David Vance SubstackRead More
Yesterday, December 8th, marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination of John Lennon. I remember the news breaking so vividly. It was one of those generational moments.
I was at University back then and I was sitting in the big Student Union canteen with my then girlfriend when the news started to circulate. We were shocked and this was the pre-internet era so it was all TV and Radio broadcasts. How could this happen? What happened?
Lennon had receded as a musical force in the 2nd half of the 1970’s. Shortly before his death he had returned to releasing music with the album Double Fantasy issued in November. That record received modest reviews and I remember not being that interested. There was New Wave music and Lennon was passe!
However Double Fantasy then surged in sales and acclaim immediately after his assassination, becoming closely associated with his final creative period. The single (Just Like) Starting Over shot to Number One as the UK came to terms with the fact we had lost a Beatle. In one of those oddities, it was knocked off the top of the charts for Xmas itself with “There’s no one quite like Grandma”!
Prior to the release of Double Fantasy, Lennon’s last album was 1975 “Rock ‘n’ Roll” covers album. It must have been a tough time for him musically because at this same time Paul McCartney was achieving huge global success with Wings and “Band on the Run”. Lennon stepped away from music for five long years and I often wonder what might he have created had he stayed in the game. Then again, the muse comes and the muse goes!
The death of John Lennon affected me more than that of Elvis Presley in 1977. Lennon had the entire Beatles heritage behind him and to be fair he had released some decent songs when he went solo, most notably “Imagine”.
Lennon added a certain grit to the Beatles and whilst he seemed a troubled soul, it still seems shocking that he was taken from us aged 40.
