The legendary undead

[Stumpy Pepys]

I was thinking which oft-derided artists would be revered and eulogised if they'd have just died at a certain point in time. And we'd be now discussing how great they would have been had they lived.

I'll start the ball rolling.

Cliff Richard, 1961
Rod Stewart, 1974
Sting, 1979

[Borracho]

The legendary undead

David Crosby, 1978
Madonna, 1986
Bryan Ferry, 1986
Oasis, early 1995

Prince is still critically arselicked, but only for his live shows, and the world of music would have been no poorer had he snuffed it in 1991, save for a tiny handful of songs (Diamonds And Pearls, Eye Hate U, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World).

[Stumpy Pepys]

The legendary undead

I think we could extend Madonna to 1989 — Like a Prayer was the best album she made.

(Ray of Light is good, but it was a blip in the grand scheme of things.)

[Borracho]

The legendary undead

I detested Like A Prayer, not least because my sister played it all the hours that God sent.

[treibeis]

The legendary undead

Campino from Die Toten Hosen, early 1990s.

[beak]

The legendary undead

Morrissey, late-86/early-87

[G-Man]

The legendary undead

Elton John 1975
Bono 1983
Bob Geldof 1986
Mike Love 1973

[Borracho]

The legendary undead

If Elton had bitten the dust in 1975 we'd never have had I'm Still Standing.

[ursus arctos]

The legendary undead

I thought that that was the point.

[G-Man]

The legendary undead

I like "I'm Still Standing", but a world without it wouldn't be a cultural wasteland. Though, on reflection, I'm willing to delay Dwight's death to 1976, after "Don't Go Breaking Me Heart".

But then it's really time to theoretically shuffle off so as to not unearn the legend medal, before unclassics like "Nikita", "Sacrifice", "Sartorial Eloquence" and, of course, "Princess In The Wind" demolish his reputation.

[steveeeeeeeee]

The legendary undead

I've been doing a lot of Madonna in NYC Google image searches of late. The photos of her and Basquiat are really cool, the William Burroughs photo seals the deal, too. I reckon she made sure she got that shot just before going mega-famous.

No matter how annoying I find her to be, and her music has been f*cking appalling for the best part of 3 decades now, she has really experienced some amazing shit.

[ursus arctos]

The legendary undead

Rock stars loved Burroughs.

The one with Bowie is one of the most "un-Burroghs" Burroughs photos extant.

[WOM]

The legendary undead

steveeeeeeeee wrote: I've been doing a lot of Madonna in NYC Google image searches of late.

As you do...

[Jah Womble]

The legendary undead

I'm assuming Oasis all perished in the same 1995 plane crash?

To be honest, you could probably stop at Noel Gallagher.

[WOM]

The legendary undead

There's a book in this, Womble...

[Stumpy Pepys]

The legendary undead

WOM wrote: There's a book in this, Womble...

I demand 5%!

Alright then, a bottle of Jack Daniels.

[Stumpy Pepys]

The legendary undead

Bottle of Vimto?

[Land Waster]

The legendary undead

Simple Minds 1982

New Order 1989

Echo and the Bunnymen 1987

Big Country 1984

[G-Man]

The legendary undead

But would we regard Simple Minds as legends on he basis of their output till 1982? We'd have to delay their demise to the point when they went stadium on the back of "Don't You". In that scenario we have the irony of their last big hit being titled "Alive And Kicking".

[Tramp The Dirt Down]

The legendary undead

Mick Hucknall - 1986

Ozzy Osbourne - 1973

Lionel Richie - 1978

[Borracho]

The legendary undead

Lionel did All Night Long in 1983. You could kill him after that.

[Tramp The Dirt Down]

The legendary undead

Everything he did after The Commodores was cruise ship fodder

[G-Man]

The legendary undead

"You Are" is a joyous soul-pop number, "All Night Long" is a pop classic, and "Love Will Find A Way" is a soul gem. He'd be regarded as a legend for those as much as for "Brick House" (on which he was just a passenger) or that quartet of classic ballads with The Commodores.

[Tramp The Dirt Down]

The legendary undead

I always thought the album Can't Slow Down was Motown's calculated copy of Thriller.

The title track was his Wanna Be Startin' Something.

All Night Long - was his Billie Jean

Running With The Night - was his Beat It.

Penny Lover - was his Human Nature

[KGR]

The legendary undead

U2. Or more specifically, Bono.

The question is, just when. After the release of Unforgettable Fire? Is that too soon (they hadn't done LiveAid, Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby). Is that too late - and they should have stopped after October? If that had happened, they would not have made their name with third album War.

They've certainly released nothing of real significance this century, have they? (Not counting promotional gimmicks like yesterday in any way).

Obvs the next post in this thread will now say "After the Another Day single flopped".