A MEGA-MUSICAL TALE OF TWO CITIES AIRED ROUND THE WORLD : LONDON CONCERT AWASH WITH BEATLES, RAIN TALK

The globally broadcast Live Aid extravaganza is being staged today in London and Philadelphia. It’s a fund-raising tale of two cities--offering the best of times for millions of rock fans to fight the worst of times for millions of starving Africans. Calendar reports today on preparations for the concerts both on stage and off.

What would a massive outdoor benefit concert be without threats of rain and rumors of a Beatles reunion?

And sure enough, those were the main topics of discussion late Friday as hundreds of fans huddled outside massive Wembley Stadium, home base for the London side of today’s historic Live Aid extravaganza here and in Philadelphia.

This globally broadcast rockathon was scheduled to kick off at noon here (4 a.m. Los Angeles time), involve two noted fans of rock, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and end about 16 hours later in the City of Brotherly Love.

Many of the biggest names in pop music--including Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Paul McCartney and the reformed Who--are featured in the concerts, which will be televised around the world to a potential audience that concert organizers estimate at 1.5 billion.

The weather has been a concern all week here. The summer has been unusually wet in London, and the forecast Friday was for scattered showers, increasing to outright rain today. But the mood of the fans outside the stadium brightened late Friday as the sun poked through the clouds, leading many to believe that the downpour wouldn’t materialize.

To celebrate the moment, one group of enthusiastic fans banded together to sing a bit of the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun.”

Which introduces the second topic: the Reunion.

Because McCartney was already scheduled to close the Wembley concert by singing “Let It Be,” a sighting of George Harrison arriving Wednesday night at Heathrow Airport led to widespread speculation that a reunion of the three living Beatles was in the works. The theory was that McCartney, Harrison and Ringo Starr would be joined by the late John Lennon’s son Julian Lennon. The 22-year-old singer was already part of the Live Aid lineup.

Despite denials by spokesmen for both McCartney and Live Aid, the London press was as fascinated by prospects of the historic reteaming as the fans. They also seemed confused about it.

A front-page headline in the Sun declared Friday: “Beatles Set for Live Aid Reunion.” The rival Daily Express, which bills itself as “the Voice of Britain,” agreed, saying, “The Beatles reunion definitely looked on. . . . “ The Star, whose motto is “The facts, not fiction,” took no stand, even ignoring the rumor. The Mirror (“Forward with Britain”) accepted McCartney’s denial and said it was off.

Of course these papers don’t even agree on the weather. The Mirror’s forecast for Friday: “Some drizzle.” The Star: “Mainly cloudy.” The Sun: “Sunny intervals.” Daily Express: “Some early showers.”

Frustrated by a bombardment of Beatles reunion questions, Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof said: “It’s just something you have to answer. I find it silly that with all these acts and the real purpose of the concert that the one thing people suddenly get caught up over is, ‘Are the Beatles going to reform?’ Who cares? Besides, they can’t reform--or haven’t people read the papers the last five years?”

Geldof, the main force behind the Live Aid concerts, was ecstatic Friday as he read through a list of the more than 40 countries that he said will hold telethons in conjunction with the worldwide television broadcast.

“Listen to this,” he said. “It’s just amazing. . . . New Caledonia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru, El Salvador, Turkey, Hong Kong, the Philippines. . . .”

Geldof’s enthusiasm was understandable. The idea behind the shows was to create a global television village to focus attention on world hunger, especially in famine-ridden African nations. The entire concert was apparently made available to every country free of charge if that country couldn’t afford the cost of a satellite hookup. In addition, Geldof has promised that tapes of the entire concert will be sent by diplomatic pouch on Monday to countries without satellite technology.

One country, however, won’t be receiving any Live Aid coverage: South Africa. The decision appears to contradict Geldof’s original position that Live Aid would not be politicized.

On that point, he said: “I agree that Live Aid should be non-political, but the underlying idea behind these concerts is morality. When you have a country that enshrines immorality in its constitution, I think it rules itself out.

“I have often said I will do anything to get money for these people (famine victims). . . . But I really do think it would be insulting to the rest of Africa and the rest of the world to include South Africa. That country simply flies in the face of everything that we take to be decent, and I simply won’t have it.”

Indicative of his neutral political stance, Geldof has requested political, religious and sports figures to tape brief messages urging viewers to donate to the Live Aid cause. Among those already taped are former President Jimmy Carter and Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. Efforts were still being made Thursday to involve President Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of Britain.

Geldof did have success in luring Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Though it was unclear Friday what the Prince’s role will be, he was expected to be involved in the opening ceremonies today. Geldof wants him to say a few words of greeting, but some of Charles’ advisers are apparently trying to limit his participation to a simple wave.

Most of the several hundred fans camped outside Wembley on Friday were looking forward to going inside in a few hours to see the start of the concert. But Roddy McLaren, 18, and his pal Teddy didn’t have one of the 80,000 tickets for the show. Rather than stay at home in Bristol, they rode two hours on the train to be “part of history.”

Explained McLaren: “We could have stayed home and seen the show, but this is going to be the biggest thing that ever happened in rock ‘n’ roll. We’ll be able to hear the music out here and we may be able to see some of the bands arrive.

“Besides, in a few years we don’t just want to say we were one of the 3 billion (sic) people who saw it on TV. We want to be able to say we were one of the 80,000 who were here.”