John Lennon Woman/ Beautiful Boys (Geffen Records, GEF49644, 1980)
John Lennon Watching The Wheels/ Yes, I'm Your Angel (Geffen Records, GEF49695, 1980)
John Lennon Nobody Told Me/ O'Sanity (Polydor 817 254-7, 1983)
Sadly - these are the final contributions to the John Lennon singles collection.
Sadly because his murder ended an extraordinary sequence of singles and sadly because these final ones were not really classics of the genre. Boy that was tough to admit!
John was in a holding pattern in 1980 and the songs are pleasant and topical for him but they are a long way from Across The Universe, In My Life, Don't Let Me Down or even Good Morning Good Morning.
Thanks to the five years gap in recording John reentered the music biz behind the eight ball and no longer the force he was - even though he'd dwindled by 1975.
Therefore, Starting Over is pleasant in a retro Elvis/ Big O kind of way but it was hardly cutting edge - nor were the workmanlike but sappy Woman and the other two singles on display here.
There were some signs of a more gritty comeback with Nobody Told Me but... and the rest is mere speculation. I like to think that he wouldn't have succumbed to the nasty eighties production values that anchored that decade in time so firmly. But who knows.
Hidden gems: These singles re signaled the Yoko role as B side support in the singles and they are okay as far as they go.
Yoko definitely had her ear to what was happening in the clubs and was much more adventurous than John with the sound design but ultimately her songs just aren't that memorable here.
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