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I think this period should be called “John’s Scary Look!” LOL For crying out loud, he could have played Norman Bates in the movie Psycho with this look! OH COME ONE, YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE!!!!!! LMAO!!!
What even are these baffling pictures of John? He looks cute in some sort of teacher-like way that I am most unused to. WHY is he dressed like this? WHAT prompted him to wear his hair like this? I have so many questions about this entire phase…
I am pretty sure this was during the time John would do anything to get a green card. He had to prove that he was not a submersive and if that meant to “dress up” in costume, so be it.
I would not doubt that Yoko’s astrologer told her John had to change his look so he did. I would not doubt that. But that’s just my speculation.
Did John and Yoko actually have a press conference when they went to Japan???
This is definitely from the Japanese Press Conference, 4th (I think) October 1977 (and post Green Card, hence John being oustide the US). Hotel Okura, possibly?
I don’t know why they even held this conference, considering John had no music out and was by then seeking privacy. Perhaps they thought they’d offset any other press intrusion during their stay by getting the media bit out of the way first.
I think this might have been where John originally made his comments about Elvis really dying when he went in the army (which he repeated in 1980, realising this first occasion received minimal press).
I think he’d cut his hair to make a good impression with Ono’s family. If you look at other pictures taken throughout this trip, he soon reverted to his usual long style.
There was supposedly audio recorded of this, but I’ve never seen it shared online, and I’ve never seen any video.
Thanks for the higher-res pictures, Tammy; I’ve never seen the first one before!
I always thought John had this type of hairstyle when he received his Green Card in 1976. John mentioned that during that period, The press were hounding him for a comment on Elvis’ death so that may explain the press conference two months later.
@Jeannette: how does he not look healthy? I’m wondering what you mean. Aside from him looking like a bloody ACCOUNTANT I think he looks pretty handsome. I love John’s quirkiness and, although this is far from a favorite look of mine, I appreciate the fact that he changed things up.
I always think he looks so skinny in the late 70′s though, so I wonder if you mean his very thin/angular face and body? Well, this has nothing on 1980. And still, I’m one of the few fans who thinks John looked pretty handsome and amazing in 1980. Go figure.
@vince
Yes, John chose to cut his hair like this when he received the green card. Perhaps to make a good impression, who knows. Perhaps he kept it when he went to Japan to visit Yoko’s kin.
Lol, I just realized I wrote submersive rather than subversive in the last post. We all live on a yellow subverine. Ha ha.
I think looked great here, the guy could pull off any look he wanted, there a bit of the model about John, one of the last guys to interview dave sholin is on record as saying how surprised he was at johns handsomeness, it stood out to him, I think Paul and George often took the applause for being handsome but John had his thing going on, Im a guy but Im sure th ladies can see it easier, he didnt really seem to know that he had it, pictutres like these show he did even when being conservative. Incidentally if you watch Lennon verses the US you see a clip where he gets his greencard at an office in new york, he had his hair combed back in an office sort of wall street way but he looked completely different with that style and it wasnt the style above at all, with john its as if he changed with every small change he did, very much like an actor would and thats how I see John now, someone with the chameleon like ability to change appearance so quickly and at the same time remain John lennon. An incredible man John, he could have been anything and we are lucky we got something out of him despite his abruptly shortened life, an enigma indeed and that the best way to remember him I think, he never loses his magic.
John’s Green Card was awarded in July 1976. John grew his hair longer afterwards – as seen in numerous pics on this blog. Obviously it’s impossible to say for sure but I concur with what others have commented – that John’s preppy appearance may have had a lot to do with making a good impression on the in-laws. Not that he had to…
@ James: dude your ENTIRE post was so perfectly how I feel about John. He’s the handsomest, sexiest Beatle to me and I loved his look for the majority of the 70′s. I adore 1980 John as well, no matter how very thin he was. He looked amazing and had pretty great skin.
I just thought of the irony of John’s deportation struggle. What is the first thing John does once he is a US citizen? He LEAVES the USA! LOL. There is a big lesson in that. Care to extrapolate?
@Chris…
Tax dodge???
Was Yoko close to her family?
I wasn’t aware of anything like that.
I thought she had alienated herself from most of that scene.
So what was up in Japan?
Or was it about Sean?
By the way, in college some guy told me his father was taking Japanese lesson in New York City back in the late 1970s. He would go and have coffee with some guy named “John.” Later the teacher asked him “what John was like.” Turns out HE WAS HAVING COFFEE BREAKS WITH JOHN LENNON AND DID NOT EVEN KNOW IT WAS HIM!!!!!!!!! True story. I only talked to this guy about this once and that was years ago. What a cool story!!
Chris: A green card is not US citizenship. it’s more like ‘Indefinite leave to remain” is in the UK. The whole point of getting the green card was that if he left the US, he might not be allowed back in otherwise.
Beatlemark, I get what you’re saying but I am a believer in unforeseen occurrences happening despite a semblance of security. I agree that America is a country with ridiculous gun laws and I definitely find that fact more disturbing nowadays than the fact that this psycho had such a gruesome plot. But who is to say that John being in the UK would have stopped him or another psycho? There is just too many crazy and sick people in this world, and John Lennon was such a public figure who really had great influence on the minds of his generation and countless others. I’m just saying…
That was the year of David Bowie, and his serious look Bowie had that look and I think that John would have liked, a little ‘dandy, a bit’ intellectual look. That was the time of saturday Night fever, after years of long hair, there eas that “new” hair cut. Do you remember the Kraftwerk? They had that nerd look too. … I think John was following the fashion, like many at the time! There are group photos of him and the Ono family that summer: his hair was long, not short, but he was in a perfect suit…
Lennon in his “I’m a good boy” haircut.
he looks like a college math professor…
I think this period should be called “John’s Scary Look!” LOL For crying out loud, he could have played Norman Bates in the movie Psycho with this look! OH COME ONE, YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE!!!!!! LMAO!!!
I had a TM teacher back around 1975 who looked just like John in these photos.
It’s like a ‘What if he’d never been a Beatle’ picture.
What even are these baffling pictures of John? He looks cute in some sort of teacher-like way that I am most unused to. WHY is he dressed like this? WHAT prompted him to wear his hair like this? I have so many questions about this entire phase…
Meet the in-laws?
Chris is right. This is Creepy John.
And where’s the video of the Japanese Press Conference. Who does a PC without any filming?????
john’s neverending endeavor to constantly change his look. wow.
Thank you very much for sharing these, they’re all great pictures. : )
@A different Jennifer
I am pretty sure this was during the time John would do anything to get a green card. He had to prove that he was not a submersive and if that meant to “dress up” in costume, so be it.
@A Different Chris
Yes, what if Mimi had gotten her way?
I would not doubt that Yoko’s astrologer told her John had to change his look so he did. I would not doubt that. But that’s just my speculation.
Did John and Yoko actually have a press conference when they went to Japan???
This is definitely from the Japanese Press Conference, 4th (I think) October 1977 (and post Green Card, hence John being oustide the US). Hotel Okura, possibly?
I don’t know why they even held this conference, considering John had no music out and was by then seeking privacy. Perhaps they thought they’d offset any other press intrusion during their stay by getting the media bit out of the way first.
I think this might have been where John originally made his comments about Elvis really dying when he went in the army (which he repeated in 1980, realising this first occasion received minimal press).
I think he’d cut his hair to make a good impression with Ono’s family. If you look at other pictures taken throughout this trip, he soon reverted to his usual long style.
There was supposedly audio recorded of this, but I’ve never seen it shared online, and I’ve never seen any video.
Thanks for the higher-res pictures, Tammy; I’ve never seen the first one before!
I always thought John had this type of hairstyle when he received his Green Card in 1976. John mentioned that during that period, The press were hounding him for a comment on Elvis’ death so that may explain the press conference two months later.
John doesn’t look healthy there
@Jeannette: how does he not look healthy? I’m wondering what you mean. Aside from him looking like a bloody ACCOUNTANT I think he looks pretty handsome. I love John’s quirkiness and, although this is far from a favorite look of mine, I appreciate the fact that he changed things up.
I always think he looks so skinny in the late 70′s though, so I wonder if you mean his very thin/angular face and body? Well, this has nothing on 1980. And still, I’m one of the few fans who thinks John looked pretty handsome and amazing in 1980. Go figure.
@vince
Yes, John chose to cut his hair like this when he received the green card. Perhaps to make a good impression, who knows. Perhaps he kept it when he went to Japan to visit Yoko’s kin.
Lol, I just realized I wrote submersive rather than subversive in the last post. We all live on a yellow subverine. Ha ha.
Maybe this look is why he wasn’t seen much publicly during this period.
It’s hilarious, though, how John completely transformed his entire look into some type of conservative executive.
And Yoko still looks like Yoko.
I think looked great here, the guy could pull off any look he wanted, there a bit of the model about John, one of the last guys to interview dave sholin is on record as saying how surprised he was at johns handsomeness, it stood out to him, I think Paul and George often took the applause for being handsome but John had his thing going on, Im a guy but Im sure th ladies can see it easier, he didnt really seem to know that he had it, pictutres like these show he did even when being conservative. Incidentally if you watch Lennon verses the US you see a clip where he gets his greencard at an office in new york, he had his hair combed back in an office sort of wall street way but he looked completely different with that style and it wasnt the style above at all, with john its as if he changed with every small change he did, very much like an actor would and thats how I see John now, someone with the chameleon like ability to change appearance so quickly and at the same time remain John lennon. An incredible man John, he could have been anything and we are lucky we got something out of him despite his abruptly shortened life, an enigma indeed and that the best way to remember him I think, he never loses his magic.
That’s the haircut he got when he went to his green-card hearing ? I think he liked it……for awhile.
John’s Green Card was awarded in July 1976. John grew his hair longer afterwards – as seen in numerous pics on this blog. Obviously it’s impossible to say for sure but I concur with what others have commented – that John’s preppy appearance may have had a lot to do with making a good impression on the in-laws. Not that he had to…
@ James: dude your ENTIRE post was so perfectly how I feel about John. He’s the handsomest, sexiest Beatle to me and I loved his look for the majority of the 70′s. I adore 1980 John as well, no matter how very thin he was. He looked amazing and had pretty great skin.
he looks great
(no sanpaku)
I just thought of the irony of John’s deportation struggle. What is the first thing John does once he is a US citizen? He LEAVES the USA! LOL. There is a big lesson in that. Care to extrapolate?
@Chris…
Tax dodge???
Was Yoko close to her family?
I wasn’t aware of anything like that.
I thought she had alienated herself from most of that scene.
So what was up in Japan?
Or was it about Sean?
By the way, in college some guy told me his father was taking Japanese lesson in New York City back in the late 1970s. He would go and have coffee with some guy named “John.” Later the teacher asked him “what John was like.” Turns out HE WAS HAVING COFFEE BREAKS WITH JOHN LENNON AND DID NOT EVEN KNOW IT WAS HIM!!!!!!!!! True story. I only talked to this guy about this once and that was years ago. What a cool story!!
Cool story Chris!! Ugh, I can only imagine how cool he was to hang out with.
Chris: A green card is not US citizenship. it’s more like ‘Indefinite leave to remain” is in the UK. The whole point of getting the green card was that if he left the US, he might not be allowed back in otherwise.
What’s sad is that if John hadn’t received his green card and eventually got deported, he might still be alive today!
Beatlemark, I get what you’re saying but I am a believer in unforeseen occurrences happening despite a semblance of security. I agree that America is a country with ridiculous gun laws and I definitely find that fact more disturbing nowadays than the fact that this psycho had such a gruesome plot. But who is to say that John being in the UK would have stopped him or another psycho? There is just too many crazy and sick people in this world, and John Lennon was such a public figure who really had great influence on the minds of his generation and countless others. I’m just saying…
I’d love to see pics of John with the in-laws, especially Yoko’s parents.
That was the year of David Bowie, and his serious look Bowie had that look and I think that John would have liked, a little ‘dandy, a bit’ intellectual look. That was the time of saturday Night fever, after years of long hair, there eas that “new” hair cut. Do you remember the Kraftwerk? They had that nerd look too. … I think John was following the fashion, like many at the time! There are group photos of him and the Ono family that summer: his hair was long, not short, but he was in a perfect suit…