The Night When More Than The Music Died

The Night When More Than The Music Died

http://www.southfloridagaynews.com/sfgn-columnists/off-the-wall-editorial/2662-the-night-when-more-than-the-music-died.html

07 December 201
by Pier Angelo Guidugli

I'm sick and tired of hearing things from uptight, short-sighted,
narrow-minded hypocritics I've had enough of reading things by
neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians All I want is the truth,
Just gimme some truth (John Lennon)
--

This month marks the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's death. He was
gunned down on December 8th, 1980. Alas, according to the current
media coverage, the world has not forgotten him. In fact, it looks as
if we still can't get enough of him.

Even though they paved the way for the sexual revolution of the 60's
& 70's, The Beatles never had the chance to let us know where they
really stood on gay issues. By the time Stonewall happened, they had
split up. We know where John Lennon stood on politics, war, peace,
religion, greed, art, women's lib, racism but what about homosexuality?

As a group they recorded approximately 219 songs. Only one has a
passing reference to something that could be interpreted as sexually
ambiguous: "Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman but she was
another man" (from Get Back).

However, as much as American pop music has its roots in black
culture, British pop music has always had its roots in gay culture.
In England, pop was not just about catchy tunes, it was about
sexuality, which, more often than not, meant gay sexuality. Forty
five years ago, that was part of the Beatles' allure too. They had a
gay manager.

That man, Brian Epstein, was the backbone of the Beatles. He was ever
present wherever they went- a gay man who was a part of the most
visible phenomenon the world has ever experienced. Back then, just
being gay was illegal, but it didn't seem to matter too much anymore.
Very quickly, on the heels of such stratospheric popularity, Her
Majesty's government moved forward on legalizing homosexuality.
Unintentionally perhaps, that could have been one of The Beatles'
greatest contributions and gifts to modern society.

By1966, the music business had acquired a very strong gay presence.
The Beatles, The Who, and The Yardbirds had openly gay managers, and
The Rolling Stones had one that seemed to be rolling both ways. In
addition, Billy Preston often performed with them. Pop had become
populated by gays. There were gay songwriters, producers, directors,
and especially managers: Robert Stigwood with the Bee Gees, Vic
Billings with the "Soul Diva"', and gay icon, Dusty Springfield, to name a few.

Still, the closet's door was not completely removed. Gay musicians
continued to dodge the subject of bedroom preferences. It wasn't so
much about hiding it as it was keeping it under an ambiguous facade.
We had to wait for "Glam Rock", David Bowie, Marc Bolan, and Freddie
Mercury to see the veil and illusion starting to lift. Finally, in
1978, Tom Robinson's single "Glad To Be Gay" became the first openly
gay song to obtain commercial success. What would have happened 45
years ago if one of the Beatles had turned out to be gay? Probably
even their gay manager would have fought hard to cover it up. Today,
an artist or performer's sexuality hardly raises a well groomed eyebrow.

It is well known now that John Lennon and Brian Epstein shared more
than a kiss. They actually tried and experimented on a weekend
together in Spain. If it had come out back then it would have meant
the death of the group. America, for example, went predictably
ballistic when Lennon said that "the Beatles were more popular than
Jesus Christ". Of course the statement was largely taken out of
context. At that moment in time, there was no doubt, that worldwide,
The Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ.

After they split up John Lennon released 11 albums of his own,
containing some of the most poignant and achingly personal lyrics
ever heard in popular music. Primal screams about his mother, his
estranged father, drug addiction, desperation, isolation, love,
Utopia, God, and the search for truth.

"Growing up was scary because there was nobody to relate to", John
Lennon once said.

Reading or listening to the words of "Working Class Hero" we realize
they could have been written today about the alienation and
disconnect of gay teens who see suicide as the only way out of pain:

As soon as you are born they make you feel small

..'til the pain is so big you feel nothing at all..

..they hurt you at home, they hit you at school

..'til you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules..

John Lennon's death marked the last time popular music really
mattered. He was the last musician that made us care, gave us hope in
something better, and allowed us to dream. It doesn't even matter
that his hopeful messages, like the Summer of Love, never became
reality. He made us feel connected and united, as part of something
special and exciting, more meaningful and empowering than today's
flimsy, superficial, social networks.

John Lennon's musical and humanitarian legacies are still speaking to
us through others.

Daniel Levitin, professor of psychology and music, says that through
a lifetime of listening we have learned the statistical probabilities
of what chord is likely to follow what and how melodies are formed.
Composers play with these expectations, meeting and violating them in
interesting ways. Levitin has discovered with lab studies that a
familiar song activates the same part of the brain as sex or opiates
do. John Lennon and The Beatles were the supreme masters of timeless
intricate melodies that slowly reveal themselves across hundreds of
thousands of listenings.

Their music creates subtle and rewarding schematic violations of
popular music forms that keep

' getting better all the time and are guaranteed to raise a smile.'

At the same time Lennon's commitment and dedication to the poor, the
underprivileged and the oppressed is carried on, through multiple
charities, by the tireless work of his wife, Yoko Ono Lennon. From
the "Imagine" Specialty License plate that fights to end hunger in
our state,( the proceeds go to the Florida Association of Food Banks
and the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund), to the Monterey Aids Project
and Habitat for Humanity, the list goes on to include the Desert Aids
Project, Children's Surgery International, Make a Wish,
Adopt-A-Classroom and many more, too numerous to mention, spanning
the globe, from North America to South America, from Africa to Asia.

The gunshot that killed him might have silenced his voice but every
night, from the Reykjavik's Imagine Peace Tower, a beam of light
shoots 13,000 ft into the North Pole's sky telling us that we should
hold on to the dream and imagine what it could have been.

.