Today's Bacardi Show Birthday greeting goes to that most misunderstood of artists, Mrs. Yoko Ono Lennon, who turns 70 today. For the record: she did not break up the Beatles. The factors that led to that calamatous occurrence were varied and numerous, and she may have unintentionally exacerbated tensions, no doubt, but it would have happened regardless. All the Beatles agreed upon that.
And she's been quite an interesting artist in her own right for many years, from her early performance art to her collaborations with Lennon to more current endeavors with the likes of Cibo Matto. I especially admire her mid 70s albums Approximately Infinite Universe and Feeling The Space, more conventionally structured than her first two, which were more experimental. Most people remember her trademark howling and screeching and think that's all there is (the human tendency to simplify and streamline for easier recollection, I suppose), but that's hardly the case. There are some excellent songs on all of her albums, like "Midsummer New York" and the lovely "Mrs. Lennon" from her Fly album, which does have some unlistenable stretches, in all fairness, and one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard, "I Have a Woman Inside My Soul" from Approximately Infinite Universe. I've not been such a big fan of her later music, but I still give her credit for perservering and continuing to create.
So happy birthday Yoko. Long may you run.
