Posted on 12/08/2010 6:53:25 PM PST by SamAdams76
Not exactly in the league of Pearl Harbor and 9/11, or even the JFK assassination, but for those who are old enough to remember, it was a pretty big deal when John Lennon was assassinated in New York City exactly 30 years ago today, on December 8, 1980.
So I thought I'd put a post out there to see if anybody has any thoughts from that day, how they learned about it and how they felt about John Lennon and his music at the time and more importantly, how they feel about him today now that we have had 30 years to get older and wiser.
Not all Freepers were smart enough to be conservative their entire adult lives and I have no problem stating that I am one of those who started my adult life ignorant, stupid...and liberal to the core.
Not that it was all my fault. I was born and raised in Massachusetts just a few miles from JFK's birthplace in Brookline. Therefore I was raised to believe that Republicans were evil and if you didn't have the obligatory portrait of JFK hanging on your living room wall (usually over the fireplace), you were suspect.
Well anyway, I remember very clearly what I was doing on December 8, 1980 as it was a time of great transition for me and my conversion to a rock-solid conservative was just beginning to take root (but would still take several more years to complete).
I was 18 years old and working as a dishwasher at a local restaurant. I had graduated high school the previous spring and had enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. However, I delayed my entry into boot camp so that I could have some "partying" time now that I was finally out of school. My report date to Parris Island was still over two months away (February 10, 1981).
The night of December 8th, I was watching Monday Night Football as my New England Patriots were playing the Miami Dolphins. Now this was way before Bill Belichick and Tom Brady and so the New England teams were typically awful during that era, but this particular year, they had a winning record and were still in contention for the playoffs at the time of this game.
Late in the game, Howard Cosell made the announcement about John Lennon. I will never forget the shivers that ran up my spine as he told about how he was shot, rushed to the hospital and then pronounced dead-on-arrival in his characteristic deadpan style.
I immediately forgot about the game (Pats ended up losing anyhow), turned off the TV and turned on my radio, which already was playing nothing but Beatles and Lennon records up and down the dial. Remember that this was before 24-hr cable news stations so the only way to get breaking news was to turn on your radio.
Now I was too young to remember The Beatles when they were still together and in their prime but as I came of age in the 1970s, you couldn't escape being exposed to their music, which was still in heavy rotation on most rock stations. So I was a big fan of their music and always harbored hope that they would get back together again as a group now that I was old enough to appreciate it.
Obviously the assassination dashed that dream forever and over the next few days, I listened to tribute after tribute come over the radio. Almost every rock station out of Boston pretty much dedicated the next several days to nothing but Beatles/Lennon music, tributes and documentaries. It was almost a full week before they went back to regular programming.
Looking back at those times 30 years later, it is almost like I was a different person in a totally different life. Having gained three decades of maturity and wisdom, I wonder what I ever saw in John Lennon and how I could have been so stupid to think he was some kind of saint or messiah.
Before writing this post, I looked at some of his 1970s era interviews on YouTube and he comes across to me now as a long-haired doper without a clue, unable to speak even a coherent sentence. Well, not too unlike many of our entertainers today, that think their stardom gives them special insight on how the world should be run (and with whom our young people put so much stock in).
I also find Yoko Ono even more despicable. During most of those post-Beatle years, she was always pretty much up his butt, controlling his entire life. What he saw in that woman, I'll never know. During my YouTube session, I saw video of her (and John) standing proudly next to a poster that accused the United States of having committed Holocaust on a scale worse than Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia (in Vietnam). Now that is pure evil right there.
As anti-American as John Lennon was in those days, he certainly had no desire to leave our country and in fact, fought for years to stay here despite efforts by our immigration department to deport him. And despite all the phoney-baloney lyrics that made him such a liberal icon (such as "Imagine"), he lived in the most exclusive area of New York and traveled by limousine and private jet.
Yet 30 years ago, John Lennon was a hero to me and here, on the 30th anniversary of his death, I find it hard to reconcile the person I am today with the person I was 30 years ago.
As I mentioned earlier in this post, my conversion to conservatism was just starting to take root in December of 1980. Ronald Reagan had just been elected president and while I cast my vote for John Anderson that year (the first election I was old enough to vote), I was secretly glad that Reagan won instead of Carter, but still did not have the self-confidence to say so to my friends and family. I was just a few months away from becoming a US Marine, which would accelerate my political conversion all the more.
In closing, while I now despise the man John Lennon was and especially what he represented, I am still sad that he died at the hands of a demented assassin. He certainly did not deserve to go out that way. On the other hand, he also did not merit being the martyr that people made him out to be post-assassination.
December 1980 was definitely a turning point in my life and this anniversary definitely brought back some memories...
“Thank heavens we didn’t have 24/7 cable news back then or it would have been worse than the Michael Jackson thing.”
All thanks to the merger of the news and entertainment industries.
“How does the saying go...”If you’re younger than thirty and not a Democrat, you don’t have a heart. If you’re over thirty and are not a Republican (conservative) you don’t have a head.” I think most of us go through the transformation you did. I did. Reagan, who was originally a Democrat, certainly did.”
Heck, Frank Sinatra went Republican after the hippies took over the Democrat Party.
“I totally agree but in fairness, there are not too many people left who have first-hand recollections of Pearl Harbor Day.”
My paternal grandfather is in his 80s and he remembers when John Dillinger was killed. I thought about that when I heard that George Tiller had been shot.
Similar situation in a lot of ways, except that Dillinger killed far fewer people...
It’s borderline then. Calling it an “assassination” ennobles the victim and by extension our experience of the event, which I think is over the top. By that time, Lennon was a hasbeen, pop mediocrity, much like his former partner, while, surprisingly, both George and Ringo showed some talent and staying partner, even if the results weren’t anything much to write home about.
“It was just another crappy, gray, cold, otherwise completely forgettable December evening.”
Compare that to when Michael Jackson was acquitted and when he died, both sunny, hot, and humid June days.
Six years ago.
RIP Dimebag.
I remember where I was when JFK dies, when RFK died, when Otis Redding died, and I don’t remember anything about this guy Lenin. Whatever!
and Bruce Woodley from the Seekers.
Regarding John Lennon being shot, I had just come home from Mass (feast day of the Immaculate Conception) and learned the news from Howard Cossell when we turned on the game.
Admitted Beatles fan, at least the music, but had issues with them with regards to their conduct in life. Lennon more so than the others. Especially how he seemingly neglected his first son Julian. There are and have been, in this respect, much worse artists around than them.
“He left Britain due to its socialism and loved the U.S”
I don’t blame him for not wanting to live in the UK of the 1970s with massive taxes and unions striking every five minutes. A lot of musicians at that time recorded in France for tax reasons. And Lennon had been trying around his death to become a US citizen.
One of the more interesting stories I read about JL was about an October 1980 interview he did with Playboy, which was one of his last. He said that he didn’t understand the continued fascination with the Beatles and their music, because as far as he was concerned, that was all part of the past and he’d moved on from it.
“It’s borderline then. Calling it an “assassination” ennobles the victim and by extension our experience of the event, which I think is over the top.”
I dunno, but the way Lennon died was pretty horrible. He was shot with hollow-point bullets, which more-or-less explode on impact. His aorta was literally blown apart and no amount of medical attention could have saved him. In fact, hollow-point bullets are so nasty that the military doesn’t even use them. They’re not unlike the Minie balls of the Civil War, which also ripped bones and tissues apart.
That wasn’t so bad, these are;
Q: What’s yellow, ugly, and sleeps alone?
A: Yoko Ono.
Q: What does Yoko Ono have in common with the Somalians?
A: They both live off of dead beetles ( Beatles ).
I was watching the Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder when the announcement came on that Lennon was shot. It was a work night but I don’t think I slept at all, at least it was very late when I did and very little sleep. I was a huge Beatles fan and at the time, Lennon was my favorite.
It wasn’t too many days before that I first heard his new single play on the radio. I was quite late and I was out delivering the UPS Christmas rush in a small town. It was a cold, still and very beautiful starlit night and all the houses in town were lit up for Christmas. Starting Over came on and I thought, that sounds just like John Lennon. I was excited when I heard he had just released a new album. Then that night came when he was shot and ended what I thought would be a nice comeback. Still makes me sad.
Nice post.
The Cyrkle also had a hit with Turn Down Day. It is reported that John Lennon suggested the spelling The Cyrkle. They were Brian Epstein’s first signing here in the states.
Our Sgt., Sgt. Rock, yeah, E-7 Sgt Rock, just like outta the comic book, came out to formation and told us that Lennon was Dead--"Good", he said, "They got the bastard."
While I was not a fan of his latest album release at the time, I thought that it was a shame he was gunned down. Who knows what new music he would create? Who knows if he would have changed his opinions on issues?
Remember when we found out that Mr. Dylan himself was NOT a hippie type? Rather conservative for a member of the rock and roll family.
It was a sad day then and today, because the musicians and artists in our culture should not be gunned down--They should either be celebrated, or ignored, not gunned down in cold blood.
“Trust me, they have hearts and are pretty compassionate people for their age. . .”
Same with my kids. They have kind of skipped to q late 20’s maturity level while still teens!
And they have jobs and see taxes taken out of their paychecks!!
I regret the harsh words I used to describe Lennon. It’s how I feel about what the liberals do and stand for. But these are people Jesus died for and loves and it’s good to remember, “But for the grace of God go I.” It’s so easy to judge and condemn people, but I don’t want to do that. Everybody has a story. I’m sure Lennon did to. Better to say that he was misguided and drugs and the drug culture didn’t help. No, I didn’t like the negative influence he had on some people, but, again, it’s good to remember that I’m no better than him, that I also sometimes influence people negatively, and but for God’s grace I’d be there or worse.
I think it was John Lenin.
Loved his music hated his politics. Life ain’t perfect.
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