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Welcome to the world of the Vincent D'Onofrio obsessed - and a bit of real life thrown in.


Friday, December 10, 2010

The importance of December 8th

Today I walked past the site of the old Lewisham Odeon cinema, long since demolished to make way for a new road and a traffic roundabout.

In 1963, a mere 10 years old, I went along there with my older sister and her friend to see The Beatles live on stage. I thought I remembered that it was December 10th, so it seemed appropriate that I should pass it and remember the event today.


A quick check online, however, shows that I was mistaken, and the date of the concert was December 8th.

The thousands of screaming fans would never have been able to imagine that just 17 years later, on that very day, but in a very different kind of place, John Lennon would be murdered.

If only he'd stayed in the UK.

8 comments:

judith said...

How wonderful to have seen the Beatles and yes if he'd have stayed in the UK. his untimely death would not have happened. So sad.

Anonymous said...

You are so lucky to have seen them, Val. The guy just wanted peace, you know? Never harmed a fly; what a shame.

JoJo said...

Whoa....that's wild! Two of my older cousins went to see the Beatles at Shea Stadium. They couldn't hear a thing b/c of all the high pitched screaming, and they were so far away from the stage, they could barely see them either. But at least they can say they were there!

Anonymous said...

December 8th 1976, I was in Las Vegas, watching Elvis Presley.

Anonymous said...

Paul McCartney was on Late Night last night. He talked about how he and John were just starting to repair their relationship for about a year before John was killed.

I was only 9 but I remember all the news and attention drawn around his death.

sixtwosue said...

That is so cool, Val. Even though they probably played for 35 minutes and undoubtedly all you heard was girl screams, it's great to have been in the same room with them.

I love that story about how they came this close to reuniting when Lorne Michaels held up a check for $3,000 on camera "Saturday Night Live" in its first season to get them to come down and play. "You can give Ringo less, I don't care." John and Paul were in NYC and called each other and almost did it, but were too tired. Imagine.

Anonymous said...

I was in New York a few years ago during the summer and I went to the spot Lennon was murdered. Someday I hope to go on December 8th.

Ruby said...

That is SO great, Val! I saw them, too...in Washington, D.C. in 1966! I still have the ticket--something like $5! But much like your cousins, JoJo, I couldn't hear anything but the screaming and could only see very cute "dots" with a lot of hair playing and moving around the stage. But it was awesome to be there, and I will remember it always. Dec. 8th is always a sad day for Mike and me and we observe it quietly every year. We had been dating only a few months when John was murdered. Such sad and so senseless.

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