“Double Fantasy is John’s first record in more than four years. intermittently we have heard of his “lost weekend” in Los Angeles, his return to Yoko, his stint as a “house husband.”
The secretary ushers me into the office where the operating head of the company sits behind his desk. He wears a beard, appears intense and very preoccupied.
“Here’s the single,” he says, and punches the start button of the cassette player. Over the speakers comes the sound of three chimes, followed by a slow introduction, John sings: “Our life together / Is so precious together . . . “ and then the tempo shifts and breaks into the loping cadence of “(Just Like) Starting Over.” John is singing in true rock idiom, sounding like the stuttering Elvis in “Heartbreak Hotel,” sounding like John Lennon. Double Fantasy is John Lennon’s first record in more than four years. Intermittently we have heard of his “lost weekend” in Los Angeles, his return to Yoko, his life as a “house husband.”
As I’m listening, I notice the record company executive seems agitated, as if somehow this meeting is taking place against his will. When the song is over he ejects the cassette and hands it to me. The album is not due for release for another two weeks. The record executive fixes his stare on me and says, “You know, if somehow one of those were to make it onto the radio before the release of this album, kill would not be too strong a word for what I would do to that person.”
(From ETHAN RUSSELL: AN AMERICAN STORY available here.)
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