Azing Moltmaker was only tweleve years old, when the Beatles broke up in 1970. He never saw the fab four live. He received his first record player and a couple of record singles as a present for his fifteenth birthday on 28th July 1973. One of the 45 rpm was „Michelle“, written by Paul McCartney. Azing laughs: „Until today, it is one of the worst songs Paul McCartney has ever written, I think“. Cheesy love song or not, he was addicted to the music. He started collecting. And he collected and collected. At first, he only collected a few records, but with time moving on, he extended his collection to anything he could get hold of that had something to do with those guys from Liverpool. Toy figures, mugs, newspaper articles, posters – in short: Azing Moltnaker was fully caught in Beatle Mania. „I am a fan of the second generation“, he says to RocknRoll-Reporter. „I have seen John play solo shows a few times, Ringo too. Unfortunaley, I never got to see the other two or all four of them together.“ However, that did not stop him from collecting. At some point he came up with the idea of creating a dutch fan museum for the fab four. Over 2000 exhibit can be seen in the museum in Alkmaar, a town close to the dutch north sea. „This is about a third of all the things that I have collected, says Azing. All the other collected items are well kept in his own property. Azing founded a fan club and released fanzines. And he kept collecting. „I have almost all international pressings of Sgt. Peppers“ he says quite proudly. He sure can be.
The Beatles fan became a real expert for the history of the legendary British music group. Therefore, it is no surprise, that he wrote down his knowledge and experiences in many books. „The information in my books actually helped the Beatles in a few legal disputes“, he tells us. He never wanted any payment in return. „I have always asked for memorablia for the museum.“
The museum found a new place to open it’s doors in June 2016, after a long search for a right location. Azing opened up the first museum in 2014, however he had to leave the premises just after two years, as the rental agreement was not renewed. A nightmare – and at the same time not. With the new location on Pettemerstraat 12A in Alkmaar he did not only find a new, but also a bigger place for his outstanding collection. The museum is like a homeland for Beatle-Maniacs and definitely worth a visit.
Pics of the museum are HERE!
the museum on the net is (HERE!)
Master Chief, Junge für alles, Fotograbenkämpfer und Textakrobat. Herausgeber und Erfinder.
