Editing Instant Karma! (section)

==Release==
"Instant Karma!" ranks as one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history,<ref name='HIST' /> arriving in UK record stores just ten days after it was written.<ref name=Stories31>Du Noyer, p. 31.</ref> [[Apple Records]]' tagline in trade advertisements for the single read: "Ritten, Recorded, Remixed 27th Jan 1970."<ref name="Winn p 364">Winn, p. 364.</ref> Lennon remarked to the press that he "wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch, and we're putting it out for dinner."<ref name='HIST'>{{cite web | url = http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-lennon-writes-and-records-quotinstant-karmaquot-in-a-single-day | title = John Lennon writes and records 'Instant Karma' in a single day | access-date = 26 January 2011 | date = 27 January 2010 | publisher = [[history.com]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121029062342/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-lennon-writes-and-records-quotinstant-karmaquot-in-a-single-day | archive-date = 29 October 2012 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Apple issued the single on 6 February 1970 in Britain – credited to the Plastic Ono Band – and on 20 February in America, where the [[A-side]] was retitled "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" and credited to John Ono Lennon.<ref name=Listen45>Blaney, p. 45.</ref>{{refn|group=nb|The single's catalogue number was Apple 1003 in the UK and Apple 1818 in America.<ref>Castleman & Podrazik, pp. 85, 303.</ref>}} Spector remixed "Instant Karma!" for the US release without Lennon's knowledge.<ref name="Ribowsky p 252">Ribowsky, p. 252.</ref><ref>Miles, p. 370.</ref> Continuing the approach of the Plastic Ono Band's previous singles, "Give Peace a Chance" and "[[Cold Turkey]]", the [[B-side]] was an Ono composition, in this case "[[Who Has Seen the Wind? (song)|Who Has Seen the Wind?]]"<ref>Spizer, pp. 27, 343.</ref>{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=353}}

As with "Cold Turkey", the single's standard Apple Records A-side face label carried the words "PLAY LOUD", in both the UK<ref name=Listen45/><ref name=pobKarma>{{cite web|url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carousel/pob/pob04.html |title=John Lennon Discography |publisher=Homepage.ntlworld.com |access-date=24 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528170131/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carousel/pob/pob04.html |archive-date=28 May 2013  }}</ref> and America.<ref name="Spizer pp 28-29">Spizer, pp. 28, 29.</ref> Reflecting the tender sound of "Who Has Seen the Wind?", the B-side label read "PLAY QUIET"<ref name=Listen45/> (or "PLAY SOFT" in the US).<ref name=pobKarma/><ref name="Spizer pp 28-29" /> The front of the US picture sleeve featured a black-and-white photo of Lennon along with a prominent producer's credit for Spector, while the reverse had a similar picture of Ono.<ref name="Spizer pp 28-29" />

===Promotion===
Following a year of highly publicised peace campaigning by the Lennons in 1969, Apple press officer [[Derek Taylor]] was concerned that they had exhausted the media's interest in their causes.<ref>Doggett, pp. 89, 118.</ref> On 4 February 1970, Lennon and Ono staged a publicity stunt at the Black Centre in north London,<ref name="Winn p 367" /> where they donated a large plastic bag full of their hair, along with Apple's poster for the new single,<ref name="Woffinden p 39" /> to [[black power]] activist [[Michael X]], in return for a pair of [[Muhammad Ali]]'s bloodstained boxing shorts.<ref name="Norman p 636">Norman, p. 636.</ref><ref name="Miles p 368">Miles, p. 368.</ref> The "final proof" of the Lennons' "overexpose[ure]", according to Taylor, was that there was a large press turnout for the event, yet "nobody printed anything."<ref name="Doggett p 118" />{{refn|group=nb|Author [[Jon Wiener]] also writes of the media's disinterest in the couple by the end of 1969. He quotes Apple executive [[Peter Brown (music industry)|Peter Brown]]'s assertion that Lennon's new adopted cause "destroyed his last shred of credibility with the press."<ref>Wiener, pp. 114–15.</ref>}}

On 11 February, Lennon and Ono filmed an appearance on [[BBC Television]]'s ''[[Top of the Pops]]'' to promote "Instant Karma!",<ref name=Stories31/> accompanied by White, Voormann, Evans, and [[BP Fallon]].<ref name=Listen50/> While the other musicians mimed their contributions, Lennon sang a live vocal over a mix of the song's instrumental track,<ref name=Listen50/> prepared by EMI engineer [[Geoff Emerick]].<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 34">Madinger & Easter, p. 34.</ref> It was the first appearance on the program by any member of the Beatles since 1966,<ref name=Listen50>Blaney, p. 50.</ref> as well as the public unveiling of the Lennons' new cropped look.<ref name="Schaffner p 137" /><ref name="Madinger & Easter p 34" /> Two versions of "Instant Karma!" – known as "knitting" and "cue card" – were taped for ''Top of the Pops'', and aired on 12 and 19 February, respectively.<ref name="Rodriguez 2013 pp 1-2">Rodriguez 2013, pp. 1–2.</ref><ref>Miles, pp. 369–70.</ref>

[[File:Instant Karma! 1970 Top of the Pops.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|Lennon and Ono (wearing a white blindfold) performing the song on ''[[Top of the Pops]]'' in February 1970]]
The clips differ in terms of Lennon's attire and the nature of Ono's role as, in author Robert Rodriguez's description, "an onstage focal point around which all activity was staged."{{refn|group=nb|As with the press conference with Michael X, the Lennons' rehearsals and performances for ''Tops of the Pops'' were simultaneously filmed by Tony Cox for a possible [[documentary film]] on the couple.<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 34" />}} In addition, for the 19 February broadcast, Lennon's vocal was treated with echo.<ref>Rodriguez 2013, p. 1.</ref> In the "knitting" clip, Lennon is wearing a black [[polo neck|polo-neck]] jumper as Ono sits beside his piano,<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 34" /> blindfolded, and knitting throughout.<ref>Norman, pp. 635–36.</ref> In "cue card", Lennon wears a flower-pattern shirt under a denim jacket, while Ono, seated on a stool, holds up a series of cryptically worded [[cue card]]s<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 34" /> and speaks into her microphone.<ref name="Rodriguez 2013 p 2" /> The cards' messages include "Smile", "Hope", and "Peace".<ref name="Rodriguez 2013 p 2" /> Although Ono appears to have a more active role, she is again blindfolded and the words she utters cannot be heard.<ref name="Rodriguez 2013 p 2" />{{refn|group=nb|According to Kate Greer, an associate producer of ''Top of the Pops'' at the time, Ono used a [[sanitary towel]] for her blindfold.<ref>{{cite web|first=Dave|last=Simpson|title=Interview: How We Made Top of the Pops|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/feb/04/how-we-made-top-of-the-pops|publisher=[[The Guardian|theguardian.com]]|date=4 February 2014|access-date=31 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831174959/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/feb/04/how-we-made-top-of-the-pops|archive-date=31 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Lennon and Ono also promoted the single with an appearance on [[Emperor Rosko]]'s [[BBC Radio 1]] show ''Midday Spin'', shortly after the "cue card" clip aired.<ref name="Winn p 370" /> In response to the many letters asking about her role in the ''Top of the Pops'' performance, Ono said "the blindfold means to me like everybody in the world is like blind ... the stool was like a [[Grove (nature)|grove]] ... And everybody's sitting on the grove blindfolded and trying their best, you know."<ref name="Winn p 370" /> Rodriguez describes both clips as "terrifically engaging, providing suitably dynamic visuals to a powerful song." He says that the "cue card" performance "captures much more of the ambience, with frequent shots of White's stellar work and the studio dancers."<ref name="Rodriguez 2013 p 2">Rodriguez 2013, p. 2.</ref> In the view of media analyst Michael Frontani, Lennon's and Ono's untidy, cropped hairstyle befitted the couple's "new agenda" for 1970 – a year in which Lennon, still mistrusted by the political left for his rejection of their principles in the Beatles' 1968 single "[[Revolution (Beatles song)|Revolution]]", sought "greater confrontation with the system." Frontani writes of Lennon's appearance on ''Top of the Pops'', that it "was a stark picture, one at odds with his Beatles past. For Lennon, ragged and ugly in comparison to the Beatle image, it was a means of breaking even more fully with his pop star past."<ref>Frontani, p. 169.</ref>

===Commercial success and aftermath===
"Instant Karma!" was commercially successful,<ref>Rodriguez 2010, pp. 2, 149.</ref> peaking at number 3 on America's [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart,{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=281}} number 2 in Canada,<ref name=RPM/> and number 5 on the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref name=OCC/>{{refn|group=nb|On the US listings compiled by ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]'' and ''[[Record World]]'' magazines, it also peaked at number 3,<ref name="Spizer p 27" /> while Britain's ''[[Melody Maker]]'' chart recorded the song at number 4.<ref>Castleman & Podrazik, p. 340.</ref>}} The single also reached the top ten in several other European countries<ref name=Ultra/> and in Australia.<ref name="auschart" /> The release took place two months before [[Paul McCartney]] announced the [[break-up of the Beatles]],<ref name=Listen45/> whose penultimate single, the [[George Martin]]-produced "[[Let It Be (song)|Let It Be]]", Lennon's record competed with on the US chart.<ref name="Spizer p 27">Spizer, p. 27.</ref> "Instant Karma!" went on to become the first single by a solo Beatle to achieve US sales of 1 million,<ref name="Norman p 635" /> earning [[Music recording sales certification|gold]] certification by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] on 14 December 1970.<ref name="RIAA">{{cite web|title=RIAA Gold and Platinum|url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&title=Instant_Karma&format=SINGLE&go=Search&perPage=50|publisher=[[Recording Industry Association of America]]|access-date=24 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924160932/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&title=Instant_Karma&format=SINGLE&go=Search&perPage=50|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="C&P p 332">Castleman & Podrazik, p. 332.</ref>{{refn|group=nb|The award came on the same day that Harrison's debut single, "[[My Sweet Lord]]", was certified gold by the RIAA,<ref name="C&P p 332" /> yet that song's US release took place nine months after "Instant Karma!"<ref>Schaffner, pp. 211, 212.</ref>}} Until [[Death of John Lennon|Lennon's death]] in December 1980, "Instant Karma!" remained his sole RIAA-certified gold single.<ref name="RIAA" /><ref>{{cite web|first=Nick|last=DeRiso|title=Revisiting John Lennon's Quickly Recorded 'Instant Karma'|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-lennon-instant-karma-song/|publisher=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]]|date=6 February 2016|access-date=3 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903082153/http://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-lennon-instant-karma-song/|archive-date=3 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Despite the stated intentions for Lennon's and Ono's Year 1 AP, the proceeds from the auctioning of their hair benefited Michael X's Black House commune<ref name="Norman p 636" /> rather than the peace movement;<ref name="Woffinden p 39" /><ref>Doggett, pp. 114, 118.</ref> according to ''Beatles Diary'' author [[Barry Miles]], the pledge to donate their royalties was also "discreetly forgotten."<ref>Miles, pp. 364, 368.</ref> In March 1970, Lennon publicly split with the organisers of the planned Toronto Peace Festival,<ref>Norman, p. 637.</ref> as he and Ono began treatment under [[Arthur Janov]]'s [[Primal Therapy]].<ref>Madinger & Easter, p. 35.</ref><ref>Doggett, pp. 117, 119–20.</ref>{{refn|group=nb|In author John Winn's description of the 4 February exchange of the Lennons' hair for Ali's shorts: "The plan was for Michael to auction off the hair to raise money for the Black Centre, a headquarters for various black power endeavors. John and Yoko would then auction off the trunks to raise money for their peace festival."<ref name="Winn p 367" />}} Before heading to California in April for intensive therapy through the summer,<ref>Schaffner, p. 143.</ref><ref>Woffinden, pp. 40–41.</ref> Lennon accused McCartney of using the Beatles' break-up to sell his album ''[[McCartney (album)|McCartney]]'',<ref>Rodriguez 2010, pp. 7–8.</ref> and admitted that he wished that he himself had announced the break-up months before to promote his own solo release.<ref>Madinger & Easter, p. 154.</ref><ref>Spitz, pp. 853–54.</ref>