Tony Barrow, British press officer, Died at 80

Anthony F. J. “Tony” Barrow was born on May 11, 1936, and died on May 14, 2016.

He was an English press officer.

He worked with the Beatles between 1962 and 1968.

Tony invented the phrase “the Fab Four”, first using it in an early press release.

During the late 1950s, as John Lennon and Paul McCartney were putting together their earliest group in one part of Liverpool, Tony Barrow was presenting jazz bands and skiffle/folk groups at local dance halls and clubs across town in the south Lancashire suburb of Crosby.

He was educated locally at Merchant Taylors School he later studied languages at Durham University.

During 1954, when he was still a 17-year-old sixth form schoolboy, Tony landed his first regular freelance writing job as pop/rock record reviewer for the Liverpool Echo, the largest-selling provincial evening newspaper in the UK.

During 1980, because he disliked the unsavory images portrayed by the era’s new wave of punk bands, Barrow’s quit the PR business to return to freelance journalism, writing various books including a highly successful career guide, Inside The Music Business (co-authored with Julian Newby) and John, Paul, George, Ringo & Me, his memoir of the 1960s.

Since 2007, Tony had become the only surviving professional writer from the Fab Four’s original inner circle of business aides and associates and was continuing to take on selected writing and broadcasting assignments, including some directly linked to his uniquely memorable years with the Beatles.

Tony Barrow passed away at 80 yrs old.