On September 22 of 1980, an interview of John and Yoko conducted by Barbara Graustark appeared in Newsweek Magazine. Lennon admitted in this exchange that his radical phase had nearly ruined his career and that it had been phony: "What the hell was I doing fighting the American government just because Jerry Rubin couldn't get what he always wanted -- a nice, cushy job?"

Rubin was infuriated by this comment -- and immediately attempted to contact Lennon. According to Fred Seaman, "Yoko was in a panic because Jerry Rubin, the Yippie revolutionary turned Wall Street banker, had called, threatening to make scandalous revelations about her and John unless John apologized. Yoko instructed Fred to try to "appease" Rubin if he called again.

Fred continues: "When Rubin cqlled the office that afternoon and angrily demanded to know why John had not gotten back to him, I assured him that John had only the highest regard for him and was anxious to clear up the misunderstanding. 'If Lennon cares enough about me to make derogatory statements to the press,' snapped Rubin, 'the least he can do is talk to me!' I promised we would get back to him.

What dirt did Rubin have on John and Yoko? A couple of things come to mind. Rubin had been palling around with John and Yoko while they were working with Elephant's Memory on Approximately Infinite Universe (later reviewed by Nick Tosches as: "Is that shit or is that shit?"). At the end of one session, John -- who was guzzling tequila straight from the bottle -- and Yoko, who was flaunting an enormous bag of cocaine, visited Rubin's apartment. John took Rubin's girlfriend, Carol Realini into the bedroom, where they proceeded to have noisy sex.

Of course, Yoko later exploited this infidelity of John's for all it was worth -- making it a central episode in her liner notes, interviews, and in a made-for-TV special about herself and John.

I wonder what, exactly, Rubin knew that Yoko was so worried about.