As Im writing this column, I was reminded by an article in the
Chicago Tribune that Oct. 9 was John Lennons birthday.
As he was born on Oct. 9, 1940, he would have been 65 years old if he was still alive. He was shot outside his apartment building on Dec. 8, 1980. He was 40 years old. The article gave a fascinating perspective on probably the most interesting of the famed Beatles (Im sure this statement is going to provoke some comment but Im letting the chips fly).
We all have our perspective on and memories of the Beatles. When they first arrived in the U.S. and made their debut on the Ed Sullivan Show on a Sunday night in February 1964, my father (the talent agent) was actually backstage at the Ed Sullivan theatre taking pictures with his tiny Minox camera.
Though none of the pictures were particularly good, just the fact that he was there at this historical occasion was amazing. It made me feel as if I shared in this piece of history. According to estimates, 73 million people saw the debut that night. These five songs played: All My Loving, Till There Was You, She Loves You, I Saw Her Standing There and I Want to Hold Your Hand.
The Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan Show an additional eight times after that. A year or so later, I became more immersed in Beatlemania as my father took us to live briefly in London between Knightsbridge and South Kensington.
Beatlemania was in full swing with the black leather high-heeled boots (for men), collarless black leather jackets and Lennons black leather cap. As I turned 13 in London in 1965, my brothers and I went to see the newly released movie Help. Shortly after that, we returned to the U.S. carrying with us all the Beatles clothing and accents.
While all the Beatles were talented (except Ringo), Lennon was the poet, the writer, the innovator, the loner, the revolutionary and the leader.
Lennons marriage to second wife Yoko Ono on March 20, 1969 followed by the famous Bed-In For Peace protest at the Amsterdam Hilton was the beginning of the end of the Beatles (they broke up in 1970) and Lennons personal emancipation. Lennons Working Class Hero and Imagine songs marked this new direction.
Much has been said about John Lennon. I wont pretend to try and cover it in this edition. Still, its hard to believe that 25 years has passed since his premature death.
Midwest Biotech Stocks Dropping Like a Rock Last weeks column focused on the performance of the Midwest large cap life sciences and the overall stock market for the first three quarters of 2005.
Results for this period showed a recovery of the major indices during the third quarter from a weak yearly performance. We also saw a surprisingly strong performance in many large cap life science companies (with the exception of our Big Pharma companies). The overall biotech indices showed the sector to be on the mend. The chart below shows a recap of the major indices.
