1981 - The HARDEST Year For Beatles Fans? The FULL Story of That Year 

Man, the way the press treated the surviving Beatles and particularily Paul in the year after John's death is nothing short of disgusting.

Ironically, 1981 was the year i became a Beatles fan. I was 12yrs old when John was killed and that woke me up to the impact of Lennon and the Beatles in music/world history. I saw the movie Help! for the first time in the spring of '81 and i was hooked. Growing up in the inner city/'hood, i used to get teased and laughed at for listening to the Beatles but i'm still a fan.

So sad to say... But, John's tragic death was what introduced me to his music and The Beatles and their music.. with the indirect help from my older sisters. And I've been a long-time fan ever since.

Somewhere in England was a great George Harrison album. All those years ago continues to be a classic

I never knew All Those Years Ago was criticized. Beautiful melody and lyrics that bring tears, very well thought out. I can't put '81 as the worst year just cuz of that song. George raked his way through the muck and wrote a simple and innocent love ballad

One never fully gets over the Beatles. I still miss them. But I have their music, which is classic and timeless. Greatest band ever -- musically, sociologically and culturally.

1970 was the toughest year for me as a Beatles fan.

I cannot believe Birth of the Beatles has not been remastered and re-released as a clean cut. It’s a great flick and MacKenna was a great Lennon

When this segment ended, I literally let out a "nooooooooo" while sitting alone in my music room on this cold rainy day in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The 1980 segment's finale begat the same reaction. Thank you Andrew. I was 17 on 1981 and seeing such a comprehensive recap of that mostly forgotten time in Beatles lore is endlessly satisfying. You are wonderful to share these clips with. Your professionalism and delivery is SO rare on this RU-vid wasteland. Best to you man. Love, Tommy

That’s the year I became a Beatles fan so I didn’t have anything for comparison. Listened to my sister’s red album every day after school. Loved All Those Years Ago and Stars On 45 that summer.

“Birth of the Beatles” was great. I (18 years) recorded it and watched it a 100 times. A great movie to learn the Beatle story in 1981. The next year VHS movie “The Compleat Beatles”released in 1982, a documentary chronicling the career of the Beatles was a big hit. Then a new generation learned the beatles history. After those two events the Rutles 1978 “All you need is cash” made sense.

I bought Walking on Thin Ice because I absutely loved it. John did incredible guitar work on it and his solo after Yoko's spoken word passage went right tbrough me.

I turned 21 in this year. Never seen the Beatles movie you talk of and did not even know it existed!! I was too busy trying to be a rock star myself ( I failed although I do still play in a band now) whilst working for EMI Music Publishing at the time. I remember the ongoing saga about EMI not keeping up with demand for the Lennon records, but funnily enough not a lot else of what I heard here. Apart from the reaction of Paul to the press intrusion. Who can blame him for feeling a little paranoid at the time. However, I have to disagree regarding the Stars on 45 single. I hated it then and do not care much for it now either. I love the songs individually and had no desire to hear them shoehorned into a medley with other songs and a godawful Stars on 45 refrain with the incessant handclap drum beat in the background. Great work as always Andrew. Look forward to the next instalment.

My sister was in England in the summer of 1981, she was there during Wimbledon and the Royal Wedding. One of the things she bought for me during that trip was a Walkman (not a Sony but a Sanyo Walkman). I had only a handful of cassettes to play at that time; for my birthday in September I was given the "Stars on 45" album by one of my aunts, which quickly became one of my favorites.; the guy who sang John's Lennon's original vocals did a great job.

The fascinating thing about the Walking on Thin Ice single was that it was the last thing John finished before he was killed, and he told Yoko upon listening to the completed mix that he believed it was going to be her first number one hit. And although on the pop charts it did not do so well, as recounted in the video, it did in fact become Yoko's first number one hit on the Billboard Dance/Club Chart in 2003, verifying John's prediction and kicking off an uninterrupted string of 13 number one hits for Yoko on that chart that concluded in 2017, making her the 11th most popular Dance/Club music performer in history! An entire generation of club kids still thinks of Yoko as the grandma with all the great tracks to dance to!

I bought a copy of Season of Glass second-hand years after its initial release, some time in the late eighties. The original owner was moving out and selling his record collection; I picked it up randomly as the cover struck me. After listening to it for the first time I concluded that this album did for Yoko what John's 1970 Plastic Ono Band album did for him: It was a self-revealing/therapy sort of album. Some songs in it were not uninteresting either: No No No had an edge reminiscent of Walking On Thin Ice. The performance and mixing of some tracks was reminiscent of Yoko's contributions to Double Fantasy just some months prior. Not to mention the fact that many of the session musicians on DF are featured here as well! In some ways the album seemed like a sequel to Double Fantasy that would never come to be, with Yoko being left stranded in the studio with the same session musicians from DF. Minus John and his material, giving the album a DF-minus John atmosphere which made it an eerie listen, tbh. If Yoko sought to depict the presence (of John's haunting absence within the album tracks) by showing the half-empty glass on the cover, then I guess she succeeded, imo. One interesting bit of trivia is Sean narrating at the opening of one of the tracks on Side A.

1981 was the first year I'd had a full time job, and with a ton of record shops around the area, my Beatles collection was stacking up. As you said, Andrew, those were the days.

Hard to deny that the little stretch in "love" from Drive My Car>What You're Doing>The Word>Drive My Car is a total moment of serendipity. Throw in the guitar break from Taxman and you have it all...

Anytime "Walking On Thin Ice" comes up, I say it was the best song anyone named Lennon recorded in 1980. About Seasons of Glass...for many years I had a hard time listening to Double Fantasy - John was so vulnerable on it, and Yoko's singing was not as professional as I was used to. Now I realize what a brave statement it was for a hardcore rock-and-roller to put this out, and Yoko's best deserves to be here - "Your tears are streaming even when you're smiling" is lovely. Seasons of Glass is more of this, but even better, with fuller sound, and a tough, mournful feeling. It's not fun, but it's real. Anyone who likes Neil Young's Tonight's the Night should appreciate it. Great job, Andrew, bringing me back to the year I turned 19.

This was great! 1981 saw me living in New York. I got to see the constant press output from my side of the pond, but I can't ever remember Capitol records here in the states experiencing a shortage of Lennon material, it gave me the opportunity to replace my original Lennon albums which were worn beyond belief. Also, the Live Peace In Toronto album finally saw the light of day again, as that album had been deleted for many years prior to December 8th. I have live audio from the New York rock stations shortly after the tragedy and I made the trip to the Dakota the very next morning. It was a madhouse! This posting Brough me back to that time all over again.

One positive in 1981 was July 4, 1981. Casey Kasem and American Top 40, who usually did a special countdown every year around the 4th of July to celebrate their anniversary, chose in 1981 to do the top 40 Beatles songs together and on their own. This aired across the country the weekend of July 4th-5th, 1981, and it was the first time many Beatle songs were broadcast over the air in FM stereo, as AM was primarily used in the 1960s during the songs first run. I was 8 years old when this aired, but I remember it very clearly. I had 4 older brothers who loved the Beatles and so I that's all I heard the first 10 years of my life. I remember my brothers were disappointed there was so many solo songs in the countdown (17 of 40 were from John, Paul, George and Ringo's solo career post-Beatles). I purchased a copy of the original countdown this past summer to listen to as we shot off fireworks, and it was probably the most enjoyable AT40 ever broadcast.

Great video, as usual! I owned that “Beatles in Italy” album. I was infuriated when I put it on and discovered it was not a live album.

Hi Andrew, Another brilliant memory jog. John's senseless murder was one of those moments that you can remember exactly what you were doing when you heard the news. The Stars On 45 singles were a welcome breath of fresh air snd should have prompted a properly produced medley of Beatles songs. The Rock 'N' Roll Music and Movie Medleys always seemed a bit amateurish (The 1964 "Around The Beatles" medley seems better produced) but the 25 year wait for Love was well worth it.

I remember buying "Season of Glass" when it came out and thought that as an album it was much better than any of Yoko's work on Double Fantasy or Milk and Honey and played it a lot. It is a great artistic statement and I will have to pull the record out this week and have another listen to it and reassess. I was one of the few who loved Walking on Thin Ice and was saddened that there would be no more new recordings from the two of them together.

I remember hearing "The Beatles: The Days of Their Lives" multipart radio documentary during the summer of 1981. It really was a standout of that time and had things I hadn't heard. Excellent.

Great stuff as always, Andrew! Great to see the news clippings. As I remember things really picked up in 1982. Tug of war, Beatles 20 Greatest Hits, John Lennon Collection, The Complete Beatles VHS, The Girl is Mine, & The 20th anniversary Beatles singles began. Gone Troppo as well for what it’s worth.

Loved the film, Birth of the Beatles back when I was a teenager back in the mid 80s👍

I enjoy this series Andrew . I can't believe you have not seen 'Birth of the Beatles ' wow!! I have it on video and yeah the acting is dodgy but it's not all bad. It was the only doc film of the Beatles John saw in 1979.

I expected more info on Harrison's Somewhere in England, and how he was asked to change the list of tracks it initially contained, and how some of initial songs like Sat Singing have not been released!

As someone who was born in 1979, I remember the Eighties being a rough decade for The Beatles (both former members and fans) in general. They just seemed to fall out of fashion until the mid-Nineties brought them back with a bang.

For me personally 1981 was the birth of a lifelong Beatles fan - me! Brought up on Merseyside ( I was 15 at the start of 1981) the pain and shock of Johns murder was palpable. I knew who he was and asked my parents about the Beatles. They told me about their lunchtime visits to the Cavern and nights at the Tower Ballroom watching the then unknown Beatles perform and also at other local venues. In my parents very limited record collection I found a copy of Rubber Soul. “Oh somebody left it here after a party” I was told. I placed it carefully on my Dads Dynatron record player, curious to hear what the Beatles music sounded like and, glancing at the back cover, I noticed the first track was a song called Drive My Car….. I never looked back.

I was saddened by John's death, we all were because we loved him so much and were happy to get a new album from him. And there was a lot of press coverage about John's life and tragic death. There were numerous tributes, and sales of Beatles records and collectibles skyrocketed, and the worldwide hit of the Stars on 45 Beatles medley (I had the 45, and played it constantly). Meanwhile, another star was emerging....Lady Diana Spencer. As I watched the news of Prince (now King) Charles announcing his engagement to Diana in February 1981, she was 19 and a kindergarten teacher, I thought "she's not much older than me" (I was 13), but she was very pretty. And the royal wedding, she was stunning in her wedding dress and riding in the gold carriage; we all thought she would have her happily ever after, but as history showed, she didn't, and like John, she was taken from us too soon. But she was a global superstar, and like the Beatles, was mobbed constantly by the media, and faced difficulties in her marriage behind the scenes, similar to what happened to the Beatles in their final years with their difficulties. When she died in 1997 and was grieving for her, I began thinking about how she came at a time in Britain when they were still grieving over the death of John, similar to when John and the Beatles came at a time when people were grieving over the death of JFK, and between the Beatles and John's death was about 16, almost 17 years apart, roughly the same time between the death of John and the death of Diana. Elton John was friends with both of them and recorded "Empty Garden" (for John) and "Candle in the Wind '97" (for Diana). Sorry for my digress.....

Wow, what a trip down memory lane. I was lost in 1981. Stunned that John was no longer with us and the Beatles could never reform. I bought all the singles you showed, apart from Stars on 45. I still have them. To me, the biggest music event of 1981 wasn’t Beatles related. In fact it was two events. The release of ELO’s masterpiece Time in July, and Queen’s Greatest Hits in October.

Oh wow. Ringo USED to be gray-haired!! 😆 Still, this is a fantastic reflection of a very dark time in music history. Thank you Andrew.

I also had that McCartney interview album. It was where I first became aware of the tensions involved in the making of the White Album and there was that eerie coincidence of the sound of a siren when Paul started talking about the Beatles.

The Melody Maker critique of The Birth of the Beatles (saying that "[the] acting was so comprehensively wooden that the cast left puddles of sawdust in their wake") is the most devastating statement that I've ever heard in a movie review. Wow. But, I must admit that I chuckled. The movie itself aside, it's a very creative line.

1981 was the year my Mum bought my Dad the 8 Album EMI postal box set for his birthday. That set with its story telling on the back of each album completely hooked 13 year old me and since then, The Beatles have been a major part of my life.

Really enjoy these year in review scrapbook episodes. They are great fun for people who weren’t around at the time like myself. And they really drive home the point of how pompous and self important so many music “journalists” and critics were. Also, speaking of Cynthia and May, I was at a book signing for Cynthia’s book “John” in ‘05 I think it was, here in NYC, and May Pang was also there “to support her friend” in her words, and even signed the book too. So it’s nice that that friendship lasted.

The Beach Boys medley of those years came as a result of the Stars on 45 doing as a follow-up to their Beatles medley a medley of Beach Boys songs. The Beach Boys asked why the public should accept the Stars COPYING their sound when they can have the real thing. So they made their own, and the Stars' version QUICKLY left the charts.

Great video Andrew…..some of these news clippings were definitely news to me. I can’t imagine Somewhere In England getting any positive reviews in the UK. I know in the US Nicholas Schaffner (a great Beatles biographer) wrote a mixed review in Rolling Stone stating it goes from the sublime to ridiculous. Thanks for sharing this!

Very cool Andrew! The amazing thing I found out was that there are 2 versions of Birth Of The Beatles. One “clean” and one with nudity. The Life drawing class. Great as always, sir! I thought the movie was good. Season of glass was brilliant I thought. England is much tougher on Yoko’s recordings. This was a time I really connected with what she was trying to do. My humble opinion. Interesting times, indeed. Well put together.

Lennon's passing loomed large for teenage Beatles fans of the 1980s. Being one, I know. Thank you Andrew for all the great information.

So long ago and yet it feels it was just yesterday. Thanks Andrew.

About Stars on 45, I had exact the same feeling about it. It was refreshing at first at that moment..

Thanks Andrew. Oh yeah, the hassles involved in the pre-internet days of finding rare records. Over here in the states the best bet was to put an ad in Goldmine record collector's magazine. It was time consuming and at times unsuccessful but I did find some very good Beatles LP's that way.

All I remember about "All Those Years Ago" is that everybody liked it and it made them tear up a little.

Great series Andrew! I wonder if the person who owned the yearly scrapbooks (of which you did an opening on your channel) which inspired this series are aware of your efforts to bring them to life? I would like to think so 👍

Somewhere in England was a great George Harrison album. All those years ago continues to be a classic

Really enjoyed this video. 1981 is very clear in my mind. I saw 'Birth Of The Beatles' when it was first shown on TV in December 1980. On the 3rd of January '81(one month before my 18th birthday), I was in Liverpool for the opening of Cavern Mecca in Mathew Street. Allan Williams, Bob Wooler and Lord Woodbine were there. Allan Williams commented several times about 'that awful film Birth of the Beatles'. I went to the premiere of 'Rockshow'. So many memories.

I really enjoyed Birth of the Beatles. I like it more than Backbeat. I have a very rough copy that I transferred to DVD from a vhs recording off tv in the 80s. A remastered blu-ray is overdue. Wonder who has the rights to it. You don't look old enough to have been involved in Beatles collecting in 1981. I was a couple of years away from discovering what would become a lifelong obsession as a young kid at the time. I remember hearing Watching the Wheels on radio and really loving it, but not knowing it was John Lennon. I liked All those years ago too and didn't know who George Harrison was. I would like a time machine ride back to those Young and Innocent Days.

I love All those years ago by George Harrison , it will always be a favourite .

I've seen "Birth of the Beatles"; in fact, in the summer of 1979 when I was doing my O levels (in Mossley Hill, Liverpool), I got a lift home from a couple of fellow pupils from my school. As they drove up Penny Lane and cleared the bridge, they had to stop the car. Turns out, a scene from "Birth of the Beatles" was being filmed ! I immediately got out of the car and watched but a couple of minutes later, they finished shooting and I continued home. By the way, the actor who played George later appeared in Eastenders as the nefarious Nick Cotton. However, I must report one omission from the events of 1981 - it saw the very first Liverpool Beatles Convention at the Adelphi Hotel on the August Bank Holiday weekend. I know this because I was there (I think it was on the Sunday) and Mark Lewisohn won the Beatle Quiz. Great video Andrew but I personally disliked the Stars on 45 !! However, I absolutely loved "Walking On Thin Ice". Cheers Tim

1981 found me tuning in more and more to the new wave sounds of KROQ in Los Angeles, if only to escape the brutal post-Lennon months the new year brought. I turned into a huge fan of one act in particular, the Go-Go’s, who exuded the fun and freshness of 1964 Beatles. Later on came the Bangles, who had a similar outlook on Rock, while celebrating their love for all things 60’s in their music. I had once held a small hope for a Beatles resurgence and reunion in the late 70s, but now those dreams were torched to ashes. Same as what happened to JFK. And so it was about moving on to some kind of substitutes.

Another fascinating and informative wander down news clippings lane. Thanks.

Thanks for the great overview of 1981! I have had a chat with the German back catalogue marketing manager at EMI Electrola who told stories how they immediately planned to have a tribute album even in December '80 - however, the UK mothership deemed it to be in bad taste and scrapped the plans. As for 1981, yeah, the market for Beatles stuff was im turmoil. There were Dutch, French and Swedish contract pressings in German covers, because Electrola in Cologne couldn't meet the demand. I have several of those.

wow, this is a great post - thank you! i remember all these stories, as i had been a beatles fan and follower since the late 60s. i subscribed to a fanzine called "Strawberry Fields Forever" by Joe Pope in the mid-70s. thats when i learned about the first beatlefest in boston (76?). it was featured in creem magazine, and reported that someone paid the outrageous amount of $125 for the butcher cover, or as creem put it "for a piece of cardboard". all those years ago, keep up the great work!

Great video Andrew, thanks for sharing

Another fascinating video concetrating on the 1981 scrapbooks. I thought George's All Those Years Ago was a worthy release, despite what the NME thought! Glad to hear that you got all the Beatles albums you wanted through your Record Collectors ad! I remember when that publication, for a time, contained the republished Beatles Monthly Book magazines. I think this was during 1980/81.

18:55 re Yoko's Season of Glass: This is the closest she ever came to a pop-rock album. It's a good album with competent musicianship and inventive songs. At least two of them -- Nobody Sees Me Like You Do and Toy Boat have VERY Beatlish chord changes and sound like John might have given a hand during the composition stage. Or is it mimicry? Earl Slick, one of the guitarists, remembers that co-producer Phil Spector had the nerve to brandish a gun in the studio just a couple of months after John's assassination. Apparently Yoko threw him out and finished the production on her own. BTW, Walking on Thin Ice is NOT included in the album, at least in my copy! I bought that separately as a 12" single.

Hi Andrew, I have very vivid memories of these stories. I was 16 in April 1981 I got into the Beatles like so many fans when the Beatles and John's music flooded the radio and tv when he was assassinated. At the time there was an amazing record shop in Croydon called beano's owned by Dave Lashmar who I got to know, I seem to remember a beano's bag popped up in your record stores video . I remember going in there and buying a whole stack of Beatles singles in decent nick and going home and playing both sides endlessly. Those were the days when we didn't even know which Singles and albums were released and we had to work out which records we did not have. Eventually I got every Beatles record most original 60's copies some repressing's. The time on reflection is bittersweet it was my own Beatlemania experience coupled with intense sadness that John was gone and there could be no more music from him. These were the days when a mint copy of Love me do could be bought for £25 (those were the days!) I also remember in about 1982 seeing a copy of the Please Please me LP in mono with the gold label on the wall with a note saying that some copies were released on this label and were rare (no mention of a stereo copy) it was near mint and the price was £100. The magic of going into that store and finding Beatles records in charity shops for pennies were magic memories. Thanks for the video great memories

Thanks Andrew. Another brill sort through the cuttings. It's a slightly strange experience for me, 'cause I encountered the Beatles so much earlier. I probably first encountered them on Brian Matthews Saturday Club in 1963 ( I was 9) and the next big memory was Sunday Night at the London Palladium in October 1963. WOW!!!. Did I watch them on Juke Box Jury? I think I must've done. The big event was Mum taking us to our local cinema to see A Hard Days Night in 1964. I'd just turned 10. I can still hear the noise!!!!! For me the real tragedy was the breakup in 1969. There was still so much there. I love Abbey Road, but I also love bits of Let It Be, especially Get Back. Anything afterwards was just for me irrelevant. I didn't even know about the film Birth of the Beatles...or that 45. I bought Double Fantasy as a Christmas present for my sister for Christmas 1980 and we opened it the night after his death and listened to it and cried. It's wonderful that their music and fame still attracts young people today.

I've never seen Birth of the Beatles but there is a "fair" copy posted on an "archive" website that many will be familiar with. I won't be more specific, but most people by now will know the website if you're into books, magazines, music and film.

Another entertaining & informative video Andrew. Birth of the Beatles was quite funny, Thanks Andrew for your dedication in bringing all Beatles related stories to life again.🙌🙌👍

Medley by Stars on 45 might have been cheesy, but it is what got me "in to" the Beatles (I was later surprised that most of the songs in the medley were album cuts and not hits == also, I thought the Archies "Sugar Sugar" was a Beatles song lol... but that song was the big "hook" that made the song popular)

So glad the yearly post-Beatles re-caps will continue. Eagerly awaiting 1982 and beyond!

I think All Those Years Ago was an excellent single, so you're a bit too hard on it. I first heard it on the radio when I was 7 years old, back in 1981. I didn't know it was by George Harrison, and I had no idea the lyrics were about John or that Wings played on the track. I just thought it was a great, poppy single, and I loved the song's synth intro.

I received Season of Glass as a bonus for another purchase but I haven't listened to it yet. Your video encouraged me to. Thanks!

Pete Best was listed as "technical advisor" on Birth of the Beatles.

Lovely video, love your production. Those Stars on 45 were very popular, just shows the power of the Beatles cannot be underestimated. Sawdust across the floor haha

I've been playing the Walking on Thin Ice 45 in my DJ sets lately. Doesn't exactly fill the floor, but no one complains!

I absolutely love this series!! Please more if possible..

Bought each one of their new on their own albums and liked Paul's,but really loved George's All Things Must Pass. Bought John's and dug it all.

i really like this new kind of videos. it helps to see how it was being a fan of the beeatles in the past because i am 17 years old. greetings from argentina and you can find the birth of the beatles on youtube

Interesting deep dive to a sad sad year

It’s hard to believe in this online age that interviews were actually released on album format. I used to have that Paul McCartney one and it wasn’t even that professionally recorded. In New York and you could hear the traffic as I remember.

This was such a pleasant document! Respectful, critical, humorous! Can't wait for part 3!

All Those years ago is my favorite of all Beatles or Solo's SONGS.

I was 14. In Clydebank, Scotland, I tried to pick up a copy of Starting Over, but it was sold out. I did manage to get a copy of the Woman and Imagine singles. The Imagine single had the original release date of 1975 on the label. A couple of years later, when I was moving abroad, I sold off my records. The boy who bought Imagine told me that his mum said: "1975? You see how this boy looks after his records. Mint condition after all these years! I wish you would look after your records like that!" She never knew that I'd bought the record in 1981 and hardly ever needed to play it because it was on the radio so much at the time!

So many memories! Again, as a US fan my experience was a bit different in places: "Birth of the Beatles" is a 1979 memory for me, and I was able to pick up "The McCartney Interview" quite easily in 1980. But this really brought 1981 back for me. My memories of Dec. 1980 were published in Larry Kane's "Lennon Revealed," but it's been awhile since I gave much thought to 1981 - a tough year indeed for Beatlemaniacs! I still have the tattered, well-read copy of "SHOUT!" inscribed to me from my Dad for my 12th birthday in July (I also got George's new LP with "All Those Years Ago" for that birthday), a LIFE magazine with coverage of Ringo's wedding, the Stars on 45 single that I probably listened to more than it deserved, and even a Beatles scrapbook that I myself started that year! One thing we had in common: I dutifully purchased "Walking on Thin Ice," but skipped "Season of Glass." LPs took more allowance money, and I still needed a copy of "Shaved Fish!"

All those years ago is a awesome tune

Hearing that story about Northern Songs makes me look forward to about 1985. Kinda interesting story to learn about in the history of the Fab Four

I LOVE these videos! I find them fascinating. Please do more. Also, a big thank you to the person who made all of these scrapbooks

Yet another fascinating Parlogram film. I only collected one random scrapbook, covering roughly 1980/81. Your memories are interesting too as I think we are of a similar age, I also showed support buying Walking on Thin Ice (although I played the B side more and even then not that much) I didn't like the Stars On 45 though! Also interesting you actually placed an ad in Record Collector. I got into that mag after having a standing order for The Beatles Monthly reissues from the same publisher, buying from but never placing a Wanted ad (I can't think why I didn't do that) There's plenty featured here that I don't recall so found this more than a reminder of my early teens Beatles fanaticism. I do re-watch the Parlogram films, a reflection of just how good they are. Thanks again.

I bought Seasons of Glass a couple of years ago in a shop on annual vinyl record day. Its a morbid curiosity piece for my collection, nothing else. Due to the cover, I haven't given it the respect of even a single listen.

Birth of the Beatles is on YT and has been for a while. You really brought back some memories there I was 14 in February 81. I got the McCartney interview LP along with a ridiculous LP called Best of the Beatles. Not sure if youve ever come across it. It's just Pete Best doing some average rock n roll. I'm looking forward to your analysis of the Live Aid McCartney cockup. Everyone was expecting a Beatles reunion with Julian but alas...

I hope you have more scrapbooks because these videos are great

Ah, Birth Of The Beatles. The film in which The Beatles played Strats in 1961 and Pete Best is Gene Krupa. At the Billy Fury audition, Lennon says something like “Dizzy Lizzy in E. Don’t mess it up.” Then the track comes in in the key of A.

Mind blown at 2:19 as I thought those were the wax statues from the Pepper cover, but the caption says their the cast. Wow!

Another great video! I loved ‘Birth Of The Beatles’ when I was a little kid [I remember watching it at least twice) but wonder how well it would translate today. Yoko’s ‘Seasons Of Glass’ is an incredible album, but very difficult to listen to, as the intensity of the subject matter and her grief is overpowering. I consider it a masterpiece, and play it every few years where the overwhelming sadness of John’s murder hits again.

Seasons of Glass. I bought it in 1981 and enjoyed it on the same level as I do the Plastic Ono Band. It was cathartic with her raw emotion yet very listenable. I was 18 in 1981 and bought every Beatle piece I could get my hands on.

I enjoyed the film, Birth of the Beatles. It’s one of my favorites.

Mahalofor this superb retrospective! I watched when the BBC broadcast "Help!" a day or so after it happened. I stared at the Teletext for hours wishing the whole thing was a mistake... Seeing the Radio Times notice for that drama about the Beatles...I was too depressed to bother watching it. Living in the US now, I probably will never give it a look. Coildn't stand all the tabloid press surrounding the Fab Four; I admire your intestinal fortitude in bearing up to all those press cuttings of the day. You're made of sterner stuff than I. In 1981...I buried myself in the Royal Wedding hype and the Space Shuttle news. The shootings of Reagan and the Pope were just little bumps along the way. The release of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (I traveled all the way to London to watch it) was the only bright spot in a dismal year. Mahalo for a tour of 1981 from a Beatle admirer's perspective. Looking forward to 1982 now...as I did back in 1981...

I bought the Season of Glass album for the shocking cover photograph, then was impressed with the creative edge of Yoko's music; a superhuman achievement for someone whose life had just ripped apart. I believe John and Yoko were mixing "Walking on Thin Ice" the night he was murdered, and that he was holding a cassette demo in his hand at that awful moment. It was a solemn moment for me when I bought the picture sleeve single; shamefully the radio stations in my Tennessee city weren't playing it, so I heard it for the first time on my own turntable. John had hoped to produce a hit for Yoko in best B 52's style, and it was still a good disco inspired song; the closest John ever came to that genre. It took me awhile to get the joke about George's "Holland Avenue Study" cover art on his "Somewhere in England" album, making him appear as roadkill. More Pythonesque humor. Finally, there's an odd moment on the "McCartney Interview" album, when Paul is asked about John for the first time, and an emergency vehicle siren goes off in the street outside the MPL office. As I recall, Rolling Stone magazine gave favorable reviews to Season of Glass, not so good reviews to Somewhere in England - though I enjoyed George's covers of Hong Kong Blues and Baltimore Oriole. He should have done a cover album of Hoagy Carmichael songs.

SEASON OF GLASS in my opinion, might just be the greatest Beatles related album of the 80's (competition in the form of All the Best, Cloud Nine & Flowers in the Dirt). The amazing thing is the versatility Yoko shows with each track being holding its own identity. Mindweaver is a beautiful Torch Song to John & No No No is so ferocious with pain & anger (& police sirens) that it could have been recorded outside the Dakota at ten to eleven on 08/12/80. Nobody Sees Me like you & Goodbye Sadness are just beautiful. Put it this way, if Kate Bush or Annie Lennox had released this album with no differences to Yoko's version then we would be talking about platinum sales, multi grammy/brit awards & numerous books & documentaries about it. Yoko IS severely underrated & this album is her masterpiece. And good on her for putting the bloodstained glasses on the cover : John was more than just a news report or tabloid fodder, both godlike AND human but at the end of the day he bled like all of us would after the actions of total madness.

Record industry products like "Stars on 45" are often despised (even by me) but if not for that medley, The Beatles wouldn't have gotten my attention when I was 8 or 10 years old back then (and they still got it).

Such an excellent in-depth look at an interesting time in Beatle fandom. Thanks!

After John’s passing, it was a surreal time, almost like “Where do we go from here?” Actually, I bought the “Double Fantasy” LP before December 8th, but have never listened to the album again since.

Very interesting Andrew! The start to 1981 was very depressing. Still in shock to Lennon’s murder was definitely at the forefront. I dutifully purchased the Lennon singles even though I already had Double Fantasy. I even bought “Walking on Thin Ice” by Yoko because that’s the track they were working on that dreadful December night. I enjoyed The Birth of the Beatles.

It’s like all great bands that changed history. At least we have the music.

Another great trip down memory lane, thanks.