Yoko Ono will again oppose the release of the man who nearly 30 years ago killed her husband, former Beatle John Lennon, and who comes up for parole next month, her lawyer said.

Ono has consistently opposed parole for Mark David Chapman and has again sent a letter to the parole board, her lawyer, Peter Shukat, told the Daily News.

“Her position has not changed,” Shukat said in an article published Tuesday.

Lennon was shot to death on December 8, 1980, outside the famed Dakota apartment building just west of Central Park as he and Ono returned home from a recording session

Chapman — now 55 and serving a 20-years-to-life sentence for the slaying — is scheduled to be interviewed by a three-member parole board panel during the week of August 9. It will be his sixth bid for parole.

Shukat refused to say whether Ono’s most recent letter to the board is the same one she has submitted every two years since Chapman first became eligible for parole in 2000.

In that letter, Ono wrote that if Chapman is released, “I am afraid it will bring back the nightmare, the chaos and confusion once again. Myself and John’s two sons would not feel safe for the rest of our lives.”

She also wrote that Chapman would not be safe if allowed back on the streets.

Due to his notoriety, Chapman is kept in a special unit apart from the upstate Attica prison’s general population. He works as a porter, cleaning up offices, and assists inmates in one of the prison’s law libraries.

Despite some early minor prison violations, Chapman’s record has been clean since 1994, the Daily News said.

Robert Gangi, head of the prisoners’ rights group, Correctional Association of America, doubts Chapman will be released because of the public outrage it would cause.

“Given that he committed a high-profile crime and he killed one of the most famous and most beloved figures literally in the world, it’s highly unlikely three parole commissioners would vote to grant him release,” Gangi told the News.

Lennon would have been 70 this October

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WESTONIANS’ recollections of The Beatles are being recorded this weekend for a television documentary.

The Fab Four’s visit to the resort in July 1963 is the subject of a BBC programme to be shown this autumn.

And bosses at the corporation’s Bristol studios will be at the Winter Gardens on Saturday to find out what impact it had on the town.

The recordings will be made at the Beatles Day event, which will take place at the seafront building all weekend.

John, Paul, George and Ringo stayed in Weston for a week and drew large crowds wherever they went.

A spokesman for the BBC said: “We hope that as well as Beatles fans attending the day, people with memories of that July week in the sixties will come along and find us – people who went to see the Beatles at the Odeon, who met them as they larked about around town, who saw them at the now derelict Royal Pier Hotel or bumped into them at Brean where they famously did a photo shoot.”

The footage will appear on the regional programme Inside Out West.

The corporation also wants people to bring any memorabilia from the trip to the event, which runs from 10am-5pm

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It wasn’t the same scene that greeted him and his fellow Beatles at JFK Airport in 1964, but Paul McCartney still had quite a reception when he and his family touched down in Nashville on June 6, 1974. The music superstar told a crowd of about 50 fans and members of the press that he’d come to Nashville for his three Rs — rehearsing, relating and riding. During his famous six-week stay on a farm just outside of Lebanon, McCartney’s activities would spill over into writing and recording. He crashed the Grand Ole Opry, ventured into Printer’s Alley and laid down a few country-flavored tunes with a group of peerless local players including Chet Atkins.

Some 36 years later, McCartney is finally returning to play his first concert in Nashville on Monday, July 26. The Tennessean photographed and interviewed the McCartneys several times during their stay here in the ’70s, and on the eve of his sold-out show at Bridgestone Arena, we’ve gone into our archives for snapshots of an unforgettable moment in Nashville’s musical history.

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Ringo Starr, who is in the middle of his 11th All Starr Band tour, took time out to support Haiti relief on his recent stop at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Florida on July 15. Joining World Hunger Year and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Ringo helped present a donation of $197,500 to Yele Haiti, a grassroots beneficiary of Hard Rock charity partner WhyHunger, dedicated to fighting the root causes of hunger and poverty.

See video of Ringo at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida below

The donation represents a collaborative fundraising effort from Hard Rock’s IMAGINE There’s No Hunger Campaign bracelet sales, “Crank It Up” events at Hard Rock Cafes nationwide and a generous donation on behalf of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

After Ringo’s concert at the Hard Rock that evening, Ringo donated the drum set he has been playing on this 11th All Starr Band tour, which will become a permanent part of Hard Rock’s world-famous memorabilia collection. In addition, the Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood, Florida also featured an exhibition of original artwork created by Ringo.

Meanwhile, Paul McCartney personally created and designed an exclusive T-shirt for the Hard Rock Calling 2010 signature series. The proceeds from the sale of the T-shirt will benefit WhyHunger. The T-shirts were launched at Paul’s concert appearance in Hyde Park on June 27.

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Going into the family business is a fine British tradition.
It certainly didn’t do ZAK STARKEY any harm.

The son of BEATLES drummer RINGO STARR has enjoyed stints behind the kit for both OASIS and THE WHO.

And now Zak’s daughter TATIA is taking her first steps in the music world – but she has opted not to follow in her dad and grandad’s footsteps too closely. Instead of playing the drums she’s filled the other rhythm section slot in a new band – by playing bass in upcoming outfit BELAKISS.

On their MySpace page, the London five-piece name classic Brit rockers including THE KINKS, THE SMALL FACES and LED ZEPPELIN as influences. But there is no mention of the Fab Four inspiring them.

Tatia is so keen to keep her identity under wraps she has adopted the stage name VERONICA AVANT.

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Bonhams new and innovative Pioneers of Popular Culture sale takes place on 15th August 2010 at the inaugural Goodwood Vintage Festival.

The sale celebrates all that is cool and iconic from the period 1940–1990, combining important and interesting objects from Entertainment Memorabilia, Vintage Guitars, Cars, Motorbikes, Scooters, Robot and Television Toys, Fashion Accessories, Wristwatches, Photographs, Prints, Posters and 20th Century Designer Furniture.

One of the major highlights of the sale is the Challen upright piano from Abbey Road studios, played by The Beatles and Pink Floyd. The piano features on several Beatles songs including Tomorrow Never Knows and Paperback Writer. Originally located in Studio Three at Abbey Road until it was retired from service in the 1980s, the piano is also believed to have been used by Pink Floyd on a number of recordings, including the Wish You Were Here and Dark Side of the Moon albums.The pre-sale estimate for the piano is £100,000 – 150,000.

Other exciting lots offered in the sale are a 1953 Electric Solidboy Fender Telecaster guitar (estimate £25,000 – 35,000); an original Westminster Carnaby Street road sign (estimate £800 – 1,200); a jacket worn by Brian Jones during the famous Terry O’Neill Stoned Alone photo shoot (estimate £12,000 – 15,000); and a Union Jack decorated 1968 Lambretta SX150 (estimate £4,000 – 5,000).

Highlights also include a three-strand simulated pearl necklace formerly owned by Jackie Kennedy Onassis, which she wore during the early 1960s (part of three lots of the former First Lady’s jewellery), which has been estimated at £25,000 – 35,000; a collection of Peter Anderson photographs, including ‘DMC’ of Run DMC fame (estimate £1,000 – 1,500 each); a 1965 The Who VW Camper Van (estimate £25,000 – 35,000) and a black Hermes Kelly bag (estimate £10,000 – 15,000).

Several items from the estate of the British actor Stewart Granger (1913-1993) also feature in the sale, including a gold pen and a French Limoges style box gifted to Granger by Vivien Leigh (estimated at £300 – 500 and £200 – 300 respectively). An autographed photograph of Elvis Presley posing with Granger’s second wife, Jean Simmons, is expected to fetch £1,000 – 1,500, while a gold torque-style necklace that belonged to his first wife, Elspeth March, and that was worn by Sir Laurence Olivier in Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 film Spartacus, is estimated at £800 – 1,200.

The Vintage at Goodwood Festival is the brainchild of fashion designers Wayne and Gerardine Hemmingway in conjunction with Lord March. Set over three days, it is a celebration of all that is best about British popular culture in music, fashion, art, design and film.

Viewing of the sale takes place at Bonhams, New Bond Street: 2–5 August and at Goodwood: 13-15 August.

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Cool news today for fans of The Beatles and Japanese author Haruki Murakami. I didn’t even know this was happening, but Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung is apparently hard at work prepping his adaptation of Murakami’s novel “Norwegian Wood” for a December release in Japan. Fittingly, Hung insisted that The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” be licensed for use in the film; the music of the Fab Four can be rather expensive to get usage rights for, and it doesn’t happen very often.

It seems like the news has been out there for awhile but I’m most intrigued by the idea of Murakami being adapted for the big screen. He’s a wonderful author, someone you should take the time to at least try on if you’ve never read his work. “Norwegian Wood” is as good a place to start as any. Unlike a lot of artistic endeavors that come out of Japan, Murakami is uniquely tuned in to Western sensibilities. His work has a sort of all-cultural appeal and is definitely worth your time. I’ll be very curious to see Hung’s film treatment

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NOWHERE Boy director Sam Taylor-Wood has had a baby girl with her 20-year-old fiance Aaron Johnson. The 43-year-old gave birth to Wylda Rae in London on Wednesday. The artist turned film-maker and Aaron, who played John Lennon in Sam’s Liverpool-made movie, confirmed the news in a “happy announcement” yesterday.

Love blossomed for the couple on set while they filmed the story of the future Beatle’s teenage years. A statement issued on the couple’s behalf said: “Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson are happy to announce the birth of their daughter Wylda Rae, who was born on July 7, in London.” Acclaimed biopic Nowhere Boy was Sam’s first foray into directing a feature-length film.

The pair announced their engagement on the night of the film’s premiere in October last year and in January they confirmed they were expecting their first child together. Sam already has two daughters with her ex-husband, art dealer Jay Jopling.
Despite the 23-year age gap, the couple have said their friends and family are “really supportive” of their relationship.

Sam, who has battled cancer twice, said previously: “(They have reacted) really positively. They know how intensely we feel.” Aaron has described himself as “a very lucky man” after landing a breakthrough film role as well as a wife-to-be. He said previously: “(My friends and family have been) really lovely and supportive.”

Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Aaron’s co-star in the movie Kick-Ass, posted on the website Twitter: “Aaron Johnson’s baby was born!! So exciting!” Earlier this year Aaron was named best newcomer at the prestigious Jameson Empire Awards for his portrayal of the young Lennon in the movie. Last month he was voted Man Of The Year at the Glamour Awards.

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Cavern Walks was celebrating the musical legacy of the fab four today after commissioning Liverpool-based artist, Mike Badger to produce a permanent sculpture in the shopping centre to mark Beatles Day.

The Liverpool based artist and singer-songwriter, who is well known by music enthusiasts as a founder member of The La’s, has been commissioned by the boutique shopping centre to produce a themed-sculpture to mark the city’s third annual Beatles Day on Saturday 10th July.

The sculpture, which is entitled “Musical Composition”, will feature an assemblage of reclaimed musical instruments associated with famous Beatles hits, including a vintage Zenith guitar donated by Mike himself in honour of Paul McCartney who wrote some of his earliest hits on a similar Zenith guitar of the same era.

Mike Badger, 48, from Wavertree, who is well known in the art world for his amazing sculpture work using reclaimed materials, also currently runs workshops on recycled materials in schools and galleries.

He said: “I’m delighted to win the commission to produce a sculpture at Cavern Walks in celebration of Beatles Day as it allows me the opportunity to combine my experience of music and art.”

“My own entrance into Liverpool’s music scene happened on the same street as the Cavern so the area signifies a lot of importance to me.”

“The idea was to use a collection of reclaimed musical instruments placed together in an assemblage, reflecting musical composition.”

“I have made many sculptures from reclaimed and recycled materials and I enjoy allowing the objects themselves to inspire and determine the eventual finished piece.”

“The main parody explored in the sculpture is that you can’t touch music but it can touch you and this is what I hope visitors will enjoy about the finished piece when it is unveiled.”

Derek Millar, Commercial Director at Cavern Walks, which is owned by Warner Estates, added: “We thrilled to team up with such an established artist as Mike Badger.”

“Mike’s experience of both music and art made him the perfect candidate to commission the piece of work and we hope that shoppers and visitors to Cavern Walks will enjoy viewing the artwork.”

“The sculpture will be displayed permanently suspended in the centre to celebrate not only Beatles Day but the immense musical heritage of Liverpool.”

After leaving The La’s, Mike formed The Onset and is currently concentrating on his solo work as well as a collaboration project with musicians from Nashville. Alongside his own musical career, Mike is also a partner in local record label ‘Viper’ who archive Liverpool music.

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At this point, does anyone really care that the Beatles aren’t available on iTunes? Hard to imagine there’s a living soul who doesn’t own the group’s music but would — if only they could buy it via Apple’s music store.

Still, today’s announcement that the Beatles’ Apple Records music label will be releasing some of its albums — by artists other than the Beatles — for digital download this fall only serves to remind us that you still can’t buy Abbey Road on iTunes.

When will you? I assume that at some point this summer, Apple (AAPL) will announce a press conference/product launch for early September, as the company often does. And then various outlets will insist that Steve Jobs must be planning a Beatles announcement at said event, as various outlets often do. Maybe this time they’ll be right.

Meantime, worth noting that the announcement from EMI doesn’t mention iTunes, or any other online retailer like Amazon (AMZN), by name. Does that mean the albums won’t actually be available on iTunes, after all? Unlikely. But something for Apple conspiracists to gnaw on until October, when the albums are supposed to be released

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