This week shall mark the 30th anniversary of the unexpected and untimely death of Mr. John Lennon.  Thus, I feel compelled to speak about it.

I was a boy of eleven when the greatest icon my parents' life and times was murdered by a scatterbrained kid named Mark David Chapman.

It had already snowed in New Hampshire.  Winter cold settled.  I was excited for Christmas and looking forward to that nice long break from school.  My parents weren't fighting and things were calm in the Smart household.  

The grandfather clock downstairs clanged eleven.  A few minutes later a horrified wail shrieked through the house.  It was my big sister Estella.*  News had just come over the radio that John Lennon had been shot outside his home in New York City.  

I stood on the threshold of my bedroom door in my pajamas and listened to my Estella recounting in halted sobs that some strange man gunned down Lennon for no reason and the emergency surgeons were trying to revive him..."But he's going to die, Mom!  John Lennon's going to DIE!"  My mother and sister held each other and cried.  My sister Miriam, then twelve, kept trying to ask why and how, but there was no getting through to the two grieving women.  

My father just looked dumbfounded as he stoked the wood stove and tuned into NPR.  The announcer's voice crackled, "Mr. Lennon has been pronounced dead at Roosevelt Hospital..."  Estella collapsed into her own arms at the kitchen table and let out a rattling keen.  My mother put the kettle on.  

"I'm sorry, honey, you need to go back to bed.  We will talk about this tomorrow," Mom said ushering me back to my room.  I felt more frustrated than sad.  The Beatles and Lennon were like Monty Python and J.R.R. Tolkien -- one of a few things our entire family loved and one of a handful of sources for peace and fun in a contentious and dysfunctional household.  Now some evil man took John Lennon away from us.  I drifted off to sleep hearing occasional weeping while my parents and Estella talked about terrible event while the radio droned on.  I kept saying to myself, "It's just not fair.  It's just not fair."

It turned out a lot of kids at school had the same scene at their homes.  We kids put our differences aside for a moment.  We were boys.  Nobody wanted to cry or say he was sad.  We opted for anger and tried to outbid one another on who could describe Mark David Chapman in the worst possible terms.  I said, "I wish he was here so we could tie him to that tree and beat him until his brains poured out his nose!"  The chorus of "Yeah!" resounded with zeal.

I felt guilty for my anger when the press indicated Yoko Ono held no such animosity.  She told Sean the man who shot his father was just very sick and confused.  

Estella had a bad day of it.  She and her friends were the last of the Flower Children, but high school kids are notorious for cruelty.  She reported she one of the jocks accosted her and jeered, "Hey, I'm John Lennon!," and pantomimed a man catching a bullet to the head. He laughed as Estella stormed off in tears.  That jock is now an insurance underwriter.  He had the gall to try to friend Estella on Facebook a few years ago.  I wonder if he remembered what he did on December 9th, 1980.  Probably not.  

All the magazines, the papers, the radio shows, the TV programs dripped with tributes and memorials to Lennon and the Beatles.  I understood for the first time seeing the footage of a massive circle of grief in Central Park how much Lennon meant to so many people from all walks of life.  The singles from "Double Fantasy," "Watching the Wheels," "Woman," and "Starting Over" received tenfold the airplay they would otherwise have gotten.  Lennon wasn't just some esoteric figure held in esteem by my hippie parents and their hippie friends, as was Alan Watts or Buckminster Fuller.  John Lennon and The Beatles gave the world a gift that really was almost as beautiful as Jesus.  

Other than the standard nursery rhymes and lullabies, the earliest songs I remember are Beatles songs.  "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Eleanor Rigby," "Hello Goodbye," "Hey Jude," and so many others were ingrained in my early consciousness.  Beatles songs will be in the foundations of my mind as long as I shall live.  

I have omitted an anectdote about my father turning cynical about Lennon, The Beatles, and the Hippies at the time of Lennon's death, but it happened.  Even if Lennon had not been murdered, Reagan would still have been inaugurated in 1981.  Reagan still would have busted the PATCO strike and arranged for the hostages to stay imprisoned in theran until inauguration day.  Right-wing extremism would still have been agitated.  However, I'm fairly certain John Lennon would have offered a tempering voice to the inhumane capitalist fervor of the 1980s.  The world is just a little worse off for Mr. Lennon's absence.

http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/15/tearyeyed.gif

*names changed.

I remember well.

I was 20 in December of 1980.  Now as a young child I became a Beatles fan, requesting (and getting) a Beatles lunchbox at the age of seven, as the Beatles kiddie cartoon had become my favorite.  I continued my fanship through the likes of Yellow Submarine et all.  But I fell away in the 70's.  In the late 70's I had gone hog wild for Disco, and I'd gotten away from the wholesome sound of the Beatles, even though I consistently liked the ex-Beatles' output during the decade.  I suppose I'd still not gotten over the Beatles' breakup and their subsequent inability to reconcile.  In the fall of '80 I'd gotten my hands on an 8-track copy of the "red album" compilation which quickly became my favorite as I played it over and over. 

This was the backdrop - when the stunning and unbelievable news story broke.  I was numb with a mix of sadness, anger and disgust.  I remember wondering why on earth anyone would want to do this.  This one act, among other things, dashed any lingering hope for a Beatles reunion.

I quickly gobbled up "Double Fantasy" and played it tearfully, wishing it was a bad dream.

This event threw me into my "Beatles crazy" nostalgia phase.  Not a bad choice on my part - but sadly it was precipitated by this tragedy.

Unfortunately I was too young to remember John Lennon's death,I was in Kindergarden at the time and I was 6 years old.

I do remember the day well, but I was to involved with work back then to be emotionally disturbed by the tragic news of that day.

High Temp:  55.9F

Low Temp: 41.9F

Average Temp:  47.7F

Dewpoint:  42.8F

Wind Speed:  6.5 Knots

Precipitation Amount:  0.01 Inches

Snow Depth:  n/a

Observations:  Fog, Rain/Drizzle

I quickly gobbled up "Double Fantasy" and played it tearfully, wishing it was a bad dream.



"Double Fantasy" was not a great record.  My reasons for liking it are emotional, not objective.  One has to remember, Lennon had not been in the studio for five years and they recorded "Double Fantasy" in about five weeks.  John and Yoko were driving at something light and accessible for their return to the limelight.  

Another great rock musician from the same generation wrote plenty of crap in the '80s*  I speak of Frank Zappa.  Zappa fans will strangle you if you say so, however, by 1985 I had given up on Zappa as a creative force.  I could never have predicted the magnificent 1993 release "The Yellow Shark" with Ensemble Modern under the wand of Peter Rundel.  Zappa was finally winding down his electric guitar jazz jams and rediscovering his rightful place as a composer in the manner of Edgard Varese and K. Stockhausen (I just got bitch-slapped by the ghost of FZ!).  He died of prostate cancer a month after the release of YS.
* Pierre Boulez Conducts Zappa is among the exceptions.

The point is, with an artist as great as Lennon and a scenester/facilitator as powerful as Yoko Ono, it might have been "Double Fantasy" in 1980, but the next "Revolution 9," so to speak, might have shown up in 1984.  We'll just never know.
:\'(

I was a senior in high school (oops, I guess that is dating me.  :-[ ) I remember hearing about it and getting a bit weepy. (I didn't bawl my eyes out but I think I did shed a tear or two.)


I'm sure my school held some kind of vigil or something but I didn't attend. I was (and still am) a Beatles fan but John was my least favorite of the Fab Four. 




Cat

Although many of my friends were very upset about what happened, I thought two things:
1.  I really don't pay much attention to this guy, so I'm not going to fret all day like everyone else.
2.  It's insane that someone stalked someone else and shot him in front of everyone.

It was the first big stalking incident that I had heard of; I thought that it was crazy and it was the reason I wanted to follow the story.  I really didn't listen to Lennon much,
and never saw him in the news- in the years prior  I guess I was just too young.

anything I know about him I learned after his death.  I barely knew he was around otherwise.

The point is, with an artist as great as Lennon and a scenester/facilitator as powerful as Yoko Ono, it might have been "Double Fantasy" in 1980, but the next "Revolution 9," so to speak, might have shown up in 1984.  We'll just never know.

Revolution 9 would've been Lennon's next album? ???

I wonder if Lennon could've avoided being shot?

Revolution 9 would've been Lennon's next album? ???


"Revolution 9" popularized the tape collage (also known as Musique Concrete).  It appears on "The Beatles" double-album, known unofficially as "The White Album."  It was John Lennon's piece and the other Beatles were reluctant to include it on the record, but they did and millions of stoned hippies went: "Oh wow!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQal-lJrSLI

My point is "Double Fantasy" (1980) was a pop album, but John Lennon was free to make any kind of music he wanted, which is a privilege few recording artists have.  Thus, he could have made far more artistic and original music in the years following his resumption of recording with "Double Fantasy."  


I wonder if Lennon could've avoided being shot?


He could have avoided Mark David Chapman, but only by chance.  Today celebrities as high profile as John Lennon hire private security detail.  If he had the kind of security Lady Gaga has now, they would have apprehended Chapman before he got close enough to Lennon. 

I was working in a small stock brockerage office in Manhattan.  I remember an on-again-off-again boyfriend of mine called me.  "Did you hear the news?"  I hadn't yet.  He was very upset.  I was upset that John Lennon had been shot -- but more because he had been shot and killed so randomly, which shouldn't happen to *anyone* - more than because of who he was.  I also was more affected by the fact that this guy chose to call *me* when he found out, since we hadn't talked in a long time.  Later that week I took the subway uptown just to walk past the building.  I remember thinking that, despite his fame and talent, he was gone and I wasn't - and that's life.

He could have avoided Mark David Chapman, but only by chance.  Today celebrities as high profile as John Lennon hire private security detail.  If he had the kind of security Lady Gaga has now, they would have apprehended Chapman before he got close enough to Lennon.

If there were more security back in 1980,John would've gotten in his car or wherever he was going to and avoided him.

If there were more security back in 1980,John would've gotten in his car or wherever he was going to and avoided him.


Perhaps, but only a few months later, that other dude shot Reagan, and Reagan had plenty of security.  :-\\

I always liked The Beatles' music, and Lennon certainly was talented and did some great solo work.  But his pretentiousness and smugness was a huge turn-off to me.  George, Ringo, and Paul were infinitely more likeable, at least to me.  I did not see his death as some sort of emotional/political event, but rather one of senseless street violence by some selfish wack job who wanted to get famous.

Here's hoping that his assassin never gets out.

Perhaps, but only a few months later, that other dude shot Reagan, and Reagan had plenty of security.   :-\\

I always liked The Beatles' music, and Lennon certainly was talented and did some great solo work.  But his pretentiousness and smugness was a huge turn-off to me.  George, Ringo, and Paul were infinitely more likeable, at least to me.  I did not see his death as some sort of emotional/political event, but rather one of senseless street violence by some selfish wack job who wanted to get famous.

Here's hoping that his assassin never gets out.


I hope he rots in hell!  >:(

Perhaps, but only a few months later, that other dude shot Reagan, and Reagan had plenty of security.  :-\\

I always liked The Beatles' music, and Lennon certainly was talented and did some great solo work.  But his pretentiousness and smugness was a huge turn-off to me.  George, Ringo, and Paul were infinitely more likable, at least to me.  I did not see his death as some sort of emotional/political event, but rather one of senseless street violence by some selfish wack job who wanted to get famous.

Here's hoping that his assassin never gets out.


Lennon had an ego about as big as Uranus!

And after John Hinckley -- who was the scion of a rich Texas oil family friends with the Bushes -- nearly whacked Reagan security got REAL tight for both politicians and celebs.  Before the mid '80s, they were nailing Reagan, Pope John Paul II, Anwar Sadat, John Lennon, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, John F. Kennedy...and, yes, Gerald Ford.  Who were they offing by the late '80s?  Rebbecca Schaeffer from "My Sister Sam."  I mean, I'm not saying the "My Sister Sam" chick was not a tragedy, but...come on!
::)

Lennon once said something like:

"Of course we're humorous, and we intend to keep using humor, because all the serious people, like Gandhi, and John Kennedy, and Martin Luther King all got shot!"
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/04/eek2.gif

Lennon once said something like:

"Of course we're humorous, and we intend to keep using humor, because all the serious people, like Gandhi, and John Kennedy, and Martin Luther King all got shot!"
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/04/eek2.gif



Three weeks before his murder, John Lennon fired his bodyguards. His rationale was that assassins shoot the bodyguards first anyway, but in fact, John and Yoko felt very comfortable -- perhaps too comfortable -- in New York City. The apartment building they had been living in for the past five years, the Dakota, was well-guarded, home to stars like Gilda Radner and Lauren Bacall; New York was not a city where the inhabitants mobbed celebrities everywhere they went; rock stars had never been shot, only political figures; and John had been in a period of seclusion for the last five years anyway, baking bread and taking care of he and Yoko's son, Sean, who was five at the time of the killing.
When John and Yoko began recording their "comeback" album "Double Fantasy," however, they were coming and going with regularity almost every day, and at the same time. It was easy for any fan to know when they would return; in fact, some often asked John to sign copies of albums for them. One such person, on the night of December 8, 1980, was John's killer.

During an interview conducted while he was still a Beatle, John was asked how he expected to die. Lennon jokingly replied: "I'll probably be popped off by some loony." This has been a source of fascination for John fans, as is the fact that the lyrics of the Beatles' "Come Together" contain the words "shoot me" repeated over and over. (The "me" is obscured by music, but close listening reveals it's there.)

http://oldies.about.com/od/oldieshistory/f/lennondeath.htm

Also, this picture of Lennon was taken during the Sgt. Pepper's era:
http://ludix.com/moriarty/images/mdc.jpg

Lennon once said something like:

"Of course we're humorous, and we intend to keep using humor, because all the serious people, like Gandhi, and John Kennedy, and Martin Luther King all got shot!"
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/04/eek2.gif


So that means we're supposed to be humorous more often?  ???

Three weeks before his murder, John Lennon fired his bodyguards. His rationale was that assassins shoot the bodyguards first anyway, but in fact, John and Yoko felt very comfortable -- perhaps too comfortable -- in New York City. The apartment building they had been living in for the past five years, the Dakota, was well-guarded, home to stars like Gilda Radner and Lauren Bacall; New York was not a city where the inhabitants mobbed celebrities everywhere they went; rock stars had never been shot, only political figures; and John had been in a period of seclusion for the last five years anyway, baking bread and taking care of he and Yoko's son, Sean, who was five at the time of the killing.
When John and Yoko began recording their "comeback" album "Double Fantasy," however, they were coming and going with regularity almost every day, and at the same time. It was easy for any fan to know when they would return; in fact, some often asked John to sign copies of albums for them. One such person, on the night of December 8, 1980, was John's killer.

During an interview conducted while he was still a Beatle, John was asked how he expected to die. Lennon jokingly replied: "I'll probably be popped off by some loony." This has been a source of fascination for John fans, as is the fact that the lyrics of the Beatles' "Come Together" contain the words "shoot me" repeated over and over. (The "me" is obscured by music, but close listening reveals it's there.)

http://oldies.about.com/od/oldieshistory/f/lennondeath.htm

Also, this picture of Lennon was taken during the Sgt. Pepper's era:
http://ludix.com/moriarty/images/mdc.jpg


But Rhett,did he know that he was going to be shot,maybe he was just thinking about making more music  ???

So that means we're supposed to be humorous more often?  ???


He means we should take ourselves seriously, but not too seriously.

Life is meant to be enjoyed, and not treated as an endless funeral.

Words to live by.

He means we should take ourselves seriously, but not too seriously.

Life is meant to be enjoyed, and not treated as an endless funeral.

Words to live by.


He had some good words of wisdom.  :)

To think...this was his big hit after his death....

iAJ2AoEwDvY

To think...this was his big hit after his death....

iAJ2AoEwDvY


A very nice song,But one wonders what kind of music would he have produced if he was still alive today? ???

I hope he rots in hell!  >:(
I understand Howard's anger, but I severly doubt anyone who thought like John would want that. I do take comfort in my belief that the bastard will never come out of prison alive. And if by some cosmic travesty he does, Paul and Ringo will be waiting to tear him to shreds. I don't think anyone else should have the option, because Yoko, Sean and Julian probably wouldn't accept it.

I was only 6 at the time, but I still remember the fallout on the news. It seemed like the entire cities of London and New York were in tears, and who could blame them? The next time I am in New York City, I must remember to pay my respects at Strawberry Fields. For all its fans, I have no doubt that December 8, 1980, will be forever remembered as the darkest night in Rock & Roll history.

John once observed that the Beatles were "Bigger than Jesus", meaning he didn't like that pop culture was supplanting religion in people's minds, as some fools have done in this country with a certain 50's icon(name withheld, thank you very much!) And he predicted that "Christianity... will vanish and shrink.", which was an comment on church attendance steadily declining in Europe over the past 50 years. Given how people are constantly bringing about frivolous lawsuits to suppresss Christian symbolism across America in the name of "separation of church and state", perhaps now would be a good time to heed his warnings? Sometimes I wonder(especially since the abomination of 1/20/09), even in the years after 9/11, have the majority of people learned ANYTHING?
Clearly his dreams of a peaceful world have still not been realized, but it certainly isn't too late. Perhaps that vision could have come about in his lifetime, if the forever-cursed Mark David Chapman had listened to his hero's words.

You may say I'm a dreamer... But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us... and the world will live as one.

God Bless You, John Lennon.

Your Pal,
Doc
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/12/hippy2.gif

You may say I'm a dreamer... But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us... and the world will live as one.


http://raycastle.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341cfb9553ef0133f3d8ce59970b-800wi

Never mind one moron with a gun, how about 19 morons with boxcutters.  The only good thing about this story is that Lennon never lived to see how it ended.

http://ifelicious.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/imagine-de-john-lennon.jpg

Never mind one moron with a gun, how about 19 morons with boxcutters.  The only good thing about this story is that Lennon never lived to see how it ended.


"Was it a millionaire who said 'imagine no possessions...'"

--- Elvis Costello
"The Other Side of Summer"

McManus pointed out the contradiction wryly in his 1991 song.  However, Chapman hated Lennon for being rich yet singing about equality.  Lennon paid a lot of taxes too (vis-a-vis "Taxman").  However, I feel Chapman's reasoning is insipid to say the least.  If Lennon was alive today, who knows what kind of charitable foundations he would be working with.  Yoko -- meh -- she's a different personality-type.  Maybe I'm the dreamer here, but I'd like to think Lennon would have turned to philanthropy.  Remember he was only forty when Chapman murdered him.
>:(

A very nice song,But one wonders what kind of music would he have produced if he was still alive today? ???


One imagines that he would have fully embraced rap and hip-hop.

One imagines that he would have fully embraced rap and hip-hop.

I severely doubt that. Most rap these days glorifies violence, which John hated. And John always argued for people's rights, where as hip-hop's only message seems to be 'hump-the-ho!' over and over, and a man who wrote songs like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "Woman" I could never imagine showing any support for any noise that sex-objectified women, no matter how catchy the beat is.

I agree with Max in his saying John would turn to philanthropy, but he'd never give up his activism. I rather imagine him conferring with world leaders in attempts to solve international problems(Heaven only knows what he's say about what Wall Street and the Liberal Mob's assassination of the U.S. economy), rather like Bono Vox does today. I do kind of see Bono as the John Lennon of his generation.
Perhaps John would have gotten involved in the second British invasion, albeit more of a producer/songwriter than a performer.

Meanwhile, a touch of the legacy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmJ0AkzvdN8

Your Pal,
Doc
;)

^ Nicely expressed, Doc. Karma+1 O0


And by the way, I was only five months old in December 1980 so I don't remember a thing about it. But I did learn all about it later on.

One imagines that he would have fully embraced rap and hip-hop.


HA! John Lennon making a rap album with Yoko,now that would be funny. ;D

I severely doubt that. Most rap these days glorifies violence, which John hated. And John always argued for people's rights, where as hip-hop's only message seems to be 'hump-the-ho!' over and over, and a man who wrote songs like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "Woman" I could never imagine showing any support for any noise that sex-objectified women, no matter how catchy the beat is.

I agree with Max in his saying John would turn to philanthropy, but he'd never give up his activism. I rather imagine him conferring with world leaders in attempts to solve international problems(Heaven only knows what he's say about what Wall Street and the Liberal Mob's assassination of the U.S. economy), rather like Bono Vox does today. I do kind of see Bono as the John Lennon of his generation.
Perhaps John would have gotten involved in the second British invasion, albeit more of a producer/songwriter than a performer.

Meanwhile, a touch of the legacy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmJ0AkzvdN8

Your Pal,
Doc
;)


If you close your eyes,It sounds like John was singing it.

I severely doubt that. Most rap these days glorifies violence, which John hated. And John always argued for people's rights, where as hip-hop's only message seems to be 'hump-the-ho!' over and over, and a man who wrote songs like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "Woman" I could never imagine showing any support for any noise that sex-objectified women, no matter how catchy the beat is.

I agree with Max in his saying John would turn to philanthropy, but he'd never give up his activism. I rather imagine him conferring with world leaders in attempts to solve international problems(Heaven only knows what he's say about what Wall Street and the Liberal Mob's assassination of the U.S. economy), rather like Bono Vox does today. I do kind of see Bono as the John Lennon of his generation.
Perhaps John would have gotten involved in the second British invasion, albeit more of a producer/songwriter than a performer.


Well, he wouldn't be a Tea Party supporter if that's what you're thinking!
;D

I think he would not be pleased with Obama's caving in to the forces of war and greed.  Though he probably wouldn't have been strident about it, I think he would have seen right through Bill and Hillary Clinton as venal and cynical. 

He might have moved out of the country during the Reagan administration.  The country started going 180 degrees from where he thought humanity should go.  Reagan's tax policies would have favored him, though.

Let's just say for example that Yoko was shot instead of John,What would've happened then? ???

Let's just say for example that Yoko was shot instead of John,What would've happened then? ???


In that case, Beavis and Butthead probably would not have lampooned her in their show.  ;D

In that case, Beavis and Butthead probably would not have lampooned her in their show.   ;D


What would've become of John?

Did anyone else remember this day as Dimebag Darrel's death day? He was the guitarist of Pantera, shot onstage. But the guy who shot him was killed by a policeman's shotgun... XD

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/Rock%20legend%3A%20pictured%20in%20New%20York%20in%201972.jpeg

This is what he would look like today at 70 minus the long hair.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/Rock%20legend%3A%20pictured%20in%20New%20York%20in%201972.jpeg

This is what he would look like today at 70 minus the long hair.
With no winkles around the face?

Let's just say for example that Yoko was shot instead of John,What would've happened then? ???


Chapman would have been awarded a Grammy for his service to the music industry?


http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/Rock%20legend%3A%20pictured%20in%20New%20York%20in%201972.jpeg

This is what he would look like today at 70 minus the long hair.


http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/funny-pictures-cat-is-john-lennon-or-harry-potter.jpg

Aha.  So Harry Potter went back in time 30 years, and...

With no winkles around the face?


probably some wrinkles.