John Lennon-Gone 30 years Today

[Type3Toys]

Hard to beleive. I was 18 at the time. I went to bed early because I was really tired. I got a call from one of my buddies who said "you gotta put on the radio".
What a sad day it was. In my area, as well as places across the world, a silent prayer survice for John's soul was held. Ours was in Philly at the Art Museum.

[MIB41]

Yeah, I was a sophomore in high school. My mother woke me up earlier than normal for school that morning and all I heard was "Imagine" on the television set as the crowds had gathered outside the Dakota where he lived. It was a surreal day. My eyes still get misty when I think about it. We lost a real treasure that day.

[GAFan]

I realized on his birthday that I had been alive longer than him now. It's sobering to see how much he accomplished with just 40 years.

[david_b]

Yeah, I was a sophomore in high school. My mother woke me up earlier than normal for school that morning and all I heard was "Imagine" on the television set as the crowds had gathered outside the Dakota where he lived. It was a surreal day. My eyes still get misty when I think about it. We lost a real treasure that day.

Virtually identical to my experience.. My step-dad (whom I had a tough relationship with growing up..), wrote me this very nice note from the night before since I had already gone to sleep. I have it to this day.

It was the first day in my life where, I presume like the Kennedy Assassination, time just stood still.

david_b

[megoscott]

I was 11 and remember the Monday night football game that announced it. I didn't really know who John Lennon was, I didn't get into the Beatles until high school when I went into a heavy John Lennon phase thanks to my high school history teacher.

It's a great loss, he's inspiring to as an artist, an activist, a father, and a husband. We could use him in the world today.

[Mikey]

I was 15 at the time.

I heard about it on the news the next morning.

I was already a big Beatles fan at the time so it was a big deal for me.

I really thought (almost hoped) some nut would pop off Chapman within the next few days after it happened.

Was really surprised nobody did.

[huedell]

Guys... I am a huge fan of Lennon, specifically his time in THE BEATLES....
here's a track, not by Lennon, but by a guy named Ed Hamell who I saw
play many times years back... it's a great track ABOUT Lennon, meeting
Lennon, the magical effect it had on the guy's life, and how the guy dealt
with the pain of Lennon's death. Please listen if you have a chance.
RIP John... PEACE!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MJifY6QyTE

[david_b]

Huedell, thanks much for the link..

I went to a Beatlefest in Chicago a few years back, got to talk to photographer Allan Tannenbaum, who shot all those bedroom photos of John and Yoko in '80.. I was at the bar after a whole morning of 'beatlefesting' and I bought him drink when he came over. I figure that was a good way of getting some one-on-one time him asking what the photo shoots were like with them..

Didn't get too many details, but he did provide some nice, off-the-cuff comments on both J & Y.

david_b

[Nostalgiabuff]

truly a tragedy the world still has not gotten over. Imagine what he could have accomplished had he had another 40 years.

[Nostalgiabuff]

I was 8 when it happened but my older brother was a huge fan so I was very familiar with the Beatles and it was big news in our house. I remember it vividly.
I always have said that if Chapman ever gets out of prison he will get bumped off pretty quickly for what he did.

[Cmonster]

Oddly, the thing I remember most about this whole thing (not being much of a fan), was hearing a radio DJ in NY, where I grew up, saying "Too bad it wasn't Yoko instead..."

SC

[SeattleEd]

A thank you to this thread being made. Glad I'm not the only one around here feeling this.

I was 10 when it happened.
Watching some program, not sure what it was, and the news broke in with the announcement. We quickly changed channels and it was on ALL the channels. First time we've ever seen this. Mind you this was in L.A. so there were many channels and even the hispanic channels had it going.
I know I felt sad and didn't really realize at the time what devastation this incident had caused to people.
My dad was attending night school. We went to go pick him up, it was by Sunset and Gower where all the studios are and I've never seen so many out in the street with candles.
We picked up my dad and broke the news to him. At first he didn't believe it and we turned the radio up so he could hear it. The look on his showed how the news impacted him. It was obvious Lennon was his favorite Beatle.
We went home and we went straight to the stereo, pulled out Double Fantasy, The Beatles Red and Blue album and just played them all night long and loud.
My entire youth was spend listening to The Beatles, even on every road trip we took. On my dads side of the family most of his brothers were all musicians and had a lot of Beatles records playing all the time. So it's ingrained in our family and I'm still passing that tradition along to my daughters.
I no longer feel that animosity towards Chapman and actually don't care what happens to him. It's done and just move on.

On another note, there are a couple of other movies that came out about JL.
A made for TV Biopic Lennon Naked and a nice "What If.." fantasy plot called Let Him Be.

I think there are some other made for TV docs out as well.

[david_b]

I watched 'Naked' last week.. It was alright, it did explore some other angles to his relationship with his Dad, Julian, Cynthia and Yoko..

I'm still watching 'Lennon NYC'.., it's much, MUCH better.

david_b

[SeattleEd]

Yes, that was one of the docs" LennoNYC" that came out on PBS American Masters.
Another called "The Day Lennon Died" on the History channel.

[GlobalObserver]

I was 16 years old and a senior in high school. I had only been a Beatles fan for about three years. I didn't hear about it until the next morning when the school bus driver told me. I didn't believe him at first, thinking it was probably just another celebrity death rumor. (It seems like we had those every other day)

When I got to school and saw others discussing it, I realized it was true. A sad day for sure. For all his faults, John created a lot of timeless music. RIP.