If you were a 21-year-old college student living in New York, it's likely that you were at home, or in your dorm room, and that it was the legendary WNEW disc jockey Vin Scelsa who helped get you through that horrible night.

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I had just turned 28. I lived in New York at the time and I was already in bed since I had work the next day. A friend, who had been watching the football game, called me to let me know.

I was 10. My oldest brother came into our bedroom in the morning and told my other brother and I. At first I was confused because my brother had a friend named John Leonard in high school (and with our accent, Lennon and Leonard sound very similar).

Heard it, like many, from Howard Cosell during Monday Night Football.
Gave me chills just now watching the video of it.

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steffialicia

A friend, who had been watching the football game, called me to let me know.

A lot of people heard the news from Howard Cosell during Monday Night Football. In a way, I'm glad I didn't hear it from Howard, just because he was not, in any way, a music guy, though he did actually know Lennon, slightly, and even tried to get him to reunite the Beatles on his short-lived Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell TV show (not to be confused with SNL) back in 1975. "I'd really love it if you and the other guys would come on the show," Howard said. Of course, Lennon was incredulous. "What other guys are you talking about?" he replied. In the end, Howard had to settle for the Bay City Rollers, who at the time were being hyped as The New Beatles.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-08 15:10 by tatters.

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MisterDDDD
Heard it, like many, from Howard Cosell during Monday Night Football.
Gave me chills just now watching the video of it.

Patriots lost in overtime.

Aged 13, getting up and ready for school the following morning on 9th of December in my hometown of Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland. My brother's radio alarm came on with the news headlines, including that very horrible one. It's been permanently etched in my memory ever since.

Interesting post from Keith Olbermann on twitter with tape of his radio announcement.


"40 years. By absolute accident I was back visiting my college radio station, WVBR-FM at Cornell, and of all people I was the disc jockey as the news came in of John Lennon’s shooting, and then death. Here’s part of the aircheck (and the sad news came in as we played “In My Life”)"
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Nice post from Paul.


Paul McCartney:
A sad sad day but remembering my friend John with the great joy he brought to the world. I will always be proud and happy to have known and worked with this incredible Scouser!
X love Paul
#JohnLennon


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I don't know man, I wasn't even born

I was in Edgewater New Jersey in a movie theater parking lot on the Hudson river overlooking Manhattan, where young people gathered to drink and hang out. December 8TH is also Jim Morrisons birthday and we were listening to a radio special that night on WNEW. The DJ interrupted and broke the news and we were silent in disbelief.

We changed radio stations and the news of Johns assination was on every channel. I suggested we drive over to the Dakota, which was about a 20 minute ride from where we were. The radio stations must have been told by the police to tell people to avoid coming over. Within an hour there were mobs of people gathered there. I could not persuade my friends to go over and I kind of regret not going to this day.

My wife and I were watching MNF in our small apartment in Texas. It was a sad night. On a side note, she was ironing. Anyone remember ironing? (It ages me...)

Was in NY eight years ago at this time for the Stones 50th concert in Brooklyn.

Participated in a sing along in Central Park (Strawberry Field) earlier on the day of the show. Remember thinking that perhaps Mick or the band would make note of the anniversary,
but also well aware that wasn't likely as it's not really their way.

Even though there was no mention, and even though they played it in London etc on different dates, I still like to believe that their second song that night was a nod to Lennon,
who as we know, wrote it for them with Paul, in kind of a how to moment.

Was a college student in a bar called Pantana Bob's in Greenville NC watching Monday Night Football.

I was -8.. Born in 1988 ;-).

It was 8 in the morning UK time - my girlfriend came around on her way to college - she told me - we smoked some weed, had a shag and promptly forgot all about it..............a few people mentioned it briefly later that night. We didn't watch tv much so I don't even remember seeing it on the news..........

Having said that, I do remember just like the twin towers.

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Stonesdude
My wife and I were watching MNF in our small apartment in Texas. It was a sad night. On a side note, she was ironing. Anyone remember ironing? (It ages me...)

I still iron regularly, as do most people I know.

I was at UMass Amherst - I recall hearing a song (Imagine I think?) as I walked up the steps to visit my GF. I don't recall specifically who told me.
As it happens, the following weekend was when we had tickets to see Bowie in the Elephant Man on Broadway. A bunch of us went to Central Park the day after (12/14) and joined thousands and thousands of people, just standing there, crying.

Yoko Ono:

The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience.
After 40 years, Sean, Julian and I still miss him.
'Imagine all the people living life in peace.'
Yoko Ono Lennon

#enoughisenough #peace #guncontrolnow #gunviolence #nra #guns #gunsafety #firearms #endgunviolence


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A day I remember very well, I was watching the early morning news on tv! I still have the Rolling Stone issue of 22nd of January featuring some great stories and pics by Annie Leibovitz taken the 3rd and 8th of Dec. 1980

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grzegorz67

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Stonesdude
My wife and I were watching MNF in our small apartment in Texas. It was a sad night. On a side note, she was ironing. Anyone remember ironing? (It ages me...)

I still iron regularly, as do most people I know.

I'm not sure I follow, either. I hate ironing, but it has to be done.

Regarding Lennon's passing: I wouldn't be born for another three years, but it'd have surely hit hard. I remember not having long turning 18 when George Harrison passed. I still remember reading the Evening Standard report on my commute home.

I think for a lot of people (including me), this was our JFK moment. Like EddieByword I too was a student at the time and woke up to the news. Unlike Eddie, I didn't smoke any weed and I didn't get a shag!

For the last 40 years the 8th December has been a significant date in my calendar and no doubt will continue to be.

It was 6 o'clock in the morning when my alarm clock woke me up
and I heard it in the news.
I was 28 years old then and I clearly remember that I felt not able
to get out of bed nor could I speak a word. It was so absolutely unreal.

It's just that demon life that's got us in its sway.

I was a 22 college student living with my grandmother near Detroit. We were watching Johnny Carson and they interrupted the show with a broadcast announcement. My immediate thought was Russia invading the USA. Most of us were very worried about our country turning communist. Then they announced John Lennon getting killed and I was devastated. Even my grandma was shocked. That was a tragic night I will never forget.

Watching Monday Night Football with some friends.

We were all in shock.

We had already been drinking, but I couldn't ramp it up like the others because I had to get up early the next morning. I was working as a NTE (Ninety-day Temporary Employee) for the USPS on a 6AM-6PM shift at a Bulk Mail Center, unloading packages and heavy sacks of mail out of truck trailers onto conveyor belts. It was never-ending, brutally exhausting work, the hardest job I've ever had, at least physically, and at that time of year it would be dark when I got there and dark when my shift ended.

During my lunch break, I would go out into the daylight and eat in my car for a half-hour and listen to the radio.

Starting right after the news the night before, and for at least the next 24 hrs., the two biggest LA FM Rock stations--94.7 KMET and 95.5 KLOS, (who existed as competing neighbors on the dial that you could switch back and forth to with a slight turn of the knob)-- played only Lennon/Beatles music along with fan messages and reports from NYC.

Being a Lennon fan, I was filled with emotion. The disbelief and sorrow I felt inside of me was as heavy as those damn sacks of mail. It was hard to eat my sandwich, but I did and then went back inside the building.

What blew my mind while at work that day was that NO ONE said anything about it. It was the biggest news story in the world, and yet to the crew there it wasn't even worth a mention.

After my ninety days I was asked to stay but opted not to hang around any longer.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-09 02:20 by loog droog.

Such dramatic insincerity in that American Football clip.

My freshman year at UofA.(Arizona)
I had just came back from the library and my roomates were watching MNF.
Heard Cosell make the announcement.
When I went home for the holidays I went to the Dakota the first night I was home.
Sad.

At home. Trying to listen to the Russian Service of the Voice of America. It was really hard because USSR officials jammed Western radio stations - VOA, BBC, Radio Liberty etc. But I heard it on VOA and on later on BBC. Spread the news in the school next day. Surely, nobody believed. That news came to the USSR a few days later.