Introduction to the interview by Jody Denberg

In 1992 fans of Yoko Ono's music were hungry for her work - and although we did not know it, we were about to be very satisfied. It had been six years since 1986's Ono's Starpeace album and tour, and they were each disappointing in their own way. The Starpeace album was quite polished and a bit of a letdown for fans of Yoko's earlier, grittier work (though it did contain the amazing Hell In Paradise and its attendant brilliant video which was actually played on MTV!), and the tour only visited a few cities so most were deprived of witnessing a brilliant career retrospective that proved Yoko's musical career was a varied, intense, pioneering journey. (I know because I was lucky enough to see her concert in May of 1986 at New York's Beacon Theater. After the stunning performance a 10-year-old Sean waved from a window above to those of us who waited outside and watched luminaries like Andy Warhol depart before Yoko, Sam Havadtoy and Sean were all whisked away to the Dakota as we waved them adieu and thanks from the other side of their shiny car's glass)... Six years later, in 1992 fans of Yoko's music were left with scouring used record stores for rare copies of her out of print vinyl albums as her work had not joined the compact disc age, and Yoko hadn't issued any music since 1986. When word emerged that Rykodisc was working on a Yoko Ono box set fans like myself could only anticipate what form it would be in. Ryko - noted for their exemplary reissues of the catalogues of artists like David Bowie and Elvis Costello - was the perfect choice, but there were so many questions. Would they release the albums themselves? Would they bring us bonus tracks? What would the set look like? How would the music sound digitally after hearing it for years on worn out analog recordings?

I was chosen by the folks at Rykodisc to ask these questions and others of Yoko upon the release of Onobox. Our interview was to be for a promotional compact disc, and although that did not come to pass because of internal business changes Ryko was going through at the time, parts of the conversation did wind up on my radio program as well a in a newspaper piece I wrote for my local weekly The Austin Chronicle, as well as in a national music industry magazine called Hits. It is presented here at AIU in its entirety for the first time.

I had never met Yoko before the Onobox interview, although we had talked on the phone in 1984 upon the release of Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him for my radio program. As a journalist I had written about Yoko throughout her career, so my clippings, coupled with the radio tape, convinced Ryko & Yoko that I was the right man for the job.

The evening before our interview there was a release party for Onobox in a lower Broadway art gallery. The walls were filled with the art of Basquiat, and the luminaries included Joey Ramone, Cyndi Lauper, members of The B-52s, Paul Shaffer, Ornette Coleman and a 16-year old Sean Lennon. At one point a photo opportunity had Yoko emerging from a shiny silver trash basket holding Onobox, as if to signal her work had been rescued from the dustbin of pop culture. Her music played over the speakers at the party and Yoko was friendly when I introduced myself and told her I was the one who would be conducting the interview at the Dakota the next day. I asked Sean if he could join us as well but he simply replied "I've got school." :)

Entering the hallowed halls of the Dakota was a dream after years and years of passing by its infamous portals and wondering if I'd ever go inside. Of course when you do enter you realize that this is where John Lennon took his final steps and the dream state becomes more intense. Our conversation took place in Yoko's ground floor Studio One offices. As you will read she was generous with her thoughts and time. And I would like to add that after our extended conversation was through and I asked if I could take a photo with Yoko, she remained totally generous with her time "off the clock." She suggested that we sit on John's piano bench with the Bermuda portrait of John and Sean behind us. Her assistant at the time - a lovely man named Michael Phillips - took the photo beautifully, and I still have the framed picture of the images of myself, Yoko Ono, John and Sean Lennon in my living room. Although I have visited Yoko at the Dakota several times since this 1992 interview, this first experience remains a special blessing in my life. I am honored to share it, and feel privileged that you will re-experience it with me by reading it.