Ray KoobThe night John Lennon was killed, December 8, 1980, I was “in the bubble” of Bruce Springsteen’s River Tour for Night #2 of 3 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Years later, I wrote it all down, and recorded it for air. One of my listener friends, Dave Michael, sent me a copy of the recording. Dave called it one of his favorite radio moments.
I’ve loaded up the original broadcast, and the script I worked off…
THE NIGHT JOHN LENNON DIED (originally written/aired in November 2015)
by Ray Koob
“December 1980, was filled with excitement in my world. I had scored tickets to see one of my heroes, Bruce Springsteen, and his amazing E street Band. Just weeks before, The Boss had released the treasure trove of amazing music that he called, “The River.”
These 3 shows were bound to be amazing, as I had purchased the maximum number of tickets for the last two nights, and was going to be seeing the shows with the biggest Springsteen fans in my world. To top that off, I was going to cover the shows for my college station, WTSR in Trenton.
December 8th arrives, and we all pile in the car to head down I-95; Me, my wife, our daughter – Jessica, our friends Alex and Nancy, and my brother, Classic Joe.
The show itself was amazing as Bruce pulled from his first 4 albums, while making the double album The River the backbone of the night.
The band came out of the gates with “Born To Run,” “Prove It All Night,” “10th Avenue Freezeout,” and “Darkness On The Edge Of Town,” and they were off to the races with an astounding 31 song performance. It was wild, and sweaty – pure E Street Band. The leader of the band had the crowd eating out of his palm, taming this untamed rock n roll beast – a Spectrum crowd!
In the middle, they played songs I hadn’t seen them play live, “Fire,” “Because The Night,” and the kickoff of any holiday season, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.” High energy finish doesn’t begin to describe the sprint to the finish with “Jungleland,” “I’m A Rocker,” and a smoking “Detroit Medley,” all while giving every last ounce of energy the man had that night.
After the lights came up, my gang settled in the seats, while I went to phone in my report. In the days before cell phones, that meant loading one of the long row of pay phones with quarters, and making it quick.
So, the studio line rings and it’s answered by our GM Gregg Bernicker. Confused, I asked why he was working that night? He asked, “Where ARE you?” After I said I was the concert and calling in my report, he stopped me and told me the news… John Lennon had been shot in New York City earlier, and was dead.
As the shock of his words washed over me, I looked down the row and noticed the other people on pay phones, most likely calling to tell their ride that they were ready to be picked up, were all in tears. I babbled something to Gregg, and hung up.
Returning to the seats, everyone was chatting and joking, and someone noticed my demeanor and asked, “What’s wrong?” I then had to tell everyone what I had just heard. Can’t imagine the look on my face, but I remember their response as my words sunk in.
We started the walk out and to the car, silently, in contrast to the energy we had all been experiencing just 15-20 minutes earlier. As we reached the street, I heard Beatles music coming from a car, and the driver shouted, “THEY KILLED JOHN LENNON!”
I remember getting to the car, and WMMR was playing “Dizzie Miss Lizzie,” which still takes me back to that moment whenever I hear it.
The ride home was a blur, my brother drove. The only thing I remember is my daughter quietly asking, “What’s wrong with Daddy?” Someone in the back seat quietly explained. All I really heard was “your dad’s hero.”
The next day, I was on the air at 10AM, and started my show with the pronouncement of what we knew, and played “#9 Dream.”
The phones started ringing, one young Trenton Stater asked incredulously, “What did you just say?” I told him the news, and he confessed that he had gone to bed early after studying the night before. The day went on with music and tributes, and word that Yoko said that Bruce’s concert that night should go on as planned.
The Boss would provide the salve for this gaping wound…
The December 9th show was like a mega-tent Rock n’ Roll revival…
Bruce talked about the events in New York the night before, and put on an even more intense show, if that is even possible, than on the 8th. Back to back “Junglelands” (3 in a row if you went on the 6th) would normally have been one of those unthinkably amazing occurrences, and what most people would have been talking about!
After repeating the same encore as on the 8th, the band left the stage, and after waving goodnight, Bruce began following them down the stairs. Halfway down, there was a commotion below him, and The Boss did a 180 and the band followed him up. He said something about “almost forgetting one,” and launched into “Twist & Shout,” and over the next few minutes he not only took that crowd to an otherworldy place, but also applied some serious first aid to 16,000 hearts, bleeding for the loss of man who preached unity and peace, but was felled by senseless violence.
Then the revival then folded its tent and moved on to Providence…
The first week of December for many years afterward saw the clouds of gloom gather as the 8th approached. Over time, the heaviness of the anniversary lightened, slowly at first. I now know that feeling, if it shows up, and can manage to work through it, but December 8th will always be a dark day, now almost 35 years after a day when evil won, and peaceable people worldwide had some of their innocence stolen, we remember, and look forward to a day when the world will indeed live as one…”