He sold books, newspapers, packaged goods and music from around the world, authentic sounds from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
During the 1950s Red Scare, Topping bravely brought left-leaning folk artists such as Pete Seeger and Miriam Makeba to Milwaukee.
He had an honest reputation in an industry that wasn’t known for honesty. On September 4, 1964, he presented the biggest concert of his side career in music promotion, The Beatles at the Milwaukee Arena (now the UWM Panther Arena).
“Music was our father’s passion, along with internationalism, world cultures and working for many causes for social justice,” says Nick’s daughter, Alex Topping.
She was six at the time, sitting in the fourth row with her 12-year-old sister Adele, who adds, “The concert went smoothly. After The Beatles’ press conference at the Coach House Inn (now a Marquette University residence hall) on Wisconsin Avenue where they were staying, the group was escorted by limo to the Arena under tight security since the crazed fans wouldn’t get out of their way.” The same frenzy occurred on their way back to the hotel, but there were no incidents and no arrests.
Tickets for the concert were $3.50 and $5.50, sold by mail order or at the International House (736 N. Second St.). Lines of ticket buyers stretched down the block. Some 13,000 of them crowded the Arena for a half-hour show.
Alex and Adele hardly heard a note of The Beatles’ music, drowned out by the clamor of screaming fans. “Our mother covered her ears through the whole concert, and a picture of her covering her ears appeared in the Milwaukee Journal the next day,” Alex recalls.
The Beatles never returned to Milwaukee, and their Arena show would be one of Topping’s last concerts.
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