Today marks an interesting cosmic date in the universe of the Beatles, as it is the birthday of the late John Lennon. Born in Liverpool in 1940 (in the middle of a German air raid at the height of World War II), Lennon lead a hardscrabble childhood but loved music (especially early American rock and roll) and ended up fronting the most inventive and important bands in the history of pop music. As the recent release of "The Beatles: Rock Band" has proven, the band's influence still runs quite deep, from Pearl Jam to Silversun Pickups to Jack White to TV on the Radio. Lennon was tragically cut down in 1980 by a disturbed guy named Mark David Chapman. Lennon was survived by his wife Yoko Ono (who just released a new album) and his two sons, Sean and Julian.
Strangely, today is also Sean Lennon's birthday (he turns 34 today). He has managed to carve out a nice musical niche for himself, first as a touring member of Cibo Matto back in the '90s and then as a solo artist. He was signed to his first record contract by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys and put out his solo debut Into the Sun in 1998. He bounced around a few different projects in the following years, then made his return in 2006 with the woefully overlooked album Friendly Fire. That album featured the single "Dead Meat," a spacey little psychedelic pop tune with a tremendous video directed by Michele Civetta.
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