Comments on: Lennon and Beatles Covers

By: Harry B

Harry B — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 21:18:42 +0000

I was joking about Burchill, but I don’t think she is ultra-reliable in these sorts of accusations. Goldman, too.

My sense, gathered largely from my experiences with family members from that neck of the woods, is that anti-semitism was at least an undercurrent in the Northwest in the era when Lennon was growing up, and it wouldn’t be surprising if working class kids raised there ingested some of that. Its strange hearing the interviews and hearing him use fag and faggy in derogatory ways (rather than “queer” or “bent” which would have been more natural to a Brit then).

By: josh

josh — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 01:24:07 +0000

Julie Burchill’s claim is, I suspect, based not on Lennon’s quip about Jesus, but on reports of anti-semitic remarks on the part of the young (and indeed older, when under the influence of certain substances) Lennon in Albert Goldman’s controversial The Lives of John Lennon. I don’t know if there’s any basis to Goldman’s claims (he also suggested that Lennon was schizophrenic).
There’s also, of course, Lennon’s changing of the line ‘Baby your a rich man too’ to ‘Baby your a rich fag Jew’ in one iteration of that chorus …

By: Jim Buck

Jim Buck — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 19:10:49 +0000

>jim buck almost gets it

I relayed someone else’s recollection; they now concede you are right.

By: Harry B

Harry B — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 16:55:17 +0000

jim buck almost gets it. Having done nothing throughout the show they let the opening credits begin, and played “In My Life”. Touching. But the song fades out so that the final phrase you can here is “some are dead”… a bit shocking, to me anyway. At least, that’s how I remember it. I’d be interested to be corrected.

I think steve is just teasing, no?

As for Julie Burchill’s accusation, well, its probably based on comments Lennon made about the Beatles being bigger that a very famous Jew. At least, I can imagine her drawing that inference.

By: Jim Buck

Jim Buck — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 15:06:15 +0000

>what did NTNOCN

They played Day in the Life over the closing credits.

By: Jim Buck

Jim Buck — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 10:58:29 +0000

Julie Burchill claims Lennon was an antisemite.

By: soubzriquet

soubzriquet — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 00:18:59 +0000

Steve: Leaving aside the obvious fallacy of classifying Lennon as a `professional guitar player’ (shall we say musician or songwriter instead? Whatever suits, but you get the point, I suspect), I can’t believe that you are really that obtuse.

Saying Lennon was `a musician’ is like saying Joe Dimaggio was `a ball player’. True, but completely missing the point.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 13:16:49 +0000

OK I can’t stand the suspense any more: what did NTNOCN do?

By: nick s

nick s — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 20:52:58 +0000

I was seven years old. My mother heard it on Radio 1—courtesy of the old Bush radiogram, with shelves holding a few Beatles LPs—and told me. I always associated the news with early morning, and it never quite clicked until this year that he was killed late the previous evening, NYC time.

By: harry b

harry b — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 18:15:21 +0000

I know most weren’t living near the BBC at the time, and many probably weren’t living. But I want to know if ANYONE remembers.

Apologies to Mark Radcliffe’s fans. I mis-type everything that I don’t misssspell. I am a sub-fan, myself—I like everything he does except his show…

By: IanR

IanR — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 16:02:10 +0000

The Beeb is obsessed with any and all anniversaries, specially with topics to do with war. It’s a laughably transparent scheduling device. Just look up in a retro diary and there you have progamming for up to week. Saves thinking of ways to be fresh and challenging.

By: Wrye

Wrye — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 15:09:32 +0000

Some of us don’t remember what Not The Nine o’clock news did because we weren’t living anywhere that got the BBC at the time.

By: Simstim

Simstim — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 23:57:14 +0000

A very minor point, but it hurts those of us who are a fan of the man, it’s Mark Radcliffe, not Ratcliffe.

By: harry b

harry b — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 20:53:30 +0000

steve, where did say I was moved by the death? I can’t find it in my post.

Well, does anyone remember what Not the Nine O Clock News did? If no-one else tells it in the comments, I’ll come back and add it in a couple of days. Maybe its a false memory, but I’d be very surprised if so.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 20:43:30 +0000

You’ve never been moved by the death of anyone you didn’t know personally? I hope you are 13 years old.

Well, of course. When Jim Brown was running… and dropping the hand grenades in the German bunkers… and the machine gun bullets were getting closer and closer… and suddenly you knew he wasn’t going to make it…WAAAAAAAHHH!
(cut to Meg Ryan, scowling, in her perky way).

Actually, I do remember when Lennon was shot. I was thirteen years old.

Steve