Yoko & John

The former members of the now defunct Southwestern University Dance Troupe want to remember the colorful years by holding an annual reunion tomorrow. The date coincides with the birth anniversary of the troupe’s late choreographer-mentor-tatay Myhc Gonzales.

This year, the group opens the 3rd Grand Reunion with a mass at the Mabolo Church at 9 a.m. The group will then move to the Cebu Westown Lagoon in Subangdaku, Mandaue for the lunch. The fellowship dinner and program will start at 6 p.m. The theme of the celebration is Wild Wild West.

*** Scanning through the dial of my radio one morning, I chanced on Leo Lastimosa during his program Arangkada discussing trivia about The Beatles and its members, most especially John Lennon.

Many fans of John reportedly accused his second wife, Yoko Ono, of being a bad influence on their idol. Leo, however, argued that if not for Yoko, John’s life would have been made even shorter because of emotional turmoil that the artist had been experiencing at that time.

Leo said that the song Help was actually John’s own cry for help as he found himself drowning in the quicksand of depression brought about by the group’s success.

Leo also mentioned the song Because, which highlights The Beatles’ superb vocal harmony.

The song The Ballad of John & Yoko served as the biographical song of the couple’s love story. It was only Paul McCartney who reportedly helped John produce the song as George Harrison and Ringo Starr frowned on the love affair.

Leo said that Imagine and Love highlight Yoko’s influence on John’s music while at the same time describing the first song as “radical” because it espoused materialism, hereticism and communism.