A lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest, Michael Robbins has been the author and a contributor to six books. BUTTERFLY & SERPENT, the first book in a series, was published in 2012. Mike takes pride in being part of the American labor force for over 40 years. In his prose he strives for unity, not division; humor over prejudice; and heart over heartlessness. His art page can be found at Deviantart.com
I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote this. Maybe it’s like those spontaneous pieces John Lennon wrote in the 60s that never made any sense. This is a relic from 1992. Enjoy.
I’ve been carrying this around since the late 80s. This was dedicated to the home I grew up in, at least the first home I had a great fondness for. With the excess time off I’ve had due to medical issues I came back to it, with a couple additions. I don’t know if they help or if its crap. I’m just going to throw it out there and let you decide.
Hello old friend, has it been so long
Since I went far away
Those days are still strong
I left very young, yes it’s been a few years
But for the days long past
I can’t shed any tears
Hey old friend, did the grass stain our pants?
It never spawned any weeds
Or a ‘puppy-doo’ dance
[Neighbors’ ladder sliding along side-boards
While my brothers laughed from the second floor window
And the neighbor raised a fist
GI Joes were not for adulation
But burying in the nearest storm drain]
We’d curl up at dawn on that vent in the floor
The grill marked me up
While the others got warm
[Shattered glass backed into unseen
‘cause I didn’t want to wear a shirt
Comic books in sickbed, Man of Steel with a golden key
Curled up on the couch
All four eyes glued to Spider-Man]
We always ran up the stairs, almost beat them to death
British comedy takes some getting used to. It’s more outrageous, wacky, and not as straight jacketed by puritanical impulses as American media, then or now. The secret lies in the fact that in the 1960’s, the people making these programs didn’t take themselves too seriously. Try getting Franklin Graham to guffaw along with Benny Hill, Monty Python or Red Dwarf. Hah. Good Luck.
First edition of In His Own Write (1964), and Signet reissue following John’s assassination, late December 1980 or early 1981.
John Lennon’s first book, In His Own Write, was published in March 1964, during the filming of the Beatles’ first movie, A Hard Day’s Night, which also began in March; both shortly before I was born, I might add. 1964 would be the group’s busiest year, and John was still very much invested in their success. And it was grueling, with their world tours to America, Australasia, and Europe, three albums to records along with various singles, television appearances and radio shows, endless interviews in every stop on the road, with only two roadies to assist. Not to mention their legendary first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February and two Christmas Shows bookending the year.
By a strange coincidence a young performer named Dudley Moore was looking to begin his own solo project, but unsure of going it alone, he enlisted a fellow colleague, Peter Cook, his partner in the stage comedy revue Beyond the Fringe (1960+). And thus began the comedy sketch program Not Only…But Also. For three series transmitted in 1965, 1966 and 1970 we were treated to their warped sketches and musical performances, which was very common in shows of that period.
John was acquainted with both Dudley Moore and Peter Cook, as well as Norman Rossington, who appeared alongside him in A Hard Day’s Night. On November 4th Norman and series producer Joe McGrath visited John backstage at the Ritz Cinema in Luton and invited him to participate in the first edition of the new series. John agreed. The first part involved the filming of an outdoor surrealistic sequence on November 20th, to accompany the reading of his poem “Deaf Ted, Danoota, (and me). Shot at Wimbledon Common in Southwest London, this involved John, Dudley and Norman bicycling (over a fence at one point), swinging, dancing with balloons and strolling over the grounds.
Part two was taped the evening of November 29 before an audience at the BBC’s Television Centre in West London. Among the items read to the camera, from In His Own Write, was “About the Awful”, read by John himself. This was his own mangled autobiography, from the book’s back cover.
John’s prose is not for the linear-minded. His work tends towards the surreal, more like a stream of consciousness with a dash of the comedy troupe, the Goons, thrown in. It’s best experienced as it is here, as spoken performance, or as with his poem “Good Dog Nigel”, with Norman Rossington and a wriggling basset hound in John’s arms. “Unhappy Fred” is a two-hander shuffling back and forth between Dudley and Norman while John, Norman and Dudley do a back and forth to “All About Speeching”. John deadpans his way through “The Wrestling Dog” while Norman barks and ducks in and out. While Dudley mangles and shrieks through the closing number, the other players prance in front of his piano, ending with John flitting manically across the stage.
This first edition was broadcast on BBC2 on January 6, 1965. John enjoyed the experience so much he returned for the Christmas Special, broadcast on Boxing Day, December 26, 1966. John recorded his part on November 27, appearing briefly as Dan, a doorman in a 15-minute segment, a “Swinging London” parody masquerading as The Pipesucker Report, from Idaho. Cook plays an investigative reporter and towards the end of the sketch he approaches an exclusive club, the Ad Lav only to be stopped by Dan (John). He is only allowed access once he convinces Dan he is the Duke and Duchess of Windsor—and also offers John a small bribe. (The Ad Lav is a spoof of the Ad Lib Club, which was much visited by the Beatles.)
While these had little to do with music, they stand as John’s first public appearances outside of the Beatles. Dudley Moore and Peter Cook would enjoy many years, together and solo, as actors and comediennes, notably in the original version of Bedazzled (1967). Moore might best be remembered for his role as the titular alcoholic in Arthur (1981). Sadly all three of these greats are no longer with us, but their works will live on.
Available On: Much of this series is lost, due to the shortsightedness of the BBC. From 1970 to 1974 it became official policy mandating that recordings of programs deemed of less historical or commercial importance be wiped, a cost saving measure so that the master tapes could be reused. Priority was given to preexisting national or local news items; comedy was not considered of cultural value among the BBC higher ups. Peter Cook offered to buy the existing prints for Not Only…But Also from the BBC, but was turned down flat.
What we have, as with the slaughter of 1960’s Doctor Who, The Avengers and other programs, is items recovered from foreign networks and the remaining 16 mm film inserts. These bits were collected into six 100-hour episodes called The Best of What’s Left of Not Only…But Also. These episodes were subsequently released onto a VHS of the same name. In 2003, a 90 minute Region 2 DVD compilation was released as The Best of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. In America this would see a DVD release as The Best of…What’s Left of…Not Only…But Also by BBC Worldwide in September 2008, featuring all six compilation episodes, with certain edits due to rights issues.
Star Trek: The Next Generation may have been the most anticipated new series in the fall of 1987. After four feature films, twenty years since the debut of the Original Series on NBC, a new generation of fearless explorers had arisen to follow the path laid down by James T. Kirk and his intrepid crew. And therein may lay the problem. We Trekkies expected magic, and were promptly let down; at least we thought so. Retrospect gives me a different viewpoint. It wasn’t as bad as I remembered, but at that point it wasn’t close to the quality it would achieve in later seasons.
TNG began airing in syndication on September 28, 1987. In a delicious twist of irony, locally it was broadcast twice a week on our town’s Fox station. One hundred years after events of the Original Series (OS), Jean Luc Picard assumes command of the Galaxy-class starship Enterprise–D. He and his intrepid crew—William T. Riker, Data, Worf, Tasha Yar, Geordi La Forge, Counsellor Deanna Troi, Dr. Beverly Crusher and her precocious son Wesley—set out on their ongoing mission to explore the uncharted regions of space.
The show was one of the most talked about subjects at my first science fiction convention, Norwescon 10, which was held at the Sheraton Inn in my hometown of Tacoma, Washington, on March 24 to 27, 1988. That convention blew me away, being a neophyte and all. I spent a lot of time immersed in panels, seated as far in the back as I could get. What I really wasn’t prepared for was the fire drill we had on Friday night. Everyone in the hotel, hundreds of us, had to hurry down 17 flights of stairs, and once we were all crowded outside, someone announced that it had been a false alarm, and we had to trudge back up 17 flights of stairs. To be that young again…
Trekkies had set up a ‘transporter’ on the second floor, and not too far away was a TARDIS. All day Sunday in NWC6, Room 407, there was a showing of the fan parody, “Star Trek: The Pepsi Generation”, “baldly going where no one has gone before” against the dreadful Ferrari. I’m still laughing about that today. TNG was the subject of a panel discussion in which one of the participants described Tasha Yar as a “bitch in britches.” One of the biggest selling buttons that year was “Kill Wesley Crusher.”
It wasn’t all negative. The Artist Guest of Honor was Rick Sternbach, an illustrator involved in TNG and later Star Trek series. Toastmaster for Norwescon 10 was Trek scriptwriter David Gerrold, the man who gave us the tribbles. At this point TNG hadn’t finished broadcasting its first season. The last episode before the convention, “Heart of Glory”, aired March 21. Tasha Yar would still be alive for a couple more episodes. Once the convention closed, six more episodes remained before the season concluded with “The Neutral Zone”, syndicated on May 16, 1988.
One problem with the series was expectations. All of us Trekkies had spent the last 17 years engrossed in reruns of the Original Series. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Scotty, Chekov, Uhura and the Enterprise herself were our heroes, our models for what our species was capable of. Anyone stepping into those shoes had a lot of overarching expectations to overcome. Additionally, TNG never had a distinctive theme of its own. What we had is a combination of the beginning of Alexander Courage’s theme from OS, coupled with the main theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Jerry Goldsmith.
Another problem was the new alien threat—the Ferengi. Yeah, you can all pick yourselves off the floor and stop laughing now. They spent a few episodes hinting at the great and powerful menace facing the Federation, and when they finally did appear…they were trolls. Ironically, at the same time Sylvester McCoy stepped in as the new Doctor Who in merry ol’ England, and I thought exactly the same thing about him. In that instance McCoy grew on you, in time becoming one of the most intriguing, sinister Doctors of all. The Ferengi would never rise above the level of a joke. Lets not get into the merry-go-round of Chief Engineers that plagued this season. We had MacDougal, Argylle, the obstinate Logan (who was just a dick), and Leland T. Lynch.
THE CAST
One welcome change would be that all seven main cast members were given a spotlight—not always a good one, but they tried. No one was sidelined in favor of the principals, as in Kirk-Spock-McCoy over everyone else in OS. It is now time to consider those cast members.
Picard (Patrick Stewart) was presented as a French captain, a callback to the original series where everything is a Russian inwention to Chekov . That lasted a few episodes before they largely drop the gag and roll with the English actor who happens to have a French name. He was stiffly regimented, just as Q described him, in their early voyages. Episodes such as “Code of Honor”, “Too Short a Season” and “Symbiosis” defined Picard’s strict adherence to the Prime Directive, an OS rule which Kirk broke repeatedly. Picard is also saddled with a shipload of children, and honestly he’s not too fond of them. To his credit, he’s prepared to risk the ship for their safety, whether it’s just for one (Wesley, “Justice”) or many (“When The Bough Breaks”).
Riker spends most of the season as a James T. Kirk clone. That’s an unfortunate accusation dating to fans early impressions, soon dashed both by improved writing and the natural charisma of Jonathan Frakes. It wasn’t long before we were treated to something the fans refer to as “The Riker Maneuver”; y’know, those times he leans over chairs, one leg propped up on a console. Or all the times he swings one leg over a chair as he’s seating himself. There are rumors Frakes did this to relieve pressure on his back, due to injuries sustained from a former job as a furniture mover. I get that. My brother David frequently suffered back injuries, usually self-inflicted, from lifting doors. Frakes carries out the maneuver as early as the second episode, “The Naked Now”, when he’s leaning over Data while he’s operating the science station. And it’s not a bad thing. It adds a layer to his character; it suited his flamboyance and self -confidence.
Worf growls a lot and spends most of the season getting his ass kicked. On the other hand, he got all the best one-liners. Consider this exchange from “Justice”:
Worf: “For what we consider love, sir, I would need a Klingon woman.”
Riker: “What about plain old basic sex? You must have some need for that.”
“Of course, but with the females available to me, sir—Earth females—I must restrain myself too much. They are quite fragile, sir.”
“Worf, if I didn’t know better I’d say you were bragging.”
“Bragging, sir?”
Then there’s this goodie from “11001001”: “If winning is not important, then, Commander–why keep score?” Finally, Worf’s impassioned speech about duty and honor in “Heart of Glory” may be one of the best of Season One.
The one duo that works right out of the gate is the pairing of Geordi and Data. Geordi could be considered an extension of the actor playing him, LeVar Burton. He was personable, outgoing, the guy who gets along with everyone. In tense situations Geordi was ready with a wry comment that was usually spot on. The fact that he had a VISOR never troubled me, despite the writers constantly bringing it up as some kind of multi-tasking super-duper power.
Data (Brent Spiner) remains the most appealing character. He was the polar opposite of OS’s Spock, though they both served the same function as mirrors on the human condition. Early on Data was characterized as a babbler who defines words and phrases to death, to the point where the captain, crew and even the ship’s computer cut him off. Whereas Spock kept his emotions on a tight grip and frequently expressed disdain at our emotionalism, Data was always reaching, often coming closer to humanity than most of the humans he interacted with. When Tasha, in her farewell log, said he sees things with the wonder of a child, she’s not wrong.
The tragedy of Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) is that we never got to know her. The one story where Tasha was the focus (“Code of Honor”) was diluted by Picard and Chief Lutan waltzing around the Prime Directive. We have hints of her home world, a place hip deep in anarchy, that were barely scratched at. And yet we can view the effects of growing up in that environment in her self-discipline and the rapier sharp temper, poised to lash out at any time.
And she suffers no fools, as when the aliens are locked in an electric duel (‘Symbiosis”), she casually phasers them with a quiet, “Gentlemen, behave.” When confronted by Ferengi or Qs, she gives no fucks. It would have been interesting to explore her early years, what clever ways she avoided the gangs, the skills she acquired for day-to-day survival. That was not to be.
Troi starts off in a skant miniskirt and boots for the pilot. Once we get to the first episode she’s confined for the rest of the season in a doughty jumpsuit; now if the intent was to deemphasize her sexuality, they went too far the other way. The Riker-Troi romance was kind of a carry-over from the planned-&-cancelled PhaseII series from the 1970s, where the romantic pair was Dekker and Ilia, brought to life in ST: TheMotionPicture.
The romance here is not only unsustainable, it’s unbelievable. This is especially true given the considered and intelligent portrayal of Benjamin Sisko and his son Jake on DS9. Anyone can see this as a sham perpetuated by TV writers, that a protagonist can’t be weighed down by a family or love interest. Horseshit. Career military men from the lowest ranks to the most decorated generals have been married, with children. People can make a commitment to family and the service. The two are not incompatible.
Miles O’Brien also makes his first appearance, on the battle bridge in the very first episode, although he wouldn’t be given a surname until the second season (“A Matter of Honor”), and his full name would not be given until season 4.
And then there’s Wesley Crusher, child genius. In early forays, from “The Naked Now” up through “Datalore”, Wesley was the one person who can rescue the ship—after he was the one who put it in danger in the first place. This was in line with Gene Roddenberry’s showcasing Wesley as an indispensable genius; it also portrayed the rest of the command crew as foolish. After “Where No One Has Gone Before”, it became Picard’s job to mentor Wesley, becoming a surrogate father of sorts.
THE EPISODES
The early stories were painful to watch, though the scriptwriting improved after the first block of episodes. I’m not going to nitpick over every single episode. I’d just like to cover some highlights. Let’s begin with the pilot, “Encounter at Farpoint”. First, there was Q. At this point Q remained a mustache twirling villain with contempt for all lesser species. Q joins a long line of godlike entities that peppered OS like Apollo, the Metrons and Trelaine, possibly a Q himself. Unlike previous encounters with supposed ‘deities’, a larger spectra of existence was hinted at (“Hide and Q”), and would be explored in future episodes across three different Trek series.
I liked most of it, BUUUT…Picard surrendered. He actually did it twice. And god, they recycled that damn Motion Picture theme at every dramatic moment. I love that theme, but there’s a point where you have to scream “ENOUGH ALREADY!” To be fair, we met the crew; this was the first time we saw a saucer separation on a starship; and those space jellyfish were absolutely gorgeous. Who had an absolute legitimate grievance. Original Series actor Deforest Kelley’s cameo in “Farpoint” was a highlight. It was also the beginning of a Trek tradition where a character from the previous series acts as a bridge linking the two series.
“The Naked Now” was basically a retread of an OS episode. “Code of Honor” was possibly the most unintentionally racist episode of any Trek series; it has my vote for the worst episode on TNG’s entire 7-season run. The idea may have been to portray the Ligonians as Samurai warriors, but they came across as hide-bound, tradition bound jackasses. “Too Short a Season” presented our first modern, self-important, dickhead Starfleet Admiral. There would be more.
“Angel One” was a busy episode, what with the plague-of-the-week and a lost party in a matriarchal society. Unfortunately, the women of that society came across as obnoxious and closed-minded. Honestly, I found it hard to sympathize with any of the guest cast. At least “Home Soil” gave us the alien’s tagline: “Ugly bags of mostly water.” “Skin of Evil” was the kind of weird story one could expect from the pen of Outer Limits creator Joseph Stefano. Poor visual effects did this in, but the main issue was that it was a pointless episode designed to kill off a member of the main cast.
I’m not prepared to tag any of these early voyages as Classics, but there were a handful of Good ones. “Where No One Has Gone Before” showed us the seeds of greatness, positing new ideas with the Traveler and the possibilities of higher levels of consciousness. I’m sure we’ve all seen the meme-worthy scene where Picard is about to step out of the turbolift—and almost into warp space. Unfortunately, it also established Gene Roddenberry’s vision of Wesley Crusher as Will Robinson, the smartass kid who had all the answers.
“The Big Goodbye” set the standard for all holodeck adventures that go terribly wrong. It also introduced Picard’s unlikely fascination with 20th Century pulp hero Dixon Hill, an analogue to Data’s parroting of Sherlock Holmes (“Lonely Among Us”). Another holodeck adventure, “11001001” gave Riker a chance to shine while introducing Frakes’ real-life trombone playing skills. The duo of Picard and Riker was unbeatable. It also had the most honest answer as to why these aliens carried out their actions. When Picard asked why they didn’t ask for our help, the Bynars reply, “You might have said no”.
“Heart of Glory” gave us our First Klingon Episode, in which we learn more about the Klingon race than we had in the entire Original Series, and that’s including the first four movies! For the first time, though not the last, Worf emerged as a character of depth and honor. In “Conspiracy”, we had the grossest head splatter in Trek history.
THE MOST BADASS CHARACTER IN SEASON ONE
In fact, the most badass character in the first season of TNG was– Dr. Beverly Crusher, played by Gates Mcfadden. I didn’t like her in the first viewing; most frequently her catchphrase seemed to be, “I don’t know.” But truthfully, she was a lioness in defense of her son (“Justice”, “When the Bough Breaks”). In “Conspiracy”, the possessed Admiral Quinn kicks Riker’s ass, throws Geordi through the bulkhead doors, kicks Worf’s ass—and then Dr. Crusher walks in and phasers the SOB; no fear, no fucks given. In “The Arsenal of Freedom”, while in shock and bleeding, with an automated program loading ever-deadlier probes at both the away team and the Enterprise–D, she is the only one with enough clarity to see the solution: “Why don’t you just shut it off?”
Despite its early shortcomings, TNG was a success right out of the gate. There was little question it would be renewed for a second season. But changes were coming, and that will be the subject of a future blog.
I’m trying to understand something. I don’t know why we’re still talking about it. Seriously, what is everyone’s problem with Jews?
I’ve never been hurt by anyone of the Jewish faith. I’ve never been robbed, bamboozled or financially taken advantage of by said people. If its the tenets and/or rituals they practice, oooh boy have you looked at the Catholic Church lately? I have one rule regarding my level of hate, and that is, I reserve it for anyone who acts like an asshole.
Oh wait, I get it. It’s that business where Jesus was condemned by all the Jews in Jerusalem way back in the Stone Age, Roman Age whatever. One question…how do you know that’s what happened?
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark & Luke, were written second-hand, according to tradition, according to the testimony said to come from Peter and Paul. The only gospel written by an actual apostle was that of John the beloved–again, ACCORDING TO TRADITION. Which proves nothing, as these books were transcribed a hundred years after Jesus’ resurrection.
Putting that aside, I’m supposed to believe that every single Jew in the city rose up against Jesus, after all the miracles he bestowed, after raising both Lazarus and the daughter of Jairus from the dead? I say unto you, IDBY. It certainly wasn’t true of Joseph of Arimathea–you know, the guy who provided the tomb where Jesus lay until his resurrection?
Even IF that were so, which I doubt, so what? That was 2,000 years ago. The Jews of today weren’t alive then. Their ANCESTORS weren’t alive then. In the Mormon church we have an interesting set of guidelines, known as the Articles of Faith. You may be interested in Article no. 2, to wit, “We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.” Whoever killed Jesus, 81 generations ago, they ain’t alive anymore. You can’t hold their descendants responsible.
As for that BS that “eww, Jews own everything, they control everything”, I’m not even wasting time on that nonsense. Elon Musk was raised in an Evangelical family and now is agnostic. Rupert Murdoch professes to be Christian. The Koch brothers are Catholic. The actual number of billionaires following the Jewish faith is closer to 19.8%-30%.
I’m not expecting to convert any haters; if you’re convinced of some bullshit conspiracy theory, nothing I say is going to help you. But I’m not going to be silent about it either.
The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon was a mainstay of our youth. You’d know every fall exactly when Labor Day came around because that was always the day Jerry Lewis held his annual fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Coincidentally this was also held the day before school started up again in the fall. For 24 hours that telethon dominated our local broadcast, featuring musical acts, celebrities and others all called together for the cause.
Four days after his monumental One on One concert in Madison Square Garden, and a year after George Harrison’s historic Concert for Bangladesh, coincidentally also at the Garden. The couple’s association with Yuppie radicals like Abbie Hoffman & Jerry Rubin brought the FBI to focus an investigation on them and their suspected plans to disrupt the National Republican Convention scheduled for August 21-23, 1972, in Miami Beach FL, the same city where the Democratic Convention was held that year..
Although Hoffman & Rubin were in love with the idea, John & Yoko had no part in any such plans, and the convention went on despite anti-Vietnam War protests on August 22. John & Yoko would face deportation in 1972, based on a past marijuana charge in the UK. While Yoko was granted permanent resident status in 1973. John was ordered to get out. Such was the backdrop to this seminal performance.
The 1972 Muscular Dystrophy Telethon was broadcast from New York City’s Americana Hotel on 7th Avenue. Jerry Lewis began his intro: “Ladies & gentlemen, presenting, and I’m proud to present, two of the most unusual people in all the world, and I don’t mean just in the world of entertainment. They fit no patterns, meet no standards except the standard of excellence. Ladies & gentlemen, John Lennon & Yoko!”
They were joined for the last time by their unofficial backing band, Elephant’s Memory. John sported a faint mustache & beard as he segued into another heartfelt performance of “Imagine”. John couldn’t do a bad version, and here, on keyboard instead of piano it has more of an ethereal tone. He was joined by the saxman on the first bridge, which always brings a bit of soul to any song.
And no, I won’t be excluding Yoko from this. Introducing the second number, she said, “John & I love this country very much and we’re very happy that we’re still here.” This led to “Now or Never” a peace song from her upcoming LP Approximately Infinite Universe. Apparently she was trying it out on a live audience before committing the song to vinyl, just as they’d done with ‘Cold Turkey” in 1969. There was no screaming this time, instead taking a turn at a folksy style, again highlighted by a saxophone backing.
Next, John praised Jerry as “a great comedian–I wish he never grew up!” He closed with a reggae version of “Give Peace a Chance”, just as they had at the evening show for the One on One concerts. “This is how they do it in Jamaica!” John called, inviting the audience to sing along. This was at a time when most Americans hadn’t had much exposure to reggae. Bob Marley & the Wailers breakthrough in America, Catch a Fire, would not be released until 1973. Johnny Nash’s hit “I Can See Clearly Now” wouldn’t begin to chart until October 1972, the month following this performance.
This would be the last time he performed “Give Peace a Chance”. The sax certainly livened things up, but it didn’t quite hold up to the standard version offered up three years in Toronto. To their credit, the audience seemed charged up throughout the show. While Yoko encouraged viewers to give, John shouted “no more war!” Jerry Lewis joined in with a trumpet to dance with John & Yoko onstage. Even John joins in with the shouts for “money money money!”
Jerry led the audience in a call for an encore: “John, Yoko, John, Yoko!” But as has often been said of Elvis, they had already left the building. Once he realized they weren’t coming back, Jerry covered himself admirably. “I would suspect that John Lennon is probably one of the wisest showmen I’ve ever met,” he said. “He knows what he’s doing. He did two things tonight. He, one, came here to help, the primary purpose of his visit. And two, he meant to say something. I think he did both these things. He has split. Let’s thank him very much.” This was met with the appropriate applause.
Sidebar: Hot Chocolate Covers ‘Give Peace a Chance’
Years before they dropped hits like “You Sexy Thing” and “Every 1′ a Winner”, the Caribbean-British band Hot Chocolate recorded their first single, a reggae version of ‘Give Peace a Chance” where they changed some of the lyrics. One problem, though: then-band leader Errol Brown was told he needed permission.
Brown probably never expected John Lennon to approve, but when Apple Records contacted him, John not only approved but he agreed to release their version on Apple. Recording as the Hot Chocolate Band, their only single on the Apple label was released in October 1969.
The Apple connection fell apart with the Beatles’ breakup, but this interpretation might be where John got the idea to perform reggae versions of “Give Peace a Chance” at both the One on One concerts and the Jerry Lewis telethon.
Two months later in November 1972, Richard Nixon won re-election by a landslide. In April 1973 John appealed his deportation order and with Yoko, declared a new conceptual country, Nutopia with the slogan, “No land, no boundaries, no passports, only people…No laws other than cosmic.” His Lost Weekend was not far off.
In May of 1972 John & Yoko moved from their Bank Street apartment to their lifelong residence at the Dakota. John’s appearance on the Jerry Lewis Telethon would be his last public performance for the next two years, his last with Elephant’s Memory and in fact his last live appearance with Yoko. The Lennon’s Peace campaign had effectively been stymied by the Nixon Administration’s paranoid efforts to get John deported. The legal fight would consume the next couple of years of John & Yoko’s lives.
John Lennon battled the deportation proceedings until October 8, 1975, when the deportation attempt was barred. In what would become the foundation for DACA, a Court of Appeals stated: “the courts will not condone selective deportation based upon secret political grounds.”3 Leon Wildes’ strategy had worked, he successfully demonstrated that just because the government could deport someone did not mean there was an obligation to deport the individual. In 1976, Lennon became a permanent resident.
Jerry Lewis hosted his first MDA telethon on September 4, 1966. He would continue to serve in that capacity from 1968 to 2010, raising 2.45 billion dollars for the MDA. The telethons continued, with other hosts, until 2012. Jerry passed away on August 20, 2017, aged 91 years.
Availability: Officially John Lennon’s performance on the Jerry Lewis Telethon has never been up for release, but that’s never stopped bootleggers. One source is a 1996 item, John Lennon-Telecasts (JL-517-CD), label unknown. This collects his performances on David Frost, Dick Cavett & Mike Douglas in 1972, including the Jerry Lewis program.
The concert can be found on several YouTube channels. We also have more options on DVD, again via bootleg. As far as listing every relevant bootleg, this is in no way to be considered inclusive. The Complete Live Lennon Tapes (misterclaudel 4637577, c. 2006) may be true to its word. Along with Jerry Lewis, it contains performances from the Rock & Roll Circus, the Fillmore East with Frank Zappa, the John Sinclair benefit, David Frost, the Attica State benefit (without Yoko), Mike Douglas, Dick Cavett, Madison Square Garden with Elton John, the Old Grey Whistle, A Salute to Sir Lew Grade, as well as seven tracks from the evening One on One concert.
From HMC’s TMOQ Gazette series comes John Lennon-Holy Grails, Upgrades & Reconstructions Vol. 1 (TMOQ Gazette HMC 042), which among other items, includes news footage from the Bryant Park Peace rally, as well as two versions of the Labor Day Telethon, in color and B&W.
Among the curiosities on The John Lennon Anthology, on CD 2: New York City. While Track 20 is labelled “Jerry Lewis Telethon”, all it offers is Jerry Lewis’ call for an encore & his gracious speech once he realizes they were gone.
You hear that a lot as a metaphor to explain away hard times, to buck up and press on, pull yourself up by your bootlaces, as another cliche goes, I must tacitly disagree.
We are NOT all in the same boat. We are all in our own leaking boats, trying desperately to plug the holes with snips off our bootlaces; except after the last 30 to 40 years, our bootlaces have been snipped away to nothing.
A lot of us, too many of us, don’t have ‘boats’ at all. They’re just clinging to a garbage bag that holds all they have in the world. We don’t see them for the most part, try to ignore their existence, and when that becomes too hard, we use our paddles to shove them as far out of our sight as possible.
Some of us are throwing rocks at people in other boats ‘cos they cain’t stand t’ look at their faces: “Mabel, get mah shotgun, that there colored boat is gettin’ too close to us!”
Let’s not forget the yachts blissfully plowing through us, not a care in the world, not even if a passing boat happens to get pulverized by their rudders.
That’s my metaphor, which I think is closer to the truth,
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