Imagine no possessions…or borders. Nice our boy made it onto a coin and all, but it doesn't look like him to me. More like Queen Victoria. Somewhere, John is looking down and saying, "Couldn't they have made me a little skinnier?"
DEVIN McKINNEY • In case you didn't know, our own Mike Gerber has published a fanciful and fantabulous fantasy novel re: the Beatles, John Lennon, murder, mystery, memory, and the whole mishigas. Here is another plug of support from a fellow co-founder of this blog (cropped above and below to honor the subclause of our bylaws requiring co-founders to maintain facial anonymity as we walk among our subjects). Kudos, Mike, on—as JL often referred to a PM song he particularly liked—a damn good piece of work.
I've been wrong before, but the man doesn't look like Lennon to me, I've never seen any other shots from this shoot, there are no historical markers to check, and the woman's hair seems to hide her face rather too conveniently. Is this really a shot of John kneeling before Yoko? What say you, commentariat? "I'm not worthy!" But then again, I'm a big believer in the awesome power of Photoshop... You call it harassment, I call it guerilla marketing.
Friend Jamie Bryan turned me on to these unedited interviews from the upcoming "American Masters" program, "LENNONYC." I haven't listened to them all, but I just finished this one with Double Fantasy producer Jack Douglas, whom we have featured previously on Dullblog.It's spellbinding, especially beginning at around the 41:00 mark, where Douglas talks about the plans that John and Paul had to perform on Ringo's 1981 album. Douglas believes that would've become a full-fledged Beatles reunion, and given the context he provides, it's difficult to argue. (By the way, the first 4:45 is low-key hype from the people behind the show—pleasant enough, [...]
Poster for "Nowhere Boy," the Lennon biopic, 2010. If you love The Beatles, the idea of a movie based on John Lennon's teenage years is guaranteed to cause mild discomfort, as your leaping heart presses against your rising gorge. (Of course, we all agree that a comedy/mystery based on Lennon's later life is completely OK. By the way, thanks to the hundreds of people who downloaded Life After Death for Beginners yesterday. I hope you all enjoy it.) Faced with Nowhere Boy then, the logical left-brain is definite: "The world does not need John-Julia slash." At the same moment, however, [...]
Because I am still not quite clear on the whole "capitalism" thing, I'll be offering my satirical Beatle noir mystery, Life After Death for Beginners, as a free download this Thursday, September 30. While I'm off watching a preview of "Nowhere Boy" at the Egyptian, you can get three years of my freakin' life in convienent .epub or .mobi format without paying a red cent.The softcover lists for $14.95, and the ebook for $4.99, but not for you, and not this Thursday. To quote the press release: LADFB stars Tom Larkin, an impossibly famous rock icon who dies tragically at the hands [...]
A sort of fan letter. (Above: Ringo's letter from Queen Elizabeth II, 1965, h/t to Kenwood)Folks, just in case it's interesting, I'm pasting a comment I just left over at A Tiny Revolution. As expected, the thread on Lennon/McCartney is interesting, and well worth adding to, if you're so inclined. Enjoy--MGRight on, AndyC. 1000% agree about Paul and Linda's impact on those two issues--especially in the UK--and the observation that the McC's impact has been specific, while Lennon and Ono's impact has been conceptual. I personally prefer the former approach.I'm skeptical of artists as agents of genuine social change (and [...]
The Beatles during their "Mad Day Out," 1968 Shenk's series in Slate provoked this interesting post from my good friend, the progressive pundit Jonathan Schwarz. Check out the comments section, too--I left one, and it's usually very vigorous. BTW, enjoy the thematically appropriate "Mad Day Out" pic.
...of this video for "I'm Steppin' Out," which I just saw a few days ago for the first time...
Lennon and McCartney by David Bailey, 1965. My favorite photo ever of John and Paul, taken by David "Blow Up" Bailey in January 1965. Speaks volumes. In analysis that is almost Dullbloggian in its grain of detail, Joshua Wolf Shenk addresses the Lennon/McCartney collaboration in this multi-part series in Slate. Take a look; if you're reading this blog, you'll really enjoy it. This article--part of a series on famous collaborations--was forwarded to me by my own dear collaborator Jonathan Schwarz. Jon and I wrote a bunch of humor back in the 90s. You can read Jon's own "Yesterday" (or "Help!" [...]