DBWI: What if John Lennon died instead of Yoko Ono?

Well, for starters, the Beatles reunion tour of 1983 would almost certainly not happen. I can't imagine Paul, George and Ringo getting back together without John Lennon but if Queen can tour without Freddie Mercury, I guess anything's possible ...

If Yoko Ono had lived, we'd also be out some pretty decent Lennon solo albums. Nothing ABSOLUTELY essential, I know, but he released some pretty good material in the Eighties, although that 1990 solo album's foray into electronic music is pretty awful and we all know it.

And that's just the easy stuff? What about the symbolic or cultural impact of the death of a living legend?
 
Really it actually showed how much better off John and Beatles were when she died to be honest. So in reality our world would be a much suckier place overall.

His global initiative to slow arms manufacturing did lead the USSR to greater detante with the United States and eventually the decent power agreement we have right now with them. BTW, did you see him with the new Secretary General of the USSR back in 2006, they seemed pretty chummy.

OOC: I'm thinking he gets to be a less dochebaggy version of bono.
 
Really it actually showed how much better off John and Beatles were when she died to be honest. So in reality our world would be a much suckier place overall.

His global initiative to slow arms manufacturing did lead the USSR to greater detante with the United States and eventually the decent power agreement we have right now with them. BTW, did you see him with the new Secretary General of the USSR back in 2006, they seemed pretty chummy.

OOC: I'm thinking he gets to be a less dochebaggy version of bono.

I don't really like to overstate the impact of celebrities on political processes, but I think his advocacy got a lot of people behind his efforts. I'm not surprised to see that he's friendly with the new Secretary General of the USSR, what's more surprising perhaps is how he managed to get on with someone like Ronald Reagan (hardly politically compatable) when it really counted.

You ever heard the Christmas single he did with Joe Strummer in 1988? 'Rock N' Roll Christmas'? Download it. You will promptly forget that it is a silly Christmas song because you will be uncontrollably dancing. Went #1 in the UK as I recall, and raised a fair amount of money for Christmas charities there.

OOC- John Lennon was constitutionally incapable of doing ANYTHING without wit. He'd be less douchebaggy than Bono by default. Also, I wish to GOD that Christmas single was real. It would be about the best thing ever, along with the Johnny Cash/Joe Strummer cover of 'Redemption Song'. :-/
 
Snooze, yet more Beatlemaniacs. Starters of an entirly unnecesary musical revolution, IMO. Or at least, they might have been innovators in their time, but were surpassed in the '70s, I think. Depends if I've got my classical hat pr my prog-rock hat on, and the latter is declining these days.

Was Lennon really the drivng force behind the disarmament push in the '80s? I think he did have a lot to do with the publicity side of things, like a lot mre celebrities are becoming these days they provide a public face for major campaigns, but really are just a facet of celebrity culture. And the closer relations between the USSR and the West I think was just the decline of old-style communism. Look at the modern USSR, they are pretty much capitalist now anyway, with the economc reforms they've been through, although of course not as sucessful as China.
 
Snooze, yet more Beatlemaniacs. Starters of an entirly unnecesary musical revolution, IMO. Or at least, they might have been innovators in their time, but were surpassed in the '70s, I think. Depends if I've got my classical hat pr my prog-rock hat on, and the latter is declining these days.

Was Lennon really the drivng force behind the disarmament push in the '80s? I think he did have a lot to do with the publicity side of things, like a lot mre celebrities are becoming these days they provide a public face for major campaigns, but really are just a facet of celebrity culture. And the closer relations between the USSR and the West I think was just the decline of old-style communism. Look at the modern USSR, they are pretty much capitalist now anyway, with the economc reforms they've been through, although of course not as sucessful as China.

Without the Beatles, popular music would be utterly recognizeable. And no prog-rock band will ever inspire hundreds of millions like the Beatles did. And although I like my Pink Floyd albums as much as anyone, they wouldn't have been able to make albums like that if the Beatles hadn't have massively expanded what was considered acceptable in 'rock'.

Lennon wasn't THE driving force of disarmament, but he was, and remains immensely important in bringing the issue of global disarmament to the public. As for China being this grand success story- I'd argue that. China's economic growth has been a lot faster, but it started from a far lower base. The Soviet Union still has a much higher per capita GDP and superior overall living conditions to the People's Republic.

But this isn't a place to discuss grand politics in and of themselves.

What about Yoko? You think she'd have any impact herself?
 
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