Obvious Diversion

I saw a program on PBS about 41 tracks that John Lennon carried around in a Discomatic portable jukebox in the early 60s. It’s pretty cool this thing exists to begin with, but they carted this vinyl jukebox around to the artists whose songs were actually in the jukebox to have them speak of their songs and influence on Lennon. Watching these musicians in their old age light up with delight at seeing their songs in Lennon’s collection was very cool. It’s part of the Great Performances series and worth seeking out.

List of songs on John Lennon’s Jukebox

Great Performances: John Lennon’s Jukebox

There’s also a two CD set available, but only in the UK. Fortunately, someone duplicated John Lennon’s jukebox on iTunes, minus a few tracks (too many, really) not yet available online.