have you ever wondered the power of being dead in music?
dead rock musicians can be roughly divided to 2:
the one's who were great while still being alive (hendrix, morrison lennon...)
and the one who were not so great but still quite good, and after they died, were raised to the level of idols, and suddenly, their records,or at least some of them, became masterpieces (elliot smith, kurt cobain,nick drake though some will argue..)
which raise the question:
if you are a musicains who get mid-level-success, and want to make it big with the audience and the critics, but you fail to do so while being alive, maybe a death (and if you can make it with drugs overdose/suicide it's better for the myth) is the solution for your problem?!
with best wishes for long lasting life for all...
― arthur is my middle name, Friday, 3 March 2006 09:33 (nineteen years ago)
Elliot Smith does not belong in the latter section. He was way more successful/feted when alive.
― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 3 March 2006 09:37 (nineteen years ago)
when "nevermind" was releases i remember people saying it's a good record, better then the 1st one etc...after he died, suddenly it's a must have.
elliot smith - the death made lots of people be aware of him, and tehrefore, he bacame a mini-legend.
it is true they had success while being alive, but their death broke the boundaries outside of the indie scene,towards the mainstream and geographicly - outside of the states,to the entire world.
― arthur is my middle name, Friday, 3 March 2006 10:04 (nineteen years ago)
Elliot Smith played at the Oscars! When he was Alive!
(sorry, been reading the Simpsons quoteathon over on ILE)
― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 3 March 2006 10:43 (nineteen years ago)
other way is to go nuts like jeff mangun from "natural milk hotel" or syd barrett
― surely the, Friday, 3 March 2006 17:39 (nineteen years ago)
In comic book parlance, we call this Hal Jordan syndrome.
― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 3 March 2006 17:46 (nineteen years ago)
I don't really think Nick Drake belongs in the second category either. He fits if you're talking about critical acclaim, but I don't think that the (semi-)recent surge of interest in him is in any way unmerited (even if it does bug me that obnoxious high school girls are listening to 'Cello Song').
― owen moorhead (i heart daniel miller), Friday, 3 March 2006 17:55 (nineteen years ago)