nothingfails

I am curious what members of the original POB are back, but Yoko confirmed that she has completed a new studio album that she be premiering new material at a UK gig next month.

I am a huge Yoko fan and at her age, she may only have one or two albums left in her at the pace she works, and this is her first new album in eight years (Yes I'm A Witch were all rerecordings and Open Your Box was a remix album).

SoSpacey

I liked her first single: Yoko Ono - I Broke Up the Beatles

auto

Really, that's the best you can come up with?

chuckd21

Thread title does not deserve an exclamation point.

Supermallet

Who's still around from the POB at this point? Klaus Voorman? Jim Keltner? I doubt she got Ringo to play on it. Sean probably plays on it, though. I will definitely check the album out when it's released.

I do wonder what it will sound like. Her later albums sound absolutely nothing like her first Plastic Ono Band album.

nothingfails

It's been 40 years... get over it!

I loved what someone said on YouTube, all the hatred people have for her has to do with Lennon and The Beatles. Do you watch Sean Penn movies and think about his marriage to Madonna when you see him? If not, why can't you listen to Yoko without bringing John into it?

Yoko is an amazing woman who is incredibly sweet to her fans, anyone who can appreciate someone like Bjork, Courtney Love, Cyndi Lauper, Grace Jones or The B-52's (all of whom are huge Yoko fans and cite her as an influence) and yet has a problem with Yoko can go fuck themselves.

nothingfails

My friend Mike (who is also a fan of Yoko's) and I had this very conversation last night. Most Yoko hatred is totally due to racism because their rock idol married an Asian lady instead of the token blonde model. There's a clip on YouTube of Linda singing horrible and yet there's nothing but love to her because people respect her for being Paul's soul mate and a great wife to him.... but these same people consider John's soul mate and wife to be this evil witch who broke The Beatles up. Hmmm, was it not Linda's father who talked Paul into selling the rights to the songs, which was one of the major catalysts for splitting the band up? Oh wait, Linda was blonde and American, that's forgiven, rock stars are supposed to have American blonde wives, like Jagger and Rod Stewart. Paul himself, the critic he is to Yoko, even said that the treatment Yoko's received and the blame people put on her for the bands breakup is unfounded. When a member of the band itself who has never been friends with Yoko says that she doesn't deserve to be blamed for the breakup, that says something.

Anyways, why are people still hung up on this in 2009? Why can't people discuss Yoko Ono's career and music without bringing John and The Beatles into it? Yes, John played a huge part in getting her in the recording studio, but obviously she likes making music because she's still doing it nearly 30 years after John's death. Let's talk about Yoko for Yoko, not about her Beatles connection. Other artists who have famous husbands can be judged on their own work. When was the last time you listened to Madonna and thought "man, she really ruined Sean's acting career for a few years in the 80's when they did Shanghai Surprise together"? You don't. I don't see why people can't appreciate Yoko's work on its own merit the same way.

nothingfails

For all the people who harp on "she broke up the Beatles", watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q-2Pqm3x9Y

I think Paul, someone who was a member of the band and was there, has the final word on it. So now you can finally put the "she broke up the Beatles" bs to rest finally.

cungar

Nah... there's plenty of Linda haters too. At least there were back in the day. She took plenty of crap for being onstage with him and Wings.

Supermallet

I don't think the hatred of Yoko was due to racism. I think it was due to the fact that John took her literally everywhere with him in the late 60's, to the point where it bothered the other Beatles that she would be at every recording session. That, along with some of the publicity stunt type of things the duo pulled (the cover for Two Virgins, the bed-ins, etc.) led a lot of people to think Yoko was pushing John to do these things. In fact, it was John's own changing attitudes, although I'm willing to bet Yoko helped shaped the form of some of those things (a lot of the peace demonstrations feel very much like some of the conceptual pieces she came up with). But I think for a lot of people, they saw this woman, whose music and attitudes were very avant garde, and decided she was talentless (which she isn't) and that she must be responsible for the break-up of The Beatles, because Lennon would never appear without her, whereas before it was always The Beatles appearing together. Now it's The Beatles and John and Yoko (John even referred to the two of them as JohnandYoko, one word), and that pissed a lot of people off. Did she break up The Beatles? No. Did John's behavior drive a wedge between him and Paul? Yes, as did some of the thing Paul did as well.

Didn't George Harrison do a song for the Shanghai Surprise soundtrack? You see, it keeps coming back to The Beatles!

nothingfails

^ Yep, George is also in Shanghai for like 3 seconds as a performer at the nightclub. I think everything can be tied to the Beatles in some way, hehe

Hokeyboy

I don't hate Yoko. I've never been a fan of her music, but I know enough about The Beatles to know that seeds of dissolution were sowed long before she had any real influence in John's life.

That having been said, go to YouTube (filtered here at work, so I can't) and search for "John Lennon" "Chuck Berry" and watch their performance of "Memphis, Tennessee" from (I believe) the Mike Douglas show in the 70s. It's not the greatest performance in the world, but pay particular attention to the look on Chuck Berry's face when Yoko breaks into a round of incessant caterwauling. YIKES! Talk about even more ammunition for the haters...

Still, got to admire anyone who keeps making music and being creative at an age when most people are long since dried up and also rancid.

nothingfails

It never bothers me when people dislike her music or voice because I have to admit it's completely an acquired taste, and as much as I like her, even the early albums like Plastic Ono Band and much of Fly is too much to take in one sitting. It's only when people continue to harp on "she broke up the Beatles" (which seems to be the root of the hate most people have for her, if they don't like her music, they don't have to listen, but people feel like she personally did something to their family) when Paul, Ringo and George have all said otherwise that ticks me off.