WHERE WERE YOU ?

[Janet]

I was in San Francisco when Jimi died and it was very depressing because I was still pretty spaced out from acid. And later, on top of that, Janis and Jim Morrison dying was almost too much to take. When MLK and RFK were shot I was still in a worse acid daze. It seemed the world was coming to an end as the Vietnam war raged on. Don't remember where I was when Bonham died.

I was 13 when JFK was shot and was getting chewed out by my science teacher for being a truant when a girl came into the classroom and said he'd been shot.

I was working on a demolition job on Polk St. in San Fran. when Lennon was shot. I was also working on a demo job in SF when the space shuttle exploded on takeoff.

The 60's inured us to untimely deaths. You grew up with it and figured it was normal. I remember laughing when Elvis died because it just seemed so ridiculous. What a waste...

[redrum]

The 60's inured us to untimely deaths. You grew up with it and figured it was normal.

From late '63 to the early 70's was the best of times and the worst of times for me personally.

I feel lucky to be alive.

[TypeO]

I remember JFK getting shot.

I was only 3, but I remember everyone was so upset, and November 22 was my father's birthday.

I think that's why my mom told me the President had died, because I thought everyone was supposed to be having fun for my dad's birthday.

I remember Bobby Kennedy getting shot.

I remember thinking how sad it was that he was the second person in his family to get shot.

I remember hearing Elvis had died, but I was 17 and into Led Zeppelin so I was like "so"?

I remember when Keith Moon died.

I was working in the parts warehouse of a Ford Truck dealership and heard it on the radio, so I wrote RIP Keith Moon and the date in magic marker on a metal shelf beam in the warehouse.

I remember when John Bonham died.

I was in county jail, and I was truly crushed by the news.

I remember hearing John Lennon had been shot and killed.

I know it's shallow, but besides being shaken by how bizarre of an event it was, and the realization of what a big deal it was for someone as legendary as him to be shot and killed, I simply wasn't much of a Beatles fan and had little feeling about it.

To qualify that, understand I'm simply not one to feel a personal connection with (and therefore actual emotions about) celebrities, and don't get real emotional about their passing.

I can sympathize and ponder the implications of their passing, but not a whole lot more.

Even Bonzo's death affected me mostly in the realization of what it might mean to the future of my favorite group.

I remember hearing Sam Kinison died while I was at a car stereo shop having subs and an amp installed in my car.

I remember thinking how ironic it was that he was killed by a drunk driver.

[slave to zep]

George Harrison IMHO wrote some wonderful stuff, as much as Lennon and Mccartney wrote some well nearly all great great songs, my fave Beatles are "Something" the best Ballad of all time(IMHO) and "Here Comes the Sun" both Harrison songs. To me he had the most musical and nicest voice out of all 4 of them. It must of been difficult being in the band with most prolific songwriters of the Twentieth Century, but near the end he did write some classics.

while my guitar gently weeps, my sweet lord, all things must pass, isn't it a pity .....

such a pity.

R.I.P. george.

[leddy]

while my guitar gently weeps, my sweet lord, all things must pass, isn't it a pity .....

such a pity.

R.I.P. george.

Agreed

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

It's not silly at all, I think that's beautiful.

I was vacationing in New York City when I heard of Freddie's death, it was very shocking. It was strange to think of someone as vital as him, such a big personality, to be gone.

John Lennon's death, the way he died, was very shocking and surreal. I was just getting to know his music on a deeper level, I didn't know much at all about him as a person. It was surreal that a rock singer could be assassinated. With George Harrison many years later, there was a kind of terrible foreshadowing of his death when he was attacked in his home by a madman with a knife.

Kurt Cobain - awful news about his death, but again there had been a (reported) suicide attempt a couple of months before, so you almost could see it coming, sort of. Terrible loss though, especially for his daughter.

Thank you so much!

And yes, I do believe Freddie's death was tragic. Even recently, while listening to some of my Queen CDs, I sometimes think to myself : "Damn! I cannot believe that Freddie's gone forever!". I know it's going to be 20 years this year, but I cannot help myself . To me, he will always be one of the greatest vocalists of all time!

My mom read about John Lennon's death in the newspaper, the day after it happened. It was on the front page and it was a HUGE headline. I wasn't born then. Being a big fan of "The Beatles", my mom just couldn't believe it. She strongly feels that his death was "a senseless cold blooded murder". I do think she's right

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

Each to their own and thats not silly, if it makes you feel good and happy thats fine. We are lucky that we have the dvds and records to remmeber all these great musical icons.

Thanks Leddy! That little ritual of mine does make me happy. And yes, I do feel very fortunate to own some of the most obscure Queen albums which few people know of (albums such as "Queen I" and "Queen II" for instance). Those albums, IMHO, showcase Freddie at his very best! And of course, there are the concert DVDs. Those ALWAYS put a smile on my face!

[manderlyh]

John Bonham/John Lennon -- I wasn't born (though my mother was about 7 months pregnant with me at the time)

Diana, Princess of Wales -- I had just unsuccessfully snuck into my house, very late on a school night after going to my boyfriend's house. My mom was up on the couch, watching the news. She was so upset that she didn't even say anything about my coming too late.

Michael Jackson -- I was teaching summer school. My mom texted me to tell me about it.

9/11--I was getting ready for work that day, and my mom called and had me tuned in just in time to see the 2nd tower hit--live.

I'm noticing that my mom was an important instrument in informing me on all of these. Weird.

[leddy]

Thanks Leddy! That little ritual of mine does make me happy. And yes, I do feel very fortunate to own some of the most obscure Queen albums which few people know of (albums such as "Queen I" and "Queen II" for instance). Those albums, IMHO, showcase Freddie at his very best! And of course, there are the concert DVDs. Those ALWAYS put a smile on my face!

Yes "Liar" from 1 and "Ogre Battle" on II are soe of my faves

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

Yes "Liar" from 1 and "Ogre Battle" on II are soe of my faves

You just mentioned some of my fav Queen tracks! Awesome to hear that they are your favs too! I also love "The March Of The Black Queen", "Great King Rat" and "White Queen : As It Began"

[leddy]

You just mentioned some of my fav Queen tracks! Awesome to hear that they are your favs too! I also love "The March Of The Black Queen", "Great King Rat" and "White Queen : As It Began"

"Great KIng Rat" is also a good one ,, better get on topic again so I remember where I was when I first heard "Queen I". I was at my sisters house in the early 80's, I knew Queen having bought "The Game" "Hot Space" "Jazz" "ANATO" but never gone back any further than that. I was looking through my Bro in laws cassette tapes ( ancient I know) and there was "Queen I" I put it on and loved it, very raw and fresh. Then it was onto "Queen II" He never bought any Queen after that but he had a lot of bands first or and second albums before moving on. It was a good education in 70's music .

I like the way threads spread out and divert off in tangents, makes chatting intersting when you can move around a nd stretch the subject.

"Tangents within a framework" now where did I get that from

[BUCK'EYE' DOC]

It is interesting how we remember major world events in relationship to what we were doing and where we were at the time. I even remember the days of the week when these events occurred. I think that the phenomenon is a form of "autobiographical memory". Some people have perfect memories in this regard. I just saw on tv an interview with Marilu Henner where she explained her perfect autobiographical memory. She could tell you every detail of what happened to her and in the world on any particular date in her life.

Marilu Henner Superior Autobiographical Memory

I remember that Princess Diana died on a Sunday. It was all over the news when we awoke that morning. Our family went to the theater that afternoon to see "The Phantom of the Opera" with one of my former college roommates and her family. The tragedy of Diana's death was the main topic of our conversations that day.

John Lennon died on a Monday. I was in college at the time and of course his death was very shocking to me, but I was all consumed with studying at the time. I have to admit that the news of Bonzo's passing did not affect me much at the time as I was in school and was not much of a Led Zeppelin fan at the time. I couldn't tell you what day of the week it was or what I was doing.

I even remember when John Kennedy was killed. I was very young, I was in first grade, but I remember that it was on a Friday and we were having a birthday party for one of my classmates. They made the anouncement at school and we were dismissed early, cutting short the party. I remember that all of the adults were in shock and mourning. To me, even more shocking was when his brother Robert Kennedy was assassinated, as well as Martin Luther King. I felt that the entire world was in danger and in chaos.

I remember that September 11, 2001 was on a Tuesday and that it was a beautiful morning when I drove to work. I even thought to myself as I was driving that it was a perfect and beautiful day. When I got to work and finished the exam on my first patient, my office staff told me that someone called the office and told them about the first plane hitting the tower. We turned on the tv and saw the second plane hit. My exact thought at that moment was that the world as I knew it would never be the same again, and that the course of history had just changed at that instantt.

[BUCK'EYE' DOC]

dimebag darrell -was getting ready for school and i heard about it on the radio and started crying

I remember when the shooting of Dimebag Darrell happened in Columbus. It was a Wednesday evening. It seems to me that it was fairly early in the evening when it happened, eight or nine o'clock or so, not late at night, the time of a typical concert. I remember that the news of the shooting was on tv when I came home from work.

I had never heard of Dimebag before, and the venue that his band was playing at, The Alrosa Villa here in Columbus, was a fairly small club that rarely had some big named bands, so I assumed that Dimebag was an obscure metal guitarist. But his death made national news, and alot of his fans were deeply affected by his death. I had never heard of Panterra before (or Damage Plan, either). I wasn't into metal music at the time and had no idea who he was.

Here is a local news clip of the shooting. You really can't see much detail of Dimebag being shot, but you can see the shooter and hear the shots.

Edited to say that I was mistaken, the shooting happened at 10 PM according to the news report. I wasn't working that late, lol.

[leddy]

I remember when the shooting of Dimebag Darrell happened in Columbus. It was a Wednesday evening. It seems to me that it was fairly early in the evening when it happened, eight or nine o'clock or so, not late at night, the time of a typical concert. I remember that the news of the shooting was on tv when I came home from work.

I had never heard of Dimebag before, and the venue that his band was playing at, The Alrosa Villa here in Columbus, was a fairly small club that rarely had some big named bands, so I assumed that Dimebag was an obscure metal guitarist. But his death made national news, and alot of his fans were deeply affected by his death. I had never heard of Panterra before (or Damage Plan, either). I wasn't into metal music at the time and had no idea who he was.

Here is a local news clip of the shooting. You really can't see much detail of Dimebag being shot, but you can see the shooter and hear the shots.

Edited to say that I was mistaken, the shooting happened at 10 PM according to the news report. I wasn't working that late, lol.

Thats eeirie watching that, I know I saw Pantera support someone in the early 90's but I can't think whom.

[BUCK'EYE' DOC]

The anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion is coming up this week on January 28th.

I remember that it was a Tuesday, 1986, and it occurred in the late morning. I heard about in on my lunch break, so I went home for lunch and turned on the tv to watch the coverage of it.

One of the astronauts, Judith Resnick, was the daughter of an Ohio Optometrist whom I was aquainted with. I believe that he retired from practice shortly after the tragedy. Civilian astronaut Christa McAulliffe was the winner of the "Teacher in Space" program, so the launch was televised to schools across the country. It was a shocking tragedy, and it had to be traumatic for the students to see it happen live while watching it on tv.

It has been 25 years now. They all died as brave explorers. May they all RIP.

Edited to post: Challenger Explosion

[silvermedalist]

The anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion is coming up this week on January 28th.

I remember that it was a Tuesday, 1986, and it occurred in the late morning. I heard about in on my lunch break, so I went home for lunch and turned on the tv to watch the coverage of it.

One of the astronauts, Judith Resnick, was the daughter of an Ohio Optometrist whom I was aquainted with. I believe that he retired from practice shortly after the tragedy. Civilian astronaut Christa McAulliffe was the winner of the "Teacher in Space" program, so the launch was televised to schools across the country. It was a shocking tragedy, and it had to be traumatic for the students to see it happen live while watching it on tv.

It has been 25 years now. They all died as brave explorers. May they all RIP.

Edited to post: Challenger Explosion

I always feel expecially bad for Chrisy McAuliffe. The astronauts had full knowledge what they were getting themselve into. I think she was given a false sense of security. As for Bonham, I was at the time clock and when someone announced it I could not believe it. I was 23 and had seen them three years earlier. I rushed home and as soon as I heard Zeppelin beiing played non stop on my local station, I knew the unimaginable was true. I remember Kennedy's assasination. Was in first grade and they sent us home. A nun came in the room and had us kneel and pray.

[beetleron]

wow!

you're in your 40s?

i thought for sure you were like 12

[silvermedalist]

wow!

you're in your 40s?

i thought for sure you were like 12

Your math sucks as bad as you do. If I were in the first grade when JFK was assasinated how old would that make me Einstein?

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

"Great KIng Rat" is also a good one ,, better get on topic again so I remember where I was when I first heard "Queen I". I was at my sisters house in the early 80's, I knew Queen having bought "The Game" "Hot Space" "Jazz" "ANATO" but never gone back any further than that. I was looking through my Bro in laws cassette tapes ( ancient I know) and there was "Queen I" I put it on and loved it, very raw and fresh. Then it was onto "Queen II" He never bought any Queen after that but he had a lot of bands first or and second albums before moving on. It was a good education in 70's music .

I like the way threads spread out and divert off in tangents, makes chatting intersting when you can move around a nd stretch the subject.

"Tangents within a framework" now where did I get that from

Me too!

I'm glad you got exposed to Queen's early work in the 70's! Your brother-in-law has good taste To me, albums like Queen I and II remain terribly underrated! I got into Queen all thanks to my dad! I heard my first song (Seven Seas Of Rhye) at the age 5. There was no turning back! My dad wasn't aware of the existence of albums like "Queen I", "Queen II", "Sheer Heart Attack" and "A Day At The Races". When I was about 16, for some reason, I did some research about Queen and decided to go further than compilations like "Greatest Hits" I, II and III and check out some other stuff for a change. Hence, I ended up purchasing "Queen I", "Queen II", "Sheer Heart Attack" and "A Day At The Races". My dad was a bit reluctant to give these albums a listen but I nagged him and he did like what he heard!

Leddy, sorry for going off topic! I just couldn't help myself!

[manderlyh]

The anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion is coming up this week on January 28th.

I remember that it was a Tuesday, 1986, and it occurred in the late morning. I heard about in on my lunch break, so I went home for lunch and turned on the tv to watch the coverage of it.

One of the astronauts, Judith Resnick, was the daughter of an Ohio Optometrist whom I was aquainted with. I believe that he retired from practice shortly after the tragedy. Civilian astronaut Christa McAulliffe was the winner of the "Teacher in Space" program, so the launch was televised to schools across the country. It was a shocking tragedy, and it had to be traumatic for the students to see it happen live while watching it on tv.

It has been 25 years now. They all died as brave explorers. May they all RIP.

Edited to post: Challenger Explosion

Do you know what's really eerie?

Challenger and Columbia were close in calendar dates. Not years, but calendar dates.

I vaguely remember the Challenger. I remember the teachers at my school dedicated a huge plaque and tree to Christa McAulliffe, and I remember not really knowing what death mean. I hadn't known anyone who died, other than the rocks stars my daddy had told me about.

Columbia freaked me out. It happened little more than a month after my dad died, on Feb. 1, 2003. This date also happened to be two days before my 22nd birthday, and because of the shock of my dad's sudden (and shocking) death, I was in a pretty dark place at the time. I remember watching all of the news coverage in shock and awe. I remember crying while watching it because of the losses my fellow Americans felt, and I remember it feeling especially raw because I was still partially in denial of my father's death. The entire magnitiude of a disaster like a space shuttle blowing up--for the second time in my memory-- just had me at a loss for words.

I also remember where I was when I first saw footage of the people of Iraq pulling down Saddam Hussain's statue. April 2003. Again, this was a weird event for me to witness, and I still have a lot of mixed feelings about this as an American. My boyfriend was deployed overseas when my dad died at the very end of December, 2002, and because of this Middle Eastern deployment and my dad's death, I was extremely anxious and sick to my stomach for my boyfriend's safety. Watching the statue come down, I was (and also very much still) unsure what this would bring--whether this was a good thing or a bad thing for the United States. Though I was worried about political ramifications, my primary concern was with my boyfriend's safety.

I vaguely remember watching the Berlin Wall come down on TV, too. Though I was only in second grade, I remember knowing about how Germany wasn't exactly a good place to live in during the 1980's. This had to be because my dad always talked to me like I was a 20-year old, even when I was very young. I remember watching East Germans throwing bits of the wall around on camera, and how my parents were extremely interested in what the news had to say about it. I don't think I KNEW what it was about, but I remember watching the news.

[leddy]

Do you know what's really eerie?

I vaguely remember watching the Berlin Wall come down on TV, too. Though I was only in second grade, I remember knowing about how Germany wasn't exactly a good place to live in during the 1980's. This had to be because my dad always talked to me like I was a 20-year old, even when I was very young. I remember watching East Germans throwing bits of the wall around on camera, and how my parents were extremely interested in what the news had to say about it. I don't think I KNEW what it was about, but I remember watching the news.

The Berlin wall started to be pulled down on the night of November 9th 1989, My ex wife went into labour that night and my first child was born it the early hours, the newspaper we have from my daughters birthdate had this historic event spread all over the front cover..

[Broken Levee]

I remember when the shooting of Dimebag Darrell happened in Columbus. It was a Wednesday evening. It seems to me that it was fairly early in the evening when it happened, eight or nine o'clock or so, not late at night, the time of a typical concert. I remember that the news of the shooting was on tv when I came home from work.

I had never heard of Dimebag before, and the venue that his band was playing at, The Alrosa Villa here in Columbus, was a fairly small club that rarely had some big named bands, so I assumed that Dimebag was an obscure metal guitarist. But his death made national news, and alot of his fans were deeply affected by his death. I had never heard of Panterra before (or Damage Plan, either). I wasn't into metal music at the time and had no idea who he was.

Here is a local news clip of the shooting. You really can't see much detail of Dimebag being shot, but you can see the shooter and hear the shots.

Edited to say that I was mistaken, the shooting happened at 10 PM according to the news report. I wasn't working that late, lol.

I remember when Dimebag died. I was a sophomore when it happened. I heard about it on the radio on the way to school.

I always find it weird that he died on the same day as John Lennon.

When 9/11 happened, I was in 7th grade in history class. Another teacher came in the room and told my teacher what happened. They turned on the TV and I remember watching when the second plane hit, and when the towers fell. I was too young to really know what was going on, but by the way the adults were reacting, I knew it was a big deal.

[redhairedqueen22]

I remember where I was and what I was doing when I've heard dimebag was killed. I was coming home from school and I was a freshman that year and I got on the computer and that's when I've heard dimebag was killed on stage the night before. I was shocked and devasted and I prayed hard for the heavy metal community.

[Charles J. White]

- I found out that John Lennon had been murdered when I was walking home from school, one of my classmates mentioned it, and it upset me to no end that his life was taken from him.

- When Steve Clark from Def Leppard decided to kill himself by booze I was out walking my dog when my neighbor walked out and said, he did himself in, that pissed me off as well, that he was so weak that he couldn't see that life was worth living

- Michael Hutchence came as a big shock to me as well, he seemed like he had it all together, little did I know he couldn't see 3 feet in front him since he was young, had lost his sense of smell and taste when he was attacked in France, and turned himself into a basketcase on pharmaceuticals calling it a day naked in his room

- Kurt Cobain, this is bad but it must be said, I never seen a rock band or a rock band's fans treat other rock fans like we were all total losers before, Nirvana was basically a more rude version of Rolling Stone Magazine, a modern verision of the Pistols and I for one cracked a smile when Nirvana came to an end.

- Mick Ronson, I was travelling in New Hampshire when I heard the news and was shocked, but to be honest, he looked like death at the Freddy Mercury show back in 92 so we all knew that was coming.

- Freddy Mercury died, I looked at my dad and said, "now Queen is going to become acceptable with a certain crowd of folks who generally dislike guitars and drums" and of course it happened, they are played in every illegal dance club on the Eastern seaboard and featured on American Idol. I remember thinking at the time also if Freddy had hated the choices he made in life knowing it was all crashing so soon and so early in his life.

- John Bonham died and me dad said to me, it's all over, when Zeppelin called it a day, my dad cried, and said to me that music will never push to the next horizon again, and he was right, rock music needs Zeppelin.

[redrum]

In 1963 I was in James Lick junior high school in San Francisco (Santana went there) getting chewed out by my science teacher for being a truant when a girl came into the class and said that Kennedy had been shot. Being that young it really didn't matter to me and I was more upset that the TV was all tuned into the aftermath that weekend. I then spent most of 1964 locked up for truancy.

I was in San Francisco when Jimi died. I was devastated to say the least.

I was working on a demolition job in San Francisco when Lennon was killed.