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Tribute: John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 'Double Fantasy' album turns 40

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Rick Olivares

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/entertainment/11/17/cd.jpg"/></figure></div><p>Today, November 17, &quot;Double Fantasy,&quot; the last recording of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, turned 40 years old.</p><p>The album, Lennon’s 10th and last after his career with the Beatles, won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1981, and is considered one of the best albums of the 1980s.</p><p>As a fan of the Beatles, I followed Lennon’s career (just as keenly as Paul McCartney’s) and even have all his albums. </p><p>When &quot;Double Fantasy&quot; was released, it received lukewarm attention from critics although the carrier single “(Just Like) Starting Over” did all right on the charts. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pZCxyOcvp5A?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>Within three weeks of the album’s release, Lennon was murdered. The album received an unlikely push and both the album, “(Just Like) Starting Over” and its succeeding singles hit the top of the charts all over the world.</p><p>Whenever I listen to &quot;Double Fantasy,&quot; I find myself skipping the tracks that feature Yoko Ono. </p><p>It isn’t that I dislike her. Not at all. It is just that I am not a fan of her music. </p><p>While I understand that her music influenced a band like the B-52s, I am still not crazy about it. </p><p>Her tracks always came after the ones where Lennon sang lead vocals. It was meant to be like one answering the other. </p><p>And I get it why critics panned the album early during its release. Even 40 years later, I feel the same. Except there’s a bittersweet feeling to listening the songs – “(Just Like) Starting Over,” “Watching the Wheels,” and “Woman” -- by Lennon. All of them were personal songs with Lennon’s view of his life at that time.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZhfWiU8wGCc?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>Except he never fully got to start over. </p><p>I remember where I was when I received the news that Lennon was killed. I was in class (Grade 7 at the Ateneo de Manila Grade School) that Monday, December 9. It was our final subject before lunch, and our homeroom teacher, Mrs. Alma Concepcion, knocked on the door as another teacher was wrapping up his class. She whispered into the ear of the teacher who looked shocked. He managed to nod at Mrs. Concepcion.</p><p>She then faced our class and said, “Class, I have some terrible news. John Lennon of the Beatles has been shot and killed.”</p><p>The class was quiet for a moment. We were stunned in disbelief then this nervous chatter erupted. Of course, we knew who John Lennon was. Who didn’t?</p><p>As a youngster who was into the Beatles, I took this hard.</p><p>I recall when I got home and I switched on the radio to DZRJ that was playing songs from Lennon and the Beatles. To learn more details, I tuned into &quot;News Watch&quot; on RPN-9. They reported what I already heard on the radio albeit they had a bit of footage from New York (from the international media). </p><p>I purchased a tabloid on Wednesday (that’s how delayed things were) and, in fact, I still have it to this day. Within a few weeks, all these biographies of Lennon appeared on the shelves of National Bookstore Ali Mall (close to where I lived). I eventually saved up to buy a couple of them (that I also have to this day). I also purchased my first record of the Beatles, &quot;Abbey Road.&quot; </p><p>My copy of &quot;Double Fantasy&quot; (the first American pressing) is the misprint where the track order was not in order. </p><p>About 20 years ago, I was staying in an apartment in Manhattan not far from Lennon’s Dakota building. I frequently made visits if only to see the spot where he fell. </p><p>Was there a communion of sorts with all the Lennon and Beatles fans who made the pilgrimage all these years? Perhaps.</p><p>Unlike his assailant on that dark day in December 1980, I did not carry a copy of &quot;Double Fantasy.&quot;</p><p>And to this day, I find it difficult to listen to the album.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h5nDe7KC6ZU?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>