Starr overdubbed his vocals on 4 December , four days before the murder of John Lennon , who had been due to record his contributions to Stop and Smell the Roses in January 1981 . Contrasting with his success as a solo artist in 1971 – 73 , the album continued Starr 's run of commercial and critical failures since 1976 ; Rodriguez writes that " [ m ] ost people either love or hate the revamping " of " Back Off Boogaloo " .