John Lennon 1980 footage -Insanely Uber Rare

Wouldn’t surprise me if he owned a stationary bike. Probably fasted. Have no idea if he purged after eating if that is what you are suggesting.

There’s that famous story of a journalist calling him the “fat Beatle” in the 1960s, and he developed an insecurity about his weight. Maybe that’s why he lost weight suddenly in 1966.

He was gaunt in 1969 due to H addiction. But he seemed to have normal BMI range from 1970 to 1977 or so. By 79/80 he often looked underweight, occasionally alarmingly so.

I guess when you are that famous and you get photographed everywhere you go, it’s easier to develop a complex about how you look and trying to always look perfect.

He ate macrobiotic in the late 70s, but I don’t think that fully explains it. He’d still indulge in pizza and chocolate. The last couple of years he liked being that thin and made concerted effort to maintain that slender size. He couldn’t see that his body had consumed muscle for energy. His arms withered.

Was it Fred Seaman who claimed Lennon had a string he would wrap around his waist each morning to make sure he hadn’t gained weight?

 

Yes now you say it it was Seamen that wrote about the string around his waist.
I'm sad to say I believe he may of been on H in the last few years of his life, or his long term Drug use had affected his metabolism somehow.
We all know what an addictive personality he was and I can't believe he could keep away from Chocolate and things.
Then again his mum and Sister were quite slim so it was in his genes.
Perhaps I'm wrong and he really did he healthily and macrobiotically.

 

I don’t think he was on H in final years. I think around 1979 he developed a compulsive obsession with being more slender and he couldn’t see that he was as underweight as he was when he gazed in the mirror.

He looked alarmingly underweight during his trip to South Africa in 1980.

By 1979-80, he was probably 15 - 20 pounds lighter than his healthier mid-1970s weight.

 

Remember that 1980 Double Fantasy video shoot thread from years back? It’s probable that all the unreleased footage of John performing I’m Losing You survived in the archive, but Yoko is holding it back because John was underweight.

 

All this talk about "thinness"... I just think it's a matter of perspective given the time.

What is "thin" in 2021 is quite different than what was thin in 1980.

Look at the stats in the US now -- obesity is off the charts... even among young folks.

That's primarily the case -- Up until the 1990s, overweight and obesity were primarily problems for aging folks due to changing lifestyles. Now, due to the proliferation of processed foods at all hours of the day, the mean weight for kids under 18 is way up.

Lennon is thin, and his diet and cocaine use (like every rock star at the time) surely contributed, but he looks a lot thinner with 2021 glasses than with, say, 1985 glasses.

 

thanks man...

 

I think it was the fact that he ate a macrobiotic diet in the late 70s, along with him basically chain smoking, that's it. There's your reason. Anybody doing those two things will lose weight (in fact smoking alone will do it), and depending on the person's metabolism it can be quite drastic. So it's no surprise John looked the way he did around 1980.

 

Isn't Seamen that low life thieving scum who stole from Lennon's family home after the murder. Why rely on the accuracy of him?
Here's a photo that doesn't suggest malnutrition to me, but I'm no doctor lol.

 

Is this the footage in question? Click the watch on Facebook link in box below.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=711750809230744

 

Or Google this video “13/10/1980 - Festejo del cumpleaños de John y Sean en Tavern On The Greenel Central Park”

 

Cocaine

 

If John had made a Starting Over video, it might have shot right to the top of Video Concert Hall on SPN!

 

Before his passing, was John already booked/scheduled to do any live TV appearances or live TV performances to promote Double Fantasy? For example: a live performance on SNL or Tonight Show?

Seems like the only promo he did for Double Fantasy were radio and print interviews…

 

Nothing was booked yet. He was supposed to go to the UK in early 1981 to do publicity and to visit Aunt Mimi who he had not seen for about 10 years.

I recall reading that the idea was to do some limited live stuff in the first half of 1981 ---maybe a few concerts in some key cities and/or some live TV appearances. Then, go back and complete the Milk and Honey album, after which John and Yoko would do a full tour.

 

Was John happy with the live studio takes of Borrowed Time, Nobody Told Me and I Don’t Want To Face It?

Had he lived, would he have just overdubbed a final vocal on those outtakes for his next album? Or would he have re-recorded them?

Was planning on a studio recording of Grow Old Along With Me? I always felt had he had an opportunity to record that one in the studio, it could have become a “standard,” like “Yesterday” became.

What other songs were planned for the DF follow up album before his death (that later became Milk and Honey)?

 

I wouldn't say he looked alarmingly thin. Just slim.
He looked old for 40 though.

 

Douglas ran a hidden mic tape during Lennon sessions. Lennon eventually spotted the cassette deck rolling and Douglas gifted John a complete set of Double Fantasy hidden mic tapes. Of course Douglas kept copies for himself.

Seems odd that the most famous musician in the world had just been killed and Douglas says he went back to the studio to erase tapes made during the final Walking On Thin Ice session. I’m skeptical Douglas destroyed any tapes of John…

 

That first photo with the red shirt: His rib cage is sharply defined where pectoral muscles would normally be.

Whatever diet he was on had resulted in his body consuming muscle for energy.

 

Oh yes, catabolic effect. Long distance runners usually look like this too.
You are probably right about his diet, I highly doubt he was exercising in any way.
I seem to remember both him and Yoko were on some kind of macrobiotic nonsense since the mid 70s, after the "lost weekend". If that's true, we may have an explanation there.

 

There were no set songs planned yet for Milk and Honey. Those were just some of the songs that were tried out during the Double Fantasy sessions. But there was no guarantee any of those songs would have been used for a subsequent album, either in those versions (with, say, new vocals) or in completely re-recorded versions. Supposedly, John wanted to give Nobody Told Me to Ringo. If that had happened, I doubt that song would have been included on Milk and Honey. And maybe he would have written new songs or gone back to other songs. After all, since he was splitting the album with Yoko, he only needed 6 or 7 songs.

 

One thing that is quite remarkable about John in 1980 is how many different hairstyles he had in the last six months. His hair must have grown fast…

 

Thank you. I found the link. John looks terrific and did Yoko and Sean. I love that song "Beautiful Boy". I want to learn how to play that song on guitar.

 

I just played this song to my son who is 14 and who loves Russian Death Metal. I can't sing like Lennon nor is there the beautiful Japanese-sounding instrumentation in the background, but he said it was ok so I'll take it......

 

No, the footage that was pulled was in-studio footage of John recording. A few years ago a short clip emerged. It was primarily of his hands/guitar, iirc, but there was some footage of his face, too.

EDIT: