Ummm … happy Friday?
Yeah, it’s been a weird, awful week, regardless of your stance on the issues. Before devoting any further space to bottomless debates here (while this post continues that descent), I spotted something that spoke to an earlier series of posts that I figured was worth passing on.
You might remember a few posts from a while ago (see links at bottom of his entry) wherein I ruminated on what John Lennon loved so much about living in New York City. I mean, yeah, what’s not to love about living in the palatial Dakota, etc.? I was more curious as to whether he had a favorite pizzeria, a favorite book store, a favorite dive bar, etc. On later posts, I wondered aloud if he’d ever gone to any of the clubs of the day to check out new music. Where did John go if/when he stepped out?
Two later posts addressed these concerns. One found the former Beatle allegedly darkening the doors of the Mudd Club in 1979, only to have then-Misfits guitarist Bobby Steele puke at his feet (an anecdote Mudd Club doorman-turned-memoirist dismissed as fanciful poppycock), while another account from Bleecker Bob Plotnick, by way of Bauhaus/Love & Rockets bassist David J., asserted that Lennon was prone to perusing the bins of LP’s at Plotnick’s own fabled (and since vanished) Bleecker Bob’s. I think it’s easy to think of John just sequestered away in some little bubble, but I love hearing stories of him getting out and about.
Anyway, I stumbled upon the recording below on YouTube wherein John speaks to a little bit of the musical aspect of all this. Press play and here the fabled Fab talk about hearing about Sid Vicious, the Sex Pistols and first being turned onto New Wave bands like the B-52s, Lene Lovich, the Pretenders and Madness. I love the idea of John getting down to “One Step Beyond.”
Similarly, on Marc Maron’s excellent WTF podcast, the comedian spoke with estimable Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh (I highlighted it here), and he had a great anecdote about Devo playing an early gig at Max’s Kansas City, and having John Lennon getting up in his face after the show to bark the yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-ya-ye-ye-ye-ya-ye-ye-yeagh refrain of “Uncontrollable Urge” back at him, the insinuation being that Lennon noted how Devo had copped it from the Beatles’ own “She Loves You.”
One wonders how Lennon’s music might have evolved had he lived long enough to hear the music of the past few decades.
More:
Where was John's Manhattan?
Mudd Club `79: Beatle Meets Misfit, Puke Ensues
Bleecker Bob's Beatle Boast to Bauhaus Bassist
Finding Lennon's Manhattan
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