John and Yoko go on tour in 1981. What's their setlist?

I believe the last time he played live was the One To One concert, which was only a short set in addition to Stevie Wonder and others. But he played Come Together as part of his set so I am not sure why you say he wasn’t interested in doing any Beatles songs.

Also, I believe he said he was planning on performing a Reggae flavored version of I Want To Hold Your Hand went he went out on tour in 1981.

 

100%

 

He actually did exactly that on a demo cassette around 1977 or later.

 

This seems quite plausible.

 

Just because I love defending her...

Yoko Ono has had thirteen number-one singles on the Hot Dance Songs Billboard chart. That ties her for 17th most number-ones on that particular chart. None of those number ones go back to 1981 (per the thread), but she's been enormously successful for someone whose music "never gained traction".

 

Yes, and before he played Come Together he said, "Here's one from the past - just one."

 

Aren't all her Dance Chart #1s remixes done by successful artists of that genre? Legit asking, not knocking her chart success. But the impression I got was that the tracks that actually make #1 are not her vision or work but remixes done by others with additional instrumnents/performance added in most cases and simply approved by Yoko for release.

 

Yes true, but that's basically like almost all pop artists today. Remixes are common. At least with Yoko, each remix was done by one individual each time and not by committee like many pop and dance records made today.

Ultimately it is the artist's creation of the song that attracts the remix. We all know even McCartney has allowed many remix versions of his tracks done by others.

The fact is half of Beatles and Lennon fans simply don't like Yoko's music and think it is not creative or listenable. I think it is highly listenable but I do know, for the most part, it is not mainstream. But that works for me but not for the masses

 

Nice ...but Jesus!...not Elephant's Memory.!

 

Oh ! Tell me about it ! Couldn't agree more.
I live near Toronto and awhile back Yoko had some exhibit thing there ( which was totally overpriced ) which featured some rocks and stones upon which Yoko had ' personally ' hand written words like cloud, peace , dream and --- wait for it -- imagine.
Anyway , someone stole one of the rocks and Yoko made a big deal of it demanding she be reimbursed some outrageous amount of money for the stolen stone.
I'm not making this up.

 

I’ve seen Yoko live three times...she’s great!

 

Kiss Kiss Kiss would've been a hit any of the last 10 or 15 years if brand new. Still sounds totally fresh, waaay ahead of its time.

(my 8th grade classic rock self wasn't ready for it in 1980/81, though...sigh)

 

I'm surprised she's had that much success on the US Dance (Club) charts. I'd rather pop on a KLF banger meself. But her success seems to be entirely limited to this specific chart while the top ten biggest artists in the same chart like Madonna, etc, are successful throughout the different charts. I dunno. I'm very much not averse to EDM in it's many forms and shapes but I've never come across anyone irl that rates her. I'm not a US clubber though so maybe I would have heard a lot her tunes if I was.

I've got no problem with people liking Yoko's stuff but I wish she'd kept it separate from John's stuff more often and would have, if John had toured in 1982, let John's music speak for itself. The best she could have hoped for would have been tolerance for her material on such a tour, the worst would be hostility. She was John's wife but musically she was far from his equal.

 

... or basements!

 

Bingo. That is exactly what I was talking about. I was spot on with my comment. Lennon was not that big a deal anymore and if anyone thinks he would be a bigger draw than the Stones for example they are dreaming.

 

Exactly. Double Fantasy was not a big deal. It was not considered a great album at the time. It had a few forgettable soft rock hits. Now because of revisionist history we have people saying he was massage in 1980 and would have outdraw acts like the Stones if he toured. Why do people do this?

 

I could use a massage.

 

Agreed. Lennon's new album after his hiatus was big news and exciting but The Stones were huge at this time.

 

A happy ending massage !

 

Sir , when you are on this forum please give it your full attention !

 

Tracks split 50/50 and alternating, so you could go grab a beer after each John song. Yoko gets the last song, 'Toilet Piece' of course.

 

Yes, I remember reading something about doing stripped down reworkings of I Want To Hold Your Hand, Help and Strawberry Fields. If I recall rightly, these were worked on in rehearsal as someone at the Double Fantasy studio sessions recalls hearing something (?) Can anyone fill in more about this?

I think the world tour he was planning would have been far more professional than his earlier ad hoc gigs. Earl Slick remembers being asked to keep part of 1981 free to be involved. I'm certain John would have finally come to terms with doing at least some Beatles stuff..and doing it well.

This is almost too sad to contemplate though. What might have been.

 

Who said he would outdraw The Stones on a tour? But a fully fledged tour of the US and then the UK by Lennon would have been an incredibly significant event. Just as Double Fantasy was a significant event. The album may have only rose a few notches more quite possibly, but you are surely downplaying the status of Lennon at the time. He was a legendary figure before he was murdered, his death didn't elevate him as something more than he meant to people while he was living. Double Fantasy did receive lukewarm critical reception, but the album was only out for a month. It was still a controversial move for John to make a 50/50 album with Yoko. Nobody wanted that at the time. The was the thing that tempered the comeback sales somewhat. Starting Over was everywhere and was entrenched in the top ten. If it wasn't a comeback album for John, it probably wouldn't have even sold as much as it already had given it was half a Yoko album as well. And yes there was an air initially that the John songs were more tame than many had hoped for. I think history has proved the songs were of great quality, People were still buying the album, it wasn't marketed to 16 year olds running to the shops to buy it on the day of release. Perhaps you are the revisionist still?

 

Where's that giant ax grinding picture when ya need it...

 

She Loves You (Extended Jam)
Love Me Do (Extended Jam)
Jazz Odyssey
Yoko wailing for 40 minutes
(curtain)