P.S. She Loves Them : Beatlemania: ‘1st Generation’ Fab Four fan hopes to lure McCartney tour to San Diego.

There might be more fanatical Beatlemaniacs in San Diego County, but Carmen Salmon certainly owes them no apologies. Since last August, the 45-year-old mother of four and self-described “first-generation Beatles fan” has been spearheading a petition drive to persuade Paul McCartney to perform in San Diego. As that campaign approaches Salmon’s self-imposed deadline of June 18 (McCartney’s birthday), Salmon feels her chances of success are at least “decent.”

“When I called Paul’s management offices in London last year, I was told that 3,000 signatures would probably get his attention,” Salmon said earlier this week. “I decided to shoot for 10,000 signatures, and, at this point, we’ve collected about 7,000. So, I think (the McCartney camp) will have to agree that we really want him to come here. But they also told me that he’s still working on his next album, which means he might not be able to tour again until the spring of ’93.”

McCartney’s business office, MPL Communications in London, declined comment on the petition drive.

Salmon’s effort is only the latest and most public manifestation of a long fascination with McCartney and the Beatles that began, as it did with so many of her peers, on a Sunday night in 1964.

“When I first saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, I thought ‘This is something very special,’ ” the San Diego native said. “There was just something about their music, their look and their personalities that seemed so new and exciting. I saw them live when they played Balboa Stadium in ‘65, and I went to both Hollywood Bowl shows (1964 and ‘65). At their concerts, it seemed as though everything was moving in slow motion. It was such a great experience. I’ve been collecting memorabilia ever since.”

In and of themselves, the Beatles collectibles, which are scattered about the Salmon family’s comfortable Lakeside home, are not evidence of an obsessive interest in the Liverpudlians. But Salmon qualifies as a die-hard fan by virtue of the fact that she continued to Beatle-ize her personal life long after the Fab Four broke up in 1970.

Whether they like it or not, Salmon’s own children will carry mom’s Beatles fetish into the next several generations. In reverse chronological order, they are Zak, 21 (named after Ringo Starr’s son); Rocky, 14, (named after the Beatles song, “Rocky Raccoon”); Sunshine, 17, (her name comes from the Beatles song “Good Day Sunshine,” and Jet, 7, (named after the Paul McCartney and Wings song).

“The kids are pretty cool about it,” Salmon said. “They like their names, and they even like the Beatles. Sometimes we hear Jet roaming around the house singing Beatles songs. I’ve got them indoctrinated,” she added with a laugh. Salmon’s husband, a general contractor, also likes the Beatles, but on a somewhat more reserved level. “Let’s say he tolerates my preoccupation with them,” Salmon said.

Although she’s never seen the other ex-Beatles in live performance, Salmon kept her Beatle-concert string alive by catching McCartney and Wings at the Sports Arena in 1976. But, on his 1989 swing through the United States, McCartney bypassed San Diego. At considerable expense ($1,000 including transportation, lodging, and tickets), a frustrated Salmon and her husband flew to Phoenix to see McCartney in his “Mac is Back” show at Sun Devil Stadium.

Salmon thought then that it was silly for a major city like San Diego to be disregarded, and when McCartney mentioned in a televised interview last August that he might do a 1992 tour sometime after his June 18 birthday, she determined to lure him to town.

Earlier, Salmon had met local radio personality Norman Flint at “Beatles Brunch Live!,” a multimedia event Flint named after his Beatles-oriented, Sunday-morning radio program on KSDO-AM (1130). When Salmon told Flint of her petition idea, he introduced her to Mark Silver, a local attorney who had exhibited his own collection of Beatles memorabilia at “Beatles Brunch Live!” Silver, in turn, bankrolled the drive that placed placards and petitions at 20 stores and restaurants in the area.

After getting off to a great start, the petition drive lost one of its biggest boosters last November when Flint lost his radio gig. Salmon concedes that the loss of Flint’s on-air promotion spots might have cost her 1,000 or so signatures. But she’s still satisfied with the public’s response.

“People have been very enthusiastic. It’s obvious that a lot of people want Paul to come here,” she said. “One way or another, we plan to notify every signee when Paul responds to the petitions.”

Although she collected the petitions a couple of weeks ago, Salmon is still accepting postcards from those who wish to be included in the drive but haven’t signed a petition. The postcards, too, will be mailed to McCartney’s London offices June 18. The entire experience has regenerated Salmon’s own Beatlemania, to the extent that she is planning to remain an active Beatles acolyte, regardless of the outcome of her petition drive.

“A number of people who signed wrote little notes on the petition, saying things like, ‘Let me know how I can help,’ or ‘Call me, I’m interested.’ So a bunch of us have decided to start a Beatles fan club and newsletter,” she said. “We’ll be holding our first meeting on June 1, which is the 25th anniversary of the release of the ‘Sgt. Pepper’ album, and anyone interested in joining can write to me.”

In the meantime, Salmon plans to take her one-woman McCartney campaign to the streets.

“Whenever I can, I visit music shows and other public events to gather signatures,” she said. “I’m hoping to walk around the downtown area this weekend. The way I see it, every signature helps.”