Excursion #1 • John Lennon

Introduction 

September 1, 2020

Welcome to the Pop Time Machine! Thanks for visiting. First, allow us to set the stage for what sets this Blog apart from the others.

This is all about music and pop culture. But with a little different twist. In each entry, the goal will be to assist the reader to sort of time travel; to be transported through and to wander the space-time continuum to another time and place. We are in search of new and interesting moments of pop music and culture. What did it feel like 25 years ago today, or what were music fans experiencing 40 years ago today? It will be fun to find out. 

And instead of employing a silver DeLorean, or a Flux Capacitor, we will rather engage this Blog as our “Pop Time Machine!” No Plutonium required. Please join us for an exciting experience on our next adventure. Leaving right now....

Excursion 1

First Stop: December 8, 1980

I sat spellbound in my seat in the 10th row of the beautiful Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The captivating experience before my eyes was the stage show/ concert/ multimedia extravaganza Beatlemania! It was a Broadway show and tribute band designed to capture the explosive sights and sounds of the 1960s. It accomplished this specifically by using the musical genius of the Fab Four, the Beatles, and 30 of their massive hit songs as the soundtrack for this electric period of history. 

My Pantages experience was in December 1978, ironically 2 years to the night from the moment that Beatlemania would come crashing to a tragic end, Dec. 8, 1980. I got a phone call that evening about 10:00 from a friend, Steve, who simply asked if I had seen the news. I turned on the TV, and realized that John Lennon had just been shot and killed outside of his Central Park apartment in New York. Earlier in the evening, Lennon had autographed a copy of his new album for a fan while leaving his place. Upon returning later that night after a recording session, the same young man, obviously unstable, was waiting with a gun and shot Lennon in the back four times. The whole world stood still with shock at the unthinkable loss of a larger than life pop culture icon. John, Paul, George, and Ringo had been the Apostles of a new generation, transforming not just Top 40 music with the British Invasion they initiated, but virtually spearheading, for better or worse, a pop culture revolution.

And now on this sad December evening, it all seemed to come to an end, and the world would never be the same. At least that’s how it felt on that chilly, depressing Monday night. Imagine we have just been transported to that very moment. You can feel the pain in the air. There are no words with which to capture the sense of disorientation. Just confusion. Crowds have gathered spontaneously in Central Park and in every city, with candles and Beatles records and tears. Any hope of an eventual, perhaps inevitable Beatles reunion was just rendered impossible with those four shots that rang out here tonight across from the park. The infinite possibilities of the 1960s suddenly feel very finite and maybe a little less possible. “All You Need is Love” sang Lennon and a studio full of friends and stars in the Summer of Love, 1967. Is it still true tonight? 

Yet life is still happening and must go on. There is amazing music getting airplay on the radio in this Fall and holiday season of 1980 (see the links below to hear the music). The number 4 song on the Billboard charts for this week is a brand new song by John Lennon called “(Just Like) Starting Over.” He is back, after years of self imposed seclusion and exile. An exciting new album, Double Fantasy, and now a great single. The 80s seem to be off to an exciting start!  It’s been a great music year, culminating with this great new album. But now this...one of pop’s all-time great writers, performers, and musical innovators is gone. 

Well, John’s new single will go on in the days to come to hit Number 1 on the charts. Only 3 other musical artists to this date in 1980 have had records which posthumously reached the No. 1 position: Otis Redding (Dock of the Bay), Janis Joplin (Me and Bobby McGhee), and Jim Croce (Time in a Bottle). But the success of a record is of little comfort on this lonely night. 

Anyway, as with any loss, the pain will ultimately give way to time and healing and distractions. We can’t know it yet, but many changes are on the horizon just months away - a new chapter of pop music with the coming of music videos and something called MTV. Within a year a second British Invasion will be upon the world with music acts like Duran Duran, Dire Straits, Culture Club, Tears for Fears, Genesis, The Human League, Wham!, Spandau Ballet, Bananarama, A Flock of Seagulls, and so many more. An album called Thriller will soon become the best selling album of all time. And the digital revolution will soon suddenly change the world forever. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Those things will have to wait for future adventures. 

For today, we have remembered John Lennon, who has now been gone for 40 years, the same number of years he had on this earth. Next time, we will visit a “moment“ (one hour) that forever changed the pop culture world. 

But for now we must get “back to the future,” and the current realities of life. We will venture out again soon, so I hope you’ll stay tuned. These ventures in the Pop Time Machine can literally be mood altering in this challenging year of 2020. It might be good for your mental health. See you again soon.... 

Enjoy this performance of “Help” from 1965, a Beatles song written and performed by John Lennon: 

This next video is from the Beatles’ famous Rooftop Concert of Jan. 30, 1969. John Lennon on lead vocal performing “Don’t Let Me Down,” a song written by him for Yoko: 

Check out this Playlist of songs from December 13, 1980: 

Here’s the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of Dec. 13, 1980 to help create your own playlist: 

https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1980-12-13

Until next time…