John Lennon's 80th birthday will be celebrated with LENNON80 - A pop-up TV channel

LAUNCHING ON THE BIG DAY, OCTOBER 9

THE CHANNEL WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR A WEEK AND WILL FEATURE MANY RARITIES INCLUDING JOHN AND YOKO’S 1971 CLASSIC ‘PARKINSON’ APPEARANCE - THOUGHT TO BE LOST BUT NOW RESTORED AND BROUGHT BACK TO TV IN ITS ENTIRETY

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NEWS PROVIDED BY
Murray Chalmers PR

Marking his 80th birthday on October 9, John Lennon’s work will be celebrated with a unique pop-up TV channel dedicated to him, LENNON80. The very special channel launches that day and is available until October 15. It can be viewed on Sky 371 and Virgin 346 nationally, plus Freeview 83 in many parts of the UK. The channel is the first time that Universal Music Group have collaborated on such a venture which has been compiled and co-ordinated by music TV director Simon Sadler in conjunction with Lennon/Ono archivist Simon Hilton.

Many months have been spent accessing the Lennon archives for classic and rare footage, plus commissioning new content which includes brand new music shows presented by Matt Everitt from 6 Music. Also featured is content from Yoko Ono including her performance and lecture at the Tate in 2004. The content includes;

Archive Programmes include

“Bed Peace” - the classic documentary charting John & Yoko’s week-long Bed-In for Peace in Montreal, Canada in 1969.

“Parkinson” - from 1971 a BBC TV John & Yoko interview thought long-lost, now restored and brought back to TV in its entirety.

“The Old Grey Whistle Test” - from 1975 a complete episode of the BBC TV music show, including an extensive Bob Harris interview with John Lennon.

“The Dick Cavett Show” - from 1971 & 1972 two appearances by John & Yoko on ABC’s primetime chat show in the USA.

“John Lennon Birthday Concert” – from 2015, the Madison Square Garden concert to celebrate John’s 75th Birthday. Starring Brandon Flowers, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Sheryl Crow, Aloe Blacc & many more.

"Yoko Ono - Onochord"
"Yoko Ono - Imagine Peace Tower"
"Yoko Ono - Tate Gallery Lecture"

Three documentaries from Yoko Ono - her lecture and performance from the Tate Gallery in 2004, her audience-participatory performance artwork Onochord launched in Venice in 2003 and exhibited worldwide, IMAGINE PEACE TOWER, the artwork she created for John Lennon which illuminates the skies in Iceland every year, from John’s birthday through to the new year.

Brand new music shows presented by 6Music’s Matt Everitt:

“John Lennon’s 25 Greatest Songs” - a definitive countdown of the greatest Beatles & solo songs written by John. All 25 videos in their remastered form.

“From The Lennon Archive” - from John, Yoko & The Plastic Ono Band, less well known music videos & some rare gems from the Lennon family archive, including John’s last live performance in 1975.

“John’s Jukebox” - an eclectic selection of 70s & 80s tracks that influenced John in his solo years, many of which appeared on his own personal jukeboxes! Including Elton John, David Bowie, Lene Lovich, George McCrae, Bruce Springsteen & Madness.

Music TV Director Simon Sadler said today: “There are not many artists worthy of a channel dedicated to just one name – but John Lennon is certainly one of them. To mark his 80th birthday we’re thrilled to have brought together many classic moments of John’s life – from his life at home, on the chat shows and the peace protests – as well bringing John’s solo music together with the songs he wrote for the Beatles for a rare outing on TV.”

LENNON80. is part of a global celebration of the work of John Lennon, centred around his 80th birthday. The album ‘GIMMESOMETRUTH. THE ULTIMATE MIXES’ will be released on October 9. The collection of some of the most vital and best-loved songs from his solo career was handpicked by Yoko Ono Lennon and Sean Ono Lennon and all tracks been completely remixed from scratch.

October 5, 2020 5:22am ET by Murray Chalmers PR  

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