|
Post by coachbk on Dec 8, 2010 8:23:36 GMT -5
Hearing "Ticket To Ride" as the first song on the radio when I drove to work today was a reminder of 30 years ago. We lost the man, but the music lives.
|
|
|
Post by Snookeroo on Dec 8, 2010 11:20:07 GMT -5
Missing the Walrus today.
|
|
|
Post by acebackwords on Dec 8, 2010 11:43:16 GMT -5
Where were you 30 years ago? I was 23 years old. When I heard the news I decided to drop some acid (seemed appropriate somehow) and went over to San Francisco in search of a candle-light memorial service that was taking place at the marina. Couldn't find the right marina but I remember seeing Lennon twinkling down at me from the stars (or maybe it was the acid twinkling). Then I went to a hip punk rock club, the Mabuhay Gardens, to sort of pay my respects at the rocknroll church. Some generic rock band from the suburbs was grinding through their set. I was disappointed that they didn't make any mention of the Lennon assassination. It struck me how the Beatles always captured the moment. And I imagined what it must have been like to see the Beatles in a little club like this in Hamburg, where they generated enough electricity to change the whole world.
|
|
|
Post by John S. Damm on Dec 8, 2010 12:29:52 GMT -5
What a sad anniversary.
Thirty years ago this night I was a Senior in high school and I was happily in my bedroom playing Beatles' records having just gotten home from an intramural basketball game I played in at my high school.
I was captain of my team and we won that night so I was sky high. I'm from Indiana so even our intramural games were as formal as the Varsity basketball games(full officiating crews, use of scoreboards, horns, etc.) and pretty well-attended by students and many adults!
I got home, showered and was hanging in my bedroom playing Beatles or solo Beatles on vinyl because we had staying with us my grandmother and an aunt so I was kind of loning it in my room but otherwise in a great, great mood.
I would have glanced at my huge poster of John sitting on a stool from the "All You Need Is Love" broadcast, another great poster of John playing acoustic guitar that I later learned was a still from the filming of John recording the Imagine album, and a third poster which was a really cool facial shot of John from the film How I Won The War, all three proudly hanging in my bedroom shared with my brother. These were my hardcore John Lennon(and Yoko Ono) days.
My Dad and brother were in the family room watching television and it was my brother who ran in saying that John, "had been shot in his home!" The news wasn't yet that John was dead but shot.
Rather than run to the television, I turned off the record I was playing and went to WMET FM Chicago and that is where, piecemeal, I got the news that John had been killed.
The first song played was "Mind Games" so that song haunts me to this day and at that point, "I went into a dream" that in some ways I have never come out of.
Wow, I went from shock, to raging anger to sobbing like a little kid in bed with the headphones on listening to the radio news. My brother, who never missed a chance to blow me crap, never said one word about my tears. He either respected my mourning or wisely knew my response would be disproportionate to the crime because of my anger/grief.
I can remember that night very vividly. People from throughout my then young life called me to ask if I had heard the news. It was touching that so many of my friends from my old town and then my new town(we had moved the year before) had thought of me. I was/am known in my physical world as a Beatles fanatic and my friends and family knew I was hurting that night.
Gone but not forgotten: John Lennon!
|
|
|
Post by mikev on Dec 8, 2010 12:42:12 GMT -5
I was in my third year at community college (changed majors) and just finished a sociology term paper on how the Beatles changed society. I jumped into bed, but couldn't sleep, went downstairs and turned on Monday Night Football. Having no interest in the teams playing I turned it off and went to sleep (missing the message).
Next morning my brother woke me up with the news. I turned on the radio and Tide is High by Blondie of all things was playing. To this day- everytime I hear the song- the morning is repainted in my memory.
I was numb for about a month or so. Like a family member gone.
|
|
|
Post by OldFred on Dec 8, 2010 13:01:52 GMT -5
Thirty years ago today I was working at a job that was conveniently very close to where I lived so I was able to go to my apartment during my lunch hour to eat. That day my brother, who was also a big Beatles fan, was visiting and as I had very limited time before I had to go back to work, I put on 'Double Fantasy' for him to listen and took out my video copy of 'Help!' which I had recently recorded off television for him to watch later. I also showed him the Playboy magazine magazine that featured an extensive interview with John & Yoko. As I was having lunch I was telling how much I enjoyed 'Double Fantasy' and thought he would like it too, and added how pleased I was to see that John was back and hopefully would be touring. Soon I had to go back to work, and since my brother had his own key to the apartment, I told him to enjoy listening the record and watch 'Help!' and we would talk later. I had a habit at the time of having the radio on while I was watching television, so I had my favorite rock station WNEW-FM on while the evening news was on the TV. It was maybe about 10-15 minutes after 11pm when I heard on the radio that someone was shot at the Dakota, and the first thought that sprang into my mind was John Lennon. Later, the reports started coming in of what happened and I was stunned and I called my brother on the phone if he heard the news. He was listening too and said we'll talk later. Then, the dread news came that John was dead. Vin Scelsa on WNEW broke the news and the grief in his voice was overwhelming. I stood in the doorway of my bedroom hearing Scelsa and just started weeping uncontrollably. I called my brother back and I could sense the emotion in his voice too. We began recounting the events earlier in the day during my lunch hour where I was sharing 'Double Fantasy' with my brother and said, "You know, it was like we were spending our last moments with him while he was alive". My brother agreed. The rest of that night I had trouble trying to get to sleep, listening to Vin Scelsa talking to fans on the air about what happened, sharing in their sorrow. The next morning I went to the newstand to pick up the newspaper, dreading what the headlines would say, and sure enough, to quote a certain lyric, I read the news today, oh boy. Years later WNEW-FM had an anniversary show, playing highlights from the stations' history. One of the moments was the Vin Scelsa show the night of December 8th, 1980. I was recording the show and when the tape came to the part of Scelsa announcing Lennon's passing, I was standing in the exact same spot of my bedroom doorway as I had a few years earlier, and began weeping again as I did that horrible night. To this day, I can't listen to that tape without my eyes tearing up. Hard to believe it was only thirty years ago. All these years later, it still hurts. R.I.P. John.
|
|
|
Post by John S. Damm on Dec 8, 2010 14:15:19 GMT -5
Part of my sadness today is that it has been 30 years that John has been gone and we are no longer young ourselves and I think of the people we have lost in our own lives during this period. Being 18 at the time and today being 48 is overwhelming to me.
It would have been very nice, and indeed emotionally helpful, to have had John's (and George's) new music accompanying us through these long years. I think that John still had a lot to give musically in terms of unforgettable songs.
To paraphrase the man himself, John's murder is an event by which we can measure our pain. It is kind of my own B.C./A.D. thing(I am not comparing John to J.C. or anything like that). Everything in this world was different to me after 12/08/1980. It wasn't as fun or innocent and maybe I was too damn naive as I climbed out of bed that Monday morning, December 8, 1980. I felt much older by 11:00 p.m. that night, Central Time.
|
|
|
Post by acebackwords on Dec 8, 2010 15:08:41 GMT -5
Yeah, I remember how ripped off I felt. I had been a huge Beatles fan as a kid. But right when I reached adulthood in 1974, age 17 was when Lennon was retreating from public view. So I remember how excited I was when "Starting Over" hit the airwaves in late 1980. It was like Lennon had returned from the Twilight Zone to lead us on yet another children's crusade. Only to have him gunned down a few weeks later.
|
|
|
Post by coachbk on Dec 8, 2010 15:21:51 GMT -5
I was in my first year of teaching. I didn't watch much TV (just two fuzzy stations) so I didn't get the news until the next morning when my girlfriend (now my wife) who was a senior in college called me. As I got off the phone I noticed the LP on my turntable was DOUBLE FANTASY. It stayed there for about two weeks as all I listened to were the numerous radio tributes. I had one high school friend who was at the college in the town I lived in so I spent most of that week with her and her friends listening to music. My girlfriend was home for break by the time of the vigil and we listened to all the tributes together. Life is good for me today, but I know these past 30 years would have been better with John still alive.
|
|
lowbasso
A Hard Day's Knight
Posts: 2,776
|
Post by lowbasso on Dec 8, 2010 15:42:01 GMT -5
The following was printed in today's New York Times Op-Ed page;
THE TEA MAKER by Yoko Ono
John and I are in our Dakota kitchen in the middle of the night. Three cats - Sasha, Micha, and Charo - are looking up at John, who is making tea for us two. Sasha is all white, Micha is all black. They are both gorgeous, classy Persian cats. Charo, on the other hand, is a mutt. John used to have a special love for Charo. "You've got a funny face, Charo!" he would say, and pat her. "Yoko, Yoko, you're supposed to first put the tea bags in, then the hot water." John took the role of the tea maker, for being English. So I gave up doing it. It was nice to be up in the middle of the night, when there was no sound in the house, and sip the tea John would make. One night, however, John said: "I was talking to Aunt Mimi this afternoon and she says you are supposed to put the hot water in first. Then the tea bag. I could swear she taught me to put the tea bag in first, but..." "So all this time, we were doing it wrong?" "Yeah..." We both cracked up. That was in 1980. Neither of us knew that it was to be the last year of our life together. This would have been the 70th birthday year for John if only he was here. But people are not questioning if he is here or not. They just love him and are keeping him alive with their love. I've received notes from people in all corners of the world letting me know that they were celebrating this year to thank John for having given us so much in his 40 short years on earth. The most important gift we received from him was not words, but deeds. He believed in Truth, and had dared to speak up. We all knew that he upset certain powerful people with it. But that was John. He couldn't have been any other way. If he were here now, I think he would still be shouting the truth. Without the truth, there would be no way to achieve world peace. On this day, the day he was assassinated, what I remember is the night we both cracked up drinking tea. They say teenagers laugh at the drop of a hat. Nowadays I see many teenagers sad and angry with each other. John and I were hardly teenagers. But my memory of us is that we were a couple who laughed.
|
|
lowbasso
A Hard Day's Knight
Posts: 2,776
|
Post by lowbasso on Dec 8, 2010 15:58:30 GMT -5
I was 25 years old in 1980, and in a Motel 6 in Bloomington, Indiana having returned to my college to see my voice teacher for some lessons before heading out on my next opera job. Heard the news from Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football. Didn't get much sleep that night as the radio in the motel room played Beatles music most of the night. But I too, have had a lifetime of making music, opera in my case, and am grateful every day that music is always a part of my life. I've been able to do it for 32 years now. John only got 25 short years to make music. John's music thru The Beatles and his solo work, has sustained me thru many bad moments in my life and many more numerous good moments. It never ceases to bring me out of a funk, cheer me up, and put me back into life with a positive outlook. I can't imagine what my life would be like without John's music in it. I was so fortunate to have lived in the same era as he did. And those of you who have been born after John's passing are so lucky to have his music to experience as well. Thanks John. We miss you. But you are alive in our lives everyday. Cherish those days. As John sang less than 100 days before he died; "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
|
|
|
Post by stavros on Dec 8, 2010 15:59:28 GMT -5
Due to the fact of timezones place us 5 hours or so ahead of NY here in the UK we lost John on the 9th of December 1980 but I think it is now globally accepted as the 8th.
I was but a schoolkid at the time. I was off school with a heavy dose of flu and quite delirious at the time. Around 2:30 in the afternoon I got up feeling a little better to get some water. I eventually switched the TV on. Back in those days we only had 3 channels. There was no such things as satellite or cable TV. So I was paying very little attention to it until suddenly a dull afternoon chatshow ended and Imagine came on to the end credits as the announcer stated it was a tribute to John Lennon who had been killed earlier in the day. I was shocked (and stunned). I couldn't believe what I'd heard and it took until my mother arrived back home about 20 or 30 mins later to convince me it was true. I was probably one of the last people in the country to find out and accept it. One of my heroes had been brutally and callously taken away
It was a strange time as "Double Fantasy" had been eagerly anticipated but was already dropping out of the charts by December in the UK. By 1980 a Beatle's name on a record was no longer guaranteed to produce success, even for Paul, in their homeland.
Everything changed after John's death. There could never be what perhaps we all hoped and wished for ie a proper Beatles re-union. John became a martyr of sorts and his legend lives on. Paul, George & Ringo understandably kept a low profile and played few live tour dates. Never before had a musical icon of modern times been murdered in such brutal fashion. Perhaps the only case we can draw parallels to is JFK's assassination.
I have often thought what might have been. John was like the old John we knew and loved . He sounded full of life on interviews and was talking about touring and although not alluding to a Beatles re-union he seemed rightly proud of his work with the band. There was still a lot more music in him. And beyond that he was also a great character and had a lot of interesting things to say.
I miss the great man to this day and I wish he had come home to Liverpool at least once before that fateful night 30 years ago.
|
|
|
Post by Joe Karlosi on Dec 8, 2010 17:15:53 GMT -5
It seems like only 5 minutes ago when I wrote my feelings on this last year. Is there any way to locate last year's thread? Because it was very hard to write then, and I remember being very precise and detailed, I honestly don't feel like going through it again in full.
Just the short version -- I was 18 at that time, and a rabid Lennon Freak. I was so thrilled that John was back; I'd hoped and dreamt of him recording again. I wanted so much to meet John, and living on Long Island, he was only an hour's train ride away. But at 18 years of age I wasn't yet accustomed to traveling into Manhattan alone, and besides -- I figured there was always plenty of time.
My friend called me around 11pm or so on 12/8/80 while I was getting ready for bed, and we'd heard John was "shot", but we didn't know the extent of it. It was agonizing having to tune in the TV and radio stations, hearing the details bit by bit, until of course we learned the horrifying outcome. I spent weeks afterward trying to sort it out; somehow trying to visualize exactly how it all happened, like a movie. Ironically, it was John's death and visiting the Dakota to pay my respects in the days that followed which finally broke me in to the "NY Traveling" routine. I was there in the crowd at the Vigil.
All I can say about it this year is I cannot believe it is now 30 years ago -- that sounds like such a long time... and it just doesn't feel like it was so long. I am feeling the pain more than ever this year, due to the "30 years" bit.
|
|
diego
Very Clean
Posts: 130
|
Post by diego on Dec 8, 2010 18:32:22 GMT -5
Having been born in 81 I never even shared the world with John Lennon. I can't imagine how shocked and how much it would have affected me. Hell, I know that when Paul, who there's a good chance will die of old age in a much more peaceful way, is sadly no longer with us I'll be devastated. The closest experience I can think of, being a F1 fan, is when Ayrton Senna got killed in the San Marino GP, but Lennon would probably have been much worse.
To quote Elton John, "it's funny how one insect can damage so much grain".
|
|
cosmo
Very Clean
Posts: 264
|
Post by cosmo on Dec 8, 2010 18:38:07 GMT -5
JoeKarlosi, I know how you felt - no round the clock news in those days. I had to sit miserably, apprehensively through the football game to get the late news - or so I thought. Like thousands of others, I heard it from Howard Cosell, his voice branded forever in my memory. "Dead on arrival"? How can John be dead?
It was a bad night.
30 years later, I miss him just as much, mourn never knowing what kind of elder citizen he might have become, mourn never hearing the music he might have given us. I grieve especially for Julian and Sean, and I wonder what kind of men they might have grown up to be with John in their lives.
|
|
|
Post by vectisfabber on Dec 8, 2010 19:37:15 GMT -5
Not my favourite anniversary.
|
|
|
Post by John S. Damm on Dec 8, 2010 22:37:52 GMT -5
It seems like only 5 minutes ago when I wrote my feelings on this last year. Is there any way to locate last year's thread? I couldn't find a Thread like this one on Page 2 of the Lennon Section here but Joe, you started a Thread last year at this time called Unscheduled Visit to Strawberry Fields. You mentioned there your trip to the Dakota in 1980 as well as your 2009 trip. On Steve's first Board, we had several testimonial Threads about 12/08/80 through the years and I remember 2005 was obviously a big year too, being the 25th anniversary. If there was a Thread like this last year it should still be around as Steve would not have deleted it. I have really been comforted by reading everyone's memories of that night. It is reassuring to know others were going through the very same thing. My God, just think if we had these Beatles Message Boards that night. I think it would have been very, very emotional here but also helpful as we all could have supported each other. It would have been very crowded with intense words flying off the screen. The morning after George's death was amazing on Steve's first Board. That was very helpful to me. But man, John's death, by the way it happened, would have caused such intense posting here.
|
|
|
Post by ursamajor on Dec 9, 2010 5:41:43 GMT -5
I saw a documentary called The Day John Lennon Died last night and it traced the events of his last day as much as possible, what he did, who he spoke to, the interviews that were taking place and the first thing that struck me is how much you can do in a day. John and Yoko were busy people.
The second thing that struck was all the great anecdotes from everyone interviewed about John, he was a really cool guy and we seem to miss this as we get alot of books about the dark side of John but not the upbeat, humorous , warm side of John.
Also, Joe Karlosi has a point, John and Yoko were a real team, you could hear John's comments in the studio to Yoko , to the producer etc.. you can't fake this stuff. The pictures of John with Yoko they were so close.
Everyone interviewed cried at the end and so did I, I think all of us who loved John because of his music feel robbed, he definitely had more to give.
The fan photographer , I think his name was Paul Goresh took the last ever photo of John alive as he jumped into the limo to go the Hit Factory and he looked really cool. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Yoko said driving back to the Dakota she wanted to go for a bite to eat but John wanted to see Sean before he went to sleep. She continued that even if they had gone straight to a restaurant it wouldn't have mattered , John would still have been shot.
The ending was really sad, very tragic just a waste of a man's life for no reason. I cannot begin to imagine how bad Yoko has felt all these years without John, all the things they could have done together, Sean and Julian too and us fans were robbed of the thing we loved about John which was his music.
|
|
|
Post by Joe Karlosi on Dec 9, 2010 5:55:48 GMT -5
I saw a documentary called The Day John Lennon Died last night... I really enjoyed your whole post. Very nice and emotional. One thing I wanted to comment on: Thanks for that... especially where you say "you can't fake this stuff". This is all I am saying, when some fans may doubt this and that. I really sometimes think they're not really examining enough of the real evidence -- the actual photos, footage, interviews, etc. Hearing the actual voices of the Lennons, and really getting the tone and emotional vibes that are in no way some kind of phony act.
|
|
|
Post by ursamajor on Dec 9, 2010 8:51:12 GMT -5
I saw a documentary called The Day John Lennon Died last night... I really enjoyed your whole post. Very nice and emotional. One thing I wanted to comment on: Thanks for that... especially where you say "you can't fake this stuff". This is all I am saying, when some fans may doubt this and that. I really sometimes think they're not really examining enough of the real evidence -- the actual photos, footage, interviews, etc. Hearing the actual voices of the Lennons, and really getting the tone and emotional vibes that are in no way some kind of phony act. No worries, I think it's because there's more of the negative stuff out there , Yoko the bitch manipulator etc but if you watch this it's the opposite, Yoko said John was afraid that Yoko would cheat on him etc because she was an artist and artist's are generally more free and casual about things but it turned out that John cheated on her in that incident we all know. There should be more stuff like this out there. They talked about the last recording session and John's last recorded music which was guitar on Walking On Thin Ice and Jack Douglas is playing the tape and you hear John say, that's your first #1 Yoko. There are too many books out there which focus on painting a very negative picture of their relationship but when you watch this you get the complete opposite because you have people talking about them who knew them or worked with them but it's backed up with the photo's or things John said or did. Also, Paul Goresh the fan photographer met MDC on that day as he was hanging around the Dakota trying to get DF signed. MDC told Paul he was from Hawaii and wanted DF signed etc and when Paul asked him where he was staying in New York, MDC got very nasty and aggressive and said to him, "Why do you want to know ?" so Paul told him to get lost and don't talk to him. He also said when John came out , MDC handed him DF to get signed, he did not say one word to John, he just nodded when John spoke to him and did not thank John for signing the album. When he heard that a guy from Hawaii had shot John, he could not believe it and quickly checked his photo's as he thought he had captured the killer on film, which he did. Also the scenes in the hospital, they interviewed the doctor who worked on John and the journalist who was in the same room they brought John in as he was in a bike crash. When you see all this, it's quite eerie because it's almost as though this was meant to happen. I posted John's version of Every Man Has A Woman Who Love Him on my facebook page yesterday because it was my favourite John and Yoko collaboration and it sums up John and Yoko and it sums up every man and woman, there's someone out there for everyone and everyone deserves the best of love.
|
|
|
Post by Joe Karlosi on Dec 9, 2010 17:55:34 GMT -5
No worries, I think it's because there's more of the negative stuff out there , Yoko the bitch manipulator etc but if you watch this it's the opposite, And I've always thought many fans just WANT to dislike Yoko. They want a scapegoat, someone to bash. Maybe someone to vent on for turning John's interest further and further away from The Beatles. Thus, they WANT to believe the negative 'stories'. Yup. "Painting", as in "creating". Yes, and these types of memories and accounts exist many other places as well. If the detractors will allow themselves to accept it. Yes, this story is well known. Or, I should say, at least I've known about it. Paul Goresh was interviewed "live" in a NY studio in a day or so after the murder, and he tells the whole story. This is one of those moments I have on videotape, as I have about 6 hours worth of TV footage in the week of John's death. I would also try to encourage you once more to seek out that Jack Jones book --- it's got every little detail about what happend that fateful day, and all sorts of other things I'd bet you'd be intrigued to discover (I mean, if you don't know them already).
|
|
|
Post by theman on Dec 10, 2010 14:18:01 GMT -5
I was in college, in my bedroom that evening, working on a term paper. The years have made things a little hazy, but I think I heard about the shooting from Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football. However, at that point, I believe that I turned on the radio to listen to Vince Scelsa (maybe) on WNEW-FM in New York. It was listening to WNEW-FM that I heard the announcement of his death (I will never forgot the chill I felt and, of course, the DJs voice was all choked up when he made the announcement). So, unlike many others, I did NOT hear Howard Cosell report the actual death, as I had turned off the game. Interesting side note, but ESPN had a John Lennon "tribute" during "SportsCenter" on Wednesday. They showed the clips from Monday Night Football. I had forgotten that the New England Patriots were playing the Miami Dolphins that night. Huh.
Anyway, back to that night. My sister, 7 years my junior, came running into the room crying when it was announced. Or she may have been reacting in response to a wail that I let out. Can't remember. I think my other two sisters were away at college at the time (they are one and three years younger than me, so they might have been a freshman and junior in college at the time. I was a college senior).
I went to my internship at WLIR-FM on Long Island the next morning. I spent the day helping get as much news info about the shooting into the hands of the news director and newscaster. Amazing how times have changed. I was scouring through newspapers to get information. Ha! A little different than how things would be handled today, isn't it:).
Billy Joel stopped by the station that day. He, of course, looked shaken like the rest of us.
I wound up doing an all-Beatles show on my college radio show that Friday. Believe it or not, our Director of Station Operations, not really a big Beatles fan, did not think we should do anything special about John Lennon's death and thought people were making a too big a deal about it. I, of course, begged to differ and wound up doing the full Beatles show anyway. I think I still have it recorded somewhere on a cassette tape. I should look for it and listen to it again (for the very first time). I think the last song I played on that show was the "Golden Slumbers" medley. It was not a completely somber show though. I remember playing the "Ready Teddy/Rip It Up" medley from Rock-N-Roll too! I'm sure that I played "Watching the Wheels". Can't remember much else, though.
|
|