Boomer Music Update curator Dave Sholin spent the afternoon of December 8, 1980 interviewing John Lennon and Yoko Ono in their Dakota apartment. John had just turned 40. Within hours of that interview, Lennon was cut down in the prime of his life by a madman’s bullet.
Today, Oct. 9, he’d be celebrating his 75th birthday, a day he shares with his son Sean, who is 40 today.
John was in his teens in the golden age of rock n’ roll—a high schooler when the first generation of Boomers were still in grammar school. Lennon loved that era of music so much that in 1975 he and Phil Spector recorded “Rock ‘N” Roll,” a whole album of covers of early rock hits including “Be Bop A Lula,” “Peggy Sue,” “Do You Wanna Dance,” and Ben E. Kings “Stand By Me,” which Lennon released as a single.
After the release of “Rock N’ Roll” Lennon became a stay at home “house husband” for the next five years until the release of the album “Double Fantasy.”
Let’s all light a candle for John Lennon, and be grateful for the light and the incredible music he brought into all our lives.
Here’s a video of John singing “Stand By Me” –with Yoko by his side.