Young, Talented and Deceased

Listening to various stations I came across a song by Juice WRLD. I recalled his name because he passed away. Some swear by Mac Miller. I never got into his music. For a time, many up and coming performers were dying.

When someone has face tattoos it does not seem like they will live to retirement age. There are always up and coming musicians. Not enough rock bands, no horn sections whatsoever. There will always be more boy bands.

Look at the early Bon Jovi videos and tell me they didn't set the standard for boy bands. Tousled hair, running around, mugging at the camera- maybe their concerts were like that. Maybe they were creating an illusion.

Most bands do. Social media is all illusion. Until someone dies. Many up and coming artists end up collaborating with more established acts. By the time the song is released the thought is "That's the guy who accidentally overdosed".

Accidents happen. Some stories last longer than others. Many of the deceased performers were about to hit the mainstream. We shall never know what they would have done. Appreciate what we have.

Some could lead to speculation of "What might have been." I am not going all Lester Bangs and speculating on the next work of artists who died abruptly. If Elvis Presley lived another year or two we would have disco Elvis.

The Rolling Stones and KISS had disco flavored records. Even Ethel Merman tapped into the disco market. The Bee Gees wrote the music to Saturday Night Fever before the movie was made. It was not intended as disco. They became the representatives of disco for better or worse.

Barry Gibb articulately said there was backlash to their music because many people bought and enjoyed it. Compared to the limited playlists of modern radio, The Bee Gees were not overplayed.

He also lost all of his brothers. That's hard to deal with. Time does not heal that. Incidentally, Lester Bangs created songs for one hit wonders. It inspired me to seek out Count Five. Too bad there are no garage bands any more.

There is no shortage of boy bands. One member of The Wanted succumbed to cancer. That's pretty awful. It can happen to anyone at any age. Enjoy performers for as long as you can. Some stories last longer than others.