John Lennon, Death of a Working Class Hero.

[davyou5]

This is an article I copied from AOL, John Lennon happens to be my most Favorite Recording Artist, some here like him some don't, Still I pay Tribute to one of the Legends of Rock n' Roll. We miss you John!

Every Beatles fan who was old enough to watch the news in 1980 remembers the sickening feeling. The murder of John Lennon took a beloved rock star and willing cultural divining rod from his devoted following. It took a newly maturing 40-year-old man from his wife and two sons.

John Lennon's murder also took an enthusiastic adopted New Yorker from the city he had come to love as his own. That's the approach author Keith Elliot Greenberg took for his new book, 'December 8, 1980: The Day John Lennon Died.'

"I'm not a Beatles scholar, by any means," Greenberg tells Spinner, though he nevertheless does an admirable job of portraying the key moments and relationships in Lennon's life that led to his contented, newly refreshed frame of mind on the eve of his murder. "I am a crime reporter, and a New Yorker. I felt I had the ability to tell the story in true-crime fashion, as well as the passion to convey what life was like in New York in 1980."

David Mcgough, DMI / Time Life Pictures / Getty Images

Drawing on interviews with participants including a responding police officer, former Mayor Ed Koch and a city official who lived in the Dakota apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, where Lennon lived and died, Greenberg examines the circumstances surrounding the last day of the singer's life. While Lennon, Yoko Ono and their young son, Sean, were growing more comfortable by the day with the endless interactions of New Yorkers, Mark David Chapman, a onetime fanatical Lennon follower, was plotting his senseless murder.

"It was most important to me to create context," says Greenberg -- "what New York and John Lennon were like in 1980."

As Lennon and Ono returned to their apartment from an evening recording session, Chapman, who had been lingering on the block for days, emerged from the Dakota's archway to shoot the former Beatle in the back. Though Lennon had been in the habit of addressing his own mortality -- on the day of his murder, he'd told a visiting interviewer that he hoped to die before Yoko -- the author is careful not to read too much into it.

"I think John was always referring to his own mortality," he says, pointing out that Lennon lost several people close to him, including his mother, onetime bandmate Stu Sutcliffe and Beatles manager Brian Epstein, during his short lifetime. "If you looked at a transcript of my conversations, you might say the same thing about me."

John and Yoko's life together, and Yoko's grief over the death of her husband, have been covered extensively, acknowledges the author. "I wanted to work the story along the margins. I wanted to tell the little stories in addition to the big story. To me, they add richness to the bigger tale.

Greenberg, a native New Yorker who who was born in the Bronx, raised in Queens and currently lives with his family in Brooklyn, once worked in television for Geraldo Rivera, a friend of the ex-Beatle and his wife. The author was a teenager in the late '70s, when John and Yoko were celebrated (and sometimes hounded) by the New York media.

"John Lennon made me proud to be a New Yorker," he says. Unlike some public figures, Lennon accepted the city on its own terms. Sadly, that's what killed him.

The fact that Yoko Ono did not flee -- she still lives in the Dakota -- is a tribute to the city's resilience, Greenberg says.

"She has enhanced the city by contributing a million dollars to build Strawberry Fields. She made New York a more beautiful, serene, positive place."

Imagine that.

[modelercarl]

What in the world does this have to do with model cars/trucks?

[Steven Zimmerman]

Many of us listen to music when we build, and a lot of that is 'rock' music. Rock (or rock n roll) and automobiles have been intertwined since the fifties and has played an integral part in many of our lives. John Lennon is a Rock Icon, and I think this post was appropriate here.. By the way,who can forget John Lennon's psychedelic Rolls Royce ?....Rock on,John Lennon

[davyou5]

Many of us listen to music when we build, and a lot of that is 'rock' music. Rock (or rock n roll) and automobiles have been intertwined since the fifties and has played an integral part in many of our lives. John Lennon is a Rock Icon, and I think this post was appropriate here.. By the way,who can forget John Lennon's psychedelic Rolls Royce ?....Rock on,John Lennon

I can't Agree more, I listen to allot of music while building and I am sure many others do to, and is an integral part of it or a great inspiration. I also see allot of posts concerning movies that have nothing to do with MODELING, so I ask you what Movies have to do with it, unless you are building a model based off film.

I wish that there was a Kit made for the Rolls Royce, man I would love to build that car.

[Chuck Most]

Amen! Worth noting also is that today (Dec. 8) marks the anniversary of the death of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, hugely influential guitarist for the metal band Pantera. He is also greatly missed.

If you think about it, too, the similarities between Lennon's and Dime's deaths are downright eerie ...

Both were completely senseless acts. As a fan of The Beatles, John Lennon, Pantera and Damageplan, today isn't a good day.

[Guest Johnny]

What in the world does this have to do with model cars/trucks?

What does your post have to do with this thread?

This is the "General" forum after all! There are lots of things non model related but of interest to others posted here all the time!

I liked some of Lennon's solo work but I can not relate to all of it! Seemed like he was always searching for something but never really quite finding it!

It was a sad day indeed when he was senslessly murdered.

[von Zipper]

What in the world does this have to do with model cars/trucks?

Maybe the Model Car board could take a lesson from John Lennon-Give Peace a chance.......

It's like the hokey pokey-THAT'S what it's all about !!

It does'nt feel like it's been 30 years does it ?

Edited December 9, 2010 by Zipper

[geckoman1220]

i wasn't even alive in 1980, but im a huge beatles fan. it is sad,

george Harrison was always my favorite though

[slantasaurus]

Actually that Rolls was a Bentley.........I have pictures of it, I'll see if I can scan and post those........Oh yeah, he had 2 of them both painted different.

[Craig Irwin]

Nope, Rolls.

3 paint jobs, factory black, repainted white, repainted "colorfully" by The Fool.

[Harry P.]

george Harrison was always my favorite though

Mine too...

What a tragic death his was. He died, like John, waaaay too early.

[Harry P.]

Mark, you've said it perfectly.

To many of us here, models are not our only interest, and music is a large part of our lives. I would change some of the artists Mark listed, but otherwise I can say "ditto" to everything he said. We all have our personal favorites, but music on the whole is a huge part of many of our lives, including mine. And I am a huge Beatles fan, BTW, and have been since I was a little kid hearing those songs for the first time.

If you are old enough to have lived through "Beatlemania" you know what I mean. Those were good times...

[slantasaurus]

Nope, Rolls.

3 paint jobs, factory black, repainted white, repainted "colorfully" by The Fool.

While that was a Rolls, the car that was in the ACD Museum was a Bentley. I can't find my pictures but you can see it here :

http://www.bentleyspotting.com/2009/03/john-lennons-phantom-v.html

[Craig Irwin]

Your link states 1965 rolls Royce Phantom V. It looks to be the same car thoe.

[Harry P.]

He owned a psychedelic Rolls and a Bentley...

http://www.bentleyspotting.com/2009/03/john-lennons-phantom-v.html

[Craig Irwin]

I didn't scroll down far enough, 1958 Bently S1, I didnt know about that one !

[jeffb]

a working class hero is something to be.......

[Craig Irwin]

The Bentley looks like it could be made in 1/25 from the Mincraft Rolls. NOW it's about modeling!

[lordairgtar]

I liked listening to the Beatles, and realize that Lennon was a great artist. However, I think the better anniversary to remember is the one from December 7th.

http://www.ccdemo.info/PearlHarbor/PearlHarborDayRemembered.html

These were the real heroes, not some supposed working class hero.