Last week, Rolling Stone magazine released a list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” Choosing those seems a bit presumptive. It was left up to around 20 people to decide. The result – nonstop controversy. I haven’t found anyone who agrees with their decisions.
I’m certainly stumped by some. For instance, the #2 song on the list is “Fight The Power” by Public Enemy. If only a handful of people decided which songs were best, aren’t they technically “the power?” Naturally, The Beatles had several songs in the top 25 including, A Day In The Life (#24), Strawberry Fields Forever (#7), and I Want To Hold Your Hand (#15)....
The Beatles are one of the most iconic bands of all time. They’ve sold over 600 million albums worldwide and have even been immortalized on postage stamps from countless countries including the US. Though they’ve had their share of controversy, mostly involving drugs and war protests, their music has not just survived but thrived. To up it all one more notch, Beatle John Lennon is now being featured on three new stamps being issued by the United Nations.
As has been evident in some of those to cross its stage, controversy is nothing new to the UN. Nikita Khrushchev takes a top spot after, in 1960, he slammed his shoe into the podium trying to shout down a Philippine diplomat who criticized Soviet policies. That same year, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro droned on at the UN for a staggering five hours.
Among others addressing the UN members in New York dictator are Muammar Gaddafi – who tried (and failed) to pitch his Bedouin tent in Central Park; Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez who compared George Bush to Satan; Colin Powell who held up a vial of anthrax; or young climate activist Greta Thunberg who admonished the general assembly with a “How dare you?...we will never forgive you.” Plainly, the UN can sometimes be more divisive rather than uniting.
Perhaps the John Lennon stamp will be a positive influence in quelling some of that controversy. After all, his entire persona revolved around the concept of peace. With sad irony, it was in the UN home city of New York that Lennon was gunned down by Mark David Chapman in 1980, in front of his residence at the Dakota apartments.
The images on the stamps depict Lennon over three different phases of his adult life. The first shows a vintage image of Lennon in sunglasses with arms crossed wearing a t-shirt with “NEW YORK CITY” imprinted on it. The second features a close-up image of Lennon wearing his wire-rim glasses with small round lenses. That image is from a photo used as the basis for artwork by Andy Warhol. The third shows Lennon with much longer hair and a turtleneck sweater.
Issued last week, the stamps come in panes of 20 plus three single souvenir sheets. The different denominations on the stamps are in dollars, Swiss francs and Austrian euros denoting they are valid for postage on mail sent worldwide from the UN in New York City; Geneva, Switzerland; or Vienna, Austria. Outside of those locales, the stamps are not useable for standard postage. Each stamp is also a semi-postal meaning an additional 50-cent surcharge above the stamps face value is collected for charity – in this case going to world hunger, one of Lennon’s primary missions.
At the bottom of each stamp is the word “IMAGINE,” Lennon’s most famous and successful song of his solo career. Promoting world peace and understanding, the song and “Imagine” album debuted 50 years ago now. It has since been performed by countless musical artists from many genres. For the record, “Imagine” came in at #19 on the “best songs list.”
The new John Lennon stamps and souvenir sheets are being issued in a limited-edition of 150,000 regular stamps and 20,000 souvenir sheets by the United Nations Postal Administration. For more information or to order them by mail log onto: www.unstamps.org.
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