# Paul McCartney says: "Yoko didn't break us up" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446 "2012-10-31T15:36:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/61 "2012-11-01T14:57:25Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Then I guess we’d have to say Jan & Dean were a major influence on The Who (who covered “Bucket T”). Well, they were a major influence on Keith, that’s for sure. He loved surf music and ended up joining a band called The Beachcombers (even though they didn’t actually play surf music). Considering the fishbowl that The Beatles lived in, it’s surprising they held together as long as they did. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/62 "2012-11-01T14:58:21Z")
[“Yoko was such an inspiration for us in the early days,” says B-52s guitarist Keith Strickland.](http://www.spinner.com/2010/03/05/b-52s-john-lennon-yoko-ono/) I’d never thought about, but given their art-y campiness I don’t find that surprising. I also sometimes see her credited as an influence on female punk musicians. I don’t know how accurate that is, but at least in some quarters her musical reputation has been rehabbed over the years. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/63 "2012-11-01T15:08:18Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Yoko Ono is an accomplished artist . . . Is there another Yoko Ono that I’ve never heard of? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/64 "2012-11-01T15:30:10Z")
Panache, you might want to read about [Fluxus](http://www.moma.org/collection/theme.php?theme_id=10457), of which Yoko was an affiliate. I agree with Nonsuch’s point about overstating, though. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/65 "2012-11-01T15:32:12Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > And you’d have to be stone deaf not to hear Yoko’s influence on Björk. She has much to answer for. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/66 "2012-11-01T16:35:23Z")
I think that this analysis of ["The Band that Played California Lady](http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=52731)" says it all. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/67 "2012-11-01T17:48:42Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Can someone remind me the arguments people used in the past that supported the “Yoko broke up the band” idea? I think the basic idea was that, once John got involved with Yoko, he got obsessed with her and lost interest in everything else including the Beatles. Some saw this as the result of a deliberate, Svengali-like effort on her part. My own take is that the relationship with Yoko gave John the strength to leave the Beatles, and specifically Paul. I can’t remember where I read this so I’m not sure if it was John himself who said it, but John needed a partner. His first partner was Pete Shotton, then it was Paul, and then Yoko. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/68 "2012-11-01T18:23:17Z")
I just went to Youtube and listened to a couple of Yoko’s songs; I’ve been hearing all my life how unlistenable she is. I found her songs very pleasant, very much ‘sway your head from side-to-side’ type music. Her voice is okay, more impressive considering her Japanese accent, which isn’t very mellifluous to an English-speaker’s ear. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/69 "2012-11-01T21:12:03Z")
Here is a direct quote from Wiki: In early 1980, Lennon heard Lene Lovich and The B-52’s’ “Rock Lobster” in a nightclub, and it reminded him of Ono’s musical sound. He took this as an indication that her sound had reached the mainstream.[47] Indeed, many musicians, particularly those of the new wave movement, have paid tribute to Ono (both as an artist in her own right, and as a muse and iconic figure). For example, Elvis Costello recorded a version of Ono’s song “Walking on Thin Ice,” the B-52’s who drew from her early recordings[2] covered “Don’t Worry, Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)” (shortening the title to “Don’t Worry”) and Sonic Youth included a performance of Ono’s early conceptual “Voice Piece for Soprano” in their experimental album SYR4: Goodbye 20th century. One of Barenaked Ladies’s best-known songs is “Be My Yoko Ono”, and Dar Williams recorded a song called “I Won’t Be Your Yoko Ono.” The punk rock singer Patti Smith invited Ono to participate in “Meltdown,” a two-week music festival that Smith organized in London; Ono performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/70 "2012-11-01T21:20:42Z")
And for those not in the know, here is how music influence works: The root artist makes an unusual provocative sound or music. A small group of people listen to it. Those people take parts of that sound and make their own music, or creative output from those bits and pieces they have taken away from it. You, a member of the ignorant masses never usually hear the original artist, you hear the 2nd generation form that has become more palatable. This has been going on for-freakin-ever in music as well as other arts. If Yoko had not have married Lennon, you would have never listened to her music or had heard of her. Sonic Youth still would have. So would Bjork. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/71 "2012-11-01T21:24:24Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > I think the basic idea was that, once John got involved with Yoko, he got obsessed with her and lost interest in everything else including the Beatles. Some saw this as the result of a deliberate, Svengali-like effort on her part. > > My own take is that the relationship with Yoko gave John the strength to leave the Beatles, and specifically Paul. I can’t remember where I read this so I’m not sure if it was John himself who said it, but John needed a partner. His first partner was Pete Shotton, then it was Paul, and then Yoko. I think it was actually Shotton who said that. It is a very telling quote. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/72 "2012-11-01T21:46:16Z")
> [@tomcar](#): > > And for those not in the know, here is how music influence works: > > The root artist makes an unusual provocative sound or music. > A small group of people listen to it. > Those people take parts of that sound and make their own music, or creative output from those bits and pieces they have taken away from it. > You, a member of the ignorant masses never usually hear the original artist, you hear the 2nd generation form that has become more palatable. > > This has been going on for-freakin-ever in music as well as other arts. > > If Yoko had not have married Lennon, you would have never listened to her music or had heard of her. Sonic Youth still would have. So would Bjork. So you are saying root artists are a lot like root vegetables: generally found underground, and needing a lot of seasoning added before they are palatable. ---
**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/73 "2012-11-01T21:51:32Z")
Another reason for Paul not to have been forgiving: She narced him out and he got busted for pot in Japan. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/74 "2012-11-01T22:06:37Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > So you are saying root artists are a lot like root vegetables: generally found underground, and needing a lot of seasoning added before they are palatable. Haha, well done sir. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/75 "2012-11-01T22:21:55Z")
If she was at all responsible for Bjork or Sonic Youth, I demand she be ritually trampled by a herd of ceremonial wildebeests under the harvest moon. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/76 "2012-11-01T22:26:40Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Did any of those groups mention that she was an influence or is this just your opinion? You can’t hear it? It’s pretty obvious. > [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Dude, the B-52s even covered “Don’t Worry Kyoko.” And you’d have to be stone deaf not to hear Yoko’s influence on Björk. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/77 "2012-11-01T22:49:58Z")
> [@tomcar](#): > > You, a member of the ignorant masses never usually hear the original artist, you hear the 2nd generation form that has become more palatable. So by the 4th or 5th generation, Yoko-inspiration will actually become listenable? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/78 "2012-11-01T23:05:26Z")
Can’t say I’m much of a fan of the performers who, it is claimed, were inspired by Yoko Ono. No surprise there. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/79 "2012-11-02T00:54:27Z")
You know, I listened to the Sugarcubes when I was younger and I just listened to a sampling of Yoko songs (many of which I’d heard at least snippets of before). Cubes and Yoko can both be annoying to some, but I enjoyed the Sugarcubes and find Yoko just annoying… and pretty boring honestly. I find only occasional superficial similarities in their style of vocals. Her wikipedia page seems to mainly list punk influences. If it’s obvious to you guys, then good for you. But if you want to point to some specific stuff from Yoko that makes it obvious or if you have some statement from Bjork saying it’s true, it might be more obvious to me. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446/80 "2012-11-02T01:12:38Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > You know, I listened to the Sugarcubes when I was younger and I just listened to a sampling of Yoko songs (many of which I’d heard at least snippets of before). Cubes and Yoko can both be annoying to some, but I enjoyed the Sugarcubes and find Yoko just annoying… and pretty boring honestly. I find only occasional superficial similarities in their style of vocals. Her wikipedia page seems to mainly list punk influences. If it’s obvious to you guys, then good for you. But if you want to point to some specific stuff from Yoko that makes it obvious or if you have some statement from Bjork saying it’s true, it might be more obvious to me. Delicious Demon off of Life’s Too Good and Give Me Something off of Double Fantasy. The production is extremely similar. The beginning is practically the same. Other than the male vocals in Delicious Demon, the songs are extremely similar. There is very little that separates the two. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-says-yoko-didnt-break-us-up/639446.md?page=5)