Eldergays - Can you explain Yoko Ono?

For thirty years, I’ve been struggling…

That Beatles documentary that came out a couple of years ago really opened my eyes to her relationship with the Beatles. She didn't break them up.

No. And no one has to.

She was already famous in the art world before Lennon.

I saw her in concert once. She went on before Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. I was willing to put up with her in order to hear him, but my God she's truly terrible. It's sort of the musical equivalent of having a drawer full of knives and forks thrown at your head.

Yoko

She has a sculpture in the L.A. MOCA. I look at her as an opportunity for practice in tolerance.

A regulah Judy, that one.

She is proof that love is blind.

And deaf.

R4, that was her best performance piece. She was known at that time, but I wouldn't say she was famous.

Yoko Ono's greatest fame was before my time, and I'm not young.

After John was killed she never referred to him as dead but said he disappeared. That is exactly what it feels like even though you know there's no coming back. Other than her singing she's alright by me.

Besides, all sorts of bad crackpot avant-garde artists have gained fame and fortune in the art world. It's not exactly discriminating.

R12 I prefer "kicked the bucket."

I love her weirdness as a performance artist back with the FLUXUS movement back in the 1960s. It made no sense when she joined his band and started ululating during his songs--the two styles just did not go together.

She did not break up the Beatles, but her marriage to John was really unhealthy. Bringing May Pang into her marriage to John to service him sexually was one of the most bizarre things I have ever heard of. He was a very selfish, neurotic man, and Yoko just fed his selfishness and neuroses.

Yoko is no Wing.

I'm reminded of the old Judy Tenuta (RIP) joke about Yoko: "I'm sorry, but if that guy had aimed a little to the left he would've been a fucking hero."

*screams*

I always loved those earlier records she did with Plastic Ono Band, like the self titled one, Fly and Approximate Infinite Universe. If you already have an ear for unusual rock music those are still really enjoyable to listen to even now.

Confession: I also like Fly.

Also, somehow Sean Lennon grew up sane. She did something right there.

[quote]he would've been a fucking hero.

Judy never said "fucking".

It’s true! The joke:

Her devastating dis of Yoko Ono, which plays on the assassination of John Lennon, is a surefire applause-getter: "If that guy would've aimed a little to the left, he would've been a hero."

Judy Tenuta was a LADY!

KISS

KISS

KISS

KISS

ME LOVE

JUST ONE KISS

KISS WILL DO

Sean Lennon does seem to be a polite, unassuming man. She must have done something right, even though she seems like a very toxic human being.

She's the sound of cats mating.

Sean was born drug addicted so that tells you a lot about Mama Yoko.

I'm a historian of East Asia and I never realized how aristocratic her background is. She came from a seriously elite family.

She sounds like a demented mosquito.

And she did break up the Beatles.

Very strange

Walking On Thin Ice is her only good song.

I'm not sure I could take a full evening of Yoko music, but she has some good songs out there. This one is really good. I actually like this newer version she recorded in recent years. Quite haunting.

She has a daughter from her first marriage whom she apparently abandoned. I would not say she was a good mother to all her children.

R34- In general she is not what you would call a NICE person.

The sounds she makes during orgasm must be horrific.

She didn't abandon her daughter.

'When Japanese artist Yoko Ono first met John Lennon in 1966, she was already married, as was he. The two fell in love, and Ono divorced her then-husband jazz musician Anthony Cox, with whom she shared a daughter.

A vicious custody battle ensued, and Cox resolved the issue by abducting their 8-year-old daughter Kyoko Ono Cox. Cox joined a cult and vanished with little Kyoko, and it would be 23 years before Ono saw her daughter again.

At first, Lennon explained, it seemed as if Ono's divorce from Cox would be amicable, and no formal custody agreement was filed with regards to Kyoko. But as time went on, things soured between the exes, and Cox absconded with the little girl.

Lennon and Ono traveled in search of the child, from America to England, Denmark, and Spain, and finally decided to sue for custody in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Ono and Cox's divorce had been filed.'

She sued The B-52's to have "Don't Worry" removed from their Whammy album. She probably felt as though they were making fun of her (and they probably were). But "Don't Worry" never sounded so good as when The B's covered it.

Obviously her music was something you either loved or hated.

As said above here contributions to the FLUXUS art movement alone earns her cult status alone. But I tend to judge people individually, not as part of a couple.

I love her solo albums on Apple. I'd much rather listen to a Yoko Ono album than most of the Beatles' solo efforts.

This track has such a groove to it.

R38 - I've understood why she did that. Fred, for one, is a massive Yoko Ono fan. And she actually performed with them once, so whatever went down in 1983 didn't do any lasting damage.

Someone on an earlier thread posted about how she gave money to home for the mentally disabled with little/no publicity and had done so for quite some time. Sean seems like a bit of an oddball, but I guess all things considered, he could be much worse and I believe I read somewhere that after Lennon's death, she finally did right by Julian.

She was kind of a woman ahead of her time; she should've been a Youtube star - her oddball style & wailing would've received a lot of views.

[quote] I'm a historian of East Asia and I never realized how aristocratic her background is. She came from a seriously elite family.

She attended school with Emperor Akihito.

Ever scroll to that talentless Asian girl with the pointer and the tv screen as she giggles and says stupid shit about accounts on Tiktok?

Same thing.

No one an explain Yoko Ono

BtW Paul McCartney said John broke up the Beatles not Yoko.

She's kind of iconic to be honest.

"Obviously her music was something you either loved or hated."

R38, nobody ever loved her music.

R41, she didn't do right by Julian inasmuch as she just finally paid him some money after he brought legal action against her.

No one, you old, alive or dead can explain Yoko Ono

"STOP, BEATLES!!"

--Yoko, from her bed John Lennon had installed in Apple Studios, during a recording session in the late 60s

Thanks to DL, I was reminded of this recently remixed song by Yoko that I had previously overlooked.

It's so beautiful, so give it a listen. No seriously. No snark.

She didn’t sue The B-52’s about the homage to her on Whammy!. Shortly after the album was released her lawyers and record company sent a letter implying they might sue (I would love to see that letter!) It spooked the record company and the track was pulled from later pressings.

The B’s have gone on record in interviews way back saying they were fans of Yoko Ono even before they formed their band, often mentioning the album Fly. I’m sure it was an homage and they weren’t directly mocking her. It’s just their wacky style. Plus, it hardly sounds like “Don’t Worry Kyoto Mommy’s Only Looking For Her Hand in the Snow” at all, it’s just the band repeating “don’t worry” in different abstract vocal styles over a repetitive electronic beat. If I remember right they credit her in the sleeve but otherwise… could it be difficult to prove it’s a Yoko cover at all?

That was back in 1983. Yoko has never been known for her sense of humor. She has one, but sometimes it takes her a while. Decades later she would join the B’s on stages several times to accompany Kate and Cindy doing the weird fish animal sounds at the end of “Rock Lobster,” which were also a kind of Yoko homage.

Also, it has been documented that when John Lennon first heard “Rock Lobster” on NYC radio he told Yoko the world had finally caught up with her.

I can’t say that I like her singing/art, but I think she’s interesting. I admire that she stayed true to herself, even if that meant being a largely reviled/ mocked creature.

R50 thanks for posting that song. It’s beautiful.

I remember the whole thing about Kyoko just *disappearing* with her father. Even now, that all seems pretty strange to me. Particularly given their resources, it's hard to imagine J&K couldn't track him down. I always wondered if that was a cover for the fact that Yoko really didn't want to be a mother to the kid - she was John's mother at that point - and used the "she went missing" as a cover since completely taking the kid away from an even non-custodial parent (in more or less good standing with the law) is considered kidnapping.

R44 Yeah I know but I think Paul is just being considerate now that John is not here and Yoko is.

There was a tv movie that had a lot to do with the Beatles about John and Yoko had all ALL the supervision and input. The three 'other' Beatles in one scene walked in on John and Yoko and they were portrayed as kind of slimy, greasy lanky hair and sinister looks, standing together like three of a trio, while John and Yoko I think were sitting on a couch looking normal and kind of nice. That scene made the three other Beatles look just awful, and it was Yoko's input.

She and John on the set of Abbey Road danced around the room endlessly while the other three said nothing but were not comfortable because although Ringo was married for years and Paul was with Jane Asher and George madly in love with Patti Boyd these girls were NOT allowed on their musical sets.

You can bet Yoko pushed her way in. She had very much control of John.

May Pang, John's dalliance for a year said she believed when Yoko had John come back to NY for a hypnotism session to get rid of his desire to smoke, had him hypnotized to be basically her lap dog. But before that he was anyway. I really think when his mother died and his Aunt Mimi raised him he became very subservient mentally to women out of a need for his lost mother, whom he lost at the tender age of 14.

Her collaboration with Basement Jaxx was fun, too.

This connects with me in a way I can't quite explain.

I mean, who hasn't wanted to just scream out "WHY?" over and over at the cold, uncaring universe?

That was not on the original album.

Hate her!

"BEATLES, THE: I adored them, and despised the person who broke them up."

--from "Marlene Dietrich's ABCs"

R50 What a lovely song. I didn't think Yoko was capable of creating something so beautiful.

Little gaylet: why don't you try figuring out something for yourself once in a while?

I wonder what people will say about Ono after May Pang's movie hits theaters, next week.

I always liked her. I have a memory of playing my dad's Milk and Honey album as a kid in the 80's and when I asked who she was, this was 1986 or so, my mom replied, "She was that Jap bitch that broke up The Beatles." My mom was and still Is a terrible racist. But I loved Yoko's style and she had legs for days. Some of John's best/creative work was done after they got together. Not only that but the woman survived the aftermath of the bomb by digging through trash cans. She might not be for everybody but i respect her honesty and non conformity. I can't imagine having gone through all that, labeled a spider woman, then witnessing a nutcase murder her husband for no actual reason besides the fame he felt entitled to.

[quote]Yoko Ono's greatest fame was before my time, and I'm not young.

So you missed her bottoms movie?