The Last Lennon Interview, with Author Laurie Kaye
03/20/24 • 36 min
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Today we're joined by Laurie Kaye, author of the new book, Confessions of a Rock 'N' Roll Name-Dropper: My Life Leading up to John Lennon’s Last Interview.
As a young rock journalist, Laurie got the opportunity of a lifetime: to spend the day with John and Yoko at their home in New York City. She and her team spent hours with the couple, and the resulting interview was one of the most candid John had ever given. It touched on a wide range of topics, including their latest album release, John’s Lost Weekend, and his thoughts on Paul and the Beatles. It ended on an optimistic note, with John having high hopes for the future. But that day was December 8, 1980, and that interview was the last one that John ever gave. A few short hours later, John was tragically murdered.
Laurie tells this story, and so many more, in her new book. In this memoir, Laurie details her life up to that fateful day in 1980, a day she called “both the best and worst day of my life.”
Laurie Kaye began her career at San Francisco’s top 40 station KFRC-AM, where she was both an on-air reporter and writer. She later moved to RKO radio, where she co-produced many rock specials, including RKO Presents the Beatles (later expanded and renamed Th e Beatles from Liverpool to Legend). Other notable projects include writing Dick Clark’s weekly radio countdown show and leading the location production of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’s Special Extended DVD Edition. Laurie now works in the film and tv industry, handling creative content and line producing for network docuseries.
- Buy the book, Confessions of a Rock and Roll Namedropper: My Life Leading up to John Lennon’s Last Interview
- Visit Laurie Kaye online
- Hear John Lennon’s last interview, The Dakota Apartments, December 8, 1980
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+Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
+Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening now.
+Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
+Contact us at [email protected].
Today we're joined by Laurie Kaye, author of the new book, Confessions of a Rock 'N' Roll Name-Dropper: My Life Leading up to John Lennon’s Last Interview.
As a young rock journalist, Laurie got the opportunity of a lifetime: to spend the day with John and Yoko at their home in New York City. She and her team spent hours with the couple, and the resulting interview was one of the most candid John had ever given. It touched on a wide range of topics, including their latest album release, John’s Lost Weekend, and his thoughts on Paul and the Beatles. It ended on an optimistic note, with John having high hopes for the future. But that day was December 8, 1980, and that interview was the last one that John ever gave. A few short hours later, John was tragically murdered.
Laurie tells this story, and so many more, in her new book. In this memoir, Laurie details her life up to that fateful day in 1980, a day she called “both the best and worst day of my life.”
Laurie Kaye began her career at San Francisco’s top 40 station KFRC-AM, where she was both an on-air reporter and writer. She later moved to RKO radio, where she co-produced many rock specials, including RKO Presents the Beatles (later expanded and renamed Th e Beatles from Liverpool to Legend). Other notable projects include writing Dick Clark’s weekly radio countdown show and leading the location production of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’s Special Extended DVD Edition. Laurie now works in the film and tv industry, handling creative content and line producing for network docuseries.
- Buy the book, Confessions of a Rock and Roll Namedropper: My Life Leading up to John Lennon’s Last Interview
- Visit Laurie Kaye online
- Hear John Lennon’s last interview, The Dakota Apartments, December 8, 1980
---------------------
+Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
+Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening now.
+Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
+Contact us at [email protected].
Previous Episode
And the Award Goes To… Beatles Biopics
Our excitement over the upcoming Sam Mendes Beatles biopics got us thinking about some of our favorite Beatles movies. From classics like Birth of the Beatles and Backbeat, to contemporary Beatles stories like Nowhere Boy and Yesterday, we look at some of the most impactful biopics to hit both the big and small screens.
And, inspired by the recent Academy Awards—and Sean Lennon’s win for the animated short, War is Over!—we created our own awards show for all things Beatles movies. Do you agree with our picks for the best—and the worst—in the Beatles Cinematic Universe? Find us on social media and let us know!
- Our first Beatles biopics episode, discussing the upcoming Sam Mendes films
- More about Sean Lennon’s animated short, War is Over!
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- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
- Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you’re listening now.
- Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
- Contact us at [email protected].
Next Episode
Podcast Preview: We Say Yeah!, a Cliff Richard Podcast with David “Ghosty” Wills
This week, we're sharing an episode of one of our favorite Beatles-adjacent podcasts, We Say Yeah!, a show about Cliff Richard and the Shadows. This is one of the only — if not the only — podcasts exclusively about Cliff Richard, who was, of course, a huge success in the UK, and a contemporary of the Beatles. Erika was recently a guest host, discussing Wonderful Life, a movie musical that was released mere days before A Hard Day's Night, but couldn't be more different.
About the podcast: Cliff Richard & The Shadows dominated the British pop and rock music world from 1958 to 1963 and weathered the storm of Beatlemania to continue to release hits for years to come. Many were even recorded in Studio Two at Abbey Road...and they wrote a lot of their own material!). Although pre-Beatles British rock and roll music is largely ignored by American rock historians, the We Say Yeah! podcast has spent nearly three years reviewing every single, EP and LP released by Cliff and The Shadows (either together or apart) in chronological order.
Hosted by David “Ghosty” Wills, former Sirius/XM DJ and cartoon voice actor, each month’s episode features the host and a guest not only reviewing records but also venturing into sidebar discussions about popular music of the era, the film and television industry in Europe and more!
In addition to hosting We Say Yeah!, David has been a Beatles fan since the age of 12 but came in through Paul McCartney’s solo career (which he says he loves “more than anything else on Earth”). He became a fan of Cliff Richard through his early 80’s U.S. hits and when he discovered an album of his 60’s hits.
- Listen and subscribe to We Say Yeah!
- Hear the full soundtrack to the film Wonderful Life
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- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
- Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you’re listening now.
- Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
- Contact us at [email protected]
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