John Lennon (Pt. 1): “John Lennon, I’m going to kill you, you phony bastard.” (Rewind)

Summary

Podcast Summary: DISGRACELAND – John Lennon (Pt. 1): “John Lennon, I’m going to kill you, you phony bastard.” (Rewind)

Host: Jake Brennan
Date: July 12, 2026
Podcast Network: Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

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Main Theme & Episode Purpose

This episode of DISGRACELAND delves into the dichotomies and contradictions that made John Lennon both a revered icon and an intensely flawed individual. By exploring Lennon’s tumultuous personal life, his controversial relationship with Yoko Ono, and his tragic murder at the hands of Mark David Chapman, host Jake Brennan examines the messy interplay between genius, hypocrisy, and personal demons. The episode also lays the foundation for the circumstances and psychological unraveling that led to Lennon’s assassination, setting up a true crime story for music obsessives and true crime fans alike.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Host’s Relationship to John Lennon’s Story

• Personal Perspective: Jake Brennan opens by expressing his admiration for Lennon but acknowledges how the episodes he wrote highlight Lennon’s darker sides.
  • Quote: “You might think that I have a lot of disdain for John Lennon. I don’t. I love John Lennon, but he’s a very complicated character.” (03:17)
• Script Origins: The episode is one of DISGRACELAND’s earliest two-parters, written without originally planning to split the story, and revisiting it feels different compared to later work.
  • Quote: “It was the first year of Disgraceland. This is the first two-part episode I ever did... It was very weird to write.” (04:15)

Deconstructing the Lennon Mythos

• Dualities in Lennon’s Life:
  • The world sees Lennon as an icon of peace and love, yet his history is marked by violence, drug abuse, infidelity, and absenteeism as a husband and father.
  • Yoko Ono is portrayed as both a “Machiavellian witch” who exerted strong influence and a partner Lennon truly loved.
  • Quote: “John Lennon was a walking contradiction. Complicated, simple, completely full of shit, and totally true to himself all at the same time.” (06:00)
• Hypocrisy and Contradiction: Lennon’s materialism stands in contrast to his public anti-materialist stance, and he’s haunted by the successes of Paul McCartney post-Beatles, to the extent that he avoids “silly love songs” on the radio. (06:36)

The Murder of John Lennon – Mark David Chapman’s Descent

• Chapman’s Obsession: The narrative vividly illustrates Chapman’s growing rage and obsession with Lennon, incited in part by Lennon’s feud with Todd Rundgren.
  • Rundgren’s album "Deface the Music," a Beatles pastiche and satire, is portrayed as deeply triggering to Lennon and idolized by Chapman.
  • Quote (as Chapman’s internal voice): “John Lennon, I’m going to kill you, you phony bastard.” (17:53)
• Chapman’s Mental State: Chapman’s psychological spiral is depicted through intense scenes at home in Hawaii—fits of rage, delusions of grandeur, and self-harm. The episode details the incident of him pounding his hands bloody against a bathroom wall, linking his inner turmoil to his developing intent to kill Lennon. (14:36–17:53)

Lennon’s Turbulent Personal History

• Crisis Points:
  • Help! and Cry for Help (1965): Lennon’s inner demons first surfaced in the eponymous Beatles song—a literal plea for help. (19:53)
  • “Bigger than Jesus” Controversy: Lennon’s careless remark about the Beatles’ popularity led to mass outrage, protests, and record burnings in America.
    • Quote: “Christianity will go. We’re more popular than Jesus... Jesus was alright, but his disciples were thick and ordinary.” (20:25)
  • Yoko Ono’s Arrival: Lennon’s relationship with Yoko Ono is portrayed as both transformative and destructive—Yoko is described as manipulative but also genuinely loving. The two plunged into a chaotic relationship defined by substance abuse and public scrutiny. (21:15–22:50)
  • The Drug Bust and Fallout: After a drug bust in 1968, Lennon’s reputation suffers further. The British public vilifies Yoko as a gold-digger and blames her for breaking up his marriage and, eventually, the Beatles themselves. (22:51–24:10)

The Beatles Breakup & Aftermath

• Why the Beatles Ended: The coupling of John and Yoko, their withdrawal into excess, and Lennon’s post-Beatles creative decline is contextualized as a step away from artistic promise into commercial comfort.

  • Tabloid frenzy increases the public’s resentment toward Yoko, with more attention focused on her perceived role in the breakup. Lennon and Ono relocate to America, where they become further immersed in counterculture politics and “hippie madness.” (24:15–25:55)

• Power Dynamics with Yoko: Yoko consolidates financial and creative control, while Lennon increasingly drifts creatively and emotionally, alternating between lavish excess and withdrawal. (26:00)

The ‘Lost Weekend’ – Lennon’s Downward Spiral

• May Pang Affair: With Yoko’s encouragement, Lennon’s affair with his 23-year-old assistant May Pang marks one of the most notorious chapters in his personal life. The relationship, initially engineered by Yoko, becomes deeply passionate, leading to a protracted period of sexual and emotional excess for Lennon. (27:10–30:42)
  • Quote: “May Pang, a woman of Chinese descent from Spanish Harlem, was like the bizarro world Yoko. She was funny, lacking in airs, and came with a sexy downtown look. Compared to Yoko, she wasn’t so heavy. To John, Yoko was the anvil, May was the feather.” (28:39)
• Violence and Chaos: The “Lost Weekend” is marked by “sex, drugs, rock and roll and lots of violence”—a year and a half of self-destruction. (30:43–31:02)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Lennon’s contradictions:
  • “He was prone to lavish hundred thousand dollar shopping sprees on a whim. He was one of the greatest musicians to ever record, yet after the Beatles, his records were marred by creative inconsistency.” (06:24–06:37)
• On Rundgren’s send-up of Lennon:
  • “Deface the Music is incredibly witty and a pitch perfect mockery of well-known Lennon/McCartney tropes meant to take the piss out of the sacred cow Beatles. It’s so expertly written and produced that it sounds like something the old John Lennon would have produced to take the piss out of the new John Lennon.” (10:50)
• Chapman’s mantra:
  • “John Lennon, I’m going to kill you, you phony bastard.” (17:53)

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• [04:15] – Jake Brennan’s context for writing the episode, Lennon as a complex figure
• [06:00] – Introduction of Lennon’s contradictions and public myth
• [08:00–12:00] – Mark David Chapman’s obsession and the influence of Todd Rundgren’s music
• [14:36–17:53] – Chapman’s violent breakdown, fixation on killing Lennon
• [19:53–21:34] – Lennon’s unraveling, “Help!” as a cry for help, “Bigger than Jesus” controversy
• [22:51–24:10] – Yoko Ono’s takeover and Lennon’s fall from public grace
• [27:10–28:39] – The set-up and psychology behind the May Pang affair
• [30:43–31:02] – The “Lost Weekend,” defined by chaos and violence

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Tone & Storytelling Style

• Narration is stylized, irreverent, and evocative, blending factual biography with “dramatized” elements and dark humor. Jake Brennan maintains an engaging, conversational tone that cuts through the sanctimony often surrounding Lennon, while still allowing for moments of empathy and vulnerability toward his subjects and themes.

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Conclusion & Next Steps

The episode paints a portrait of John Lennon as far more than a simple ‘dead Beatle’ or peace icon—he is shown as a deeply troubled, frequently hypocritical, fascinating mess of a person. The story interweaves Lennon’s unraveling with Chapman’s, building toward the fateful encounter in December 1980. Listeners are encouraged to continue with Part Two, where the conclusion of this true crime tale unfolds.

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For more details and episode credits, visit: www.disgracelandpod.com

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Note:

• This summary omits all advertisements and non-content material.
• Dialogue and notable quotes maintain Jake Brennan's original language and tone.
• All timestamps reflect the podcast’s internal clock for easy reference.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[B]

So scrolling Instagram today as one does. And I saw this John Lennon quote and it was him talking about Mick Jagger being old and being on stage and, and the quote was from like the 1970s and it was, it was John Lennon sticking up for Mick Jagger, basically defending Mick Jagger for still making music and playing live music, however old he was in the 1970s. Which is funny of course, because Mick Jagger is now in his 80s and he's still doing it. But it just, it was one of those things I saw and it, it just, it just reminded me of how much I love John Lennon. And I really do truly think that John Lennon was above and apart from most of the artists of his generation. And you know, I also knew I had to come in and record this pre for the rewind episodes today. And I was thinking about my thoughts about John Lennon back when I wrote these episodes and how if you listen to these you might think that I have a lot of disdain for John Lennon. I don't. I love John Lennon, but he's very complicated character. And there's a lot of revelatory information in these episodes about how John Lennon lived his life, about how John Lennon was hypocritical, about how John Lennon was abusive, about how John Lennon was a lot of things. But I also think that at his core, John Lennon, when the final assessment, the final ledger is laid bare. John Lennon was a good person and he brought more good into the world than he did bad. And you might not hear that from these episodes, but that's just. That's how I feel. These episodes are also very weird to write. I remember writing them and being like, what did I just do? It was very early in Disgraceland. It was the first year of Disgrace Land. These are the first. This is the first two part episode I ever did and I did it without trying to do it. I just wrote the whole thing. I got to the end, I was like, wow, this is really long. And it became a two parter anyways. I hope you dig it. It's fun to go back into the early years of Disgraceland and hear these episodes compared to what we're doing these days. Get at me. 617 906. Let me know what you think. Here's John Lennon in Disgraceland. Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. John Lennon is celebrated as a defiant icon of the peace and love generation. The smart beetle, a dedicated husband and doting father to his young son whose life was tragically cut short by a bullet from a deranged fan. All of that is true, and all of that is also untrue. John Lennon was a violent, philandering, absentee dad and drug and alcohol abusing, insecure mess of a man whose life he left in the manipulative hands of his Machiavellian witch of a wife, Yoko Ono. A woman he truly loved and who truly loved him back. Throughout his life he'd been fiercely independent. But by the 70s, he would hardly make any move of consequence without first having his wife consult the complicated cosmic algorithm of horoscopes, numerology, real life oracles and tarot cards. He was a long time critic of the trappings of the material world. Yet he empowered his wife to build a financial empire through real estate, Egyptian art and prized catt. It was prone to lavish hundred thousand dollars shopping sprees on a whim. He was one of the greatest musicians to ever record. Yet after the Beatles, his records were marred by creative inconsistency. And he'd ceded his place atop the charts to his former bandmate, Paul McCartney, a thing that bothered him so much that he avoided the radio for fear of hearing the cute Beetle blanketing the airwaves with silly love songs. He was a walking contradiction. Complicated, simple, completely full of shit, and totally true to himself all at the same time. But by 1980, John Lennon was reclaiming the better parts of himself and starting over, making great music again. That music you heard at the top of the show, that wasn't great music. That was a preset loop from a melotron called Tango, Moving Piano and MK2. I pledge you that loop because I can't afford the License for Lady by Kenny Rogers. And why would I play you that specific slice of sad sack Country Politan Cheese. Could I afford it? Because that was the number one song in America on December 8, 1980. And that was the day that a different, violent and insecure mess of a man emerged from the shadows outside the Dakota apartments on West 72nd street and shot John Lennon down, ending the complex and wildly entertaining musician's life. On this episode. Messy Men, Country Politan cheese, Walking contradictions in a dead Beatle. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgrace. Mr. And Mrs. Mark David Chapman, newlyweds residing on the 21st floor of Honolulu's luxury Kukui Plaza apartment building, didn't do much socializing and even less hosting. Mark was intense, a big man, smart, articulate, at times compassionate, but lately prone to sudden fits of rage, filled with bizarre proclamations picked up from trips down the John Lennon rabbit hole. He'd recently discovered. Hosting for the Chapmans was an attempt at normal spam. Musubi appetizers and mai tais were on the menu. So Gloria Chapman concerned herself with being a good hostess. But what was most on her mind was her husband's behavior. It was a small group, two of their friends, a couple were on their way over, and Gloria Chapman prayed that her husband would keep it together and not embarrass her. It was early October 1980, and Mark David Chapman was spiraling into madness and toward an uncertain fate. But in the last few weeks, he'd at least found a purpose. John Lennon is full of shit, and he hasn't made anything worth a listen since the Beatles. Now listen to that. That's music. Todd Rundgren's latest long player, Deface the Music by his band Utopia, blared from Chapman's new Pioneer XL turntable. The record player, like the record, was brand new. Mark had destroyed the old one a Couple of months back in a fit of rage. This was a superior record player anyway. And to Mark David Chapman Rundgren's satirical send up of John Lennon on Deface, the music was superior to anything Lennon had released since the Beatles. Todd Rundgren was the anti Lennon. Rundgren had taken it upon himself to speak truth to pop culture power. Todd Rundgren, the immensely talented American musician and producer had made a career out of pushing the the limits of pop songs as well as the limits of pop stardom. And to him, John Lennon had turned out to be a fraud, a fake, a Fugazi. In the 60s, Lennon's songs and Devil May Care swing at pop stardom had broken the mold. But in the 70s, Lennon had proved to be ordinary, contented by his cult of personality, his limousine liberalism and uneven post Beatles creative output. Rundgren believed that John Lennon had sold out the musical promise of the Beatles for middle aged economic stability. He'd become exactly what he'd once railed against as a young angry counterculture activist with a sharp wit and intoxicating primal scream. Holed up in Manhattan's prestigious Dakota apartments with his army of servants, macrobiotic dinners, champagne cocktails and cocaine appetizers, addicted to daytime television and lording over a real estate empire that included much of upst New York and a good portion of southern Florida. For a Lenin fan like Rundgren, this all seemed a touch too passive, a touch too safe for a one time revolutionary in musical renegade. But hey, whatever gets you through the night. And Todd Rundgren hit the lethargic John Lennon where it hurt with Deface the Music. The album was the latest haymaker in a public round of spatting between Rundgren and Lennon. The two had been going at it since the mid-70s, verbally slapping each other back and forth in the pages of Melody Maker. Lennon going so far as to contribute a hysterical op ed entitled An Open Letter to Sod Runtle Stuntel. But Rundgren got the best of Lennon. He deployed his favorite weapons of choice against the ex music and satire. Deface the Music is incredibly witty and a pitch perfect mockery of well known Lennon McCartney tropes meant to take the piss out of the sacred cow Beatles. It is so expertly written and produced that it sounds like something the old John Lennon would have produced to take the piss out of the new John Lennon. And because of this, it drove John Lennon mad. Here was this little runt in upstate New York doing John Lennon better than John Lennon and what the fuck, it was powerful. Stuff and it fueled Mark David Chapman, who was in the market for a mark. So he locked into the anger and found his own manic utopia and defaced the music and focused all of his pent up self loathing on whom he once, like Rundgren, idolized. Chapman had been following the Lennon Rundgren beef in the press, and despite his childhood love of the Beatles, he'd chosen to ride for Rundgren. Todd is God. Mark closed his eyes and took in the music. It calmed him. It made him believe in something. Something real. It quieted the army of voices in his head. The voices that told him he was nothing, a nobody. The voices that told him this world was nothing more than a living hell filled with phonies and charlatans. The voices that told him to do it. Do it, do it, do it. Do it.

[C]

Do it.

[B]

Do it, do it, do it, do it.

[A]

Foreign.

[C]

Here Checking into my favorite hotel in Paris.

[B]

Bonjour.

[C]

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[B]

Gloria Chapman was on pins and needles. They'd run out of rum and thus no more Mai Tais. And probably just as well. But Mark was visibly growing more and more agitated, pacing in front of his new hi fi that was pumping out Rundgren at high volume. Now pulling off of a brown bagged can of Fosters, sweat visible on his forehead, his nerdy glasses sliding down his pasty white nose, his greasy bangs partially obscuring the manic look in his eyes. I'm telling you, Todd Rundgren's music is where it's at. Listen to that. Seriously, listen to that. Mark was working himself into a Latin his friends if you could call them that and they were more like acquaintances, looked on with mild amusement. Gloria was dying inside. She knew where this routine was going and it wasn't going anywhere good. For the past few months she'd been on the receiving end of her husband's rants against John Lennon and they nearly always ended with Mark erupting in violence and Gloria questioning his wellness. Mark rode the volume on the hi Fi. Listen to that kid. Can you feel it? Todd, man.

[C]

Todd.

[B]

Todd is God. The Chapman's guests were seated next to each other on the love seat, staring up at Mark, mouths slightly agape, the looks on their faces a mix of shock and amusement. The volume of the music was now deafening. Mark had stopped pacing for a moment and now stood in front of the record player. He closed his eyes and brought his clasped hands to his chest. His left foot rooted firmly in the living room shag carpeting. He attempted to raise his right foot to his inner thigh. The result was a sort of half assed tree pose. The music blared and now the Chapman's guests were openly laughing at him. Mark was oblivious, a zenned out nerd who'd finally achieved class clown status, albeit from the comfort of his own home and with his audience laughing for all the wrong reasons. Mark Chapman kept his eyes closed and the vision to see little people celebrating him, giving him a parade. Him, Mark David Chapman from Decatur, Georgia, now Oahu, Hawaii. He then felt a wave of happiness wash over him with his next vision, a warm gun in the palm of his hand. It was too much. He lost his balance and teetered over into the hi Fi, knocking the needle off the record. When the music stopped, Mark was jarred back to reality by the sounds of his two guests laughing at him and to the sight of his wife staring at him. Not just embarrassed, scared. Mark lost it. The little people in his head erupted into a chorus of disapproval. The voices were non stop now, deafening. The world went black. He felt it moving just beyond his thoughts but saw nothing. Blackness. He heard familiar voices on the other side but couldn't make out what they were saying. And they quickly trailed off into the distance. Then a high pitched ringing sound sound pierced through him, bringing with it a torrent of rage. He felt it well up in his chest. His ears burned. Loud thuds penetrated the piercing ring and the chattering voices in his head. He could feel himself spinning faster, faster. Loud thuds continuing to break through. He felt his hands. They were wet with something. Blood. The thudding sounds came into focus. They sounded familiar now, like flesh smacking up against something unforgiving. The sound of each new thud brought fresh pain. Not emotional pain, physical pain. And as the pain grew, the blackness faded. Mark noticed a pin prick of light and held focus on it. The spinning started to stop. The pin prick expanded and Mark followed the light and the thuds continued until it was all he could hear. No more voices, no more darkness. Blood was all he could see. He followed the sight of the blood out of the darkness and it covered the wall of his bathroom. He felt throbbing pain in his hands and looked down at them. They looked more like two country hams. And they did. Hands bloodied and beaten to a pulp from repeated blows to his bathroom wall. The sight of them sickened Mark with shame. He closed his eyes and again saw the gun in his hand, felt that warm feeling of happiness, and promptly passed out cold on his bathroom floor. Mark David Chapman came to. He found himself sitting alone on his bedroom floor in the Lotus position. He'd quieted the voices in his head and crawled out of the blackness. Hell, he even managed to somehow bandage his hands. And now, now his world was calm. The record player in his room, this one was one of those portable suitcase numbers with the built in speaker, was playing the Beatles. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but not at the normal speed. Mark had sped it up to 45 RPM and at this increased speed the record sounded less like the Beatles and more like the voices in Mark's head. Manic, intense, insane. Mark closed his eyes, took it all in, began chanting his new mantra. John Lennon, I'm going to kill you, you phony bastard. John Lennon, I'm going to kill you, you phony bastard. John Lennon, I'm going to kill you, you phony bastard. John Lennon, I'm going to kill you, you phony bastard. We'll be right back after this.

[C]

Word, word, word. Reese Witherspoon here checking into my favorite hotel in Paris.

[B]

Bonjour.

[C]

Bonjour. I'm traveling with my Wells Fargo autograph journey card. So I earn rewards wherever I book. Travel five times points with hotels, four times with airlines, three times on restaurants and other travel and one point on other purchases. Phew, that was a lot. I need to lie down. Is the room Ready?

[D]

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[B]

to come unhinged in 1965. Unlike his bandmates, the consummate professional and people pleaser Paul McCartney or the soulful George Harrison or the comical Ringo Starr, John Lennon had deep, dark demons. Beatles fans got their first peek at these demons with the release of the song Help in 1965. The song, from Lennon's perspective, was a literal cry for help. Fame had driven the young star into a corner of self doubt and alienation, and he was searching for a way out through his music. And luckily for Lennon's fans, this search would continue throughout his tenure in the Beatles and the result would be some of the greatest music ever made. But before Lennon called out the Walrus or Lucy in the sky, he called out Jesus Christ. In an interview with the London Evening Standard, John Lennon, in an offhand remark, said, quote, christianity will go. We're more popular than Jesus. I don't know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity. Jesus was alright, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. The blowback was intense, especially in America. Fans burned Beatles Records. American DJs organized boycotts and protests of the band's concerts. Lennon didn't understand what all the fuss was about and did his best to explain himself. But the damage was done. The word was out. These weren't just four lovable mop tops singing about teenage innocence anymore. And the outrage over Lennon's Christ comments proved to be child's play compared to the backlash over Lennon's involvement with Yoko the witch. John Lennon left his wife Cynthia and their young son Julian for avant garde artist Yoko Ono in 1968. Yoko had designed her hostile takeover of the Lennons in order to climb through the ranks of the international pop world. Being seen on the arm of John Lennon meant prestige, power and instant fame. Ono was heavy with ambition and light and talent. In 1965, Andy Warhol commented to filmmaker Paul Morrissey that the shameless self promoter Yoko Ono was, to his great annoyance, quote, always around, always copying someone else's art. But by 1968, it didn't matter. Yoko had cast John Lennon under her spell completely and he was hopeless. Andy Warhol and his 15 minutes could go pound sand. Ono had herself a real life beetle And a lifetime of fame and fortune on the horizon. The tabloids eventually got wind of their affair, and for fans, news of their favorite beetle, leaving his perfect family for someone they saw as a no talent gold digger did not sit well. John and Yoko didn't care. They submerged themselves into the gooey haze of new love, lived on a diet of champagne, caviar and heroin, and moved in together into Jimi Hendrix's old flat at Montague Square. Almost immediately, things went south. In the early morning hours of October 18, 1968, John Lennon received a call from a Beatles fan employed by London's corrupt drug squad. The inside man tipped John off that his flat was about to be raided by the notorious detective Norman Pilcher. John, naked and in a haze from the previous night's party, sprung from bed, threw on a robe and immediately freaked the fuck out. He began rummaging through the house to find and dispose of any and all dope and paraphernalia. The place previously being lived in by Hendrix had John particularly nervous. Who knew which nook or which cranny Jimmy had squirreled his stash away in Heroin, lsd, cocaine, hashish, marijuana, morphine, fen, metrazine, benzedine. All the amphetamines were eventually rounded up by John while Yoko barked out orders from bed. Then, at 11:55am, the doorbell rang. John was midway through, furiously flushing his stash down the toilet. His anxiety spiked, Yoko went to the door. John hovered above the toilet, shaking a bag of heroin away, called out in his best old lady voice, who is it? Yoko did the same, but with considerably less humor, and a female voice from the other side of the front door said it was the postal service with a package. Yoko opened the door a crack, peeked through, realized the woman was no postal worker, and immediately slammed the door shut and took off back toward John. In the bathroom, Yoko was screaming, John, the police. John, the police. John was shouting to Yoko, call the solicitor. Cops were now everywhere, leering in through the windows, yelling to John and Yoko to let them in. John stalled by yelling out that he demanded to see a warrant, all the while continuing to flush more and more drugs down the toilet. Eventually, after John was satisfied that all the drugs were disposed of and a warrant was produced, and he was able to take the piss out of the situation by pantomiming a read through of the document. John allowed the police to search the flat, but despite his best efforts, authorities were still able to turn up hashish, weed, amphetamines, and a half gram of morphine. John and Yoko were busted London's favorite son had fallen from grace. First over Jesus, now over this witch. It got worse. Following the arrest, John and Yoko decided they were to get married in Gibraltar, near Spain. They drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton, talked in their beds for a week. The newspaper said the witch had gone to his head. On April 10, 1970, approximately 11 months after John and Yoko's bed in honeymoon, the Beatles broke up. For Londoners, this was the final nail in Yoko's coffin. Breaking up a family. Oh well, rock stars can be so fickle. It comes with territory. Drug busts, that's just part of the game, ain't it Baggism? What the fuck was Baggism about anyway? It doesn't matter. But breaking up the Beatles, that was an unforgivable offense. London had grown hostile to Yoko, so the couple moved to America. And for Lennon, thus began an epic years long creative stumble marred by semi inspired, inconsistent musical releases that despite their near misses, did more for his fame than for his artistry. The Ono Lennons loved America, particularly New York City. And New York City loved them right back. A virtual cavalcade of healers, seekers, revolutionaries, drug dealers, prophets and fools all lined up to welcome John and Yoko and to milk them of their celebrity, to promote their own pet causes. And the Ono Lennons allowed themselves to get swept up in the hippie dippy madness out on the fringes. They donated their time to freeing the revolutionary and MC5 manager John Sinclair from prison, who was unfairly sentenced to 10 years for selling two joints to an undercover cop. They became enamored of the violent revolutionary group the Weather Underground. And of course they partied, took lots of drugs and made music. And eventually the relationship morphed from 24.7lovin to to a more traditional partnership. Yoko took control of the finances and strategically plotted all professional moves, creative and otherwise. And John did well, whatever the hell he wanted, provided Yoko said it was okay. But by 1973, the relationship was hitting the skids. Yoko was restless and eager to ignite an affair with either one or both of her gay interior decorators or possibly her new guitar player. But Yoko wasn't looking for anything serious, just a dalliance, a break from her husband, who despite being the biggest rock star on the planet, was super needy and required Yoko to be more of a mother than a lover. Hold up for a second. I know the rockstar needing to be mothered thing is exactly the same as the Sid and Nancy dynamic from episode two of Disgraceland, but I swear it's 100% true. With John and Yoko and totally freaky and look it up for yourself. In any event, the mothering took its toll on Yoko. She didn't want to leave John. She couldn't leave John. Going out on her own and starting over financially and creatively was out of the question. But she needed a break. So she decided to send John away. Out of her hair and away from New York City to Los Angeles. But setting up seeing a man like John Lennon loose into the wilds of 1973 LA was a bad idea. He needed a minder. Someone to keep him tethered to his life. Back with Yoko in Manhattan. So Yoko the good wife, decided to give her husband John a going away present. A girlfriend. May pang, the Lennon's 23 year old assistant in Yoko's mind would make for the perfect pawn. She was young, attractive, scrappy and easily manipulated. Plus, Yoko knew John was eager to jump in the sack with her. Yoko saw the way John ogled her. May Pang, a woman of Chinese descent from Spanish Harlem, was like the bizarro world Yoko. She was funny, lacking in airs, unrefined and came with a thick outer borough accent and sexy downtown look. Compared to Yoko, she wasn't so heavy. To John, Yoko was the anvil, May was the feather. Plus, the young, impressionable music fanatic was in love with John the beetle. However, at first, May didn't take to the idea of ACcompanying John to LA for an undetermined amount of time. She may have been secretly in love with her hero, but she had a conscience. The dude was married and to her boss. But Yoko's pitch was delicate and despite being kind of icky, it was convincing. Eventually, May caved, and when her and John consummated their new relationship, the sex, clumsy and forced at first, quickly became quite the opposite. John and Yoko's sex life had gone cold years ago, but now with May, John was insatiable. And May, for her part, genuinely cared for John. And thus the sex was dynamite. So John led and May Pang decided to get lost together for a weekend anyway. A weekend in the City of Angels. A weekend that would be filled with sex, drugs, rock and roll and lots of violence. A weekend that would last approximately one year and six months. A lost week. Thanks for checking out part one of John Lennon in Disgraceland. Part two is available now in your feeds. Disgraceland was created by yours truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found on the show notes [e-mail] if you're listening, as a Disgraceland All Access member thank you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And if not, you can become a member right now by going to Disgracelandpod.com Membership members can listen to every episode of Disgraceland ad free. Plus you'll get one brand new exclusive episode every month. Weekly unscripted bonus episodes, special audio collections, and early access to merchandise and events. Visit disgracelandpod.com membership for details, rate and review the show and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook Disgracelandpod and on [e-mail] Disgracelandpod Rocka Rolla He's a bad, bad man. All right, Discos, what did you think of this John Lennon episode? Let me know. Give us a call. 617-906-6638. Voicemail and text Disgracelandpod on the socials. Coming up next to Disgraceland, part two of our John Lennon story. Right now. Don't go anywhere. It's called soccer. It's called football. Soccer.

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