Young & doomed genre creators

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A list of people who fulfill these conditions:

1) They are responsible for largely defining a genre, even if they weren't the progenitor, or for contributing one of its most important bodies of work

2) They died in or before their early thirties

3) They are still widely listened to

4) They were prolific (optional)

― Brian Ottlestone, Sunday, 6 February 2005 22:59 (twenty years ago)

Buddy Holly
Hank Williams
Franz Schubert
Robert Johnson

― Brian Ottlestone, Sunday, 6 February 2005 23:00 (twenty years ago)

Jimi Hendrix

― Brian Ottlestone, Sunday, 6 February 2005 23:02 (twenty years ago)

i think ian curtis is in with a shout here, don't you?

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Sunday, 6 February 2005 23:04 (twenty years ago)

Quorthon of Bathory was 39 * black metal

Chuck Schuldiner * death metal

Gram Parsons * alt country

Kurt Cobain * grunge

― Ian Christe (Ian Christe), Sunday, 6 February 2005 23:13 (twenty years ago)

Sam Cooke

― Brian Ottlestone, Sunday, 6 February 2005 23:19 (twenty years ago)

D. Boon

― Curious George Rides a Republican (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 6 February 2005 23:43 (twenty years ago)

Tupac & Biggie

― Phil G, Sunday, 6 February 2005 23:47 (twenty years ago)

'genre creators' is being taken pretty loosely here. how is this thread any different from any other list of musicians who died young and who have been treated well by history since then? I mean, it'd be harder to come up with a list of musicians who died young but haven't been lionized since, like the guy from Blind Melon.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 6 February 2005 23:58 (twenty years ago)

And Stuart Sutcliffe.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 7 February 2005 00:00 (twenty years ago)

Well, I'm not going to arbitrate or anything, but I think a few don't fit the concept of genre creators (as i specified up there) i hope the ones i've mentioned do, anyway its not for me to decide, i'm sure people have reasons for submitting their ideas. Like, an example for me would be janis joplin, ie she created a template, and perhaps a subgenre of female bluesrock, but she doesn't define something generic for me, she's a unique individual. The same occurs to me about ian curtis. I could be entirely wrong here.
Dom, any ideas?

― Brian Ottlestone, Monday, 7 February 2005 00:14 (twenty years ago)

Jaco Pastorius

― off, Monday, 7 February 2005 01:08 (twenty years ago)

kurt cobain certainly didn't invent grunge, but he did inadvertently create the genre of "those nirvana-soundalike bands you heard on 'modern rock' stations all through the '90s."

― oskar shindig! (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 7 February 2005 01:15 (twenty years ago)

His wasn't the first band signed to Sub Pop, and he didn't even play on Superfuzz Bigmuff, but I'd reckon your words in quotes there are a pretty good functional definition of "what is grunge".

― Ian Christe (Ian Christe), Monday, 7 February 2005 02:50 (twenty years ago)

At the risk of getting laughed outta the building: Sid Vicious?

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Monday, 7 February 2005 03:11 (twenty years ago)

D.J. Screw: invented "screwing," i.e., slowing down hip-hop records, fucking with the tempo.

Charlie Christian (well, he can't be said to have created be-bop, but he certainly helped it come into existence).

Keith Wiggins, known as Cowboy, of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Again, didn't create rapping, but was one of those involved in making it what it was originally. Was reputed to be the first to say "Throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em like you just don't care."

― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Monday, 7 February 2005 03:18 (twenty years ago)

Peter Laughner for his work with Rocket From the Tombs and Pere Ubu, as well as other bands and solo recordings.

― Curt W, Monday, 7 February 2005 03:38 (twenty years ago)

I forgot to mention the genres Laughner contributed to, which would obviously be punk and post-punk-before-punk-even-happened.

― Curt W, Monday, 7 February 2005 03:41 (twenty years ago)

Eazy E

― warm and menacing, Monday, 7 February 2005 03:45 (twenty years ago)

Jimmie Rodgers gets a pass for not dying until he was 35, because he doesn't need one for being a genre creator.

― assseenontv (j22433), Monday, 7 February 2005 04:30 (twenty years ago)

Charlie Parker, 34, contributed to the defining of bebop.

― assseenontv (j22433), Monday, 7 February 2005 04:41 (twenty years ago)

Frankie Lymon

― Bumfluff, Monday, 7 February 2005 04:49 (twenty years ago)

Johnny Ace--the first confused not-even-that-talented young soul singer who despite his lack of huge talent inspired/informed the "soul" genre--selling out even while drawing inspiration from the church (he was more interested in guns and Cadillacs there as he made more money). And the first great rock suicide/strange maybe-not-solved or no-one-can-legally talk-about-what-happened rock and roll death trip.

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Monday, 7 February 2005 08:18 (twenty years ago)

I thought it was Russian Roulette

― Seuss, Monday, 7 February 2005 11:14 (twenty years ago)

**Charlie Parker, 34, contributed to the defining of bebop.**

...in the same way that Jesus Christ "contributed to the defining" of christianity.

― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Monday, 7 February 2005 11:26 (twenty years ago)

Well no, otherwise it would have been called "Parkerbop"

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 7 February 2005 11:49 (twenty years ago)

"I thought it was Russian Roulette"

Cf. Tosches's chapter on Ace in "Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll."

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Monday, 7 February 2005 15:33 (twenty years ago)

They are responsible for largely defining a genre, even if they weren't the progenitor, or for contributing one of its most important bodies of work

many x-posts: er: like i said, i think that by this definition ian curtis is kinda in with a shout. what was post-punk without joy division? hellfire, joy division were being post-punk before punk was past.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Monday, 7 February 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)

D. Boon was a Great Man in his way, but I'm struggling with the idea of him as a genre creator. Darby Crash might better fit this bill

― DJ Mencap0))), Monday, 7 February 2005 16:00 (twenty years ago)

Although I wouldn't like to speculate how many people actually listen to Germs records these days, or even did in say 1982

― DJ Mencap0))), Monday, 7 February 2005 16:01 (twenty years ago)

we are a highly-guarded elite

― Snappy (sexyDancer), Monday, 7 February 2005 16:30 (twenty years ago)

plenty of people like the germs!

― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 7 February 2005 16:38 (twenty years ago)

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