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Yoko Ono

Last Updated: 10/11/2009

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City: NEW YORK
State: New York
Country: US
Signup Date: 9/12/2007

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Tuesday, November 03, 2009

GIVE PEACE A CHANCE profits United Nations Peacebuilding Fund
Current mood:Dancing
Category: Music

Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Julian Lennon partner with EMI Music and Sony/ATV Music publishing to donate net proceeds from Plastic Ono Band’s “Give Peace A Chance” 40th anniversary digital single to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. Commemorative Digital Single Launches Today, Exclusively on iTunes, here.

New York, NY – November 3, 2009 – To celebrate the unifying spirit and 40th anniversary of the Plastic Ono Band’s universal anthem, “Give Peace a Chance,” Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Julian Lennon have partnered with EMI Music and Sony/ATV Music Publishing to donate net proceeds from the sale of a commemorative 40th Anniversary digital single to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). Beginning today, iTunes will exclusively offer the single’s special anniversary edition for download purchase, with net proceeds benefiting the PBF through December 31.

Says Yoko Ono, “I am thrilled that so many in the music business are readily supporting 'Give Peace a Chance' on its 40th anniversary. It is indeed a time when we are all getting more aware of the necessity of doing something to achieve world peace, no matter how small. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I feel deeply that we are all one, regardless of where we stand."

“I am delighted to see that a song so closely identified with the pursuit of peace, will shine a light on the United Nations’ peacebuilding efforts and financially support PBF projects,” the Chairperson of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz of Chile said.

Written during John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1969 honeymoon bed-in protest against the Vietnam War, “Give Peace a Chance” was inspired by Lennon’s off-the-cuff explanation to a visiting reporter of the couple’s purpose for protesting the war by remaining in their honeymoon bed. From March 25 to March 31, the newlyweds invited the world’s media to visit and interview them daily between the hours of 9am and 9pm in their bed at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel.

The song was recorded live on June 1, 1969 in a room at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel, with several well-known friends joining Lennon and Ono to sing the chorus. Since the single's original release on July 4, 1969, it has been the world’s foremost anthem for peace, beginning most notably with the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam’s massive protest in Washington, DC on November 15, 1969, where more than 500,000 people gathered and sang “Give Peace a Chance.”

About United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture

The Peace Building Commission and the Peacebuilding Fund were established after the 2005 World Summit to create mechanisms to assist national authorities in post-conflict countries build sustainable peace. The Peace Building Commission is an intergovernmental body that brings together relevant actors, including donors, Member States, international financial institutions (such as the World Bank) and national governments. By creating this broad platform, the PBC plays a key role in ensuring that the international community can assist countries emerging from conflict to achieve sustainable peace in a coordinated manner. The Peacebuilding Fund supports programmes and projects that prevent countries from relapsing into violence through fast, relevant and catalytic funding. It currently supports 100 initiatives in 14 countries and relies on voluntary funding.

23:48

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Saturday, October 17, 2009

Remix competition - UPDATE - Creative Commons license
Current mood:dancing
Category: Music

Licensing information
We’re very pleased to announce that thanks to the helpful advice of Xeni Jardin at BoingBoing and Eric Steuer at Creative Commons, the audio elements for Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – The Sun Is Down (remix) are now being released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License.

We firmly believe that releasing the elements under a CC license embodies the true spirit of the competition.
In light of this we have extended the competition deadline to 12 December 2009 to allow time for those who may now wish to contribute under the revised terms.
In addition, artists interested in permissions beyond the scope of the CC license can email us at remix [at] yopob.com.

04:37

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Monday, October 05, 2009

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – The Sun Is Down – REMIX COMPETITION
Current mood:dancing
Category: Music

YOU ARE THE PLASTIC ONO BAND

Calling all budding DJs and remixers!
To all the talented, known and as yet unknown fellow musicians of this world.
Here’s your chance to remix a Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band song, and win prizes for Xmas!

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:
Download the YOPOB “The Sun Is Down!” Sample Pack from www.YOPOB.com/remix.html containing the acapella tracks of Yoko’s vocal, vocal effects, and loops of bass, drums, efx and tenorion.

Create your own remix of “The Sun Is Down!” by Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band, using as many or few of the samples from the pack and any original audio you wish to add.

When you have finished your mix, make an MP3 copy that’s as high quality as possible, but still under 10MB in size.

Email the MP3 of your mix, along with its name and your name, address, email and phone number toremix@YOPOB.com before 31 November 2009.

The Top Ten mixes will be decided by Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band.

The winners will receive special signed Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band prizes for Xmas and will be featured on the www.YOPOB.com website over the Xmas and New Year period.

PLEASE NOTE
You may only combine the samples of “The Sun Is Down” with your own original sounds and music.

Your mix must not contain any elements of copyrighted material, unless you yourself own the copyright (i.e. it’s your own music). This means you must not include samples of songs by other artists, or samples from movies, TV shows, or video games. Any remixes containing any of these elements will be deemed ineligible and disqualified from the competition.

Enjoy, have fun, and let your imagination run wild!

15:07

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Friday, October 02, 2009

Yoko Ono & Sean Lennon on The View (video)
Current mood:dancing
Category: Music

Interview

Performance: "I'm Going Away Smiling"

Yoko Ono & Sean Lennon on The View, 30 October 2009 with Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar & Sherri Shepherd.

“The View,” recipient of the 2003 Daytime Emmy® Award for “Outstanding Talk Show,” is ABC Daytime’s morning chatfest, featuring a team of dynamic women of different ages, experiences and backgrounds discussing the most exciting events of the day. The program has received critical acclaim since premiering August 11, 1997. It’s broadcast live weekdays from NYC (11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, ET; CLOSED-CAPTIONED; broadcast in stereo; TV-14).

02:14

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Thursday, October 01, 2009

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band - Between My Head And The Sky
Current mood:dancing
Category: Music

Dear Friends,

Just before the worldwide announcement of the economic shock, my son announced the birth of a music company called CHIMERA. Nice name. The first sound Ki, is Ki:Air, and the minute you pronounce that syllable, you feel the power of Ki.

Music world was at the lowest point then. Many music related outfits were closing down. So why a new company? We all wondered what my son thought he was doing. Is he going crazy? But when I looked closely into what he was doing, I suddenly realized that he was attempting to create a kind of revolution in the music world. It was a quiet manifesto of a young producer trying to change the system for the better. Oh, that's where he's going? I was shocked.

It reminded me of what I did in Chambers Street Concert Series 50 odd years ago. It also was John and me, how we went gung-ho about our ideas and went with all of them, no matter what. The blood is speaking, I thought. The son is wearing a suit. We wore beatnik black and then hippy blue. But the spirit seems to not have died. It may have gotten stronger, in fact. In those days, the music world was not so controlled corporatively and legally. So it wasn't difficult to cut through to try to change the scene. It's a harder game now.

I recorded and gave two new songs to Chimera to celebrate the beginning of it's musical voyage. Then Sean said I should do my next album with Chimera. I thought, OKAY. In a real world, jumping into making an album with your son, is probably a no, no move for a mother to take. If it's all alright, then fine. But once there is an argument, it may get out of hand. But those things hadn't occurred to me. It seemed like a beautiful wide road was presented to me, and I would be a fool to not take it.

The sessions went more than great. We both learnt about each other in the way we haven't ever, by learning to respect each other's musicianship. I thought I was taking a big chance. But instead, I saw that we were creating miracles. I not only found out that my son was a brilliant music man, but he knew how to deal with musicians. Encouraging them while he got them to do what he had wanted them to do, kinda thing. Which is a normal thing all producers do. But seeing your son do it was like seeing the NY City for the first time. Even with me, he was his professional self- saying good morning and rushing to me to hug me when I arrive at the studio. When did I see him do that, except when he was five, maybe, I thought.

We communicated on the most intricate level of musical exchange. It was intense - night and day. And never a bad word passed between us.

It relaxed me, too, to be part of Chimera. Because, unlike the scenes I was use to travelling, the group of Chimera musicians are all songwriters of the future. And it's nice to know that I am one, too. Well, I am, baby. Don't have any doubts about that one!

It's also an honour bestowed on you by your son that he wanted to do yours first. Well, if you think that's saying a bit much...give me two names of a son and a mother doing something like this...And we are speaking of a very difficult mother and son, each with own firm musical ideas. I think Sean had courage in thinking he wanted to do this.

The fact that he knew every song I wrote and remembered the intros, was a surprised to me, since John and I made a big effort in not letting our son be burdened with the memory of our music. So he did listen... without telling us... These are things I wish I could report to John. He would have loved it.

One night, I was lying down on the sofa in the studio, trying to catch a catnap. I suddenly noticed that somebody quietly covered me with a khaki army surplus coat. That was exactly what John did when we were going through a long recording session one night. The coat was that coat, except that this one was a bit new and a bit hard on my skin. I looked up, and it was Sean who was doing exactly what John did. It was really a weird moment for me. For me to say John was probably there, is so predictable. But I really wondered.

Sean is still acting like most people of his generation. When he visits his mom, he sits in his favorite sofa and start communicating with somebody on the other end of his blackberry. So I feel very lucky that I saw the other side of him. The one who can say good morning, and hug his mom, when he's on his job. Thank you son, I'm already missing the sessions. It's been great.

love, yoko

Yoko Ono
September 2009

YOKO ONO PLASTIC ONO BAND
BETWEEN MY HEAD AND THE SKY

REVIEWS

★★★★★ "Excellent, essential" UNCUT
★★★★★ "Fantastically cool, fearlessly weird" DAILY TELEGRAPH
★★★★ "Brilliant, absorbing, thoughtful" THE INDEPENDENT
★★★★ "Challenging, tender" OBSERVER MUSIC MONTHLY
★★★★ "The best work of her musical career" NME
★★★★ "Brawny, brainy avante-rock" THE ONION (AV CLUB)
★★★★ "Beautifully desolate, bittersweet" PITCHFORK
★★★★ "Truly vital: unsettling, touching, funny, undeniable" ROLLING STONE
★★★★ "Hell, yeah! Will coax your heart wide open" SPIN
★★★★ "Artworks-as-song with vigour" Q MAGAZINE
★★★★ "Crackling with excitement" MOJO
★★★★ "Audacious, deeply focussed, wonderfully colorful and deeply expressive" ALL MUSIC GUIDE
★★★★ "Expressively melodic voice" DUSTED MAGAZINE

www.ChimeraMusic.com
www.ChimeraMusic.jp
www.YOPOB.com
www.IMAGINEPEACE.com
www.SeanOnoLennon.com

12:39

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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

NYLON TV - FASHION WEEK / threeASFOUR + YOKO ONO
Current mood:Dancing
Category: Fashion, Style, Shopping

NYLON TV celebrates the end of a great season with the threeASFOUR presentation, in collaboration with Yoko Ono.

Then our host, Cory Kennedy snags an exclusive interview post-show with Yoko and Sean Lennon.

www.YOPOB.com

09:32

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Monday, September 21, 2009

Make a WISH TREE for PEACE DAY
Category: Life

Make a WISH TREE for PEACE DAY

In your school, workplace, community.

You will need: Tree, pencils, Wish Tags.
For Wish Tags you could use paper and string, or pre-strung white shipping tags.

Add the IMAGINE PEACE sign
Add the WISH TREE instruction

When the tree is full of wishes:

email us a photo and tell us your story

stories@IMAGINEPEACE.com

Later, send the wishes to IMAGINE PEACE TOWER for its relighting on 9th October 2009 in Iceland.

http://bit.ly/iptower

IMAGINE PEACE TOWER is also on Twitter @IPTower

love, yoko

12:16

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Thursday, September 17, 2009

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band - Between My Head And The Sky - official mutimedia widget
Category: Music

Dear Friends

Here is the official BETWEEN MY HEAD AND THE SKY media player widget, which streams exclusive 60 second previews of all the songs on the new album, my Twitter feed, and links to the official YOPOB website and related social networks.

Try it - click on any of the songs!

You can attach the widget to your website, blog, Facebook, MySpace & Bebo pages and any of the following other networks: Friendster, Orkut, Blogger, Tagged, Live Spaces, Yahoo!, LiveJournal, myYearbook, Freewebs, Vox, TypePad, Xanga, Multiply, iGoogle, Netvibes, Pageflakes, MiGente, Ameba, Livedoor, Eons & Overblog.

To add it to your site, click the SHARE button at the bottom right of the widget and follow the instructions there.

I hope you enjoy the album.

It's out now in Japan, and comes out everywhere else on 21st September.

i love you! i ii iii

love, yoko

Problem getting embed code? - try here.

16:30

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