On John Lennon...

I had just turned 11 when Lennon was murdered. I didn't listen to a lot of pop music then (the parents were into classical and Broadway) but I was familiar with exactly 3 pop bands: Blood Sweat & Tears, the Moody Blues, and the Beatles. They were the only pop bands my parents liked. And the music teacher at my elementary school adored the Beatles, so by far, they were the ones I knew best. And Double Fantasy ruled the airwaves at the time. So Lennon was more or less the first famous person I was familiar with and liked to die when I was old enough to know what that meant. I walked around stunned for 2 days because I didn't know what to make of this. To this day it stings. I know his music much better now (both Beatles and solo) and I can't conceive of how difficult it would have been to make sense of this had it happened now.

The other weird thing about Lennon's murder for me: I was watching MNF when Cosell made the announcement. At that time in my life, I hated football. And I never watched MNF. I have no idea or memory of why it was I happened to be watching it that night, but I was.