1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:20,479 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of double Elvis. John Lennon is 2 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: celebrated as a defiant icon of the peace and Love generation, 3 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 1: the smart Beetle, a dedicated husband and doting father to 4 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: his young son whose life was tragically cut short by 5 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: a bullet from a deranged fan. All of that is true, 6 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: and all of that is also untrue. John Lennon was 7 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: a violent, philandering, absentee dad, and drug and alcohol abusing, 8 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,239 Speaker 1: insecure mess of a man whose life he left in 9 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: the manipulative hands of his Machiavelian witch of a wife, 10 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: Yoko Ono, a woman he truly loved and who truly 11 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: loved him back. Throughout his life, he'd been fiercely independent, 12 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: but by the seventies he would hardly make any move 13 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: of consequence without first having his wife consult the complicated 14 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: cosmic algorithm of horoscopes, numerology, real life oracles, and tarot cards. 15 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: He was a longtime critic of the trappings of the 16 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: material world, yet he empowered his wife to build a 17 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: financial empire through real estate, Egyptian art, and prized cattle. 18 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 1: It was prone to lavish one hundred thousand dollars shopping 19 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,040 Speaker 1: sprees on a whim. He was one of the greatest 20 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 1: musicians to ever record, yet after the Beatles, his records 21 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: were marred by creative inconsistency, and he'd seated his place 22 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: to top the charts to his former bandmate Paul McCartney, 23 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: a thing that bothered him so much that he avoided 24 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: the radio for fear of hearing the cute beetle blanketing 25 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: the airwaves with silly love songs. He was a walking contradiction, complicated, simple, 26 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: completely full of shit and totally true to himself all 27 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: at the same time. But by nineteen eighty John Lennon 28 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: was reclaiming the better parts of himself and starting over 29 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: making great music again. That music you heard at the 30 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 1: top of the show, that wasn't great music. That was 31 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: a preset loop from a mellotron called Tango Moving Piano MK. Two. 32 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: I played you that loop because I can't afford the 33 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: license for Lady by Kenny Rogers. And why would I 34 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: play you that specific slice of sad sack country politan cheese. 35 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:29,959 Speaker 1: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one 36 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: song in America on December eighth, nineteen eighty and that 37 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: was the day that a different violent and insecure mess 38 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: of a man emerged from the shadows outside the Dakota 39 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 1: Apartments on West seventy second Street and shot John Lennon down, 40 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:51,239 Speaker 1: ending the complex and wildly entertaining musician's life. On this episode, 41 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: Messi Men, country Politan cheese walking contradictions in a dead 42 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: beatle I'm Jake Brennan and Miss Disgrace lamp Mister and 43 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,239 Speaker 1: Missus Mark David Chapman, newlyweds residing on the twenty first 44 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: floor of Honolulu's luxury Kakui Plaza apartment building, didn't do 45 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: much socializing and even less hosting. Mark was intense, a 46 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: big man, smart, articulate at times, compassionate, but lately prone 47 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: to sudden fits of rage, filled with bizarre proclamations picked 48 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: up from trips down the John Lennon rabbit hole he'd 49 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: recently discovered. Hosting for the Chapmans was an attempt at 50 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: normal spam Masubi appetizers in my ties were on the menu, 51 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: so Gloria Chapman concerned herself with being a good hostess, 52 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: but what was most on her mind was her husband's behavior. 53 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: It was a small group. Two of their friends a 54 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: couple were on their way over, and Gloria Chapman prayed 55 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: that her husband would keep it together and not embarrass her. 56 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: It was early October nineteen eighty and Mark David Chapman 57 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: was spiraling into madness and tore it an uncertain fate, 58 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:17,280 Speaker 1: But in the last few weeks he'd at least found 59 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: a purpose. John Lennon is full of shit and he 60 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: hasn't made anything worth a listen since the Beatles. Now 61 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:27,839 Speaker 1: listen to that, that's music. Todd Runggren's latest long player, 62 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,280 Speaker 1: To Face the Music by his band Utopia, blared from 63 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: Chapman's new Pioneer Excel turntable. The record player, like the 64 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: record was brand new. Mark had destroyed the old one 65 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,920 Speaker 1: a couple months back in a fit of rage. This 66 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: was a superior record player anyway, and to Mark David Chapman, 67 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,720 Speaker 1: Runggren's satirical send up of John Lennon on To Face 68 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: the Music was superior to anything Lenin had released since 69 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: the Beatles. Todd Rudgren was the anti Lenon. Runggren had 70 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: taken it upon himself to speak truth to pop culture power. 71 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: Todd Runggret, the immensely talented American musician and producer, had 72 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,279 Speaker 1: made a career out of pushing the limits of pop 73 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: songs as well as the limits of pop stardom, and 74 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: to him, John Lennon had turned out to be a fraud, 75 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: a fake, a fugaesi. In the sixties, Lenin's songs and 76 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: Devil May Care swing at pop stardom had broken the mold. 77 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: But in the seventies Lenin had proved to be ordinary, 78 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: contented by his cult of personality, his limousine liberalism. In 79 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: uneven post Beetles creative output, Rungren believed that John Lennon 80 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,479 Speaker 1: had sold out the musical promise of the Beatles for 81 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: middle aged economic stability. He become exactly what he'd once 82 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 1: railed against. As a young, angry counterculture activist with a 83 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:50,960 Speaker 1: sharp wit and intoxicating primal scream, pulled up in Manhattan's 84 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: prestigious Dakota apartments with his army of servants, macrobiotic dinners, 85 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: champagne cocktails and cocaine appetizers, addicted to day time time television, 86 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:03,839 Speaker 1: and lording over a real estate empire that included much 87 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: of upstate New York in a good portion of southern Florida. 88 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: For a Lenin fan like Rudgren. This all seemed a 89 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,720 Speaker 1: touch too passive, a touch too safe for a one 90 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:17,719 Speaker 1: time revolutionary and musical renegade. But hey, whatever gets you 91 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:21,840 Speaker 1: through the night, and Todd Rugren hit the lethargic John 92 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: Lennon where it hurt with To Face the Music. The 93 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:27,359 Speaker 1: album was the latest haymaker in a public round of 94 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: spatting between Runggren and Lenin. The two had been going 95 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: at it since the mid seventies, verbally slapping each other 96 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: back and forth in the pages of Melody Maker, Lenin 97 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: going so far as to contribute a hysterical op ed 98 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: entitled an Open Letter to sod Rental Stuntle. But Rugren 99 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: got the best of Lenin. He deployed his favorite weapons 100 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: of choice against the ex Beatle music and satire. To 101 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: Face The music is incredibly witty and a pitch perfect 102 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: mockery of well known Lenin McCartney tropes meant to take 103 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: the piss out of the safe grekw Beatles. It is 104 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,279 Speaker 1: so expertly written and produced that it sounds like something 105 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: the old John Lennon would have produced to take the 106 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: piss out of the new John Lennon. And because of this, 107 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: it drove John Lennon mad. Here was this little runt 108 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: in upstate New York doing John Lennon better than John Lennon, 109 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: and what the fuck? It was powerful stuff, and it 110 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 1: fueled Mark David Chapman, who was in the market for 111 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: a mark. So he locked into the anger and found 112 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: his own manic utopia in to face the music and 113 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: focused all of his pent up self loathing on the 114 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: former Beatle whom he wants like Runggren idolized. Chapman had 115 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: been following the Lenin Rungren beef in the press, and 116 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: despite his childhood love of the Beatles, he chosen to 117 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:47,680 Speaker 1: ride for Rungren. Todd is God. Mark closed his eyes 118 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: and took in the music. It calmed him, It made 119 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: him believe in something, something real. It quieted the army 120 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: of voices in his head, the voices that told him 121 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: he was nothing and nobody, voices that told him this 122 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: world was nothing more than a living hell filled with 123 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 1: phonies and Charlatan's, The voices that told him to do it, 124 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, 125 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: do it, do it, do it. Shy out Gloria. Chapman 126 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,079 Speaker 1: was on pins and needles. They'd run out of rum 127 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 1: and thus no more my ties and probably just as well. 128 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: But Mark was visibly growing more and more agitated, pacing 129 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:49,440 Speaker 1: in front of his new high fight that was pumping out, 130 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: rundering at high volume, now pulling off of a brown 131 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: bagged can of Foster's sweat visible on his forehead, his 132 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,959 Speaker 1: nerdy glasses sliding down his pasty white nose, his greasy 133 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 1: bangs partially obscuring the manic look in his eyes. I'm 134 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: telling you, Todd Runggren's music is where it's at. Listen 135 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: to that, seriously, listen to that. Mark was working himself 136 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: into a lather. His friends, if you could call them that, 137 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: and they were more like acquaintances, looked on with mild amusement. 138 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: Gloria was dying inside. She knew where this routine was going, 139 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 1: and it wasn't going anywhere good. For the past few months, 140 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: she'd been on the receiving end of her husband's rants 141 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:29,560 Speaker 1: against John Lennon, and they nearly always ended with Mark 142 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 1: erupting in violence and Gloria questioning his wellness. Mark rode 143 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: the volume on the high five. 144 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:37,199 Speaker 2: Listen to that? 145 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: Can you feel it? 146 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,079 Speaker 2: Todd Man to Todd, is God. 147 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 1: The Chapman's guests were seated next to each other on 148 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:47,400 Speaker 1: the love seat, staring up at Mark, moles slightly at 149 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: gait looks on their faces a mix of shock and amusement. 150 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:54,680 Speaker 1: The volume of the music was now deafening. There Mark 151 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:57,080 Speaker 1: had stopped pacing for the moment and now stood in 152 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: front of the record player. He closed his eyes and 153 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: brought his lasped hands to his chest. His left foot 154 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: rooted firmly in the living room shag carpeting. He attempted 155 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: to raise his right foot to his inner thigh. The 156 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,000 Speaker 1: result was a sort of half assed tree pose. The 157 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 1: music blared, and now the Chapman's guests were openly laughing 158 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: at him. Mark was oblivious, a zend out nerd who 159 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: finally achieved class clown status, albeit from the comfort of 160 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: his own home and with his audience laughing for all 161 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:28,960 Speaker 1: the wrong reasons. Mark Chapman kept his eyes closed and 162 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,320 Speaker 1: the vision to see little people celebrating him giving him 163 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 1: a parade. Him Mark David Chapman from Decatur, Georgia, now 164 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: a Wahoo Hawaii. He then felt a wave of happiness 165 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: wash over him. With his next vision, a warm gun 166 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: in the palm of his hand. It was too much. 167 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: He lost his balance and teetered over into the high five, 168 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,960 Speaker 1: knocking the needle off the record. When the music stopped, 169 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: Mark was jarred back to reality by the sounds of 170 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 1: his two guests laughing at him, and to the sight 171 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 1: of his wife's staring. Not just embarrassed scared, Mark lost it. 172 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:07,440 Speaker 1: The little people in his head erupted into a chorus 173 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:11,600 Speaker 1: of disapproval. The voices were non stop, now deafening. The 174 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: world went black. He felt it moving just beyond his thoughts, 175 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:19,680 Speaker 1: but saw nothing blackness. He heard familiar voices on the 176 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: other side, but couldn't make out what they were saying, 177 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:25,320 Speaker 1: and they quickly trailed off into the distance. Then a 178 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:28,560 Speaker 1: high pitched, ringing sound pierced through him, bringing with it 179 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 1: a torrent of rage. He felt it well up in 180 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 1: his chest, his ears burned. Loud thuds penetrated the piercing 181 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 1: ring and the chattering voices in his head. He could 182 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 1: feel himself spinning faster faster, loud thuds continuing to break through. 183 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,439 Speaker 1: He felt his hands they were wet with something blood. 184 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 1: The thudding sounds came into focus. They sounded familiar now, 185 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,880 Speaker 1: like flesh smacking up against something unforgiving. The sound of 186 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:58,319 Speaker 1: each new thud brought fresh pain, not emotional pain, physical pain, 187 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: and as the pain grew, the blackness faded. Mark noticed 188 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,319 Speaker 1: the pin prick of light and held focus on it. 189 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 1: The spinning started to stop, and the pinprick expanded, and 190 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:12,679 Speaker 1: Mark followed the light and the thuds continued until it 191 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: was all he could hear, no more voices, no more darkness. 192 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,439 Speaker 1: Blood was all he could see. He followed the sight 193 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: of the blood out of the darkness, and it covered 194 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,480 Speaker 1: the wall of his bathroom. He felt throbbing pain in 195 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 1: his hands and looked down at them. They looked more 196 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 1: like two country hams, and they did, hands bloodied and 197 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: beaten to a pulp from repeated blows to his bathroom wall. 198 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:37,680 Speaker 1: The sight of them sickened Ark with shame. He closed 199 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 1: his eyes and again saw the gun in his hand, 200 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,800 Speaker 1: felt that warm feeling of happiness, and promptly passed out 201 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 1: cold on his bathroom floor. Mark David Chapman came to. 202 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 1: He found himself sitting alone on his bedroom floor in 203 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: the lotus position. He quieted the voices in his head 204 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,720 Speaker 1: and crawled out of the blackness hell. He even managed 205 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:02,560 Speaker 1: to somehow bandage his hand, and now now his world 206 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: was calm. The record player in his room, this one 207 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: was one of those portable suitcase numbers with the built 208 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:12,240 Speaker 1: in speaker, was playing the Beatles Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts 209 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:15,680 Speaker 1: Club Band, but not at the normal speed. Mark had 210 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:18,320 Speaker 1: sped it up to forty five rpm, and at this 211 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: increased speed, the record sounded less like the Beatles and 212 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:26,680 Speaker 1: more like the voices in Mark's head, Manic, intense, insane. 213 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:30,319 Speaker 1: Mark closed his eyes, took it all in and began 214 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 1: chanting his new module. John Lennon. I'm going to kill you, 215 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: you phony bastard, John Lennon. I'm going to kill you, 216 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: you phoney bastard, John Lennon. I'm going to kill you 217 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,200 Speaker 1: as a phony bastard, John Lennon. I'm going to kill you, 218 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:51,600 Speaker 1: your phoney bastard. We'll be right back after this word, 219 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:57,199 Speaker 1: word word, John Lennon started to come unhinged in nineteen 220 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:01,480 Speaker 1: sixty five. Unlike his bandmates, the consummate professional and people 221 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:05,080 Speaker 1: pleaser Paul McCartney, or the soulful George Harrison, or the 222 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: comical ringo star, John Lennon had deep, dark demons Beatles 223 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: fans got their first peek at these demons with the 224 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: release of the song Help in nineteen sixty five. The song, 225 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: from Lenin's perspective, was a literal cry for help. Fame 226 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:23,560 Speaker 1: had driven the young star into a corner of self 227 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: doubt and alienation, and he was searching for a way 228 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 1: out through his music. And luckily for Lenin's fans, this 229 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: search would continue throughout his tenure in the Beatles, and 230 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: the result would be some of the greatest music ever made. 231 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: But before Lenin called out the Walrus or Lucy in 232 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:43,600 Speaker 1: the Sky, he called out Jesus Christ. In an interview 233 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: with the London Evening Standard, John Lennon, in an offhand remark, 234 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 1: said quote, Christianity will go. We're more popular than Jesus. 235 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: I don't know which will go first, rock and roll 236 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were 237 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:02,560 Speaker 1: thick and ordinary. The blow was intense, especially in America. 238 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: Fans burned Beatles records, American DJs organized boycotts and protests 239 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: of the band's concerts. Lenin didn't understand what all the 240 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: fuss was about, and did his best to explain himself, 241 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: but the damage was done. The word was out. These 242 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: weren't just four lovable mop tops singing about teenage innocence anymore. 243 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 1: In the outrage over Lenin's christ comments proved to be 244 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: child's play compared to the backlash over Lenin's involvement with 245 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 1: Yoko the Witch. John Lennon left his wife Cynthia and 246 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: their young son Julian for avant garde artist Yoko Ono 247 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:42,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty eight. Yoko had designed her hostile takeover 248 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: of the Lenins in order to climb through the ranks 249 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,400 Speaker 1: of the international pop world. Being seen on the arm 250 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:53,680 Speaker 1: of John Lennon meant prestige, power and instant fame. Ono 251 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 1: was heavy with ambition and light and talent. In nineteen 252 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: sixty five, Andy Warhol comment to filmmaker Paul Morrissey that 253 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 1: the shameless self promoter Yoko Ono was, to his great 254 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:11,360 Speaker 1: annoyance quote always around, always copying someone else's art. But 255 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: by nineteen sixty eight it didn't matter. Yoko had cast 256 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 1: John Lennon under her spell completely and he was hopeless. 257 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: Andy Warhol, in his fifteen Minutes Could Go Pound sand 258 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:26,040 Speaker 1: Ono had herself a real life beetle in a lifetime 259 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 1: of fame and fortune on the horizon. The tabloids eventually 260 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 1: got wind of their affair, and for fans, news of 261 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,520 Speaker 1: their favorite beatle leaving his perfect family for someone they 262 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 1: saw as a no talent gold digger did not sit well. 263 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:44,400 Speaker 1: John and Yoko didn't care. They submerged themselves into the 264 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: Gouey Hayes of New Love, lived on a diet of champagne, 265 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: caviart and heroin, and moved in together into Jimmy Hendrix's 266 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: old flat at Montague Square. Almost immediately, things went south. 267 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: In the early morning hours of October over eighteenth, nineteen 268 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,399 Speaker 1: sixty eight, John Lennon received a call from a Beatles 269 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,880 Speaker 1: fan employed by London's corrupt drug squad. The inside man 270 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: tipped John off that his flat was about to be 271 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 1: raided by the notorious detective Norman Pilcher. John, naked and 272 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: in a haze from the previous night's party, sprung from bed, 273 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 1: threw on a robe, and immediately freaked the fuck out. 274 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,640 Speaker 1: He began rummaging through the house to find and dispose 275 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 1: of any and all dope and paraphernalia. The place previously 276 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:33,440 Speaker 1: being lived in by Hendricks had John particularly nervous, who 277 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:36,399 Speaker 1: knew which nook of which Cranny Jimmy had squirreled a 278 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:44,880 Speaker 1: stash away in heroin, LSD, cocaine, hashish, marijuana, morphine, ben metrozine, 279 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:48,919 Speaker 1: Ben's a gene. All the infeedmates were eventually rounded up 280 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: by John while Yoko barked out orders from Bed. Then 281 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,920 Speaker 1: at eleven fifty five am, the doorbell rang. John was 282 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:00,199 Speaker 1: midway through furiously flushing his stash down the toilet. His 283 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,880 Speaker 1: anxiety spiked, Yoko went through the door. John hovered above 284 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: the toilet shaking a bag of heroin away, called out 285 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:09,240 Speaker 1: in his best old lady voice, who is it? Yoko 286 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:11,919 Speaker 1: did the same, but were considerably less humor, and a 287 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:14,119 Speaker 1: female voice from the other side of the front door 288 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 1: said it was the postal service with the package. Yoko 289 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,520 Speaker 1: opened the door crack peeked through, realized the woman was 290 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 1: no postal worker, and immediately slammed the door shut and 291 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 1: took off back toward John. In the bathroom, Yoko was screaming, John, 292 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: the police, John, the police. John was shouting to Yoko 293 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: call the solicitor. Cops were now everywhere, leering in through 294 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:39,480 Speaker 1: the windows, yelling to John and Yoko to let them in, 295 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:42,400 Speaker 1: John stalled by yelling out that he demanded to see 296 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,359 Speaker 1: a warrant, all the while continuing to flush more and 297 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: more drugs down the toilet. Eventually, after John was satisfied 298 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,120 Speaker 1: that all the drugs were disposed of and a warrant 299 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 1: was produced and he was able to take the piss 300 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,640 Speaker 1: out of the situation by pantomiming a read through the document, 301 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:02,240 Speaker 1: John allowed the police to search the flat, but despite 302 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:05,479 Speaker 1: his best efforts, authorities were still able to turn up 303 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: hashish weed, the fhetimines, and a half gram of morphine. 304 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:14,919 Speaker 1: John and Yoko were busted. London's favorite son had fallen 305 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 1: from grace, first over Jesus, now over this witch. It 306 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:24,239 Speaker 1: got worse. Following the arrest, John and Yoko decided they 307 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:28,399 Speaker 1: were to get married in Gibraltar, near Spain. They drove 308 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 1: from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton talked in their beds 309 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,640 Speaker 1: for a week. The newspaper said the witch had gone 310 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:56,400 Speaker 1: to his head. On April tenth, nineteen seventy, approximately eleven 311 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:59,880 Speaker 1: months after John and Yoko's bed in honeymoon, the Beatles 312 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 1: broke up for Londoners. This was the final nail in 313 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 1: Yoko's coffin breaking up a family. Oh well, rockstars can 314 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: be so fickle. It comes with the territory drug buss 315 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,040 Speaker 1: That's just part of the game, ain't it. Bagism? The 316 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: fuck was bagism about? Anyway? It doesn't matter, but breaking 317 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,600 Speaker 1: up the Beatles that was an unforgivable offense. London had 318 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: grown hostile to Yoko, so the couple moved to America, 319 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:29,960 Speaker 1: and for Lenin, thus began an epic, years long creative stumble, 320 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:34,720 Speaker 1: marred by semi inspired and consistent musical releases that, despite 321 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 1: their near misses, did more for his fame than for 322 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: his artistry. The Ono Lenins loved America, particularly New York City, 323 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 1: and New York City loved them right back. A virtual 324 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:51,960 Speaker 1: cavalcade of healers, seekers, revolutionaries, drug dealers, profits and fools 325 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,639 Speaker 1: all lined up to welcome John and Yoko and to 326 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 1: milk them of their celebrity, to promote their own pet causes, 327 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:01,679 Speaker 1: and the on leninswed themselves to get swept up in 328 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: the hippie dippy madness out on the fringes. They donated 329 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: their time to freeing the revolutionary and MC five manager 330 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 1: John Sinclair from prison, who was unfairly sentenced to ten 331 00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:16,880 Speaker 1: years for selling two joints to an undercover cop. They 332 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: became enamored of the violent revolutionary group the Weather Underground, 333 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:24,199 Speaker 1: and of course they partied, took lots of drugs, and 334 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:28,479 Speaker 1: made music, and eventually the relationship morphed from twenty four 335 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:33,200 Speaker 1: to seven lovin to a more traditional partnership. Yoko took 336 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:37,360 Speaker 1: control of the finances and strategically plotted all professional moves, 337 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 1: creative and otherwise, and John did well whatever the hell 338 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 1: he wanted, provided Yoko said it was okay. But by 339 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,879 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three the relationship was hitting the skids. Yoko 340 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: was restless and eager to ignite an affair with either 341 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:55,680 Speaker 1: one or both of her gay interior decorators or possibly 342 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,040 Speaker 1: her new guitar player. But Yoko wasn't looking for anything serious, 343 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,920 Speaker 1: just a dally, a break from her husband, who, despite 344 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 1: being the biggest rock star on the planet, was super 345 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: needy and required Yoko to be more of a mother 346 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:12,000 Speaker 1: than a lover. Hold up for a second. I know 347 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 1: the rock star needing to be mothered thing is exactly 348 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,400 Speaker 1: the same as the Sid and Nancy dynamic from episode 349 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: two of Disgraceland, but I swear it's one hundred percent 350 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,920 Speaker 1: true with John and Yoko and totally freaky and look 351 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,880 Speaker 1: it up for yourself. In any event, the mothering took 352 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:30,639 Speaker 1: its toll on Yoko. She didn't want to leave John. 353 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:33,679 Speaker 1: She couldn't leave John. Going out on her own and 354 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:37,240 Speaker 1: starting over financially and creatively was out of the question. 355 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,280 Speaker 1: But she needed a break, so she decided to send 356 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,239 Speaker 1: John away out of her hair and away from New 357 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 1: York City to Los Angeles. But setting a man like 358 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,200 Speaker 1: John Lennon loose into the wilds of nineteen seventy three 359 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: LA was a bad idea. He needed a minder, someone 360 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: to keep him tethered to his life back with Yoko 361 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: in Manhattan. So Yoko the Good Wife decided to give 362 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 1: her husband John a going away present. A girlfriend. Maypang, 363 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: the Lenin's twenty three year old assistant, and Yoko's mind, 364 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:14,159 Speaker 1: would make for the perfect pawn. She was young, attractive, scrappy, 365 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 1: and easily manipulated. Plus Yoko knew John was eager to 366 00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 1: jump in the sack with her. Yoko saw the way 367 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:24,479 Speaker 1: John oggled her. May Pang, a woman of Chinese descent 368 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:28,399 Speaker 1: from Spanish Harlem, was like the bizarro world Yoko. She 369 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 1: was funny, lacking in airs, unrefined, and came with a thick, 370 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: outer burrowed accent, and sexy downtown look. Compared to Yoko, 371 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: she wasn't so heavy. To John, Yoko was the anvil. 372 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:45,560 Speaker 1: May was the feather. Plus the young, impressionable music fanatic 373 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 1: was in love with John the beadle. However, at first 374 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: May didn't take to the idea of accompanying John to 375 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: La for an undetermined amount of time. She may have 376 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,840 Speaker 1: been secretly in love with her hero, but she had 377 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 1: a conscience. The dude was married and to her boss. 378 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:05,200 Speaker 1: But Yoko's pitch was delicate, and despite being kind of icky, 379 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 1: it was convincing, and eventually May caved, and when her 380 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:13,520 Speaker 1: and John consummated their new relationship, the sex, clumsy and 381 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:17,359 Speaker 1: forrest at first, quickly became quite the opposite. John and 382 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: Yoko's sex life had gone cold years ago, but now 383 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,240 Speaker 1: with May, John was insatiable, and May, for her part, 384 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:29,919 Speaker 1: genuinely cared for John, and thus the sex was dynamite. 385 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: So John Lennon and May Pang decided to get lost 386 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: together and for a weekend anyway, a weekend in the 387 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 1: city of Angels a weekend that would be filled with sex, drugs, 388 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:44,440 Speaker 1: rock and roll, and lots of violence. A weekend that 389 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,720 Speaker 1: would last approximately one year and six months. 390 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 2: A lost weekend. 391 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:02,160 Speaker 1: Thanks for checking out Part one of John Lennon and Disgraceland. 392 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: Part two is available now in your feeds. Disgraceland was 393 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,679 Speaker 1: created by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership with 394 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found on 395 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,440 Speaker 1: the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. If you're 396 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:18,439 Speaker 1: listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you for 397 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: supporting the show. We really appreciate it, and if not, 398 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:23,639 Speaker 1: you can become a member right now by going to 399 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: disgracelampod dot com Slash Membership. Members can listen to every 400 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,479 Speaker 1: episode of Disgraceland ad free, Plus you'll get one brand 401 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:37,120 Speaker 1: new exclusive episode every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, special 402 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:41,400 Speaker 1: audio collections, and early access to merchandise and events. Visit 403 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,879 Speaker 1: disgracelampod dot com slash membership for details, rate and review 404 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 1: the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and 405 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 1: Facebook at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot com 406 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:58,480 Speaker 1: slash at disgracelampod rock a Roller. He