Anybody Remember Julian Lennon??

If you saw the tribute TV special honoring the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show," you saw Paul and Ringo sing together, you saw George's son on stage, you saw Yoko and Sean in the audience...but you didn't see Julian Lennon.

For better or worse, Julian looks a lot more like John Lennon than Sean does...and to have him up on stage, at least playing a guitar and supplying harmony vocals...would've been nice.

Perhaps he didn't want to be part of the cash-in. Maybe there's some "political" problem with Julian being in the same room as Yoko and Sean. Who knows. And...more important...who really cares?

Julian seems to have gone to self-publishing for his next album. Maybe he is a millionaire many times over, and just wants to do a vanity project. (Who knows, who cares). But for nearly 100 pounds, you can get THIS thing, which will be delivered on October 9th (and you do know who was born on that date, don't you).

So nice of Julian to follow Ringo Starr's lead, and offer a chance to get an autograph...as long as it's on an incredibly expensive bit of merch.

Some of us remember Julian's debut. It was an example of "great first album..." and a slide downward. Funny, in the really old days, most rockers didn't really do anything fantastic till their second or third album. But starting with Julian's era, we began getting splashy, over-produced debut albums followed by the same old thing and worse. Dido. Keane. Etc.

I remember the big deal at Atlantic was that if you really really hyped Julian's first album, AND hyped RATT (no kidding) or some equally awful act on Atlantic, you just might be rewarded with an interview or photo op in time for Julian's SECOND album.

Unfortunately the second album was just the first...only not so good...and it led to a slide on subsequent albums, which did have a Beatles vibe to them, in a sludgy kind of way, like comparing 100% maple syrup to 100% artificial sweetener pancake syrup. I felt sorry for the guy, but I also felt sorry for myself, having to put up with his stuff, Sean's even worse stuff, and the same old thing from Paul and Ringo.

With a few irritating exceptions, the "50th Anniverary" thing wasn't too bad. There were a few really bad performances by some 20-something idiots as well as indifferent shit from some of the old-timers (Stevie is no longer a Wonder). Maybe we can just let it go? Let it be? "The Dream is Over." And 100 pounds for a solo album by a guy who hasn't really done anything interesting in an entire generation...anybody remember Julian Lennon??