Which artists legacies have improved/worsened during the 2010s?

also this is hopefully the wisdom of age but i used to be impressed with him in interviews when i was a kid like oh what a provocative smart guy now he just seems like a dumbo combative dickhead complete so far up his own butt

feel like he's the type whose politics would have really gotten bad with age

idk, would've depended on whether he and Yoko stayed together imo

But would Ono be Ono if Lennon had lived? I mean, getting together with him sidetracked her career in a pretty major way. If he'd stuck around, he might have overshadowed her even more than he did by dying (the whole professional-widow/keeper-of-the-legacy thing).

Lennon would've been fascinating to follow politically. I can't imagine he'd ever be a Republican given his experience getting citizenship, but he'd 100% be the first Beatle to go on Joe Rogan, InfoWars, Howard obviously (maybe even in the 80s), Coast to Coast, anything conspiracy related.

lennon go on ch

I wish we had some signs of experimentation and crazy/weird/noise music from the '79-'80 batch of songs. I remember reading an anecdote from some guy that worked in a music store in Manhattan when Lennon came in circa '78 and bought a fancy ass new synth because he was excited about new wave.

xp exactly

Some weird takes here.

Lennon probably would have had a good Twitter account

getting together with him sidetracked her career in a pretty major way.

lol waht this is completely wrong

I'll just note that Paul's reputation had nowhere to go but up because so many Wings albums were OPP.

The same sympathy for poor Paul albums hasn't extended to George's miserable Ford-era albums

Beatles narrative is so tight and self-contained at this point. No reunions (really), no US albums or Beatles Ballads type comps, nothing left in the vaults really. No reason to dig beyond the non-canon stuff for most people, where there's so much Phantom Menace.

Lennon was a spousal abuser?

have you heard the song Getting Better

I dunno, supposedly he beat Cynthia up.

When I hear about it, it's just "he abused women, man..."

Beatles always had a bit of a reactionary streak in them. “Taxman” and “Revolution” being the most obvious examples

his abuse of Cynthia is pretty well documented, by Lennon himself

in his 1980 interview with Playboy...He admits to hitting women—"any woman"—and explains, "That is why I am always on about peace, you see. It is the most violent people who go for love and peace."

It seems he maybe at least “evolved” away from that, but did he ever repent?

uh, yeah

Here's the full quote from that interview:

PLAYBOY: "'Getting Better.'"

LENNON: "It is a diary form of writing. All that 'I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved' was me. I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically... any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace, you see. It is the most violent people who go for love and peace. Everything's the opposite. But I sincerely believe in love and peace. I am a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence. I will have to be a lot older before I can face in public how I treated women as a youngster."

he also expressed regret in his last radio interview about beating to a pulp a dude at Paul's 21st birthday party who intimated he was a homosexual.

Beatles always had a bit of a reactionary streak in them. “Taxman” and “Revolution” being the most obvious examples

― Vape Store (crüt), Tuesday, August 13, 2019 2:18 PM (seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I always found it amusing that George, the most 'enlightened' Beatle, was the one that sang about money the most

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpSiB4-og_o

Lennon would've been fascinating to follow politically. I can't imagine he'd ever be a Republican given his experience getting citizenship, but he'd 100% be the first Beatle to go on Joe Rogan, InfoWars, Howard obviously (maybe even in the 80s), Coast to Coast, anything conspiracy related.

yeah, doesn't seem likely to me either, he was not a conspiracy nut

considering he was spied on and followed by the US & UK govt I can't imagine he wouldn't at least be a 'skeptic'
Don't think he had a Morrissey heel turn in him tho

there was a lol NRO piece a few years ago positing Lennon as Reagan Democrat based on comments he made in that 1980 radio interview: attacking conservatives "on the left."

He really didn't live that long, and changed a hell of a lot in those years. Really hard to say where he'd have gone. I'd like to think he wouldn't end up angry old white guy. Too good a bead on the culture and too suspicious of himself, I'd hope.

if he lived just 5 years longer I'm positive he would've gone on Howard or at least been a fan

John and most definitely not Paul would've been the one to replace Kurt at the dumb 2012 Nirvana reunion concert

and then somehow through that twist of fate, Stella McCartney would've been the beatlechild to start a band with Les Claypool

Lennon would've been fascinating to follow politically. I can't imagine he'd ever be a Republican given his experience getting citizenship, but he'd 100% be the first Beatle to go on Joe Rogan, InfoWars, Howard obviously (maybe even in the 80s), Coast to Coast, anything conspiracy related.

― flappy bird, Tuesday, August 13, 2019 9:21 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is definitely my favorite thing we do to the dead now

if i could put it in the usages thread i would

Lennon would totally have had his own podcast/XM show.

the real question is would have done a 'great american songbook' album by now, y or n?

(would lennon, that is)

he did already in 1975

idk if "Bonie Maronie" has really entered the Great American Songbook tbh

Regarding the thread question, I’m not sure Lennon’s status in the 00s was much different from the 10s...

I think it's gone down a lil

I don't listen to JL/POB often, but when I do I finish it newly impressed by Lennon's guitar and vocals.

Forever searching for that steel wool sound that his guitar has on I Found Out

1990s/10s : definitely.
00s/10s : basically the same imo

And re: his potential output had he lived the end of the 20th century, I kinda doubt anything interesting would have been produced considering his albums after Imagine. He seemed basically spent artistically (contrary to McCartney... and I much prefer Lennon’s Beatles/immediate post-Beatles output).

he burned out fast, but there were bright spots - the guitar solo for Walking on Thin Ice, the Nilsson album, Watching the Wheels etc

Oh I don’t think he burnt out fast : he produced an amazing body of work during a solid decade. But it doesn’t seem there was much left by the mid70s. Of course one could imagine (eh) a Johnny Cash pattern or something...

no I meant he burned out fast post-Beatles

yeah i think there's a definite falling off after his first couple solo albums -- i like his 1970-71 material so much i've probably spent more time listening to the later stuff than i otherwise would have looking for hidden gems. there are some bright moments for sure, but most of his mid-70s stuff feels disappointingly weak to me.

https://www.quora.com/What-if-John-Lennon-were-still-alive

Some fun and surprisingly otm answers in here.