Gather Around, Kiddies....

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...And the old lady will tell you what it was like forty years ago today. The news of the day involved heavy matters. There was extreme concern over the Soviet Union invading Poland due to the ongoing Solidarity labor strikes and the rise of Lech Walesa as the face of pro-democracy in the communist bloc country. In Iran, fifty American hostages had been held by militant Iranian students for exactly 400 days. And, in Washington, the transition of power from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan was underway. And then..... Walter Cronkite summed it up pretty well in the opening of his newscast on December 9, 1980: The death of a man who sang and played the guitar overshadows the news from Poland, Iran, and Washington tonight. You've probably seen the ESPN story about how Howard Cosell broke the news of Lennon's death on Monday Night Football. Imagine actually being alive and watching that as it happened. I wasn't watching it. I was home on leave, and I had decided to eschew football or my favorite show, Lou Grant, in favor of sleep. But there would be no sleep, when I woke shortly after midnight and heard the DJ on the radio saying things about someone who'd been shot and murdered. WHO? Then he said, "John Lennon." I've often said that I never was a Lennon fan. But NOBODY deserved to be shot down in cold blood, worst of all right in front of his wife. John Lennon basically changed the world twice. In 1964, when the Beatles burst on to the scene, the musical and social worlds were turned on their heads. When he was senselessly murdered forty years ago tonight, any trace of innocence we thought we might still have been holding on to disappeared forever. John Lennon's last live performance occurred on November 28, 1974 when he joined Elton John to sing Lennon's #1 hit "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" (which Elton sang backup on), along with two Beatles songs. Here's "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night":