Iowa City Press-Citizen from Iowa City, Iowa • Page 38

3 v-yh 1 ,4 A Last Word from John and Yoko's "Double Fantasy" "He (Lennon) was in the best spirits he'd ever been in when he started this record," said Jack Douglas, co-producer of Double Fantasy, during another TV interview aired the same day. "He was trying to point out how important family felt if he days ago, it has become profound and poignant in the wake of Lennon's meaningless murder. From a stylistic standpoint, Double Fantasy doesn't mark any real departures from the ex-Beatle's past musical efforts. With numbers like "Starting "If he (Lennon) had a message for this decade, it was about family." David Geffen, founder of Geffen Records Double Fantasy. John LennonYoko Ono.

(Geffen Records) A gunman's bullets this week added tragic significance to what has now become the last John Lennon album released during the musician's lifetime. 2Double Fantasy Lennon's first release after a hiatus of some five years from the music business is an intensely personal work whose tender, domestic message is painfully amplified by the fact the relationships it describes were suddenly destroyed just a few days ago. Gone for the most part are the demons that plagued the John Lennon who recorded "My Mummy's Dead." The haunting, psychoanalytical nursery rhyme closed Plastic Ono Band, Lennon's first solo effort after the breakup of the Beatles. Only Double Fantasy's "I'm Losing You" hints again at Lennon's darker side. And in this instance, it was his feeling of losing Ono because he couldn't reach her on the telephone, according to one interview that brought forth the darkness.

Also gone from Double Fantasy are the vicious attacks on his former colleagues in the Beatles, most notably Paul McCartney, epitomized by Imagine's "How Do You Sleep?" What we have are 14 songs half written by Lennon, half by Ono that tell of the complex feelings the couple had for each other, their marriage and their five-year-old son, Sean. "If he (Lennon) had a message for this decade, it was about family," said David Geffen, founder of Geffen Records, in a television interview the day after the ex-Beatle was gunned down. While her earlier musings in this area were nearly identical to today's "new wave," they're still largely disappointing. But these new examples reveal her uncanny prescience of what bands like the B-52's are now cashing in on. Ono's continued toying with "new wave" is not her primary area of concentration on Double Fantasy, however.

With "I'm Moving which follows and mirrors Lennon's "I'm Losing You," she shows she learned about rock and roll power from her husband. Based on nearly identical rhythm and melodic patterns, the two songs illustrate a fascinating contrast in the couple's viewpoints in dealing with the problems of their relationship. Lennon: "I know I hurt you thenBut hell that was way back whenAnd well do you still have to carry that want to hear about itI'm losing you." Ono: "Save your sweet talk for when you scoreKeep your Monday kisses for your glass ladyI want the truth and nothing moreI'm moving on I'm moving on you're getting phony." Ono also exhibits a delightful sense of humor with "I'm Your Angel" and "Hard Times Are Over." The former is a vaudeville ragtime romp strangely reminiscent of the Beatles "When I'm 64," while the latter is a sort of tongue-in-cheek gospel. Ironically, "Hard Times Are Over" closes the LP. After what has happened this week, Yoko Ono's hard times are undoubtedly Just beginning.

-Curt Self ert could come back from the depths he was in during the mid-70s, anyone could." A tune on Double Fantasy, "Cleanup Time" far we travelWherever we may roamThe center of the circleWill always be our specifically addressed these issues, Douglas said. Before Lennon's senseless murder Monday night, it would have been easy to dismiss much of the material on Double Fantasy as just a bunch of sappy, over-indulgent love songs. But the events of this week make such a perspective difficult, if not impossible. The couple's public disclosure of their deep feelings for each other makes all too. apparent another, much more intimate side of the personal catastrophe of Lennon's untimely death.

We are told in detail on this record exactly how this man and woman felt about each other. While such a message may have made us blush and turn away several Over," "Cleanup Time," "I'm Losing You," "Watching the Wheels" and "Dear Yoko," Lennon reaffirms his place as one of if not the definitive master craftsmen of "belt-em-out" 1960s rock and roll. Despite the prevalent belief about McCartney's role in the BeatlesLen-non again proves his prowess as a balladeer. "Woman" and "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" are genuinely touching numbers. The former, of course, is to Yoko I know you understandThe little child within the manPlease remember my life is in your while the latter is to Sean boyOut on the ocean sailing awayI can hardly waitTo see you come of Ono, on the other hand, does things she hasn't been noted for in the past.

There are a couple of rather disposable examples Kiss, Kiss" and "Give Me of the fatuity of her past experimentations with so-called "avanf garde" music..