#dave sholin

[tavolgisvist]

All through the taping of 'Starting Over,' I was calling what I was doing 'Elvis Orbison': 'I want you I need only the lonely.' I'm a born-again rocker, I feel that refreshed, and I'm going right back to my roots. It's like Dylan doing Nashville Skyline, except I don't have any Nashville, you know, being from Liverpool. So I go back to the records I know - Elvis and Roy Orbison and Gene Vincent and Jerry Lee Lewis.

(John Lennon, interview with Jonathan Cott, December 5, 1980)

Only the lonely Know the heartaches I've been through Only the lonely Know I cry and cry for you

And maybe tomorrow A new romance No more sorrow But that's the chance…

...I thought I could live without romance Until you came to me But now I know that I will go on Loving you eternally

Won't you please be my own? Never leave me alone 'Cause I die every time we're apart

I want you, I need you, I love you With all my heart...

...Why don't we take off alone? Take a trip somewhere far, far away We'll be together, all alone again Like we used to in the early days Well, well, darlin'

It's been too long since we took the time No-one's to blame, I know time flies so quickly But when I see you darlin' It's like we both are fallin' in love again It'll be just like startin' over (Over) Startin' over (Over) Look out!

By the way, 'Only the Lonely' was included in Roy Orbison setlist during their - Roy Orbison and our lads - UK tour in 1963

December 8th, 1980: John talks to DJ Dave Sholin about his impetus for the song ’(Just Like) Starting Over’, and relates it to the two great (creative) loves of his life.

JOHN: I was saying to somebody the other day, “There’s only two artists I’ve ever worked with for more than a one night stand, as it were. That’s Paul McCartney, and Yoko Ono.” And I think that’s a pretty damned good choice! Because in the history of The Beatles, Paul met me the first day I did ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ live on stage, okay? And a fr– a mutual friend brought him to see my group called The Quarrymen. And we met and we talked after the show, and I saw he had talent, and he was playing guitar backstage, and doing ‘Twenty-Flight Rock’ by Eddie Cochran. And I turned ’round to him right then on our first meeting and said, “Do you want to join the group?” And he said, “Mm-hmm, y’know, mm hm hm hmm…” And I think he said yes the next day, as I recall it. Now George came through Paul, and Ringo came through George, although of course I had a say in where they came from. But the only – the person I actually picked as my partner, who I’d recognised had talent, and I could get on with, was Paul.

Now, twelve or however many years later, I met Yoko, I had the same feeling. It was a different feel, but I had the same feeling. So I think as a talent scout, I’ve done pretty damn well! [laughs]

[mclennonlgbt]

They are so obvious

"To sum it up, Paul is a good songwriter and also he was John's partner before I became John's partner. And as John put it: "The first I picked Paul as a partner and next Yoko. First Paul McCartney and next Yoko Ono", something, I think, he said".

Here is the quote Yoko is referring to:

I was saying to somebody the other day, “There’s only two artists I’ve ever worked with for more than a one night stand, as it were. That’s Paul McCartney, and Yoko Ono.” And I think that’s a pretty damned good choice! […] Now George came through Paul, and Ringo came through George, although of course I had a say in where they came from. But the only – the person I actually picked as my partner, who I’d recognised had talent, and I could get on with, was Paul. Now, twelve or however many years later, I met Yoko, I had the same feeling. It was a different feel, but I had the same feeling. So I think as a talent scout, I’ve done pretty damn well!

— John Lennon, interview w/ Dave Sholin for RKO Radio. (December 8th, 1980)

Source of the video

Source of the quote

[topazthecat]

In His Last Radio Interview John Lennon Said That He Comes From The Macho World Of Pretense, Quoted In The Nation Article Lennon's Last Interview:The Sixties Showed Us The Possibilities

John himself said in his very last radio or any interview,that he came from the macho school of pretense and he said he knows it's more like this in England, but it's like this in America too, that as a boy you were mainly trained to be in the army, and you were taught not to cry,not show emotions,don't touch,don't feel,don't react and John said he thinks that's what screwed us all up and that it's time for a change.

In the great article in The Nation,Lennon's Last Interview:The Sixties Showed Us The Possibility by Jon Wiener, he said in John's last radio interview by Dave Sholin of RKO Radio (and this was hours before John was tragically killed by the one time big Beatles fan since he was 11,and John had been his favorite Beatle) Dave asked John about feminism and John said, ''I'm more feminist now than I was when I sang Woman Is The N**ger Of The World.''

In this article John is then quoted saying,' 'Isn't it time we destroyed the macho ethic? Where has it gotten us all of these thousands of years? Are we still going to have be clubbing each other to death? Do I have to arm-wrestle you to have a relationship with you as another male? Can we not have a relationship on another level?''

Also this great article by long time anti-sexist,anti-men's violence,anti-pornography educator former all star high school football player and author of the great,important 2006 book,The Macho Paradox:How Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help, Jackson Katz.John Lennon on Fatherhood,Feminism,and Phony Tough Guy Posturing

[nine-months-older]

found it! here’s my transcription:

Yoko: And it’s sort of like a tongue-in-cheek, “you’re my fairy”, you know. (laughs) And John would say “Oh, great, great, now I can come out of the closet!”

Interviewer: After all these years.

Yoko: Right. (laughs)

- John and Yoko’s interview with Dave Sholin, December 8th 1980

ok WHERE is that yoko quote about yes im your angel where she makes a joke about the “you’re my fairy” line. i have a need for it.

[ceofjohnlennon]

"But I started to work, and he started seeing a bit less of me. I've let him come to the studio, but it was a bit boring (for him). He was excited, but long story short: at the end of the session that was going on, I'd got on a night schedule where I'd be coming in when he'd be getting up. So he'd see me at breakfast, but I'd be different. I was a sort of shredded... "Aha, O.K." — like that. Then we were sort of lying down on the bed together, maybe watching some cartoon or whatever, and he just sat up and said, "You know what I want to be when I grow up?" And I said, "No, what's that?" He looked me right in the eye: "Just a daddy." (Ono laughs.) I thought, Mmm-hmm. And I said, "You mean you don't like it that I'm working now, right, and going out a lot?" He says, "Right." I said, "Well, I'll tell you something, Sean. It makes me happy to do the music, and I might have more fun with you if I'm happier, right?" And he said, "Mmm-hmm." That was the end of that. I think I was BSing him, but he caught me off guard there because... "just a daddy."

John Lennon for Dave Sholin (December, 1980) about a conversation with his son Sean Ono Lennon when he started to make music again. ㅡ From the book "Lennon On Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon" by Jeff Burger.

[anotherkindofmindpod]

Enjoyed Rob Sheffield's take on Paul and John socially. I wonder if Paul had been killed instead of John, how John would have handled such a loss. Would he have sunk into a deeper darker place? I see John as so insecure as Paul matured and grew. In Get Back, Glyn Johns and others gravitate towards Paul. The full convo in Get Back with the hidden mic has a comment from John saying, "it's like back in Menlove when I said Do you really like me?" So sad that he always so insecure about Paul.

Hello listener, Glad you enjoyed our In My Life episode!

It's extremely difficult for me to imagine the roles being reversed in 1980! On the day John died, he's on tape lovingly referring to Paul as "the person I picked as my partner" and explicitly saying that Paul is the only person who EVER interested him creatively as much as Yoko. He literally referred to every other creative person in this life as a "one night stand" in comparison to Paul. In addition to that, he apparently told Dave Sholin, only hours before he was killed, that he loved Paul and believed they would do anything for each other! No matter what gaslighting bullshit the press pulled on Paul about John's love (and they certainly tried their best to spread hate for decades!), Paul knew what he knew. Contrast the above with Paul's last appearance before Dec 8th, on Good Morning America. The last image anyone would have of McCartney was Dan Hartman reading nasty, embarrassing comments from John. How would THAT have played out in a different world?!? Would John suddenly have the humiliating task of publicly explaining No, Paul really loved me, I'm sure. Would reporters push back, like: Really? Even after HDYS? Doesn't look like he loves you here... Looks like he wishes you'd leave him alone! If the roles were reversed in 1980, John would've been left holding the same bag of crap Paul was left with... Although Paul might've actually left John (and/or researchers) with less concrete information about his feelings and/or their relationship. TBH, I don't really like to think too much about this scenario; it's too sad and dark. Thanks for listening and writing in, though! :)

[no-reply95]

I've seen some claim that the Nov 27, 1980 live interview Paul McCartney gave with Good Morning America (which I believe is the last public comment Paul gave about John before December 8th) seems to contradict that the two had reconciled before John's murder... do you think that's true? I do like that in the interview Paul notes that he's more quiet about John now, so he's clearly long-past the infamous "back-and-forth sniping" of the very early '70s.

Hi @harryhenry1 thanks for the ask :)

Your ask reminds me of a similar ask I read on @amoralto’s blog before I joined Tumblr so I’ll share that post here. The post is really helpful because it adds a timeline of both John and Paul’s interviews from late 1980 which adds valuable context for this time period in their (public) relationship.

I think John’s resentful comments in Playboy would have been hurtful to Paul but, as you say, Paul’s GMA interview was conducted at the end of November 1980, so it’s possible that he and John were able to speak after that interview, unfortunately I don’t think Paul has ever confirmed exactly when he last spoke to John so only he knows how things were left.

I think when Paul says he reconciled with John before he died, he means that he and John had a civil relationship, not close but not hostile either. There are quite a few rumours that both John and Paul had committed to working on Ringo’s upcoming album together, with some reports that they tried to book a studio towards the end of 1980 but, as the studio wasn’t available, the session was pushed back to 1981. Neither Paul or Ringo have ever publicly substantiated these rumours (as far as I’m aware) but if there is some truth to them, it’s highly likely that John and Paul would have been in communication about the upcoming project, which adds a bit more weight to the likelihood that John and Paul had more significantly reconciled.

On the other hand, I don’t think Paul was able to reach the level of reconciliation with John that he wanted. I think there were still underlying tensions that had gone unresolved (highlighted by the Playboy interview) that Paul would have liked to address with John but never got the chance to. Of all the Beatles, it was only John and Paul who never musically collaborated after the breakup, there were near misses, but the stars never quite aligned. Music was at the core of John and Paul’s relationship and was, in so many ways, a second language to them, so I think the thought of musically collaborating again was both a source of fear and longing for them both. Once Lennon-McCartney broke up, there was a limit to how close they could be, because where a partnership of support and trust had once been, now there was only bitter competition and resentment, hardly the ingredients for a close friendship.

It’s a shame that John and Paul weren’t able to fully reconcile before John’s death. Even though that thought is depressing, I think John’s final comments on Paul (from hours before he died) pretty much sums up their relationship and I hope is something that was/is a source of comfort to Paul:

“Well, he’s like a brother. I love him. Families – we certainly have our ups and downs and our quarrels. But at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, I would do anything for him, I think he would do anything for me.”

Dave Sholin, via amoralto

[quacka-quacka]

Can we work it out? John and Paul’s insecurities

People like to discuss John's insecurity, but they usually overlook Paul, the one who usually enters the same vulnerable state.

I believe many people have noticed that fame has been one of Paul's motivations. Paul also said himself that he prefers to be liked. Why does he crave for that so much?  He gave the answer in an interview:

Yeah, I like performing. Yeah, I'm some kind of ham. I don't like just sitting at home twiddling my thumb, you know, or just being in the studio all the time. There's something about the feedback from the live audience. That is very special. You make a record, and in a closet kind of thing. It gets released, you see it go up the charts if you're lucky, but you don't see the whites of anybody's eyes, you just see figures. You see accountants talking to you about how you did. When you get out on tour, there's people, 'Hey, I remember you.' And you know you can see the frist 30 rows and you kind of relate to them. 'Hey, we got in tonight, it looks like a nice-looking couple over there.' And I enjoy that. I mean, it's...I'm that kind of person to get out and...also obviously the applause is something you don't get when you do a record. I think we are all pretty insecure as humans. I think we've all got quite a good dollop of insecurity, you know. I figure if I have, then, you know I've done so much, I shouldn't be insecure at all, so if I've got it, I figure most people got it. I think it can help. A bit of applause can help. You sort of think hey, you know, it's like...it was Sally Fields came on the Oscars, 'You like you love me.' It's that one you know it's...uh, you hope they are like you. We actually do a concert in the applaud, and there you see someone, you see a fully grown man crying, you figure, well, he probably liked it.

— Paul McCartney, interview w/ Bob Costas. (October 1991)

John, who seemed too cynical to give a shit about what anyone else thinks, expressed similar thoughts: He also wanted to be accepted by a group because of his insecurity.

I think that part of us all, including myself, that wants to belong to some group. No, I don't mean the rock group, (but) a group in society, because it makes you feel secure when times hard or there seems to be threat of war or threat of monetary crisis and…the media with help from public and politicians, hype up the end of the world or the end of America, the end of financial empire, whatever it is. And everybody gets insecure, wants to belong to a group, including me. You know, I was always wanted to belong to something, even though I was always wanted to be the rebel in the outside. Part of me always wanted to be a part of it. It's an insecurity.

— John Lennon, interview w/ Dave Sholin and Laurie Kaye. (December 8, 1980)

They both easily seized by the fear of being rejected or unrecognized. Sadly, neither of them managed to handle that.

Many people like to tag John as the one being insane, which is partly true. Why did he become like this? I think it's the consequence of the way he dealt with insecurity - crying out for help.

In post Beatles period of his life, John tended to emphasize the importance of writing real personal feeling in the song, and the song "Help!" is a milestone of him - he wrote about himself rather than fans. As John once admitted, the main point of the song - crying out for help was what he did when he felt insecure.

When 'Help' came out in '65, I was actually crying out for help. Most people think it's just a fast rock 'n roll song. I didn't realize it at the time; I just wrote the song because I was commissioned to write it for the movie. But later, I knew I really was crying out for help. It was my fat Elvis period. You see the movie: He -- I -- is very fat, very insecure, and he's completely lost himself. And I am singing about when I was so much younger and all the rest, looking back at how easy it was. Now I may be very positive... yes, yes... but I also go through deep depressions where I would like to jump out the window, you know. It becomes easier to deal with as I get older; I don't know whether you learn control or, when you grow up, you calm down a little. Anyway, I was fat and depressed and I was crying out for help. In those days, when the Beatles were depressed, we had this little chant. I would yell out, 'Where are we going, fellows?' They would say, 'To the top, Johnny,' in pseudo-American voices. And I would say, 'Where is that, fellows?' And they would say, 'To the toppermost of the poppermost.' It was some dumb expression from a cheap movie, a la 'Blackboard Jungle,' about Liverpool. Johnny was the leader of the gang.

— John Lennon, interview w/ David Sheff for Playboy. (August/September, 1980)

It’s real. The lyric is as good now as it was then. It is no different, and it makes me feel secure to know that I was that aware of myself then. It was just me singing “Help” and I meant it.

— John Lennon, Lennon Remembers

That's how John relieved his insecurity - crying out to let everyone know he's not feeling well. He's more willing to let himself out, show his own vulnerability. But that direct attitude could easily evolve into a strong vent - sometimes even become acerb, which was exactly the opposite of what he wanted, cuz that would scare people away. Also, his eagerness to seek for help might led him to easily believe someone else. (Maharishi, Allen Klein, etc.)

Certainly, John wasn't straightforward all the time. He also had his restriction, which hindered the improvement of his relationship with Paul (Paul had problems too, of course).

If John was too emotional at some times, Paul went to the other extreme - he would hide himself as much as possible, especially when he's going through some crisis, like his mother's death.

Paul was far more affected by Mum’s death than any of us imagined. His very character seemed to change and for a while he behaved like a hermit. He wasn’t very nice to live with at this period, I remember. He became completely wrapped up in himself and didn’t seem to care about anything or anybody outside himself.

— Mike McCartney, Woman: Portrait of Paul. (August 21, 1965)

I doubt Paul's mother's death would change his character completely, but it definitely had a huge impact on him - he became more insecure. Unlike John, he doesn't feel safety enough to expose himself like that. He chose to build a wall around himself - he wouldn't get out, and no one would get in.

As we know, Paul hates to be told what to do, which I would say is very strong-minded. But sometimes he did a bit too much - he seems to be completely live in his own world. I'm not saying Paul refuses to listen to anyone else at any time, but at some time, he even turned deaf to someone who was close to him, like John and Linda.

In Get Back session, there's a moment that John tried to have a heart-to-heart conversation with Paul, but Paul kept changing the subject:

JOHN: Because you... I know that because of the way I am, like when you were at Mendips, like: "do you like me?", or whatever you did, I've always played that one. But this year, it's all happening to you, and you've - you're taking... suddenly, as if - you've said, oh yeah, you know I'm... and then you start... I know what it's like - "I know he used to kick people - I know how he connived with Len, Ivan, and" - you know - fuckin'... all that. So you've taken the five years, because you've... you've taken the five years of trouble this year. You know, so, half of me says, y'know, I'll do anything to save you, to help you, and the other half says, well, serves him fucking right, I've been through fucking shit because of him for five years, and he's only just realized what he was doing to me. So, they both... you know, it is incredible.

PAUL: Yeah. Well, I don't know. The only thing I can see is just sort of... see, I'm just assuming he [George]'s coming back, you know. I'm only assuming he's coming back.

— Get Back Sessions - Lunch Room Tape - January 13, 1969

As for Linda, there are also some worth pondering moments, like the one I posted here. When asked about whether John missed the Beatles after they disbanded,  Linda gave an answer exactly opposite to Paul's: John was desperate to write again and Paul could help him easily. Judging from her frustration, she could do nothing about it. I don't think she wouldn't talk to Paul about that (come on, that's Linda we are talking about, right?), the most likely thing is, Paul refused to accept it. I must say that there are many more complicated reasons prevent Paul from writing with John again, but one thing is clear: Paul would rather rationalize some bad situations by lying to himself than listen to someone else, even Linda.

It reminds me of the way Paul described his family with his mother and father. Paul mentioned several times that his family was so loving that not everyone can match them:

I always thought everyone had loving families, and everyone was nice to each other. And of course later I found that's not true...I thought everyone lived like we did.

— Paul McCartney, McCartney 3,2,1

Did Paul really have a family that much better than so many ordinary families? I won't deny that there were some loving moments there, but something can not be ignored: his father used to bash him, and he seems to take it to heart.

Not surprisingly, when Dad came home and discovered two shivering wet rats who'd been swimming around the banned lime pool at day, he took offence, and we were duly, nudely bashed and sent up to bed with no supper (tails between our legs). Later that evening Dad was passing the bottom of the stairs when he overhead Paul whispering to me, between sniffles, 'And I'm going to dig a big hole (sniff) and fill full of water (sniff) and then I'm going to take him (Dad) up in a plane thousands of feet high (sniff), and push him in.'

— Mike McCartney, Thank U Very Much: Mike McCartney's Family Album (via georgemackeyforever)

If I ever got bashed for being bad, I used to go into their bedroom when they were out and rip the lace curtains at the bottom, just a little bit, then I'd think, that's got them.

— Paul McCartney, The Beatles by Hunter Davies

I hereby declare that I have no intention to accuse Paul's father Jim of being abusive and I have absolutely no intention to apply today's idea to a man from the early 20th century. I just want to talk about the impact of corporal punishment on Paul - despite it's not uncommon in his growth years, he still seems to care. And that may have affected his thoughts of his father. Many Years From Now just used few words to describe Jim's death:

Shortly afterwards, Paul's father, Jim, died of bronchial pneumonia at his home in Gayton in the Wirral on 18 March 1976, at the age of seventy-three. He had been ill for several weeks.

— Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now

That's all. No quotation from Paul, no quotation from others, no nothing. Paul even said something about Mal and Robert Fraser's death, what on earth made him so reluctant to talk about his own father's last years in such an important biography of him? That's weird.

I understand that no family is perfect, Paul's family shouldn't be considered extremely awful just because some domestic violence, let alone that it was pretty normal at that time. But what makes Paul insist that his family was that good 60 years later (McCartney 3,2,1, 2021) when hit your family member is no longer considered a right thing to do?

The thing is, Paul hates to reveal something bad about himself (his family is really an important thing that attached to him), even though he really minds it. Sometimes, from my point of view, he might brainwash himself that everything is ok to escape the main issue but it may not be the case. That's how his insecurity works, which usually interpreted as optimism, but it's not that simple.

[thecoleopterawithana]

[I was about to go to sleep when I was overcome with the urge to do something to celebrate this special day. So, I decided to illustrate one of my favorite accounts of this occasion. With the sun about to rise, here it is. I might colour it later… Enjoy and happy 6th of July!] 

“How did you learn all those chords?” asked John, who was anxious for more knowledge. “Did you have a book?” 

“Nah, I’ve got a friend called Ian James at the Institute. He’s far better than me and he taught me a lot. I could teach you if you like.” 

“Well, could you show me a few? Trouble is that with your guitar strung the other way it’s difficult for me to follow. It would be good if you could draw a few diagrams showing the frets and finger positions.” 

Paul looked at John and could see the hunger to learn in his eyes. He sat them down with a piece of paper and a pencil and drew out some bar chord diagrams for John to follow, making sure that it was for a right-handed guitar player. 

Suddenly it was 7:30. “Sorry chaps but I’ve got to go. Nice meeting you all, perhaps I’ll see you again sometime. Coming Ivy?” With that, he picked up his guitar and the two friends departed on their bicycles. It all happened so suddenly. John was left there trying to follow the diagrams on the scraps of paper that Paul had left strewn across the chair. 

John spent the rest of the evening trying to put into practice the diagrams of chords that Paul had left him, having had to wear his glasses for this exercise at least. He was tucked away from all the surrounding noise in a corner of the hall, away from the ever increasing congregation that had come to hear the George Edwards band. Eventually, Eric Griffiths joined him as he too was keen to learn proper chords. 

“John, you know we’ll have to play the usual banjo chords for tonight’s show.” 

“I know that, Eric,” he snapped as he looked over his spectacles. “I’ve learned more this evening than in all those guitar lessons we went to in Hunt’s Cross. Do you remember what they were like when we first started?” 

[…]

It was 8:30. I could hear people talking about the likelihood of a storm later on that evening. I can remember hoping that it would clear up before my cycle ride back to Wavertree. Up to now, it had been an eventful day but very tiring and as a group, although committed to playing, we all wished that we could pack up and go home. 

All of us apart from John Lennon. 

I think that meeting Paul had whetted his appetite and by the time we went on stage for our session at 8:45 he looked refreshed and seemed to have a new sparkle, as though he had had an injection of renewed optimism and enthusiasm as he played and sang through our usual repertoire that evening. […] 

I went outside for some air and a smoke; John and Pete decided to come with me. We stood outside pulling on our cigarettes, enjoying the breeze that had risen with the oncoming storm. 

“Do you know, John,” remarked Pete as we stood outside, “I’ve never heard you sound as good as you did just then. I know you’re going to say that I’m not very musical but I could hear the difference. I can see that something’s happened to you. Even the skiffle numbers which I know you’re not that keen on sounded good. You seem to have put more effort into them.” 

“Pete’s right, John. I couldn’t help noticing it as well,” I said. John was silent for a few minutes, just enjoying his smoke. 

“I guess someone took the trouble to share what he knew with me and it’s just given me a little encouragement for the future, that’s all.” 

“Oh I see, you’re getting a little sentimental in your old age, aren’t you,” joked Pete, who had never seen his life-long friend in that light before. 

“Don’t be thick, Pete,” replied John, who seemed almost back to his normal abrupt self. “Come on, I need a drink.”

[…]

It was time to pack up our things and go home. John, Pete, and I walked back to Vale Road, Pete helping me carry the tea chest which I was to leave at Ivan’s that night. Fortunately, the storm had abated. 

“Well, what did you think?” asked John, directing the question at both of us. 

“Think of what? Oh, you mean how the day went,” Pete said, knowing all the while that John was referring to Paul McCartney. Pete answered the real question: “I think Paul seems okay, he’s pretty knowledgeable about chords, words, and the like but I got the impression that he was a bit of a show-off. You know, playing the guitar around his back like that.” 

“Well, I didn’t think he was pushy,” John replied. “He was just showing me what he could do, that was all. If that’s being pushy then I’m glad that he was.”    

— Len Garry, John, Paul and Me: Before The Beatles (1997).

I was saying to somebody the other day, “There’s only two artists I’ve ever worked with for more than a one night stand, as it were. That’s Paul McCartney, and Yoko Ono.” And I think that’s a pretty damned good choice! Because in the history of The Beatles, Paul met me the first day I did ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ live on stage, okay? And a fr– a mutual friend brought him to see my group called The Quarrymen. And we met and we talked after the show, and I saw he had talent, and he was playing guitar backstage, and doing ‘Twenty-Flight Rock’ by Eddie Cochran. And I turned ’round to him right then on our first meeting and said, “Do you want to join the group?” And he said, “Mm-hmm, y’know, mm hm hm hmm…” And I think he said yes the next day, as I recall it. Now George came through Paul, and Ringo came through George, although of course I had a say in where they came from. But the only – the person I actually picked as my partner, who I’d recognised had talent, and I could get on with, was Paul.

— John Lennon, interview with DJ Dave Sholin for RKO (8 December 1980).

My memory of meeting John for the first time is very clear. … I can still see John now - checked shirt, slightly curly hair, singing ‘Come Go With Me’ by the Del Vikings. He didn’t know all the words, so he was putting stuff in about penitentiaries - and doing a good job of it. I remember thinking, ‘He looks good - I wouldn’t mind being in a group with him.’ … Then, as you all know, he asked me to join the group, and so we began our trip together. We wrote our first songs together, we grew up together and we lived our lives together. And when we’d do it together, something special would happen. There’d be that little magic spark. I still remember his beery old breath when I first met him here [Woolton church fete] that day. But I soon came to love that beery old breath. And I loved John. I always was and still am a great fan of John’s.

— Paul McCartney, in Bill Harry’s The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia (2003).

[amoralto]

I was only as honest as I could be, then, you see. You can only be as... what you think, you know, as best as you can at the time.

John Lennon, interview with Dave Sholin for RKO. (December 8th, 1980)

[stopandimagineloveforever]

@johnlennonofficial ONE WITH THE JACKET, 1980

'Ah, I’m sorry I’m late. She (Annie Leibovitz) kept sayin’ "One more, one more!" I’d just put on me jacket to leave and she said, "Ooh, can I have one with the jacket?" So we took one with the jacket.'

- John Lennon to interviewer Dave Sholin from RKO at The Dakota, 2:30pm. 8 December 1980.

Photograph by Annie Leibovitz @annie_leibovitz

😥

[topazthecat]

Great 2009 NME Yoko Ono Interview What Rock n Roll Has Taught Me She Found John Crying Reading The 1972 Feminist Book The First Sex This is a great online NME article,What Rock n Roll Has Taught Me with quotes from Yoko Ono, and Yoko says that in the 1970's she and John tried hard to get the 1972 feminist book,The First Sex by Elizabeth Gould Davis about how men unjustly erased women's contributions and inventions etc and Yoko found John crying in their bed one day reading this book, and she asked him why he was crying and he said I'm sorry I didn't know men did this to women. Yoko said this in a youtube documentary movie called, The Day John Lennon died too.   https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/yoko-ono-what-rocknroll-has-taught-me-1188416  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk35hLnNZOU   John himself said in his very last radio or any interview,that he came from the macho school of pretense and he said he knows it's more like this in England, but it's like this in America too, that as a boy you were mainly trained to be in the army, and you were taught not to cry,not show emotions,don't touch,don't feel,don't react and John said he thinks that's what messed us all up and that it's time for a change. In this great article in The Nation,Lennon's Last Interview:The Sixties Showed Us The Possibility by Jon Wiener, he said in John's last radio interview by Dave Sholin of RKO Radio (and this was hours before John was tragically killed by the one time crazy horrible big Beatles fan since he was 11,and John had been his favorite Beatle) Dave asked John about feminism and John said, ''I'm more feminist now than I was when I sang Woman Is The N****r Of The World.'' In his last radio interview John also said that he was intellectually a feminist before,but now he was putting his body where his mouth was.   In this article John is then quoted saying,' 'Isn't it time we destroyed the macho ethic? Where has it gotten us all of these thousands of years? Are we still going to have be clubbing each other to death? Do I have to arm-wrestle you to have a relationship with you as another male? Can we not have a relationship on another level?'' The Day John Lennon Died documentary There was something in the way he moved us. Dec. 8 marks the 34th anniversary of the night the legendary John Lennon was gunned down by Mark David Chapman outside his home in New York City. Lennon was born on Oct. 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England. He would go on to change rock 'n' roll with The Beatles.  https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/lennons-last-interview-sixties-showed-us-possibility/  Also there is a great online Huffington Post 2010 article by long time anti-sexist,anti-men's violence,anti-pornography educator former all star high school football player and author of the great,important 2006 book,The Macho Paradox:How Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help, Jackson Katz.John Lennon on Fatherhood,Feminism,and Phony Tough Guy Posturing https://www.huffpost.com/entry/john-lennon-on-fatherhood_b_800333 John Lennon on Fatherhood, Feminism, and Phony Tough Guy Posturing  HuffPost Entertainment  Musician and artist and long time good John Lennon friend Klaus Voorman says that Yoko Ono made John Lennon a kinder better more gentle person.   http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-37223991 This is a great online NME article,What Rock n Roll Has Taught Me with quotes from Yoko Ono, and Yoko says that in the 1970's she and John tried hard to get the 1972 feminist book,The First Sex by Elizabeth Gould Davis about how men unjustly erased women's contributions and inventions etc and Yoko found John crying in their bed one day reading this book, and she asked him why he was crying and he said I'm sorry I didn't know men did this to women. Yoko said this in a youtube documentary movie called, The Day John Lennon died too.

https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/yoko-ono-what-rocknroll-has-taught-me-1188416

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk35hLnNZOU

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/lennons-last-interview-sixties-showed-us-possibility/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/john-lennon-on-fatherhood_b_800333

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-37223991

[pinkcandycat]

It's a Fine Day (But It Gets Scarier)

"It's a Fine Day" is a song written by English poet and musician Edward Barton. It was originally recorded a cappella in 1983 by Jane, and later by Opus III for whom it was a major international hit in 1992.

Barton wrote the lyrics as a poem when living in the Hulme area of Manchester.[1] It was originally sung unaccompanied by, and credited to, Jane – that is, Jane Lancaster, Barton's girlfriend.[2][3] They recorded and released it independently, and it was played by radio DJ John Peel. It was then heard by Iain McNay of Cherry Red Records, who obtained the rights to the record and released it more widely on his label in 1983.[4] It reached number 5 on the UK Indie Chart, and later appeared, credited to Jane and Barton, on their eponymous mini-album, Jane and Barton. This version of the song appeared on the 2013 indie-pop compilation album, Scared to Get Happy: A Story of Indie-Pop 1980–1989.

Jane's unaccompanied vocal version of the song was given a backing track by A Guy Called Gerald in 1992.

Also in 1992, "It's a Fine Day" was covered by English electronic music group Opus III, whose lead vocalist was Kirsty Hawkshaw. It was their debut and released as the first single from their album, Mind Fruit (1992). The single reached number five in the United Kingdom, and number-one in Greece and on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. In 2010, the song was named the 182nd best track of the 1990s by Pitchfork Media.[6] The two chief differences from Jane's original were that this version was not recorded a cappella but with a full instrumental accompaniment, and that it used only the first verse and chorus of the original song's lyrics.

AllMusic editor MacKenzie Wilson said the song is "melodically enchanting with loopy trance vibes and textured synth waves", noting Kirsty Hawkshaw's "dove-like vocals transcended into freewheeling soundscapes".[7] Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that this "quirky dance act" has made a "near-perfect, radio-friendly ditty", adding that it is "empowered with a potent blend of, ethereal female vocals, a hypnotic hook, and an electro-hip beat."[8] Andy Kastanas from The Charlotte Observer deemed it "a dance-pop tune with "rave" undertones and pretty female vocals that'll make your day better than fine."[9] Marisa Fox from Entertainment Weekly described it as a "bubble-gummy dance track", addeding that "this self-described ambient-techno group lives up to the genre’s esoteric side."[10] Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger called it a "precious lullaby for a sleepless generation."[11] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report said that lead vocalist Hawkshaw "is the only name we know because the producers who put this British dance sensation together can't legally reveal themselves. Supposedly, Kirsty was singing in her garden while this mysterious group was recording the sounds of birds. A likely story. In any case, it was a fortunate meeting that gave life to this hot track."[12]

Alan Jones from Music Week commented that "it's the nearest thing yet to an ambient rave. Watch it chase Kylie and 2 Unlimited up the chart."[13] Andy Beevers from the magazine's RM Dance Update called it "one of the year's most unusual hits."[14] Wendi Cermak from The Network Forty wrote that "the song came about when the boys behind the group were out in the Hertfordshire woods recording bird noises to sample for a new track and stumbled on classically-trained vocalist Kirsty." She added further that "the group approaches their music committed to a pure English vocal crossed with the backdrop of organic dance rhythm. The overall effect is a powerful ambient concept of style and character which can't be ignored. Like nothing else out there, this track is simultaneously spacey and driving, bordering on the current Euro-Rave movement."[15] Danny Scott from Select noted its "surreal ambient House sounds".[16] Mark Frith from Smash Hits stated that it "has become something of a dance anthem."[17]

"It's a Fine Day" went on to become very successful on the charts in Europe, peaking at number-one in Greece. It made it to the Top 10 also in Finland, Ireland, Italy, Spain (number two) and the United Kingdom. In the latter, the single reached number five in its second week on the UK Singles Chart, on February 23, 1992.[18] It spent two weeks at that position. On the UK Dance Singles Chart, it was even more successful, reaching number three. Additionally, "It's a Fine Day" peaked within the Top 20 in Austria, France, Germany and on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it hit number 16. Outside Europe, it peaked at number eight in Israel and soared to the number-one position on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, while reaching number 30 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. In Australia, the single reached the Top 60, peaking at number 54.

The accompanying music video for "It's a Fine Day" was directed by David Betteridge.[19] It first aired in February 1992. The video features Kirsty Hawkshaw with her standout shaved head and bodysuit, performing and dancing against a backdrop of what is supposed to be a fine day.

Sources

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[2]

[3]

[ceofjohnlennon]

Dave Sholin: "In 1975, John Lennon and Yoko were blessed with the child they'd wanted so badly — their son, Sean Ono Lennon."

John Lennon: "He was born on October the ninth, which I was, so we're almost like twins. The funny thing is, if he doesn't see me a few days or if I'm really, really busy and just sort of get a glimpse of him, or if I'm feeling depressed without him even seeing me, he sort of picks up on it, and he starts getting that way. So it's like I can no longer afford to have artistic depressions, which usually produced a miserable song, but it was something I could use. So if I start going really deep, sort of wallowing in a depression so I kind of enjoy it as best I can, he'll start coming down with stuff, so I'm sort of obligated to keep up. But sometimes I can't because something'll make me depressed, and there's no way I can deal with it. And then sure as hell, he'll get a cold or trap his finger in the door or something will happen. So now I have more reason to stay healthy and bright. I can no longer wallow in it and say, "Well, this is how artists are supposed to be, I suppose. Write the blues, you know..."

Dave Sholin: "John told us he didn't want to repeat his macho mistakes of the past. He wanted to be a true father to Sean, an around-the-clock daddy."

John Lennon: "A boy was really programmed to go in the army. That was about it, you know. And you had to be tough, and you're not supposed to cry, and you're not supposed to show emotion. And I know Americans show more emotion and are more open than English people. But it's pretty similar over here. There's that Calvinist, Protestant, Anglo-Saxon ethic, which is don't touch, don't react, don't feel. And I think that's what screwed us all up, and I think it's time for a change."

Dave Sholin: "Lennon obviously realized that he could never be called a typical father; his fame and wealth made that label absurd. But the love in John Lennon's heart for Sean, and the desire that love created to spend as much time as possible with his boy, led to some deep thinking on raising a child."

John Lennon: "I took the time... Any famous star... and I'm not going to name any names, but many of them have had problems with their kids, either killing themselves or in various ways. I don't buy that bit about quality over quantity. You know, like an hour a week of intense rolling in the hay together is better than twenty minutes every day of you being bitchy and just being yourself around him. So I don't try and be the God Almighty kind of figure that never... Is always smiling and just this wonderful father. Nobody knows about children, that's the thing... You look in the books — there's no real experts. Everybody's got a different opinion. You learn by default in a way. I made a lot of mistakes already, but what can you do? I think it's better for him to see me as I am. If I'm grumpy, I'm grumpy. If I'm not, I'm not. If I want to play, I play. If I don't, I don't. I don't. kowtow to him. I’m straight with him as I can be. Yes, I can afford to take the time, but anybody with a working wife might be able to afford to take the time if they've not got a working wife because they're poor and they both have to work. But I know lots of dads who aren't working that hard, who are just sitting in an office all day anyway to avoid life. They're sitting behind desks, and they're doing nothing, just shoveling paper, right, waiting for lunchtime to get a cocktail. But I don't buy that "My career is so important that I'll deal with the kids later" bit, which I already did with my first marriage and my first child. I kind of regret it. My other son by my first marriage is seventeen. I don't remember seeing him as a child. It didn't even enter... Like most guys of twenty-four, twenty-five, they're too intent on their career, really."

John Lennon for Dave Sholin in December, 1980 (Published on December, 14, 1980). ㅡ From the book "Lennon On Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon" by Jeff Burger.