$32.77 - I'd Be There

Sunday (8/21) marked the 40th anniversary of the Beatles performance at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington - about one mile from the Hobbled Runner's "log cabin" birthplace.

I've seen the Inflation Calculator referenced by several blogs lately, and thought I'd give it a spin to determine how much in "today's dollars" the "good seats" for the Beatles show would cost. Turns out to be quite reasonable, $32.77 in 2005 dollars for the good seats - they were $5.50 in 1965.

Sir Paul is scheduled to appear this fall at the Excel Center in St. Paul. He is asking way more than $32.77. In fact, the cheapest I found were $95 each - behind the stage. One could argue that he should charge $8.20 - or one-fourth of $32.77.

Cut to /SNL Transcript Nov. 20, 1976, with George Harrison:

George Harrison: Fine, I'll tell you one thing, you ought to get in straigt in the future, you know..?

Lorne Michaels: If you don't go on tonight, it'll break his heart. You see, I thought that you would understand, you know, that it was $3,000 for four people, that it would just be $750 for each of you. I mean, as far as I'm concerned, I mean, you could have the full $3,000. But the network..

George Harrison: It's pretty chincy..

Lorne Michaels: Well, I'll tell you what. I know there's $250 available for the opening, for the person who says "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night".

George Harrison: [ smiles excitedly, and turns to the camera ] "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"