Some Time in New York City

[caddyman]

When Elvis died in 1977 a lot of people of my acquaintance were devastated. Some said they felt as though they'd lost a close family member. Not me; I thought they were bonkers. I knew they were bonkers with the resolute certainty of my full 18 years.

Three years and some months later, I knew how they felt. I don't understand, even today, how a person can get so attached to someone they only know from the media, but you can.

The morning of 9 December 1980 was the first time I recall hearing news and knowing that it was a 'where were you when' moment. I was 21 and in my final year at college. My alarm radio woke me up, at just after 7am and the station - Beacon Radio - was playing Beatles songs. It was still half an hour before I had to be down for breakfast, so I lay back and enjoyed it. It was only after I realised that they were playing Beatles song after Beatles song interspersed with Lennon solo material, that I began to wonder. Why nothing by Wings, or George (or even, bless him, Ringo)? And then of course the news came on.

I skipped lectures and spent the day in the bar of the Student's Union with Helen and John. We dressed the Christmas tree for the week's social events culminating with the end of term party. And the radio played Beatles songs.



It's not quite the same as when someone you know or related to dies, but it is odd how much our heroes mean to us. I still don't understand why.

Twenty-five years ago today.

Comments

[trav28.livejournal.com]

I remember that day in 1980 so well. Over the last few years we've been lucky enough to visit NYC and have paid my respects on each of those occassions. The world is such a lesser place without him.

today??????

[bluesman.livejournal.com]

Lordy, you're right, Bryan, twenty five years ago today. Your entry has stopped me in my tracks. I wonder if they'll be playing Beatles songs all day on the radio and showing A Hard Day's Night on TV this evening? I may just watch my DVD copy as a mark of respect, and merely because it is bloody great. I may invite my wife to watch with me (she was born in 1972, and knows very little about the Beatles) and urge my stepdaughter to (she thinks they are dull).

I agree with you about E Presley's demise (my sister was gutted, I was a derisive git) vs our reaction to J Lennon's death. I stood stunned in my flat in Chelsea when I heard the morning news on the radio, and remember walking about in a daze all day at work, having been mad keen on the Fab Four when I was a little boy.

Mick Jagger said an interesting thing in a Rolling Stone magazine interview several yrs ago: it's difficult to explain to someone who wasn't around at the time just how huge the Beatles were, and not just musically.

No-one since then has had so much impact. Their innovative, fresh music just sounds tame and old-hat to people now, but it still puts me in a good mood and I remember clearly how I always wondered what they would come up with next, and they never disappointed.

it is odd how much our heroes mean to us. I still don't understand why.
I think I do, Bry. This is going to sound really pretentious, but I think it's because his music was an integral part of the soundtrack to the formative years of our childhood. It was our music, not our parents', and it meant a lot to us. There was something magical about it, about those four chaps themselves, and when some idiot took John Lennon away from us so suddenly and violently, our hero and a little bit of our childhood were yanked away from us.

I was saddened at F Zappa's death a decade ago (whose music I've enjoyed for many years), but not as gobsmacked as I was on the morning of the 9th of Dec 1980. Thank goodness we still have that great, great music, and no steaming sh*thead with a gun will ever take that from us.

[littleonions.livejournal.com]

A secular saint's passing is often marked thus. I liked his wit more than his music,I think I missed the boat on Beetles mania by a few years.

Re: today??????

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I actually remember you telling me about your sister's reaction to Elvis.

I also remember the pair of us being completely baffled by it.

Re: today??????

[bluesman.livejournal.com]

We were baffled indeed. A band, formed by a few boys at our school at the time, wrote and performed a song about Presley's demise, entitled Thank God the Bastard's Dead. I felt that way too, as my sis had been so keen on him and played his music to the exclusion of all else, and not just the excellent stuff he did on the Sun label. She also liked the horrifying shite he perpetrated in all those crap movies. She was almost as upset by my evil appreciation of his demise as she was by the demise itself.

He was not the king of rock'n'roll at all. His best stuff was rockabilly. Little Richard was the king, and his rock'n'roll can still melt your speakers.

Re: today??????

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I have a soft spot for Carl Perkins myself.

Now THAT's Rockabilly.

Re: today??????

[bluesman.livejournal.com]

Correct, your Lordship.

I have a few of his efforts on a cheap 4-CD Sun Records rock'n'roll boxed compilation. I can hear the tasteful riffs George Garrison copied. I prefer the wilder, dafter stuff though, like "Red Hot" and "Flyin' Saucers Rock'n'Roll" by Billy Lee Riley, "Mona Lisa" by Carl Mann (which actually is not wild or daft at all, but sublime) and a couple of items by Sonny Burgess.

I visited the Sun Studio in Memphis in 2001, and it's still a working studio, but it's a tourist spot with a great vibe.