"What's funny about the whole thing," said John Lennon, looking back at the publicity and the outcry generated by his celebrated "drunken night at the Troubadour" several months ago, "is that all these old showbiz writers -- not just here, but also in
England -- are always writing about the good old days when Errol Flynn or somebody used to punch out the press or something.

"They talk about the days when all that was happening, when there were real stars and *real* men who used to be on a yacht with twenty broads and get drunk and eventually end up killing themselves and they'd say how great those days were.

"But then a couple of rockers get rocky one night and all hell breaks loose. It's all over the papers. We even had some people saying the government was right: They ought to kick us out of the country. It's crazy..."

But Lennon dislikes anything that gives the appearance of a speech or being too serious. It makes him feel stuffy, and, perhaps worse, *adult*. So, he broke off the sentence, smiled, and moved to lighter ground: "I just wish now that I had a new
record coming out at the time. Maybe all the publicity and stuff would have helped."

Lennon was in Los Angeles for three days of business meetings and promotional activities, including a three-hour stint as a guest disc jockey on a local radio station. Identifying himself as Dr. Winston O'Boogie for much of the show, he played some
records, including -- to the surprise of those who feel he's still anti-Beatles -- Paul McCartney's "Jet" and George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" and also answering calls in the wry, who-can-take-this- seriously style that was his trademark with the
Beatles.

"Hello, John," a caller said, a bit of hero-worship in his voice. "This is Mark...One of the songs you wrote in the Beatle days -- "I Am the Walrus" -- is a favorite of mine."

"Oh, " Lennon said, in a greatly exaggerated voice, "That's a favorite of mine, too. What a coincidence."

"I wanted to know," the voice continued, still trying to inject a note of seriousness into what had turned into a zany radio show, "where some of the insane lyrics that you write come from."

"Out of my insane head," Lennon roared back. "I have to leave you now because my head is walking away from me." And he was off to the next caller.

-- Excerpted from Robert Hilburn's 1974 article "Dr. Winston O'Boogie Moves to Lighter Ground."

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