Johnny B. Goode's creator Chuck Berry turns 84 years old today. John Lennon once said, “If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry.’”
He may be an ex-federal-felon (Mann Act), but that brown-eyed handsome man could play his guitar just like a-ringin' a bell. Check out the old rocker's weekly gig in his hometown (St. Louis) before he passes. Roll Over, Beethoven - tell Tchaikovsky the news!
Showing posts with label John Lennon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Lennon. Show all posts
Monday, October 18, 2010
Letter to a fellow Lennon fan
Hey, Stu Levitan:
I enjoyed your Tribute to John Lennon radio show on October 10. Very creative use of your 1980 Madcity Music Scene article, embellished with Lennon/Beatles song excerpts. Loved that guy - still miss him. Imagine the songs he'd have written since Double Fantasy!
I wrote an essay (re: what John Lennon had been up to since 1975, etc.) for my freshman English Composition class with Prof. Nicholas Doane, father of the Orpheum's Henry D., at UW-Madison in November 1980 - just before John so sadly died.
By the way, I was born 4 days before John Lennon's 20th birthday, on October 5th, 1960 in Heidelberg, West Germany (where The Beatles launched their career).
Truly,
Muse of the Weird
I enjoyed your Tribute to John Lennon radio show on October 10. Very creative use of your 1980 Madcity Music Scene article, embellished with Lennon/Beatles song excerpts. Loved that guy - still miss him. Imagine the songs he'd have written since Double Fantasy!
I wrote an essay (re: what John Lennon had been up to since 1975, etc.) for my freshman English Composition class with Prof. Nicholas Doane, father of the Orpheum's Henry D., at UW-Madison in November 1980 - just before John so sadly died.
By the way, I was born 4 days before John Lennon's 20th birthday, on October 5th, 1960 in Heidelberg, West Germany (where The Beatles launched their career).
Truly,
Muse of the Weird
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Andrei Codrescu Lectures at UW-Madison: DaDa!
Andrei Codrescu's lecture at the Union Theater last night was the perfect 50th birthday present to myself. His NPR commentaries are brilliant feuilletons of the absurd. He talked about being inspired by Dadaist madman Tristan Tzara & meeting scholar Mircea Eliade in Chicago in 1967.
A dark wry poet-editor-adventurer who immigrated from Transylvania to the USA via Rome in 1966. He lived in New Orleans, where I first heard him speak circa 1988, for decades & retired from LSU recently.
Hilariously enough, his new (vacation) home is in the Ozarks wilderness. Redneck country. See the documentary Road Scholar, about Prof. Codrescu belatedly obtaining his driver's license & exploring America by automobile.
Imagine H.L. Mencken crossing America by car with Groucho Marx (Codrescu's a Jew whose native tongues are German & Hungarian) & they pick up Jack Kerouac & John Lennon hitchhiking. Gotta love this crazy world!
A dark wry poet-editor-adventurer who immigrated from Transylvania to the USA via Rome in 1966. He lived in New Orleans, where I first heard him speak circa 1988, for decades & retired from LSU recently.
Hilariously enough, his new (vacation) home is in the Ozarks wilderness. Redneck country. See the documentary Road Scholar, about Prof. Codrescu belatedly obtaining his driver's license & exploring America by automobile.
Imagine H.L. Mencken crossing America by car with Groucho Marx (Codrescu's a Jew whose native tongues are German & Hungarian) & they pick up Jack Kerouac & John Lennon hitchhiking. Gotta love this crazy world!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Bob Mould, Jackson Browne, John Lennon & Me
I just learned - via factoid on WXRT-FM's (Chicago) website - that Bob Mould was born on October 16, 1960 (eleven days after me), albeit in Malone, NY & not Heidelberg, Germany, birthplace of me & Jackson Browne. Bob's band Husker Du (sorry, no umlauts handy) was born in the Twin Cities, of course, where Mould attended Macalester College. John Lennon is another October Birthday Boy. Librans seeking balance?
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