What If........(episode 1)

James

I figured I would start a series dealing with "what if" type scenarios regarding various artists, bands, or albums.

The first scenario will be........

What if John Lennon had never been murdered? Would he have found success in the bizarre musical decade known as the 80's? Could he have even fit in musically during the era? Alot of his solo material dealt with Yoko and alot of introspection about his childhood. Some of it very self indulgent. His anti war and anti religious stance would have been very dated as well. If Lennon were to succeed in the 80's, it would have likely required not only a change in musical direction, but an image makeover as well.

Lennon surviving into the 80's opens up an even bigger can of worms than solo material: What about The Beatles? Had a reunion happened in say 1985, other than cash grab purposes, could the band have been relevant?

Or would Lennon have pulled an Axl type disappearance instead of going forward?

buzzsaw

Lennon was so complex that these questions are impossible to answer with any certainty. I think that he could have remained relevant had he wanted to, but I don't think he would have wanted to. I think he would have disappeared.

I honestly don't think that The Beatles could have ever reunited to the point of moving forward with new music much like I don't think gnr can. The differences between Lennon/McCartney are similar to Axl/Slash in many respects. They weren't just professional differences, there are personal issues as well which complicates things further.

James

Yeah, would've been interesting to see his stance on Reagan and the Cold War. Probably would have vented against the greed and excess of the 80's as well.

But how would the music have sounded? He would have had to jump on a trend or two to be relevant. Bands that couldn't or wouldn't adapt to the 80's didn't survive.

I also agree that The Beatles would have reunited.

James

Cloud Nine is an overlooked treasure. I haven't heard the whole album in ages(I should buy it again actually), but I have Fab on one of my tons of cd-rs, and I love it when that track comes on.

Remember Julian Lennon? He had a couple big hits in the early 80's. Maybe that was how Lennon would have sounded had he lived.

He sounded like John as well.

monkeychow

I think the 1980s beatles would be like The Rolling Stones are today...relevant in that they're respected as one of the biggest acts of all time and masters at what they do.

buzzsaw

I remember when the rumor was that they were going to reunite in the 80s with Julian in John's place. That would have been interesting.

Sky Dog

Well, first, Lennon did disappear for 5 years...completely 1975 to 1980...didn't do anything except raise his child. In 1980 he released Double Fantasy so you get an idea of where his head was at soundwise and style wise. He was always going to be a straight ahead rocker who experimented on side projects with avante garde type stuff. I figure the Beatles probably would have at least reunited for a tour...an album, who knows?

PaSnow

I would see The Beatles being more like Zeppelin and Page & Plant than The Rolling Stones. I don't think the Beatles would tour every 3 years charging $200/ticket. I think they might have toured once in the late 80's, and possibly again recently. Maybe a new album, like The Eagles, nothing earthshattering.

I think Lennon's solo work might have sounded a little bit like Phil Collins & Peter Gabriels 80's stuff (Sledgehammer, Air of the Night). Not exactly like that, but along those lines. Lennon probably would have done a solo acoustic album as well, a la Johnny Cash & Neil Diamond.

All speculation though, who knows.

Stepvhen

James Lofton wrote:

I figured I would start a series dealing with "what if" type scenarios regarding various artists, bands, or albums.
The first scenario will be........

What if John Lennon had never been murdered? Would he have found success in the bizarre musical decade known as the 80's? Could he have even fit in musically during the era? Alot of his solo material dealt with Yoko and alot of introspection about his childhood. Some of it very self indulgent. His anti war and anti religious stance would have been very dated as well. If Lennon were to succeed in the 80's, it would have likely required not only a change in musical direction, but an image makeover as well.

Maybe Im going a little far here BUT, maybe the only reason that self indulgence, Anti-War Sentiments, Anti-Religion Sentiments and The John Lennon image were out of Fashion in the 80s is BECAUSE Lennon died.

Lennon was not the type to adhere to the mainstream at that point in his career. Who is to say that the Man would not have defined the 80s as he did the previous 2 decades (albeit with a little help from his friends)

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