Glass Onion: On John Lennon cover art

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

By: Antony Rotunno
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 A deep dive into the music and complex psychology of John Lennon, featuring interviews with such noted authors and podcasters as David Bedford, Dan Richter, Jude Kessler, Kit O'Toole and Ken McNab, as well as ex-Quarrymen bandmates Rod Davis and Colin HantonAntony Rotunno 2019. All rights reserved Music
Episodes
  • Episode 112: Birth of the Beatles (Part 2 of 2)

    Episode 112: Birth of the Beatles (Part 2 of 2)
    Aug 6 2025
    We complete our look at ‘Birth of the Beatles’, the 1979 biopic which holds a unique place as the only one of its kind made while all 4 Beatles were still alive. The timeline goes somewhat awry but we go from the boys having departed Hamburg in late-1960 to the tragic death of one of their band members and then the arrival in the story of their well-groomed, well-spoken but also fragile guardian angel. From there, destiny takes its course… Before this, Antony offers a short item on ‘The John Lennon Letters’ print/audio book, a fine entry in the canon of Lennon/Beatles books that offers us personal and valuable insights into the eternal enigma that was and is John Lennon. The voice of Christopher Eccleston, who portrayed John in the TV film ‘Lennon Naked’, can be heard reading some of the letters Enjoy! Feedback to glassonionpod@yahoo.com Support the show at https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/antonyrotunno OR https://www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/glassonionjlpod Twitter handle https://www.twitter.com/OnionLennon Antony's website (music, podcasts, blog, life coaching) https://www.antonyrotunno.com Antony's 'Life And Life Only' podcast (on Psychology and Alternative media) https://www.lifeandlifeonly.podbean.com episode links Birth of the Beatles film page and full film https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078865/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VpIA_87cxM Scene comparisons with real events https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAY0_CGZNRY Backbeat (1994)- Stu’s death & John’s tribute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3WmUNvMpKo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T5h_Cr0i7o Pete Best on the Letterman show and TV-Am (1982/1990) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3j7nqx0Pgs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_p_zKrKWFE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQpBXrESRig Mona & Pete Best discuss Pete’s dismissal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_p_zKrKWFE ‘Drummed Out!’ book (recommended) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2372130.Drummed_Out_ ‘The John Lennon Letters’ (essential Lennon reading) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13528387-the-john-lennon-letters John promotes ‘In His Own Wife’ with a little help from George https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1SjHkEepuk ‘A Shot of Rhythm and Blues’ BBC version (powerful Beatles rock cover) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VgvJj4EBpc
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    1 hr and 25 mins
  • Episode 111: Birth of the Beatles (Part 1 of 2)

    Episode 111: Birth of the Beatles (Part 1 of 2)
    Jul 17 2025

    Following our last exploration of a biopic of dubious quality, Antony flies solo this time to explore another one which, despite having some sense of time and place, is also somewhat lacking and to some extent unintentionally comedic.

    ‘Birth of the Beatles’, which came out in 1979, will always hold a unique place as the only Beatles biopic made while John Lennon was still alive. Considering that he’d reacted negatively to Cynthia’s apparent rewriting of history in her book ‘A Twist of Lennon’ in 1978, it’s quite something to ponder what he might have thought of this Dick Clark-produced TV film.

    Preceding this, Antony offers a guitar lesson for the Bob Dylan song ‘Masters of War’ and then the song that it inspired (musically at least)- John Lennon’s ‘Working Class Hero.' There are also pre-outro Easter Eggs to be found in this episode…

    Enjoy!

    Feedback to glassonionpod@yahoo.com

    Support the show at

    https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/antonyrotunno

    OR

    https://www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno

    Facebook page

    https://www.facebook.com/glassonionjlpod

    Twitter handle

    https://www.twitter.com/OnionLennon

    Antony's website (music, podcasts, blog, life coaching) https://www.antonyrotunno.com

    Antony's 'Life And Life Only' podcast (on Psychology and Alternative media)

    https://www.lifeandlifeonly.podbean.com

    Antony demonstrates Beatles guitar parts on ‘Pop Goes The 60s’

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Y4f1efz6s

    episode links

    Birth of the Beatles film page and full film

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078865/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VpIA_87cxM

    Scene comparisons with real events

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAY0_CGZNRY

    Backbeat scenes (Prellies/Astrid photographs the band)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIpUr1wX5Rw

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq3l4frmFDo

    The development of the Scouse accent

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcpXePrrCIk

    Working Class Hero official video

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMewtlmkV6c

    Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (Angry Young Man)

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B_G9niYeB8Q

    Cry For A Shadow

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4WMeOLHp28
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Episode 110- John & Yoko: A Love Story and more... with David 'Ghosty' Wills (Part 2 of 2)

    Episode 110- John & Yoko: A Love Story and more... with David 'Ghosty' Wills (Part 2 of 2)
    May 27 2025

    Ghosty joins Antony once again to wrap up our dissection of ‘John & Yoko: A Love Story’, and there is also some discussion of two other presentations from 1985.

    ‘John Lennon: A Journey In The Life’ is a ‘cheap and cheerful’ trawl through the Lennon story, with another Liverpudlian Bernard Hill portraying our hero in John’s own words, and ‘John Lennon Remembered’ is a short documentary featuring two of the other ‘frontline Beatles’ (sorry Ringo) plus other talking heads who knew Lennon at different stages of his life.

    Ghosty will be back later in the year for another documentary review, and the next episode will be a review of another slightly hilarious Beatles biopic.

    Enjoy!

    Feedback to glassonionpod@yahoo.com

    Support the show at

    https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/antonyrotunno

    OR

    https://www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno

    Facebook page

    https://www.facebook.com/glassonionjlpod

    Twitter handle

    https://www.twitter.com/OnionLennon

    Antony's website (music, podcasts, blog, life coaching) https://www.antonyrotunno.com

    Antony's 'Life And Life Only' podcast (on Psychology and Alternative media)

    https://www.lifeandlifeonly.podbean.com

    Ghosty’s Cliff Richard/Shadows podcast and you tube channel

    https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-p5kf8-10892e3

    https://www.youtube.com/@GhostyTMRS/videos

    Ghosty on the 4Kids Flashback podcast

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAi2NSYpECo

    episode links

    John & Yoko: A Love Story

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089380/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlTZRynp5j0

    John Lennon: A Journey In The Life (1985)

    https://archive.org/details/john-lennon-a-journey-in-the-life-tv-movie-1985_202312

    Roger Waters- Across The Universe

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThSDoOpnWmc

    John Lennon Remembered (1985)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl9C7QXonGw

    Big Train George Martin sketch (must-watch!)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIA_NVFnXZ8

    ‘One To One: John & Yoko’ film trailer

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxagfYjeMV4

    John Lennon: Love Is All You Need (2010 doc)

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3345610/
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 30 mins
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