that I'm almost afraid to put into words. But it's
also very, very important, so I guess I'll just have to tell it like it is and hope that
you'll understand. And forgive me if I hurt you!
MY GREAT FEAR!
- It's getting so that I am almost afraid to go on a concert tour now. I'm not
afraid for myself, don't get me wrong. I love to visit my fans, especially in their
home towns! And I can run fast if I have to! But something is starting to
happen now on my concert appearances that is making me afraid for you, for anyone who
comes to see me. You see, Babe, I'm becoming deathly afraid that one of these days,
at one of my concerts, or afterwards, or outside my hotel, some girl is going to be
terribly hurt or even killed!
IT CAN HAPPEN!
- In case you haven't had the chance to be with me at a concert yet, let me tell you what
happens. First of all, it begins at the hotel. Girls start showing up at
around six o'clock in the morning. I hear them screaming out in the street:
"Bobby! Bobby!" That's okay with me. It's better than an
alarm clock anyday, and no one's in any danger from it. But after that is when
things start to get rough. And scary!
A whole crowd of girls soon begins to form at the front
entrance to the hotel. They hope that we'll meet each other that way, and I can dig
that because I usually do have to leave the hotel during the day before the concert for
many reasons, for interviews on radio or TV, and for a rehearsal at the arena.
Actually, I used to look forward to seeing everyone in
front of the hotel until some girls began to forget that they are ladies and began rushing
past the security officers to try to tear off a piece of my clothing or to pull my rings
off of my fingers. This may sound shocking to you, for girls to act like that, but
it's true, and I've seen girls actually fall down hotel front steps, and be stepped on and
trampled by all the other girls who just kept right on rushing forward!
Once one girl was so badly hurt that we actually had to
call an ambulance to come and take her to the hospital! Thank God she was all right,
but, wow! Things like that really get me uptight! If only there could be some
way I could find and gather all these girls who charge and rush into one place where I
could sit them down and talk to them. I'll bet they don't even realize how
inconsiderate of others they are being.
CHERISHED RINGS
- One particular thing that really surprised me is the way these girls will grab for my
rings. I'll bet you're surprised too. I'm sure they would never do that if we
were to meet person-to-person. Babe, I'd be happy to give them my rings if I could
without hurting the feelings of all the other fans who didn't get them! But the
thing these ring-grabbers don't realize is that they're causing me plenty of actual pain
when they do that.
As you know, I play the guitar, and if my fingers get
hurt from the violence of rings being ripped off them, I may not be able to play my music
for a very long time. That certainly isn't being considerate of me or of their
fellow fans, is it? And besides, every one of the rings that I wear are gifts from
fans, girls who tried very hard to save up and give me a really groovy gift. The
rings these other rough girls are trying to take, if they are successful, they'll be
stealing from other fans, not from me. And I just don't think it's at all fair, do
you?
PERSONAL CLOTHES
- Another thing that happens is, the farther along I get on my concert tours, it seems
that the less I have left to wear on stage. I can only buy the style of clothes I
need in Hollywood, and when fans plead for me to come over and talk to them, and I do, so
often they'll tear my clothes instead of just rapping like they promised. Babe, I've
had so many coats, shirts, neck-scarfs, and even belts ripped right off my bod by charging
and rushing fans! And then I find that I just don't have anything left to appear
onstage in so that I can entertain you properly and with all my heart.
You know how you always feel better when you know
you're dressed right? Well, how would you like to go to church or out on a date
with ripped clothes? I feel the same way, and I sure wish there was some way those
girls would get the message.
RUSHERS AND CHARGERS
- The big bummer of all of this inconsiderateness is that these girls don't realize how
much they are spoiling things for all of us. They don't realize how uptight such
unladylike actions make adults feel, especially those who are in charge at the hotels and
the concert arenas. It especially frightens the parents of the vast majority of
girls who don't cause danger and horrors to others.
When parents hear and read that there has been a lot of
charging and rushing at one of my concerts in another town, many times they then won't
give their permission for you to go. And that's what I mean by spoiling
things. It's a real heart-breaker as you'll find out if it ever happens to
you. Your screams and cheers are wonderful, but stage-rushing can be dangerous.
THE BIGGEST DANGER
- But the thing that gives me nightmares the most is what happens when I'm in my
limousine, either leaving the hotel, entering the arena, or leaving it after a
concert. Babe, if I could, I'd love to come back onstage after my show and sign
autographs and rap with you for an hour or longer! But instead, because of the
chargers and rushers, I have to make what is called my "getaway". The very
second I leave the stage I have to run for my limousine and hurry out and away from the
arena as fast as possible. And even then, I've seen hundreds of girls surround my
car, climb all over it even though it's moving, and pound on all the windows until I was
just sure they'd shatter and the girls would cut their hands! And suppose one of
them fell down and got under one of the tires! Who would ever even know it in such a
crowd? And there'd be no way that I could even get out of the car to help her!
I'd quit doing concerts first!
YOUR UNDERSTANDING
- So you see, Babe, what's coming down from all these (few) girls who are spoiling
everything for their fellow fans by being inconsiderate of me and everyone else.
They're giving all of us a bad name with our folks and their friends, and they're hurting
everyone's chances of getting their parents' permission to come to a concert, just when we
finally get the chance to meet and groove together.
There's only one way to help this situation. If
you know any girls like that, please reason with them and give them your most sincere
advice on how they can be more considerate, and how they can control themselves and their
emotions better. I don't really have the right to complain because these rushers
and chargers are among my most dedicated fans. But they have to see that we all have
to share the fun of our love with each other. And that way I'll be able to see you
and be with you much more. And Babe, we'll be closer then, than ever before.
Please help me.
Peace and Love,
Bobby
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