Stewart Brodian

Musician, composer, performer, actor, radio + TV host,
artist, celebrity impersonator, film maker + more!

December 8th, 1980, at just before 11:00 PM, I had finished watching a rerun of a M*A*S*H episode.

Ususally, Bill Mazer came on with a brief sports report before they went to the eleven o'clock news on channel 5 (I used to live closer to NYC back then).

Bill Mazer came on but, the first thing he said was that they just received a news report that John Lennon had been shot and he was being taken to a hospital in serious condition.

I wanted to stay u that night to hear how things developed but, back then I was a college radio DY and I was the one on the air first thing Tuesday morning to turn on the station.

I went to bed and the next morning, I'm driving to thecampus radio station, there was Beates music all over the radio and finally the news came on: "Former Beatle, John Lennon was shot and killed last night"

For a moment, I coudn't see the road - all I saw was a cascade of images of his face from different portions of his life.

I went to the campus station, turned on the transmitter and then broadcast the sad news.

Back then I was a complete Beatles fanatic.  The whole campus knew me as that and it was ironic the I'd be the one on the air, first thing in the morning after this happened,.
My parents later told me that they were still watching TV when the news came in, interrupting a commercil (they usually don't interrupt commercials).

On my way back home , later that day, I visited a friend at a record store - another Beatles' fanatic.

He said "There is no G*D".

I didn't say anything.

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Additionally, this week is a very sorrofull week -

December 6th, 1988

Roy Orbison died - he had a new alum coming out and he had just released an album as part of The Travwlling Wilburys (Roy, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynn and Tom Petty).

Decenber 7th, 1941

The anniversary of the attack of the Japanese military on the US naval base in Pearl Harbor Hawaii

and, December 8th, 1980

John Lennon is murdered outside his home in New York City.