Go Fug Yourself: John and Yoko at Cannes with matching couple shirts

By |2023-04-22T20:00:37-07:00May 13, 2020|Fashion, Film, john and yoko, John Lennon, Movies, Yoko Ono|

The consistently illuminating and funny duo who run the comedy fashion site gofugyourself.com, Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, just posted a photo of John and Yoko at Cannes in 1971 to promote their film Apotheosis. I highly recommend checking out Heather's comment on the photo, and the site as a whole. I'd never heard of this film. Wikipedia summaries it thus: "The film depicts a 17-minute-long journey on a balloon as it ascends and finally rises into the clouds. Lennon and Ono appear at the start of the film dressed in dark cloaks and hoods." I dunno about the cloaks and hoods, but taking [...]

Lennon and…John?

By |2019-10-17T14:22:53-07:00October 17, 2019|John Lennon|

I don't know about you, but this always felt like a real friendship to me. Commenter @Hologram Sam dropped this into a comment thread but I thought it was worth making into a post. In Elton John's new autobiography, Me, he tells of a meeting he had with Yoko Ono in the early 80s (had to be some time before January 1984, for reasons you'll see in a second). If you're reading this site, you know that Elton John and John Lennon were good friends, and Elton was apparently one of the few people John socialized with during the Dakota years. Unlike [...]

Where would John Lennon have moved?

By |2020-02-27T21:21:55-08:00October 10, 2019|John Lennon|

This morning I had a stray thought: what would John Lennon have done if he'd survived? Where would he have gone? Now don't get too excited: I was all set to write a big long thinky post about this, but today has been nothing but furious fingers typing typing typing, so I will keep it short, and let the commentariat do the opining for me. In Life After Death for Beginners, my novel about a Lennon-like character who survives an assassination and has to find out who shot him and why, I put the main character here in Santa Monica. I am [...]

Happy Birthday John Lennon, wherever you are!

By |2019-10-09T19:14:35-07:00October 9, 2019|John Lennon|

Lennon with a "UFO Detector," 1965. Photo by Brian Duffy. October 9th is, as every Beatle fan knows, John Lennon's birthday. I am sure he is celebrating along with us, probably on some distant planet. ("Dear People of Earth, all I want for my birthday is an impeachment. You know who.") An old family friend sent me a link to an article: "Five Things You Didn't Know About John Lennon." I knew them, and you would too, so I'm not linking to it. But that led me to another site about Lennon's famous 1974 UFO encounter (which we talked about here). John's [...]

Stephen Kroninger Draws John Lennon

By |2020-09-10T11:17:22-07:00October 5, 2019|Art, John Lennon|

Master illustrator Stephen Kroninger has contributed this portrait of John Lennon to Bystander #13. I thought you might like to see it. (Yes, it's illustrating a column of mine. Naturally.) John Lennon, by Stephen Kroninger, from The American Bystander #13. In addition to being a serious Beatles/Lennon fan, Stephen's a genius. He's done a couple of great illustrations of the Fabs, early and late.  

Lennon and McCartney’s “lost reunion,” by David Gambacorta

By |2019-06-25T11:11:23-07:00June 25, 2019|1974, Beatles in LA, bootlegs, Breakup, Chris Carter/Breakfast With the Beatles, Harry NIlsson, John and Paul, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Uncategorized, Unreleased/Outtakes|

Posted at the excellent aggregator and original writing site Longreads is David Gambacorta's exploration of the 1974 California jam session John Lennon and Paul McCartney engaged in -- the last time they would play together. Most Beatles fans will be familiar with the history Gambacorta recounts, but it's nice to see it laid out succinctly. Gambacorta does turn up a few facts that were, at least, new to me: for example, it's not clear what happened to the master tapes made that night. And the piece is well worth reading for the recent comments Gambacorta got from several people, including Elliot Mintz, [...]

Above Us Only Sky: New “Imagine” Documentary

By |2020-09-10T11:20:33-07:00May 13, 2019|john and yoko, John Lennon, Julian Lennon, Movies, solo, Yoko Ono|

"Imagine" is already the most well-examined John Lennon album, but the new A&E documentary Above Us Only Sky is well worth watching. Here's the network's description: "This special traces the untold story of the making of John Lennon's 1971 album "Imagine." Utilizing never-before-seen footage of Lennon and Ono from their private archive, the special delves into the depth of the creative collaboration between the couple and explores how the art, politics and music of the pair are intrinsically entwined. Features interviews with the people who witnessed the period first hand including Yoko Ono, Julian Lennon, David Bailey (photographer), John Dunbar (Gallerist who [...]

Interview with Jay Goeppner of the the Beatle Brothers

By |2021-07-23T07:28:33-07:00August 28, 2017|Beatle-inspired, concert, Covers, Covers, Interviews, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, The Fest for Beatles Fans|

Chicago-based singer Jay Goeppner pours his fervent love for the music of the Beatles, and John Lennon, into every performance. His voice, and his energy onstage, are almost eerily similar to Lennon's. I've seen several of his Beatle Brothers shows, and can testify that the only time I've gotten a stronger Beatles vibe was at Paul McCartney's concerts, since rock and metal concerts have always been my favorites and I even look for metal concerts near me every time I can. I caught up with Jay by phone recently, as he was returning from a last-minute road trip to fill in for [...]

Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles”

By |2017-01-06T05:50:32-08:00January 6, 2017|21st century references, Beatle-inspired, John Lennon, Other bands, Paul McCartney|

Please welcome back guest Dullblogger J.R. Clark, who sent in these thoughts on the hit song and video "Black Beatles." If you're not a fan of contemporary hip-hop music or the Mannequin Challenge, you may be unaware of “Black Beatles,” the recent Billboard Hot 100 number-one single by brothers Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi, the duo known collectively as Rae Sremmurd (Ear Drummers spelled backward).  The song name checks John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and although it does not musically resemble a Beatles song, there are sly lyrical references to the song “Day Tripper.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8m9zhNAgKs In October 2016, “Black Beatles” became the [...]

Interview with Chip Madinger, coauthor of Lennonology: Strange Days Indeed

By |2022-08-25T17:24:20-07:00June 6, 2016|books, Interviews, john and yoko, John Lennon, Lennon family, Yoko Ono|

In this conversation with Hey Dullblog, Chip Madinger talks about the genesis, process, and future of the ambitious Lennonology project he has undertaken with coauthor Scott Raile. Thanks to Chip for answering our questions, and to Mary Klein, who recently reviewed Lennonology: Strange Days Indeed for HD and helped write the questions. You can learn more about the book, and purchase it, at www.lennonology.com. HD: How did you determine what information to include about the other Beatles' activities? CM: As time is such a rigid constant, a day-by-day format seemed the ideal way to present the Lennons' history. The narrative in Strange [...]

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