"(Just Like) Starting Over" by John Lennon

#1 Alert!

Gold Record Alert!

Song#:  0387
Date:  11/01/1980
Debut:  38
Peak:  1 (5 weeks)
Weeks:  22
Genre:  Pop, Rock



Pop Bits:  In 1975, Lennon decided to break from music and focus on raising his family. He dropped off his last contractual album to EMI and he was done. Move to 1980 and Lennon feeling it was time to return. He and Yoko Ono decided to create an album of both their songs and "Double Fantasy" was born. This single was the first out of the gate and it was well-received garnering a high debut on the chart. The song would also go on to received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. But just over a month after the song debuted, tragedy struck when Lennon was shot and killed on December 8th.

ReduxReview:  I have to say that initially I didn't really like this song. It sounds like it should have been an ELO song, which I probably would have liked. But time allows you to hear things differently and I grew to enjoy this tune. But the thing with "Double Fantasy" is that it is kind of tainted in a way. Since it was released just barely prior to Lennon's murder, when I hear songs from the album it just bring that awful event back. So sometimes I find it hard to listen too. Especially when a lot of the album is filled with happiness and hope.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Since Lennon had no recording contract at the time, once word got out that he had a new record in the works, all the major labels were practically wetting themselves trying to get him signed. But one label head did something the others didn't - he talked to Yoko Ono first. Doing this was key to the deal and Lennon/Ono signed with David Geffen and his newly formed Geffen label. It would actually be Geffen who would escort Ono from the hospital where Lennon was taken after the shooting and pronounced dead.

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