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Episode 116: John Lennon's Jukebox with Matt Williamson

Release Date: 02/17/2026

Episode 116: John Lennon's Jukebox with Matt Williamson

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

To celebrate the recently-passed 7th anniversary of the first episode of Glass Onion way back when, we welcome Matt Williamson of the ‘Pop Goes The 60s’ you tube channel to discuss an intriguing and entertaining documentary from 2004. From the long-running UK arts and culture programme ‘The South Bank Show’, which had earlier brought us ‘The Making of Sgt Pepper’, comes an exploration of John Lennon’s influences and musical loves by way of the portable jukebox he apparently brought on tour with him in 1965 and 1966, having loaded it with 40 of his favourite choons. Matt and...

Episode 115: John Lennon In 1975 (Part 2 of 2)

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

And so we bring to an end Glass Onion’s 7th year… John Lennon’s 1975 is mostly remembered for being the year that he became a father for the second time and dropped out of the music biz for 5 years, apparently to become the most famous househusband in the world (the jury’s still out on that one). Before he did that though, he front-loaded the year with the usual frenetic activity you’d expect from a year in the life of our hero. There were albums and singles of his own, musical collaborations with others, his final ever live appearance, interviews for TV, radio and print, lots of...

Episode 114: John Lennon In 1975 (Part 1 of 2)

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

For our final offerings of the year, we present a 2-part look at 1975, the year of Antony’s birth. As is traditional, we first cover the year itself in terms of world events, births & deaths, films and (non-Lennon) music, before turning to the John Lennon events of the year. The Vietnam War is finally winding down, and there are numerous other examples of progress and destruction in another memorable 12 months on our blue planet. Ali & Frazier fight the fight to end them all and there are great films, singles and albums galore. We’ll look at John Lennon’s part in...

Episode 113: Lennon Naked with David 'Ghosty' Wills

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

David ‘Ghosty’ Wills is back once more to look at another biopic that’s not really very good (we’ll do something classic next time, I promise!), though our levels of (non-)appreciation of 2010’s ‘Lennon Naked’ differ slightly Christoper Eccleston gives something of a powerhouse performance as a very brutal and cutting version of John Lennon, starting in 1964 but mostly focusing on the 1967-71 period. All the main events of that time in John’s life are covered here, with a soap-opera style reminiscent of the previously reviewed ‘John & Yoko: A Love Story’. Antony and...

Episode 112: Birth of the Beatles (Part 2 of 2)

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

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...

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

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

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...

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

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

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...

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

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

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...

Episode 108: The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 4 of 4)

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

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,...

Episode 107: The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 3 of 4)

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

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...

More Episodes

To celebrate the recently-passed 7^th anniversary of the first episode of Glass Onion way back when, we welcome Matt Williamson of the ‘Pop Goes The 60s’ you tube channel to discuss an intriguing and entertaining documentary from 2004.

From the long-running UK arts and culture programme ‘The South Bank Show’, which had earlier brought us ‘The Making of Sgt Pepper’, comes an exploration of John Lennon’s influences and musical loves by way of the portable jukebox he apparently brought on tour with him in 1965 and 1966, having loaded it with 40 of his favourite choons.

Matt and Antony also touch on the argument and fine line between inspiration and plagiarism, and the differences between ‘black’ and ‘white’ voices and music, both of which the documentary explores in a fairly gentle way. We also assess how John’s own music stacks up against some of his idols, a lot of whose songs he covered

Enjoy!

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