....that Howard Cosell, of all people, delivered to me some of the most gut-wrenching news I ever heard. In the middle of a Monday Night Football game, he told me that John Lennon had been shot dead in New York City. My roomates and I spun many Beatles and Lennon records, hoisted quite a few toasts, and I cried myself to sleep that night. The next day, I grabbed my old Alvarez-Yairi 12 string acoustic and joined 25,000 fellow Austinites in Zilker Park for a memorial. Everybody lit candles, sang songs, passed around various consumables, and cried. Rest in peace, John Lennon. 24 years later, you are still sorely missed, by me and many others.
I heard the news (today oh boy) from Howard Cosell also. I was at SHSU at the time. Just 3 days earlier we drove to Houston to see Beatlemania at the Music Hall, an off broadway production of the Beatles through the years. Marshall Crenshaw played Lennon. It was a fantastic show. Anybody else get a chance to see it?
Nope, but I got to meet and talk to Marshall Crenshaw. That was in 1995. Nice guy and very soft spoken.
I remember this too although I was only 7. I didn't quite grasp how big Lennon was because of the Beatles and his solo career, but I did know that he had to be "someone important". The more I think about this, the madder I get on how utterly senseless it was for this loser Chatman (or was it Chapman?) to kill him.
i can see the spot where he died from where i sit typing this. probably walk by it 5 times a week, and i always think about that night. i've actually been in his apartment, seen the white piano...several years ago when i was selling audio I did a survey at Sean's place in the village. He was considering new speakers, among other things, and he pointed to an old pair of JBL studio monitors sitting in a corner. "Man," he said, "Those were my Dad's and I just don't know what to do with them. Think any body'd want them?" uhhh, yeah...
Off topic, basso- it's really funny that you and I are both opera singers living in NY who worked with custom home audio installs. What company are you with? I used to do installs for Innovative Audio, then worked in the showroom for a bit.
I visited the Dakota on a trip to NYC in 1999. Me and my girlfriend at the time just stood outside the side entrance where he was shot, and stared silently for about 10 minutes. The security guy told us people do that every day there. It felt the same as when I was in Dealy Plaza in Dallas.
I'm beginning to think i must've met you at one point. Spent 6 months working for the Dark Lord himself at Sound by Satan, then about 5 years at Harvey. My last gig was managing the Madison Ave. Red Rose Music store, which is a whole other sorry saga...got to meet "Samantha" tho, and I've read quite a bit about the female orgasm. EDIT: forgot to mention I know Elliot pretty well. interesting dude, although i thnk he's had too much therapy! did you work in Brooklyn or Manhattan?
I love the Beatles and it's a shame Lennon was taken before his time. Man, I wasn't even born yet. BTW, is it me, or did it seem like everybody forgot that yesterday was the anniversary of Pearl Harbor? I didn't see anything on TV or the internet pointing it out.
For those of you who get Encore True Stories channel (channel 406 on Time Warner Digital in Houston), they will be showing "Imagine: John Lennon" today at 5:30 PM and again at midnight. If you've never seen this film, and you are into John Lennon, check it out.
I wasn't born either when Lennon was killed, but I will definitely be sad when Paul goes. He was my favorite Beatle. I saw a bit about Pearl Harbor on the news here in Austin, but yes, for the most part, I think it was not widely remembered except for probably Hawaii and military stations.
I wonder if someone really would kill the ******* if he was released. I hope he never is, but I also hope that no one ever would do that - simply because it would keep his name out there. Foolish, I know. Today's media whores would prolly give him a talk show and book deal...
