Gipper Falls
An Alternate 80s and Beyond
Chapter 1: Hit Me With Your Best Shot
John Lennon in 1980 was a shell of his former self, some would say. His wife, Yoko Ono, gave birth to their only child together in October of 1975, which began a 5 year long musical hiatus for Lennon.
But things were starting to turn around for John toward the end of the year. In October, he released (Just Like) Starting Over, which had been sitting inside the Billboard top 10 for a couple months by December. He also spent the last couple months recording an album with his spouse, titled Double Fantasy, which was released a little less than a month ago.
The day of December 8 started out like any other. John woke up next to his wife of 11 years under a blue sky and white clouds in an unusually warm New York City. A busy schedule was ahead for the Lennons. A haircut, a photo shoot, an interview, a recording session, all common things for the former Beatle to have on his schedule.
The couple planned to end their day at the recording studio. Lennon and Ono walked out the doors of their Central Park apartment complex into the warm and quiet December air.
“Where are my fans?”
Almost immediately after the question was posed, a young fan named Mark David Chapman walked in Lennon’s direction, extending a copy of Double Fantasy for Lennon to sign.
“Do you want me to sign that?”
The fan nods in excitement.
As John scrawls “John Lennon 1980” across the cover of his most recent project, he gets an almost eerie chill down his entire body.
Almost like a warning.
John, in his goodwill, gets a photograph with the fan and asks “Is that okay?” with eyebrows raised.
Mark edges away, and the Lennon couple begin their journey to the Record Plant, a new second home for Lennon and Ono recently.
John and Yoko arrived at the recording facility with a determination on their faces, ready to finish a new song, titled “Walking On Thin Ice”.
The Lennons did their thing, and John was ecstatic about the mix.
Leaning into his wife’s ear, Lennon expressed his excitement for the song.
“From now on, we’re just gonna do this. This is great! This is the direction!”
Yoko nodded her head, happy to see her husband excited about creating music again. After all, this was only his first year back in the music business after his hiatus. She was excited to see him this enthusiastic about his creation. The future looked bright in her eyes.
“Let’s put it out before Christmas!”
As the couple left the studio, they ran into Robert “Big Bob” Manuel, the Record Plant’s 6’6” bodyguard. An absolute mountain of a man, to say the least.
The couple, planning to grab a bite to eat, asked Big Bob if he wanted to join them.
Manuel was sick to his stomach, perhaps the result of eating a turkey sandwich a little bit too far past its expiration date for lunch earlier that day. But he knew that this could be a special moment for him. His inner monologue sounded loud in his ear.
“A dinner with John Lennon? You’d have to be a fool to pass this up.”
And so against his better judgment, he agreed.
The couple and Robert stepped out of the Record Plant into the brisk December air. John’s head, with Ono whispering into his ear, begins to nod sympathetically. Like he remembered something important that needed to be done. Something more important than dinner.
“Hey, Bobby?”
“Yeah?”
“You wouldn’t mind stopping back at the Dakota with us, would you? Yoko and I want to say goodnight to little Sean before going out again.”
Manuel, now slightly agitated, but not nearly enough to change his mind for dinner with one of the Beatles, agrees.
The trio stepped into the limousine that was parked outside waiting to take them wherever their heart desired, and they began to make their way back to apartment 72.
It was a little after 10:50 pm when they finally arrived at the Lennons’ apartment complex. Ono stepped out of the vehicle first, swiftly making her way to the entrance of the building, with Lennon and Manuel following suit, still chatting about the latest mix of “Walking On Thin Ice,” which John was still so excited about.
Big Bob spotted him first. Mark David Chapman, the man who received Lennon’s autograph earlier that day, holding a Charter Arms .38-caliber pistol and aiming directly at the former Beatle.
Manuel’s instincts kicked in. As a bodyguard, it was his job to protect his clients, even off-duty. He quickly made his way in front of Lennon, who was still oblivious to the situation unfolding, as Chapman quickly unloaded five bullets in his direction. Two of them hit Manuel in the stomach, one struck him in the neck, and the other two barely missed, with one breaking a window of the Dakota complex, and the other just missing Lennon himself.
A nearby doorman shook the gun away from Chapman and kicked it across the pavement outside the complex.
Lennon reacted immediately to his friend’s injuries.
“Bobby, are you alright?”
All Manuel could muster was a shake of his head and a gurgling sound, which Lennon still recalls as the sound that keeps him up some nights.
After the question, Manuel went unconscious, and was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.
To this day, Lennon credits Manuel with saving his life, and says that he “will always feel indebted to [his] old friend, who made the greatest sacrifice that night for [his] safety.”
“Things will never be the same for us, Yoko.”
