I heard the news that night, oh boy...

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 4:11 pm

I was 31, watching MNF too. I was heartsick for days after. I did have the honor of being one of a few who had their letters about John's murder published in the Rolling Stone that appeared the week after his death -- the one with John & Yoko on the cover. I owe practically my whole way of life to the Beatles. Certainly, I would never have been a bass player had they not come along. I made my living for more than 20 years as a rock musician because of them, and it remains my passion today although I no longer do it for a living. His death was one of many things that made the world a sadder place to live in.

apollo11 · Post by **apollo11** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 4:20 pm

I was a freshman in high school on 12/8/80. I had already gone to bed and was listening to an album through headphones---something I still do every night when going to bed. My brother and our friend had been watching MNF in our family room and came downstairs to tell me the news. None of us could believe it. They had both been big Beatles fans and played a large roll in me becoming a fan some years before the murder. Well, the next day in school there was a noticeable quiet in the halls and rooms---there was a distinct stillness to everybody and everything.

ozover50 · Post by **ozover50** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 5:12 pm

I remember it well. I was 29, and I can vivdly recall how gutted I felt and how angry I was. I broke the glass on the coffee table when I slammed my fist down. No blood...... just tears!

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 5:23 pm

I was 27. A co-worker called me up and at first I didn't believe him (he knew I was a Beatle nut and this guy was not above playing a cruel joke).

I had moved out of NYC 2 years previously (and was very glad I had) but I felt that some how I should be back there, for that short period of time if nothing else.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 6:02 pm

I was 20 at the time. The night it happened I was sick with a nasty flu so I slept right through the news. The next morning I woke to find that the world changed. It took a week or so to recover from the shock. I never really got over it.

ken_swearingen · Post by **ken_swearingen** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 6:08 pm

We all miss him and them,at Our ages the Beatles had and have become an intricate part of our lives growing up.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 6:13 pm

I saw them perform on the Sullivan show when I was 4. My aunts were very excited and huddled around the TV. I knew something special was happening but at the time I just did not understand that I was witnessing history.

kog · Post by **kog** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 6:54 pm

I was 28, living alone in Los Angeles. I'd come home and watched some TV and fallen asleep. A buddy called me from Kentucky and told me. I checked the local channels, saw what news I could. Then I started scanning the radio; my memories today tell me that almost EVERY station I hit was playing something by Lennon or the Beatles. I settled on one station and just sat and listened. I was shocked, sure, numb about it, but felt strangely unemotional.

But then they played "A Day In The Life" and I cried like a baby. I guess that's when it hit.

There are few things in life you remember exactly what you were doing when you experienced them: Kennedy, the Challenger explosion, and Lennon. Oh, yeah -- and the first Sullivan show in 1964.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:10 pm

I was 14, and had been a Beatles fan since I was old enough to understand music. My mom bought me "I want to Hold Your Hand" on 45 and I played it until she got me the next one, soon I had a ton of Beatles 45's and LP's, and just loved them. Had started playing guitar by that time too.

I was at the table eating breakfast, getting ready to go to school, and my Mom had the radio on, listening to the news like she always did, and the announcer came over and said that John had been shot and killed last night outside the Dakota, I dropped my spoon and just froze for a second, like I wanted him to say it again, because it didn't seem real.

As they continued with the details, I sat and listened with stunned silence...then turned to my Mom and said, with tears in my eyes, "I'm not going to school today." and she said, "Of course not."

I got on my bike and rode as fast as I could over to my friend Randy's house. Randy was a drummer and the Beatles were #1 with him also. I pounded on his door, he opened it, crying, he had just heard too. We spent all day together, listening to every Beatles album and drinking Mountain Dew, just thinking and wondering why and talking about our favorite songs. It is a moment frozen in time for me.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:24 pm

Just typing that story took me right back to that moment, and I feel that same sadness, that ache inside.
If anyone wants to see the BBC video report from Dec. 8, 1980, click here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/8/newsid_2536000/2536321.stm

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:38 pm

It is amazing how quickly the pain of that day can come back. The years have done little to distance me from what I felt back then.

gregga41 · Post by **gregga41** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 2:25 am

I was a 20 year-old in the 3rd year of my apprenticeship.Just like Kent said earlier , a co-worker, who knew i was into the Beatles, told me John was dead. I laughed it off, thinking he was having a joke, but immediately turned the radio on in a car i was working on. "A day in the life" was playing....that song still haunts me.
I think i went into shock.
Somehow, i drove home after work,and spent the rest of the afternoon,(it was daytime in Oz) listening to the radio reports and tv news.
I have only cried more when my own father passed away 10 yrs ago.

ricosound · Post by **ricosound** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 5:26 am

Like Greg and Ted, I was 20. I was working for college tuition by delivering newspapers at the time. I found out by picking up a load of newspapers at around 1am. The story was front page and I read it while waiting. I don't know why I hadn't heard it until then, but as I drove around in the middle of the night dropping off papers the late night FM stations were all Beatles and news reports. This is one of the most distinctive memories for me of this period of my life. I was not a huge Beatles fan, but I thought 'what an incredible waste.' Hearing the songs, I broke down several times just thinking of the man and how he had touched so many.

ken_swearingen · Post by **ken_swearingen** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 7:09 am

Ever notice when someone carries out a senseless act as such it always turns out to be some complete looser just like John Wilkes Booth, who have some deranged idea of how the out come will be.

This one complete idiot ,who should have gotten the electric chair who selfishly [just like booth]took a great man from us yet hes allowed to breath the same air. STILL!

steve_hershberger · Post by **steve_hershberger** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 7:13 am

The one that doesn't surprise me is how the man and the music and that news has touched us all in the same ways. No matter what our ages - then or now - there's just something of "universal" coolness going on. Always was and always will be I guess.

The one thing that amazes (but doesn't "surprise") me, is that there's so many younger people who feel the same way. I mean, people who were too young (or born after) to experience John and the Beatles firsthand. And yet, there are a LOT of "kids" who know and feel that importance even now. That gives me encouragement about the future generations. Especially in light of what passes as "music" these days. Indeed, the kids are alright. Some of them, anyway.

My daughter is coming over to hang out in a little while. She wants to jam with me! Said she's got some Lennon songs she wants a bit of help with. So how cool is that?

She's 23 and definitely one of the coolest "kids" I know. So there actually IS hope for the future I guess.

If she wants to turn on the TV later, I think I'll suggest the Ed Sullivan DVD's. I'm sure she wouldn't argue against that idea.