Spiritinthesky

If you could bring a dead rock star back to life for one gig, who would it be?

John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis, Kurt Cobain, Buddy Holly, Freddie Mercury? Or someone else?

Glory's Sun

So who would you bring back??


I'd bring back Keith Moon. Dude was a maniac, and I loved his out of control lifestyle.

The_Jazz

You'd only bring him back if you got to party with him, gucci. I'm sure you secretly want Jim Croce back.

In all seriousness, I've got to go with either Buddy Holly or Kurt Cobain on this one just for the "what else would they have done" factor. All the rest were on the downslope of their careers.

And if I could go back in time to 1992, I'd kill Madonna. Nothing like going out on a high note. And sparing us the looking like shoe leather bit that we have now.

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Halx

I would bring back Bradley Nowell. I thought he could have developed into a great musician.

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uncle phil

love to see what buddy holly could have done...

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biznatch

Stevie Ray Vaughan, I think. It's a tough question.

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Willravel

I keep forgetting Robert Plant is still alive.

But yeah, it's gotta be Lennon. It would have been amazing to see how the world would have continued to change because of his influence through the 80s and 90s. His brand of peace activism seemed to take a back seat in the 80s. Not only that, but his amazing music was continuing to morph even as he was entering his 40s. He'd be 68 as of this October.

Baraka_Guru

This is a tough one. Buddy Holly and Kurt Cobain would be high on my list.

But, ultimately, I'd have to choose Jimi Hendrix. That shit was just getting started.

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roachboy

i think this question is creepy.
i keep thinking zombie flick. i keep thinking that we'd need guitar wolf to deal with them. that'd mean bringing bass wolf back to life so that he could help deal with the zombies. so nothing makes any sense. that's why it's creepy.

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healer

Definitely Freddy Mercury. The man was a genius. And Lennon.

Why has no one mentioned Ritchie Valens?

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fresnelly

Agreed. I want to see him in concert and stand close to the speakers and damn the consequences.

Can we stretch the definition of "Rock Star" to include other popular genres?

Then Nick Drake for Folk. Did you know there is no video footage of him performing at all? Shame.

Nina Simone for soul music because I really would like to see her in concert.

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Glory's Sun

eh.. Lennon would have just been arrested by homeland security and locked up as a terrorist.

Daniel_

Marc Bolan.

If nothing else, he'd have ended up a Travelling Willbury.

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ShaniFaye

Freddie Mercury absolutely!!

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Punk.of.Ages

For one gig: John Bonham.

I'd love to see Zeppelin live.

To see what else could've happened: I'll also have to say Bradley Nowell.

So much originality so abruptly ended.

Just for fun: Bring Ol' Dirty Bastard back!

That dude was hilarious!

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roachboy

i retract my previous being-creeped out position and endorse marc bolan.

nothing says degenerate vegas show quite the way t-rex in their 60s does.
i'd go in a second.

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it make you sick.

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Nikilidstrom

You read my mind, although it wasn't a very tough decision for me, as I sit here listening to Lenny and air guitaring my ass off.

jorgelito

Bob Marley. He was transcendent.

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Manic_Skafe

Definitely Hendrix but only if when he goes back to the dead he takes Bono, Chris Cornell and all of the Smashing Pumpkins with him.

Edit: And Coldplay too. Fuck Coldplay.

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snowy

SRV, as others have already said. I've often wished he could have had a longer career.

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Martian

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Bradley Nowell are the only ones listed so far that I feel didn't have a chance to say what they really wanted to say. So one or the other of them. Probably Vaughan.

By the time of his death, Hendrix had already alienated the Experience, along with Chas Chandler, who was a key figure in shaping his pre-Ladyland stuff. I think that the other guys don't get as much credit as they deserve, and without them I don't think Hendrix could've topped Electric Ladyland.

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speshul-k

John Bonham without a doubt.
Jimi Hendrix, Marc Bolan and hell some Freddie Mercury for good measure.
-----Added 30/7/2008 at 08 : 20 : 42-----
Of course Lennon and Jim Morrison.

ratbastid

Well, I was all Hendrix until I read that. It'd be INTERESTING to see what Jimi would be up to these days, but in terms of sheer "vision left unfulfilled", SRV is way out in front.

The_Jazz

In the spirit of roachboy's first post, can I kill Michael Bolton, have him buried, then reanimate him but leave him buried?

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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

Baraka_Guru

Throw in Kenny G and make it a double.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

mixedmedia

I think Zappa had a lot of music left in him.
-----Added 30/7/2008 at 09 : 45 : 58-----
...and Buddy Holly, definitely.

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silent_jay

Couldn't agree more, Brad was going to be great, too bad he couldn't beat the demons he had, such a sad story, and Lou Dog as well, if Brad comes back Lou Dog has to join him.

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Anxst

Man, tough call.

Just to see where growing older took him, I think I'd have to choose Lennon. But damn it, all my T. Rex vinyl is sitting here looking at me like I'm a traitor.

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ratbastid

Wait, I've got it. I love SRV, but at least the world HEARD a little of him.

I'm going with Nick Drake. Of course, on the other hand, a Nick Drake without the problems that lead to his death wouldn't be the Nick Drake worth hearing. Perhaps it's better to leave the world with one Pink Moon and then shuffle off?

guyy

Yah, but rock-n-roll is more or less a zombie now anyway so the question is kinda appropriate to the genre.

I vote for Hendrix.

mixedmedia

well, at least nobody said Elvis
-----Added 30/7/2008 at 11 : 42 : 13-----
oh, wait, doh, the OP said Elvis.

But can't we all agree that Elvez' best days were behind him

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PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Martian

I'd be interested to know what you mean by that.

Rock and roll is a very broad category. If we want to be traditional about it, strictly speaking the only music that really deserves the classification is Bo Diddley/Chuck Berry era blues-inspired stuff. If we include the subcategories and off-shoots, which I think most people here do judging by the responses, then we're looking at the bulk of popular music since the early fifties. Rock is not as rebellious as it used to be, but I would hardly classify it as zombified.

Genre labels are tricky. Some people seem to think the solution is more, to infinitely pigeonhole music into subgenre after subgenre until each song is a genre unto itself. I try to get by with less and just enjoy the music for what it is. Broad classifications like 'rock,' 'blues,' or 'jazz' can be very useful in providing touchstones. Subcategories like 'indie rock' or 'alternative rock' can also occasionally come in handy when discussing variations. Subcategories of subcategories like post-rock (a subcategory of indie) start to get silly.

Whatever music you like that makes you feel it necessarily to exclaim pretentiously that rock is dead is probably in itself a type of rock.

On topic, there are dozens of musicians in the rock and blues landscape whose deaths could be considered untimely. One of the hazards of the profession, seemingly, is the increased mortality rate. One could argue that the drug-related deaths were self-inflicted and I don't know that I'd disagree; I don't know that I'd agree, precisely, either though. It's a very tough world to be a part of and most of the people who seek it out are emotionally damaged to begin with.

Nick Drake is an interesting candidate. Elliott Smith could also be included, as could Janis Joplin.

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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

RetroGunslinger

I'm saving my vote for Bowie. Once he goes, he'll owe me a favor.

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jorgelito

If people want to dredge up Steve Ray Vaughn, then you have to bring back Jimi Hendrix for sure so that Steve will have someone to copy.

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blahblah454

SRV > Hendrix.

The shit I just had > Hendrix


I would bring back Freddy Mercury or SRV

Leander

Ian Curtis.

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Cernunnos

We never heard Cliff Burton out of Metallica, and I am interested in knowing what would have happened had their original bassist lived.

Randy Rhoads and Duane Allman were both amazing guitarists and had only just begun receiving recognition in Blizzard of Ozz and The Allman Brothers Band, respectively.

guyy

Turn on the radio. What do you hear? 1980s pop. "Classic" rock.

My kids are listening to the same stuff i did. It's not even reinterpreted, it's just the same stuff endlessly repeated.

The weight of the past bears down like a nightmare on the brains of the living.

Poppinjay

I don't think I'd bring Cobain back. I loved Nirvana, but he was an increasingly whiny asshole.

Ian Curtis.

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thespian86

I feel bad for your kids. I release an iMix for all of my friends once a month with about thirty songs of bands that most people don't hear, they do the same, we trade music. Rock isn't dead. It just has a few bastard sons. And when has mainstream music been the best? The 70's may have had "Classic Rock" but they also had Disco (although I will concede that some was well written and full of great hooks). The 80's had Costello but they also had Brett Michaels.

I might have Nickleback, U2, and Velvet Revolver now, but I also have The Virgins, Jack Penate, Sufjan Stevens, The Strokes, Fleet Foxes, The Hold Steady, Ben Folds, The Von Bondies, Vampire Weekend, Death Cab For Cutie, Ryan Adams, Tokyo Police Club, and Rilo Kiley; there is more. Tell them to explore.

/threadjack

I'd like to see Lennon and Nick Drake.

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