Where Were You on December 8th?

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:26 pm

I'm pretty sure Ringo didn't work the next day. Because so much of what happened is so memorable, I remember there was footage of him trying to get past the fans at the Dakota on his way to see Yoko. Apparently some of the others had said that they talked to him and he said they should stay away. It was already too much of a riot.

lyle_from_minneapolis · Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:58 pm

That was also mentioned in that interview with Paul, that Ringo did visit...Also something about Yoko saying she wasn't interested in being the Widow of the Year. Ouch!

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:15 pm

Oddly enough, in spite of being a big Beatle fan, I can't for sure say where I heard the news and what I was doing. At that time I was working part-time at a sporting goods store and working on my M.S.degree, so I might have been at home, at work, or at school. I really don't know why his death didn't register more strongly in me at the time.

drathbun · Post by **drathbun** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:09 pm

I was at a friend's place watching MNF. Well, he was watching MNF and I was reading the John Lennon interview in Playboy. I had already purchased Double Fantasy and was really interested in his return to recording again. I looked up from the magazine and saw the screen crawl that he had been shot.

fireglo · Post by **fireglo** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:29 am

I can remember the first time that I heard "Starting Over", but I can't remember hearing the news Lennon had been shot. I remember liking the song as soon as I heard it. I didn't realize it was John at first.

Being bad news, I guess I blocked that out of my memory

jdogric12 · Post by **jdogric12** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:14 pm

After reading this thread the other day, I went to a local Italian restaurant, drank some wine, and drove home half drunk (more like 1/8 drunk) singing along to "Just Like Starting Over" like there was no tomorrow, because for John, sadly, there wasn't. People in other cars must have had a good show.

Editor's note: I said 1/8 which means 1.5 glasses of wine. I strongly and actively condemn drinking and driving. Lost a friend to that stupid ****. So don't get the wrong idea, please.

lyle_from_minneapolis · Fri Dec 08, 2006 6:13 am

Best wishes to all on this thread today. I frickin hate this day. All the deaths I carry, from friends to family, all seem to wrap their memories up into this nasty anniversary, and I'm in a bad mood. Too bad for anyone who shows up late here at the restaurant.

A toast to John Winston Ono Lennon.

freshmattyp · Post by **freshmattyp** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 10:49 am

I was on a ladder, hanging garland in the family room when they broke in on the radio with the news. I had only been a Beatle fanatic for about 6 months, and had bought my copy of "Double Fantasy" the week before. My mom and I spoke at length that night about her memories of Beatlemania. My dad, well, let's just say he preferred folk music.

I remember one of my teachers commenting the next day that she was not the least bit upset, having never forgiven him for the "bigger than Christ" comment. Different strokes.

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:51 pm

It seems to me more people are writing thoughts about it this year than last, which was a big anniversary, 25 yrs. There were thousands of people in Central Park last year.

stubby · Post by **stubby** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 8:54 pm

In 1980, I was 12 and I remember being a little freaked out at how "big" all the news was. I knew the Beatles, a little, but I was just starting to really get to know them. I had just ordered my very first two albums ever, through Columbia House a week or two before. They were the two greatest hits albums - the Red and the Blue as we called them. My sister and I argued over whether we should get just one and go for Bob Seeger's Against the Wind or spring for all three (we ended up going with the two Beatles albums).

The night of Dec. 8, a friend and I stayed up well past what we were supposed to and listened to 97 Rock, a station out of Buffalo. That night, I heard the White Album for my very first time as we both lay there in the darkness, not really appreciating what had just happened but really soaking in what continues to be my favourite Beatles Album (music shaped by the situation in which you first heard it? I dont'know). Like how certain smells conjure up very specific memories, I still get the same feeling whenever I hear that riff at the beginning of Bungalow Bill, the punchy guitar in Glass Onion, or the sweet acoustic in Dear Prudence. No other album in all of music sticks out for me with such specific memories as does the White Album and I can only think it was shaped by that fateful night, laying in the dark thinking about how different this was from Eight Days a Week, Eleanor Rigby, Penny Lane (which I thought was "And Elaine is in my heart...") and Old Brown Shoe and all the other stuff I knew then..

Now, 26 years later, I'm preparing for a Christmas concert that I'll be doing with the grade 5 class I teach. I teach in a class that has about 2 dozen kids and as many languages (this year I have 17 languages spoken by my students). There are students that celebrate Ramadan, Christmas, Dwali, and Hannukah. We are learning Lennon's Happy Christmas (War is Over) and I have to say, in my present situation, it's Lennon's global messages that seem the most timeless. All the kids know the song, though only a few know who John Lennon actually was,and although we've sang it a dozen times so far in preparation, it sends shivers up my spine every time I hear it. It seems like some Instant Karma happening every time we sing because there are Arab kids and Iranian kids and Hungarian kids, and Russian kids and Korean kids and Canadian kids, etc. singing this tune and they are really singing it, from their hearts-brows furrowed, voices concentrating in ways I never see them do in math or science. It is truly moving. For us to be learning this song at this time -in preparation for, or on the tail of all the holidays, at this terrible Dec. 8 anniversary, in such a terrific multi-cultural context - somehow brings me back to that night I spent with one friend so many years ago. I feel that it brings me into touch with the spirit of JWL and brings a continuity with all he was striving for.

lyle_from_minneapolis · Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:52 am

Thanks, Bill. What an awesome post.

rickboy88 · Post by **rickboy88** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 7:38 pm

I was trying to study in my room at my parent's house for the electronics tech school I was attending at the time in NW Indiana (I was just 18 then) and I remember Bill Kurtis coming on local Chicago TV (channel 2) with the announcement. I immediately called my friend and fellow Beatle nut in Ft. Wayne, Indiana (attending his elec. tech school). At first he thought I was kidding, then he saw a news report seconds later. Yep, I remember everything.