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John Lennon - October 9, 1940 - December 8, 1980


The Poojer

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This is one of those time mark thing that always stops me in my tracks...he has been "only sleeping" for 33 years...he has been sleeping almost as long as he was awake. Not around for the Kennedy assasination...but the murder of Lennon is the closest thing I can relate to, in terms of "do you remember where you were when you heard the news?" I remember, like many, watching MNF...moments before Cosell broke the news to millions, my sister came barrelling out of her bedroom to tell me the news...I didn't believe her at all...I was numb after hearing it from Cosell... I remember delivering my newspapers the next morning, just trying to ignore the headline...like it never happened. News, and speculation were different back then...some seemed absolutely convniced that Lennon's murder was the result of some "drug deal gone bad" or something as ludicrous...I just remember thinking "why the hell would anyone want to murder John Lennon, of all people?"

 

One of my favorite Lennon tracks ever:

 

 

 

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This is one of those time mark thing that always stops me in my tracks...he has been "only sleeping" for 33 years...he has been sleeping almost as long as he was awake. Not around for the Kennedy assasination...but the murder of Lennon is the closest thing I can relate to, in terms of "do you remember where you were when you heard the news?" I remember, like many, watching MNF...moments before Cosell broke the news to millions, my sister came barrelling out of her bedroom to tell me the news...I didn't believe her at all...I was numb after hearing it from Cosell... I remember delivering my newspapers the next morning, just trying to ignore the headline...like it never happened. News, and speculation were different back then...some seemed absolutely convniced that Lennon's murder was the result of some "drug deal gone bad" or something as ludicrous...I just remember thinking "why the hell would anyone want to murder John Lennon, of all people?"

 

 

I was 9 (would turn 10 a month later).

 

Having a brother 6 years older had its benefits. Music was one of them. He introduced me to the Beatles at a very young age. I loved them. Paul was (and remains) my favorite. I was very heavily into Paul's solo/Wings music in 1980. I was not as big of a fan of Lennon's solo stuff, but took a genuine liking to Double Fantasy. I really dug the entire album.

 

The morning of Dec. 9th, my mom (she worked the 11pm-7am shift at the hospital) woke me out of a sound sleep. Mind you ... she was dealing with a 9-year-old boy ... she softly woke me and told me she had terrible news.

 

She told me John Lennon had been assassinated the night before. I cried. I'm tearing up as I write this. He was the closest loss I had ever experienced, even though I'd never met him.

 

I remember cutting the article out of the newspaper, which had a small picture of Lennon accompanying it. I taped it to my wall, right next to my bed.

 

I swear to this day ... that night ... the moonlight coming through the blinds hit his picture perfectly ,,, nothing else. That was a heavy moment for me and continues to move me to this day.

 

More than being the musical genius that he was, he was a good man who battled demons like the rest of us. He didn't pretend to be something or someone he was not. He was flawed. But he loved the earth and all of its people. He was a beautiful human being.

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Loved Lennon. I was only 10 when he died, but I had a sense of how huge it was. I came to love his music more as I got older. It still feels kind of fresh and painful to think about how senselessly and suddently he was taken out.

I was also 10 when he was shot. I guess I never understood why he was killed. Was the guy who shot him just a crazy fan or was there some other motivation for the killing??
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I was also 10 when he was shot. I guess I never understood why he was killed. Was the guy who shot him just a crazy fan or was there some other motivation for the killing??

 

Mark David Chapman was definitely crazy.

 

He had some weird obsession with The Catcher in the Rye and apparently got it in his head that Lennon was one of the "phonies" that Holden Caulfield described, so he decided to kill him. He was also a huge Beatles fan and his obsessions just got all mixed up and turned dark with his extreme mental illness.

 

Incredibly sad and senseless. Another example of how a broken brain can be the most dangerous and terrifying thing.

Edited by Cugalabanza
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He did stuff with Cheap Trick?

 

"Milk & Honey", and if I recall, quite a bit of "Double Fantasy" were recorded with Cheap Trick. They actually did some more rocking versions of some of the songs from those albums that were never officially released...

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Remember it well. I was not a huge fan of the Beatles, but the girl i was dating at the time was. Man, she was just crushed, and i just did not understand why...17 year olds sometime don't get things

 

.I also remember the day Elvis died... being at the home of one of my friends, and when his Mom heard the news she broke down and cried. I thought how strange, crying over someone she never met.

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Remember it well. I was not a huge fan of the Beatles, but the girl i was dating at the time was. Man, she was just crushed, and i just did not understand why...17 year olds sometime don't get things

 

.I also remember the day Elvis died... being at the home of one of my friends, and when his Mom heard the news she broke down and cried. I thought how strange, crying over someone she never met.

 

This was the day after that Rams game we were talking about last week - dancing to Talking Proud on the field

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This is one of those time mark thing that always stops me in my tracks...he has been "only sleeping" for 33 years...he has been sleeping almost as long as he was awake. Not around for the Kennedy assasination...but the murder of Lennon is the closest thing I can relate to, in terms of "do you remember where you were when you heard the news?" I remember, like many, watching MNF...moments before Cosell broke the news to millions, my sister came barrelling out of her bedroom to tell me the news...I didn't believe her at all...I was numb after hearing it from Cosell... I remember delivering my newspapers the next morning, just trying to ignore the headline...like it never happened. News, and speculation were different back then...some seemed absolutely convniced that Lennon's murder was the result of some "drug deal gone bad" or something as ludicrous...I just remember thinking "why the hell would anyone want to murder John Lennon, of all people?"

 

One of my favorite Lennon tracks ever:

 

 

Awesome jam.

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"Milk & Honey", and if I recall, quite a bit of "Double Fantasy" were recorded with Cheap Trick. They actually did some more rocking versions of some of the songs from those albums that were never officially released...

not going to rain on the parade because I appreciate who he was in life but I do not care for him. The guy was way out there. The music of the Beetles is not near the top 50 bands, probably 200. But I do like Cheap Trick and I will have to take a listen. His music writing may be to me what Neal Diamonds is, that he wrote some good songs but I don't like his performances.

 

Either way, RIP

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I'm too young to remember Lennon. Honestly, I couldn't tell you a Lennon song if my life depended on it. But I've spent time with Chapman in my time as an officer. 2nd floor Special Housing Unit in PC. He was in charge of the Law Library there.

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