Viewing Thread:
"More Dead People it's ok to like now"

Seeing as everyone is now eulogising Aaliyah now that she has gone, here are some other wonderful, amazing and no longer with us people you should check out:

Bill Hicks
John Lee Hooker
Ian Dury & The Blockheads


I remember when John Lee Hooker died, and I was the only one to put anything here about him.
I got angry because nobody knew or cared about that guy dying.
I am sorry for Aaliyah's family, and once more I stress that I am not making light of this tragic loss of a 22yr old girl in any way whatsoever but:

John Lee Hooker achieved a damn sight more in his lifetime than Aaliyah ever did.
But not one single person said anything at all about him.

Why not?
Because he didn't have marketing behind him?
Because he played The Blues and had a career that spanned over 60 years?
Because he didn't have videos on The Box or made kung-fu movies?

John Lee Hooker was the premier Delta-Blues guy. He, along with Robert Johnson, Sunhouse and Blind Lemon Jefferson invented Delta Blues.
Just a guy with his guitar.
He created a whole new genre of music, and lived it.
He made a fortune, but gave it to his family and stayed in the same house in an LA Ghetto because "This is my home, I don't need no millions of dollars. I got my music, my family and my friends, man don't need but anything else"

But nobody said a damn word when he passed away.
Yet Aaliyah dies and everyone is falling over themselves to say what a loss and how tragic?
Yet it was, for her family and friends.

But why wait until now to say how good she was?
Same with Bill Hicks.
People say "I love him" now he's dead, yet when he lived, nobody really knew who he was.

It's wrong dammit, I am furious that the world is in mourning for this girl.
This is a private thing for her family and friends to deal with, for everyone to pretend that "I always liked her" rings false and is in the poorest taste.

Where were you people when John Lee Hooker died?
Where were you when Bill Hicks died?
Or Jerry Garcia?
Or Timothy Leary?

If you think that CNN tributes are OTT wait until Wednesday's NME. They adopted her as the indie/dark side of R&B, put her on the front cover and did a massive interview with her about a month ago. I think NME will go overboard and these discussions will repeat themselves on the letters page. It isn't fair that pop stars albums sales sail through the roof when they die but it's a sad fact. The the whole process of screwing every last penny out of public sympathy begins. Look what happened after Tupac died, they are releasing albums of horrendous sub-standard material as their is still demand for his music. That's really what it all comes down to in our capitalist society. If there's demand for something then who cares if the singer's dead? Death is no object when money's involved. In fact it's become a sad situation where death is a career advancement for many artists. I saw a recent article about the Foo Fighters' drummer OD-ing and the last line of the article was something like 'The Foo Fighters were formed by Dave Grohl, who was formerly in the band Nirvana until Kurt Cobain killed himself'. It was that callous.

Once the great cash-in on Aaliyah's death begins she will end up more famous than she ever could've been if still living. We can all complain about the late, great Bill Hicks not enjoying the same fame, or indeed Jeff Buckley, or non-musicians, such as the author Joeseph Heller. All of them had far more talent than Aaliyah but the demand just isn't there. Maybe you should seek some solace in the reality that once demand for Aaliyah drops she will be cast aside and forgotten, whereas musicians like Jeff Buckley, or comedians like Hicks will be remembered far longer by their fans. Hicks' fans may be smaller in number than Aaliyah's but I think they are far less fickle in their tastes. Pop stars are evanescent, legends are eternal.

I think they were quite over-rated, much like the Beatles, but I still was brought up on them and love the flamboyancy of Queen, and the pure entertainment.

I never really liked Queen, but I have to give credit:

Freddie Mercury was a born entertainer and had an amazing voice.
The music bored me, but I can listen to that guy sing until the cows come home.

Goatboy wrote:
Shame she died so early, never knew what she might have
> achieved.

Agreed. I have always wondered what Jeff Buckley could have progressed onto.

Also I would have loved to see Freddie Mercury complete his music career fully, I had always loved Queen.

I agree, although it does need to be said that she was only 22 so who knew where she would go.

I want to steer this clear of discussing whether she made a valid contribution to anything (not that you are mate), my only point was, not just in this forum, but in all the media, everyone is now saying how amazing and talented she was, when before her death, seemed that only the R&B circle gave her any credit.

I can only say, I didn't really know her stuff or like what I did hear and her death doesn't mean anything to me.
I'm not saying it's not tragic and a waste of a young girl's life, just that personally, I can't start to praise and mourn her because I didn't care when she was doing it before this crash.

Shame she died so early, never knew what she might have achieved.

Sorry I didn't write anything when John Lee Hooker died. I remember reading it in the newspaper, and my step-father and I sat down and listened to his records.

Sheer Genious.

It was also lovely to see many TV programs about him afterwards because his music was and is simply wonderful.

I agree, his contribution to music was considerably more significant than Aaliagh (sorry don't know how to spell her name!).

Mr.Snuggly wrote:
People
> were talking about her, just not perhaps in the conversations you
> were listening to.


Fair point, and just to state I'm not knocking her achievements at all.
This isn't even to the people here, I've been looking at CNN and ABC and the other US news sites, and everyone is racing to give the most touching and sincere statement they can.

I just wonder how many of them were so nice and supportive etc when she was just another rising star?

Please don't think I'm saying she was crap or anything like that.
I didn't like her music because R&B leaves me cold.
Didn't watch Romeo Must Die because that isn't my sort of movie.

Can't say I'm overly bothered by this whole situation, but neither do I feel the need to criticise her either.
I'm indifferent.

However, I agree she was rubbish in Romeo Must Die, but it wasn't her fault as the film was terrible.

I do wonder why nobody was talking about
> her talent etc when she was alive, seems odd that it takes her being
> killed before people start to talk about how good she was.

Come on, that's not really true. In R&B circles she was extremely well respected and thought to be the future of female soul music. If you think about what she achieved in her short life, it's more than most of us will ever do in our lives. She didn't drink, smoke or take drugs (in the music industry, of all places) and she was a great artist. She also received a Grammy nomination this year for Try Again, one of the only R&B songs of all time I actually like.

People were talking about her, just not perhaps in the conversations you were listening to.

jd99 wrote:
Aaliyah was more known to some people on this forum and
> there was more posts of sadness but does this really matter.


No, I get that, I really do.
My comments weren't really aimed to this board. I do wonder why nobody was talking about her talent etc when she was alive, seems odd that it takes her being killed before people start to talk about how good she was.

I'm more talking about the obituaries and fawning tributes from those in the media that didn't spare her two thoughts when she was doing her thing.

Just doesn't seem right is all.