Joe Pope, who was perhaps one of the first people to come up with the idea of putting out a Beatle
fan magazine - a "fanzine" - edited and published by and for fans, passed away April 20, 1999.
Joe's Strawberry Fields Forever fanzine was started in 1971,
went on hiatus for a time in the 80's, and in recent years, Joe has been
the voice on the other end of a Beatle news hotline number. One personal note:
When I first started Instant Karma! in 1981, I had subscribed to all the other fan magazines to
get ideas. I wrote to the ones I liked the best seeking advice - Joe was one of the only
fanzine editors who answered my letter and gladly gave me the advice I was seeking, as well
as encouragement. Joe Pope told his own story in his own way at
joepope.com
(Entered April 21, 1999)
MTV's News Gallery featured a photo and story about Sean's plans for his second
LP. Cool your jets folks - he's not planning to release another CD until
next year. For the remainder of 1999, Sean will be touring with Cibo Matto
(he plays bass and sings backup for the funky, food-loving Japanese duo).
But Sean is already working out ideas for the recording. Don't expect another
laid-back collection of songs dealing with blossoming love and sunshine. Sean
told MTV he wants his next album to be a "horror rock" collection. To give you
a clue, he is intrigued these days by Marilyn Manson.
The page features a real-video clip of Sean talking about his recording plans.
(Entered April 19, 1999)
Yoko Ono Sues Lennon's Ex-Assistant
© The Associated Press
LARRY NEUMEISTER reported for the Associated Press that Yoko Ono has sued a former assistant
to John Lennon, claiming he stole priceless personal items after Lennon was killed.
In a federal lawsuit, Ono contends that the former aide, Fred Seaman, agreed in 1983 to
return boxes of Lennon's personal items but has held on to hundreds of photographs.
The lawsuit was prompted by Seaman's claim in a February letter to Capitol Records that a
photograph of Lennon with his son Sean, overlooking a beach in Bermuda, was improperly
included in a recently released compact disc box set.
Seaman said he shot the photograph and calls Capitol's use of it ``an egregious''
copyright infringement.
Capitol sued Seaman separately seeking a declaration that the photograph
does not infringe on any copyright rights.
Yoko's lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, said that after Lennon was shot to death
in 1980 outside his Manhattan apartment, Seaman routinely took shopping bags full of
documents and personal items.
The items included unreleased recordings, paintings, love letters, a novella by Lennon
titled ``Skywriting by Word of Mouth,'' and Lennon's journals from 1975 until he was killed,
it said.
Seaman pleaded guilty in 1983 to stealing four journals and was sentenced to five years'
probation. He promised to return all items that he wrongfully took, the lawsuit said.
Although Seaman returned several boxes of personal items, including family pictures,
Lennon's journals and many of his private letters, Ono contends Seaman is now showing
off hundreds of other Lennon family photographs, even in a recent television special
and in several books.
In a New York Times report, Yoko's lawyer, Paul LiCalsi was quoted, "(Seaman) has
extraordinary gall to continue to take advantage of the Lennons after all he did to
them."
LiCalsi told the Times that after John's murder on December 8, Seaman told Ono he
was too devastated to work and asked for some time off. But instead of mourning,
Seaman spent the time formulating an ambitious plan to publish books about the Lennons.
Calling the scheme, "Project Walrus," he and a college friend, Bob Rosen, came up
with merchandising ideas like a John and Yoko doll. Seaman was caught after Rosen,
angry that his co-conspirator was trying to cut him out of the project, turned him
in to Ono, who called police. LiCalsi told the Times, "I don't understand how after
admitting that he betrayed the family, he still thinks he has a right to the
Lennon legacy."
(Entered April 20, 1999)
VH1's Behind the Music featured Julian Lennon on Sunday, April 25. Julian spent
the entire hour complaining - about his father, Yoko, Sean and his former record
company.
(Entered April 5, 1999)
JamTV reported that a tape recording labeled
"Lennon Voice Diary" was found in a fan's garage last month. The tape may be a
portion of an audio journal that John was said to be keeping sixteen months before
his murder, according to U.K.'s News of the World. Is it just a hoax and why was
it found in a fan's garage? The newspaper sent the tape to voice analysis expert
Dr.Phil Harrison of the Dept. of Phonetics and Linguistics at University College
London, who pronounced it as close to authentic as it could be outside a court of law.
Dr. Harrison said, "News of the World got in touch with me and asked if I
could actually verify that this was the voice of John Lennon. I said 'No' because
nobody can actually do that on tape. All you can do in terms of forensic phonetics
is to say there are similarities. And there were. It appeareed to be dead-on
everywhere I looked. I'm personally sure that is the right voice, but it's not
something I would say as a legally binding statement."
The tape contains acid comments about Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan.
Regarding Dylan's turn to religion, the person alleged to be John on the tape
said, "I was listening to the radio and Dylan's new single or album or whatever
the hell it is came on. 'Everybody's got to be served.' I mean, what was it?
'You've got to serve someone'....'You've got to serve somebody.' So he wants
to be a waiter now? A waiter for Christ."
(Entered April 5, 1999)
(RIGHT: Paul shown with daughter Heather in HELLO! Magazine, January 23, 1999.
Heather had just launched her first collection of homeware designs at a trade
exhibition in Atlanta. The designs included tribal rugs, wall hangings, pillows
and dishes. Paul said about Heather's work, "She's always been very talented
in that way, even when she was little. She started off as a potter and now
she's moved into interior design. It's great. It's what Linda would have liked,
I know that.")
Yoko was not one of The Celebrity Deathmatch contestents on MTV the week of 3/8/99.
No word yet on whether this is something that will actually happen in the future.
(Entered March 7, 1999)
The big buzz on the Ono-Net (Yoko list-serv) yesterday was the MTV Celebrity
Deathmatch claymation comedy show. One list member has reported that the featured
celebrities in this week's match are Bono, Fabio and Yoko. The MTV web site is
showing Real World Death Match, but that could be this past week's match. "Celebrity
Deathmatch" will be aired Thursday, March 11 at 10PM Eastern Time on MTV.
Most of the Ono-Net posters felt Yoko could easily kick the butts of Bono
and Fabio.
(Entered March 6, 1999)
A new book has just been released by University of California Press titled
The Mourning of John Lennon by Anthony Elliott. The book's publicity/order
form features an endorsement by Jon Wiener, author of the John Lennon book,
Come Together. Wiener says:
"The Mourning of John Lennon is the deepest and most thoughtful book
on popular culture and the culture of celebrity to appear in a long time.
It explores Lennon's emotional and artistic complexity with rare insight and
intelligence. Desire and fear, freedom and pain, irony and nostalgia,
rebellion and loss are analyzed not only in Lennon's life and work, but also
in the generation that grew up with him."
The book covers John's troubled childhood, his personal adult relationships with first
wife, Cynthia and his romance and marriage to Yoko. Elliott also reportedly
offers a fresh look at John's commitment to radical politics and world peace, the
househusband years with Yoko and Sean at the Dakota, all the way to the
technological "reunion" with his former Beatle partners on "Free As a Bird" and
"Real Love."
The book is $45.00 cloth/$17.95 paper, U.S. funds. For ordering information, phone
609-883-1759 or fax toll-free: 1-800-999-1958. The book is available from
California-Princeton Fulfillment Services, 1445 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing, NJ 08618.
(#0-520-21548-6 Cloth/#0-520-21549-4 Paper)
IK! is not endorsing this book. We haven't read it yet.
(Entered March 6, 1999)
Julian's appearance on CNN's Showbiz Today Friday (3/5/99) afternoon at 2:30 PM was cut short
by the start of a Presidential news conference. However, the program was repeated
Saturday morning at 3:00 AM and Julian's live performance of "Day After Day" at the
end of the program was shown on the rerun version.
Julian's longish hair was tied back for this appearance. He was briefly interviewed about
his album and gave a description of what the song, "Day After Day" is about.
(Entered March 2, 1999)
Penny Lane Beatles School Needs Your Help!
The Liverpool school attended by John Lennon and George Harrison during their
early years is making plans to change the face of its Victorian yard. Dovedale
Infants wants to create new resources to take it into the next millennium by developing
both outdoor and ind-school learning. George and John would have played on a boring
stretch of concrete, surrounded by brick buildings dating from 1915, just around the
corner from Penny Lane. The yard still has a couple of old air raid shelters,
painted with a mural of the Beatles.
Read how you can help make the Dovedale Infants dream come true
here.
(Entered February 24, 1999)
ICE reports in their March '99 edition that Buddha Records will surface in the
spring with expanded, newly remastered reissues of out-of-print works. One that
is being planned is Nilsson's John Lennon-produced Pussycats. The 1974
collaboration will be reissued in mid-June. The new set will include four
previously unreleased outtakes as bonus tracks. They are: an alternate take of
the Drifters' Save the Last Dance for Me ; Down By the Sea ;
Turn Out the Light; The Flying Saucer Song. Buddha's A & R
supervisor/producer, Mike Ragogna told ICE that Save the Last Dance For Me
"is a very personal read; the album version is very aggressive. This one is
just him and a Fender Rhodes with a beautiful vocal." As for The Flying
Saucer Song, Ragogna describes that as "a multitracked Nilsson having a
conversation with himself at a bar."
(Entered February 20, 1999)
George Harrison will appear Sunday (February 21, 1999) on ABC television in a
public service announcement for the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation. The Foundation
donates instruments to schools. The PSA airs after Mr. Holland's Opus, the
1995 movie about a music teacher, makes its network debut (7-10 P.M. ET/PT).
In the announcement, George urges viewers to "help keep music alive in our schools"
by calling a toll free number, 877-MR-HOLLAND. Executive director Felice Mancini
says, "George is an icon. It's just a natural connection when you have someone whose
music has influenced so many people."
(Entered February 17, 1999)
Julian appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman" Wednesday, February 17.
He performed "Day After Day" which is the first single from his album, "Photograph
Smile" which is due to be released in the USA on February 23 and in Canada on
March 1.
Julian's hair was long, parted in the middle. He wore a t-shirt that he said
a friend made for him which stated in block letters, "LENNON And Proud Of It."
Letterman told Julian he wished he could have a shirt like it.
Julian is also scheduled to appear on Howard Stern's radio show live from New York City
February 18 (Why?)...
"Good Day Philadelphia" on February 25th (the show airs on the Philly Fox channel
from 7AM to 9AM) and on "Philly After Midnight" on ABC February 25. Showtime is
12:30AM.
Julian will perform "Day After Day" on "The View" February 19th on ABC and will be interviewed
by Barbara Walters. That one-hour program airs at 11AM.
(Thanks toRichard Joly-ONO-WEB
for supplying a few of these dates and times.)
(Entered February 16, 1999)
The Fox Family channel in the USA aired a combination Kennedy/Lennon special about
Famous Families on February 15; the program will repeat Saturday, February 27
at 10PM ET. The program featured interviews with Yoko, Sean and Julian. Your
IK! editor was out of town and off the beam a bit this past weekend and missed
this first showing of the program, but I understand from posts to Sean Lennon's
Web-Place that despite a few factual blunders, it was a fairly decent program.
(Entered February 16, 1999)
According to a report on BBC Ceefax, there is a John Lennon Museum planned for
Tokyo, Japan. The museum will include some of John's guitars, clothing, drawings
and manuscripts. It is being built by the Taisei construction company is expected
to open in the autumn of the year 2000. Nice start to a new millennium! (Unless
you're one of those who believe the millennium doesn't start until 2001!!)
(Entered February 10, 1999)
Julian will appear on "The David Letterman Show" on CBS Wednesday, February 17
and on the ABC morning talk show, "The View" on Friday, February 19. "The View"
is hosted by Barbara Walters, Star Jones and Meredith Viera.
He is also appearing in a film with David Bowie, "The Linguini Incident" on the
Sundance cable network February 11 at 7AM and again at 3PM ET.
(Entered February 8, 1999)
E!, "The E! Hollywood True Story: The Beatle Wives" will be aired this Sunday,
February 14 at 8PM ET. The show examines the lives of the women who captured
the hearts of the Beatles: Cynthia Powell Lennon (John's first wife, and the
first Beatle wife), Yoko Ono, Linda McCartney, Olivia Harrison and Barbara Bach.
Jane Asher will also be featured, although she was never a Beatle wife.
Check out E!'s promo about this online at
eonline.com .
(Entered February 8, 1999)
IK! has learned that Julian will appear on "The View," an ABC morning talk show with
hosts that include Barbara Walters and Meredith Viera, in the near future. He will
also sing "Day After Day" from his soon-to-be-released album, "Photograph Smile" on "The
David Letterman Show" and he is reportedly set to be Paul McCartney's "guest"
at McCartney's Hall of Fame induction ceremony next month. As soon as we have dates for these
programs, we'll post an update.
(Photo From MTV Online)
Go here for
the complete story.
Paul has angrily denied a story that surfaced in London that he is finding comfort
in the company of another woman, less than a year after wife Linda's death from
breast cancer. The woman in question, Sue Timney, is reportedly separated from
her husband and one report has it that she has been spending time with Paul at
his farmhouse in southern England. Paul issued a statement that said in part,
"My dealings with Sue Timney have been completely professional and my only meetings
with her have been for business purposes." Paul's spokesman says he has been
working with Timney on an exhibition of Linda's photographs and that she's a family
friend. He called the reports of a romance "scurrilous and mean spirited."
(Entered March 12, 1999)