Making Me Feel Like I’ve Never Been Born

New York City radio, 12/8/1980
Los Angeles radio, 12/8/1980

Courtesy of WFMU’s Professor, these recordings scanning the airwaves of NYC and LA on the night John Lennon was murdered twenty-five years ago today capture some small amount of the initial grief and confusion that immediately swept the nation as news of his demise travelled from coast to coast. (Click here to buy it from WFMU.)

Matthew Sweet “She Said, She Said (Live)” – Of course, Lennon’s death in 1980 came when I was only a year and a half old. Like most everyone else, I learned most of the Beatles catalog through radio osmosis as a kid, in some cases not realizing that some popular songs were by The Beatles until much later. (This is definitely the case for a lot of the hits from from the The White Album onward – all of my exposure was heavily skewed towards the early singles from before 1966.)

My first exposure to “She Said, She Said” came via this cover by Matthew Sweet Born To Choose compilation that I bought in early 1994 for its R.E.M. and Pavement content. Aside from The Who’s “Baba O’Riley,” it’s probably the most famous song that I first knew as an obscure remake. When I noticed that the song was a Beatles original in the liner notes, I realized for the first time that the band had great songs that were not hits, triggering my purchase of every major Beatles record in rapid succession over the course of 1994. I started with Revolver and Magical Mystery Tour, which remain my two favorites, and kept buying them out of order until I got around to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which I had perversely put off for some reason in spite of its reputation. (Click here to buy it from Amazon for a penny.)