John Katsilometes tracks down a transplanted Aussie who helped make the Beatles famous in his home country

Friday, June 2, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.

As a young DJ spinning vinyl for top Australian radio station 3DB, Barry Ferber cracked open a package with a disc titled "Please Please Me" from a group called the Beatles. It was months before the band had gained worldwide fame, but Ferber knew the group pretty well - for weeks a colleague of Ferber's working in London had been recording interviews with England's top pop acts and shipping those tapes to Ferber so he could air them in Australia.

"They were unknown at the time. This went on for a year, so I had a stockpile of their ramblings," said Ferber, who has lived in Las Vegas for seven years. "Among the tapes would come long interviews, including one which they sang 'Happy Birthday' to me."

But the music was a step beyond those ramblings. It was new and different, and Ferber played "Please Please Me" on the air, making him the first DJ in the country to play a Beatles song for the masses. The band already was featured in a weekly radio interview show hosted by Ferber that he says "outrated television at the time."

By June of 1964 the Beatles were touring Australia and drawing enormous crowds wherever they went. Ferber's station paid $10,000 to produce the first piece of Beatles promotional material ever to be marketed in the country - a pink bumper sticker with the band's images promoting Ferber's show on 3DB.

The band remembered Ferber on the tour of Australia. "When they arrived the only person they knew was me, as they had been sending tapes for well over a year," Ferber said. "They arrived by helicopter on the roof of the Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne and I met them there. They stopped in their tracks, and as a result I went to their room and recorded them all and went to air live across Australia one hour before the (scheduled) press conference."

He continues, "I recall vividly my conversations they were just having fun and could not believe what was happening. I recall George being quiet and charming and stunned by the adulation, Paul was hyped and excited at being in Australia, Ringo just wanted a beer and John was on a high, enjoying every moment."

Over the years Ferber maintained contact with George Harrison, who bought a house on Hamilton Island in Queensland. The Beatle connection helped him become a major figure in Australian media - Ferber was honored with an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) medal (the Beatles were also named MBEs, in 1965) for his work in broadcasting.

During his time in Las Vegas, Ferber has worked for an executive for an international airline and currently works as a freelance journalist - including writing a column for the Australian newspaper the Gold Coast Bulletin. He also spends a lot of time at Mandalay Bay Theatre as an usher for "Mamma Mia!" where he relishes meeting people and spending time around entertainers.

He's fired up about the Beatles/Cirque du Soleil show "Love," which opens for previews tonight at the Mirage. It's been 40 years between visits for Ferber and the surviving Beatles, and he says, "I hope to one day catch up with them and say hi. I'd love nothing more than that."

NoteMart

Six months for Wayne: Expect Wayne Newton to sign on for a six-month deal at Harrah's and start performing in the Clint Holmes Theater this fall ...

More Bare facts: If rowdy cowboys and cowgirls in various stages of undress is your thang, check out the adult revue "Bareback" at Harrah's. The new late-night production in the Clint Holmes Theater held its press/VIP performance on Wednesday night. Recognizing newsmakers in the audience, John Padon (the show's comic relief) spotted Robin Leach seated in the crowd and uncorked a couple of off-the-script jokes at Leach's expense. The omnipresent Leach, seated in the same booth as Harrah's exec Don Marrandino, was less than amused ...

Lewis and the news: Legendary comic actor Jerry Lewis has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday at the Orleans to discuss his plans for a return to the stage (he performs July 13-16 at the Orleans Showroom) and the return of the "Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon" to Las Vegas following a 10-year absence (the show will originate from the South Coast on Sept. 3-4). A third announcement is promised; maybe we'll see Lewis - still busy at age 80, having taken part in guest appearances for "Law & Order: SVU" - plan some type of Broadway-conducive project ...

Ruff and ready: Lied Animal Shelter presents its fourth annual "Best In Show" at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the Orleans Arena. More than 60 shelter dogs will compete in small, medium and large categories and be available for adoption .

Emceeing will be Cox Communications exec and accomplished American Kennel Club judge Steve Schorr, and "Second City" cast members Craig Uhler and Andrea Colli. Leach will handle the introductions, and column fave Carrot Top (aka Scott Thompson) will also drop by.

Unleashing (ouch!) their skills on behalf of the event are committee members Jill Fertitta, Jane Schorr, Lynn Weidner, Sheryl Goldstein, Shannon McBeath, Laura Benowitz, Kathy Black, Marcel Frey, Dena duBoef, Renee Hale, Maureen Peckman, Nancy Joslin, Cari Marshall, Lee Medick and Rhonda Mona. The crew also includes Linda Ackerman, Jeanne Galindo, Krista Kurvers, Terry Magnani, Kae Schafer, Valorie Staley and J.C. Shardo. The chairwoman is Dale Wynn; co-chairs are Janie Greenspun Gale and Jodi Fonfa. Wynn said the turnout of dogs, and humans, for the event should be an all-time high; tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for those ages 65 and older and between ages 2 and 10. Reserved seats are $25 ...

Seasons in the Sun: The 2006 Travel + Leisure reader's poll ranks Four Seasons Las Vegas No. 6 for "Top Hotels for Service" in the U.S. and Canada. The poll results are featured in the mag's June issue ...

Hart murmur: In the new Sports Illustrated Carey Hart - husband of Pink and proprietor of Hart & Huntington Tattoo Company - is asked if he has ever inked any athletes. He says, "I can't remember the kid's name, and I know this is horrible: We tattooed the CHOSEN 1 across his back."

S.I.: "LeBron James?"

Hart: "There you go (laughs)." ...

Hitting the gas: A colleague spotted a Toyota Prius with the plate OPECH8R.