Today would have been John Lennon’s 66th birthday.
You know, something I wonder is, if Paul McCartney had been the Beatle to die at a young age, would there be “Paul’s birthday” observances all over the world on June 18? I tend to think not, at least not nearly to the extent that there are “John’s birthday” observances on October 9.
John was never afraid to speak up, to use his celebrity status to try and make the world a better place. He staged bed-ins to protest the war in Vietnam. He wrote songs that got people thinking what the world would be like if we all lived in peace. He used the mainstream media (some would say, manipulated the mainstream media) to get his message across. He managed to get a gig hosting the Mike Douglas Show for a week in 1972 (using the promise to perform 3 songs a day to deliver big ratings) to introduce America to “alternative”/”radical” viewpoints from people like political activist Jerry Rubin, comedian George Carlin, and consumer activist Ralph Nader. He embedded a political message (“War is over if you want it”) in a Christmas song that was so simple that children could sing it.
Not everyone agreed with what he had to say. In fact, the Nixon government tried for years to get him deported. But that never stopped him from expressing himself.
Paul, on the other hand, always tried to please everyone, always tried to say what he thought other people wanted to hear. And that’s why, even though I have tremendous respect for both John and Paul as musicians, I have a lot more respect for John as a human being.
Since it’s nearly impossible for me to get through a post without mentioning the bars downtown, I’ll point out that Wednesday is John Lennon Glass Night at the Saucer (and this is one of the few times you won’t hear me refer to as “buy the beer, waste money on the glass” night). The glasses go on sale at 7:00 and this is definitely one night when you don’t want to show up late, or they’ll be all gone. For this one I recommend getting there by 6:30 and letting the waitress know you want to pre-order a glass.
Reminds me… since I’m a member of the UFO Club at the Saucer, every week I get e-mailed an “Important Beer Goddess Video Message” about the Wednesday night glass. Usually those messages go straight to the trash, but I watched this one, and it was hilarious. They had a Saucer girl dressed up as Yoko, announcing the glass in an irritating, high-pitched voice, and then closing the message by shrieking as Yoko herself does in her “performance art.”
I’ll be back later today with some good links about the upcoming elections.