Week of Death – Day 6

The Murder of John Lennon – December 8, 1980

I was barely eight years old the day John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of Lennon’s apartment in New York City. The picture below is of Lennon signing an autograph, the guy in the background is Chapman.



I remember coming home from school for lunch on the 9th and my mom and a couple of her friends were crying at the kitchen table. This was the fist time I had ever heard of John Lennon or The Beatles and recall being wholly unimpressed by either his passing or of my moms fondness for The Fab Four. Mother explained that The Beatles were the biggest band in the world when she was a girl, that she could sing all of their songs, and that she drew hundreds of pictures of them (just like Marge Simpson). Whatever.

Flash forward to high school, The Awkward Years. Some kids adopted the jock mentality, some were Goth, a bunch were stoners, and I can't forget the metal heads. I took a more original approach, I was the lone right-wing Beatles hater at my school. In hindsight this anti-Beatles persona, carefully crafted over time, got me nowhere and eliminated about 95% of the available tail to me in high school. Even today my line "Yoko Ono is the best thing that ever happened to The Beatles" puts hopelessly romantic teenage Beatles fans into a fit of rage.

I'm still not a big fan of The Beatles and remain wholly unimpressed by aura of John Lennon. My Irish bloodlines prevent me from saying anything bad about the dead but I will say this: Lennon would have been right at home as a super celebrity in the "me 80's", the "alternative 90's" and would be riding shotgun on the Environmental Express with Algore if he was with us today. This being said, John Lennon sure as hell didn't deserve to die with four hollow point rounds in his back. Not much of a post, but even the Week of Death is bound to have one slow day. More on Lenin Lennon: BBC Archives and The Official John Lennon Web Site .

Update: Mapmaster sums things up rather well

Week of Death total: 36,339

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the 'Week of Death - Day 7' finale which will be co-posted with a bonafide celebrity blogger.

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 , Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

PS - December 8th also happens to be my best friends birthday, Happy 36th mon ami!