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
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    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/
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    1 hr and 30 mins
  • Episode 109- John & Yoko: A Love Story with David 'Ghosty' Wills (Part 1 of 2)

    Episode 109- John & Yoko: A Love Story with David 'Ghosty' Wills (Part 1 of 2)
    Apr 26 2025

    We’re happy to welcome back David ‘Ghosty’ Wills to discuss John & Yoko: A Love Story, a 1985 biopic starring Mark McGann and Kim Miyori that was very dear to our hearts, at least until we rewatched it!

    We discuss some of the better scenes and also the unintentional comedy and ‘TV movie tropes’ of others. We cover about two thirds of the film here, and next time round we’ll complete our review and also look at a couple of other presentations from the same year.

    The conversation is preceded by Antony’s thoughts on two recent John & Yoko documentaries, namely ‘Daytime Revolution’ and ‘One To One: John & Yoko’

    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

    episode links

    IMDB page and the full film

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

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

    ‘Daytime Revolution’ and ‘One To One: John & Yoko’ trailers

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

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

    John and Yoko with David Frost 1972

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg9Aovt29UQ

    Mark Chapman gets John Lennon’s autograph (Chapter 27 film)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFUXP2NYl5c
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    1 hr and 23 mins
  • Episode 108: The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 4 of 4)

    Episode 108: The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 4 of 4)
    Mar 13 2025
    Another podcast journey comes to an end as we conclude our look at John Lennon (and The Beatles’) religious, spiritual and philosophical journey by use of Steve Turner’s excellent book ‘The Gospel According To The Beatles’ After a brief recap of the previous episodes, Part 4 picks up from the formation of Apple in 1967, our four favourite rock gods soon discovering that utopian ideals, while often a good thing for the world, usually run into problems when they rub up against harsh reality. From there we cover the break-up of the Beatles, John’s psychic solo adventures (therapy, zen, astrology, magic) and an encounter that Steve Turner had with John & Yoko in 1971. We hope you’ve enjoyed this alternative look at the many changes that John and his bandmates went through in those crazy and remarkable years up to 1980, when one quarter of the famous foursome was gunned down by an individual who was apparently grappling with the forces of light and darkness in his head, even possibly praying to Satan himself. Like everything else, an exploration of the world just beyond visible light can be used for good or bad. If nothing else John Lennon was mostly striving, through various means, to improve his life and make himself a better person, which is something we can all aspire to. See you soon for our next podcast adventure 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 Steve Turner’s book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22515.The_Gospel_According_to_the_Beatles?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=q7FtACTtFS&rank=1 episode links John, Paul and Apple (New York 1968) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC5bUE2d_c0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmBFFIwrttk It’s all going wrong at Rutle Corps! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8ifa3wqqDE What is Primal Therapy? https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-primal-therapy-5211136 Zen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen Alan Watts on the Zen game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP87pQ3Yb0c How to access your Higher Self https://scottjeffrey.com/higher-self-meaning/ John Lennon: Knocking on Dylan's Door https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVI7fwfwrzk ‘The Art & Music of John Lennon’ by Peter Doggett https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/798473.The_Art_And_Music_Of_John_Lennon
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • Episode 107: The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 3 of 4)

    Episode 107: The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 3 of 4)
    Feb 14 2025
    Continuing our lengthy exploration of John Lennon’s religious, spiritual and philosophical journey by use of Steve Turner’s excellent book ‘The Gospel According To The Beatles’, Part 3 covers some fascinating chapters spanning the years 1964 to 1968 in the book’s rough chronology. John starts to consider the limitations of fame, is influenced by Bob Dylan and starts to finally put some of the spirit of his books into his song lyrics. The lads are ‘turned on’ by Dylan and take a somewhat logical trajectory through pot, LSD and meditation, always looking for some kind of answer and meaning. The concept of ‘love’ is changing in society at this time, and it seems that more and more people are trying to find God on their travels, usually without entering a church. The figure of Jesus Christ continues to linger in John’s life in this period, culminating in one of his most offbeat revelations in May 1968 after returning from their meditation sojourn in India. Tune in for Part 4 next month 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 Jon Stewart’s book ‘Dylan, Lennon, Marx & God’ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59593530-dylan-lennon-marx-and-god Steve Turner’s ‘A Hard Day’s Write’ book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35666.A_Hard_Day_s_Write episode links John and George discuss meditation on the David Frost Show in 1967 (parts 1 & 2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpYg2H34piw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXfkdLZLqXg All You Need Is Love in colour! (June 1967) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16IQt0bEqZI Joe Goodden’s superb look at the Beatles and drugs (reviewed in episodes 49 & 50 of this podcast) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36379732-riding-so-high What is LSD? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSD Albert Hoffman gets on his bike (LSD discovery) https://www.bicycling.com/culture/a39763696/bicycle-day-albert-hofmann-lsd-psychedelic/ Paul McCartney spliffing very recently https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtklrYCzugo Revolver: Death and Rebirth https://medium.com/the-riff/the-beatles-revolver-a-spiritual-journey-of-death-and-rebirth-e73113b07242 Religion in the Beatles’ songs https://www.huffpost.com/entry/beatles-songs-religion_n_4760561 The religious views of The Beatles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_the_Beatles ‘The Art & Music of John Lennon’ by Peter Doggett https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/798473.The_Art_And_Music_Of_John_Lennon Excellent audiobook about the Rolling Stones’ Altamont disaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_76909yHfc
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    1 hr and 32 mins
  • Episode 106: The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 2 of 4)

    Episode 106: The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 2 of 4)
    Jan 7 2025
    We kick off 2025 with the continuation of our lengthy exploration of John Lennon’s religious, spiritual and philosophical journey. Part 2 starts with more of John and the Beatles’ general beliefs about the world before starting a chronology of the Beatle years from the particular perspective of Steve Turner’s book ‘The Gospel According To The Beatles’ We go back to John’s Sunday School grounding and his always ambivalent attitude to Jesus Christ and the religion he spawned, through the school years, his ‘religious’ (so to speak) devotion to rock and roll, Stu and Astrid, Hamburg, existentialism and finally the freedom-loving philosophy and behaviour of the Beatlemania-era foursome in 1963 and 64. Ref- the intro clips come from John Lennon’s Playboy interviews shortly before his death in 1980. The outro song is by ‘The Fab Four’ Beatles tribute band 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 Jon Stewart’s book ‘Dylan, Lennon, Marx & God’ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59593530-dylan-lennon-marx-and-god Steve Turner’s ‘A Hard Day’s Write’ book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35666.A_Hard_Day_s_Write episode links Royston Ellis on the 1960 Beatles https://www.ibtimes.com/beatles-1960-liverpool-royston-ellis-remembers-996876 The original ‘Beatnik Horror’ article from 1960 https://www.flickr.com/photos/29873672@N02/6897934379 Jude Kessler on John & Stu’s relationship (‘Pop Goes The 60s’ channel) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbED8SRpUoI ‘Angry Young Men at the Kitchen Sink’ (linking 2 genres) https://literaturestudies.co.uk/angry-young-men-at-the-kitchen-sink/ Existentialism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism Did Lewis Carroll’s migraines inspire his ‘Alice’ books? https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)74368-3/fulltext ‘Looking For Lennon’ documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVpyOa2Kn1Y ‘The Art & Music of John Lennon’ by Peter Doggett https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/798473.The_Art_And_Music_Of_John_Lennon The religious views of The Beatles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_the_Beatles Liverpool’s Anglican cathedral https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_Cathedral
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    1 hr and 20 mins
  • Episode 105: The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 1 of 4)

    Episode 105: The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 1 of 4)
    Dec 16 2024
    We end Glass Onion’s 6th year with the start of another multi-part series, the first 4-parter in the history of the podcast. Using (mostly) the John Lennon parts from Steve Turner’s excellent 2006 book ‘The Gospel According To The Beatles’, we trace our hero’s religious, spiritual and philosophical journey through its many twists and turns in his intense four-decade ride through life. Antony also comments on his own journey in these areas, some of which overlaps with that of John Lennon and The Beatles. Part 1 looks at the first two chapters of Steve’s book, focusing a lot on the ‘Bigger Than Jesus’ controversy of 1966. This is preceded by an attempt to lay some groundwork for this series by defining ‘religion’ and ‘spirituality’ and pondering what the differences (if any) between them are. There are multiple audio clips at the start to help us along, and you will find many useful web links in the show notes below Enjoy! And see you in January 2025 for part 2. Best wishes from Antony 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 Steve Turner’s book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22515.The_Gospel_According_to_the_Beatles Jon Stewart’s book ‘Dylan, Lennon, Marx & God’ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59593530-dylan-lennon-marx-and-god Steve and Jon on the ‘Unbelievable ?’ podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COHA7qRQX5o John defends ‘Bigger Than Jesus’ in Chicago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZaI7m1xpAg Brian Epstein speaks about the controversy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsqdzC2kFeA John Lennon- God ‘video’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX7GsonWTJA Andrew Hickey’s podcast on the Beatles in 1966-67 (including ‘Bigger Than Jesus’) https://500songs.com/podcast/episode-150-all-you-need-is-love-by-the-beatles Beatles interviews database http://beatlesinterviews.org/ Joe Goodden’s superb book on the Beatles and drugs https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36379732-riding-so-high ‘The Rest Is History’ podcast about Jesus’s existence (2 parts) https://therestishistory.com/287-jesus-christ-the-mystery/ https://therestishistory.com/288-jesus-christ-the-history/ John Cleese and Michael Palin defend ‘The Life of Brian’ in 1979 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYMpObbt2rs Band Aid 40th anniversary documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6_6PzRQ9sQ&t=1s William Mann ‘oustanding composers’ article in The Times in 1963 https://www.beatlesbible.com/1963/12/27/the-times-what-songs-the-beatles-sang-by-william-mann/
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    1 hr and 22 mins