MYSTERY TOUR

After the three Beatles “Anthology” sets and hundreds of bootleg releases, four Mop Top “songs” remain unheard--much to the frustration of the most devoted Beatlemaniacs: “Colliding Circles,” “Pink Litmus Paper Shirt,” “Deck Chair” and “Left Is Right (but Right Is Wrong).”

But Beatles historian Martin Lewis is blowing the cover off the matter in a live monologue in which he’s confessing to having “written” the songs.

In truth, Lewis only wrote the titles--the songs themselves are merely the matter of fan fantasy. Fearing that the ones he had came up short, he padded the piece with four titles he’d made up. Years later, he was both thrilled and mortified to find that his “songs” had worked their way into legend. Lewis has had plenty of opportunity to come clean, serving for years as assistant to former Beatles publicist Derek Taylor, who passed away last year, and as a consultant on various Beatles-related projects. But it wasn’t until a recent meeting with Beatles producer George Martin that he officially came clean.

“Sir George nearly fell off his chair laughing,” says a proud Lewis.

The show, titled “Great Exploitations,” will be presented Saturday and again Jan. 23 and 30 as part of Solo ‘99, a festival of one-person shows taking place at the 2100 Square Ft. performance space at 6515 San Vicente Blvd.