Anyone have special musical plans for Memorial Day?

[TheFonz]

I've often thought it might be a neat idea for Memorial Day to have a countdown of artists who've left us before their time... a tribute to those who died way too young, but then I wonder if that would be in poor taste (I don't know).

The countdown would feature artists like Elvis, John Lennon, George Harrison, Karen Carpenter, Mama Cass, John Denver, Eddie Rabbitt, Rick Nelson, Dan Fogelberg, Andy Gibb, Dusty Springfield, Sonny Bono, Jim Croce, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Otis Redding, Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Darin, Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Roy Orbison, Marty Robbins, Conway Twitty, Roger Miller, Sam Cooke, Barry Sadler, Barbara Cowsill, Mary Wells, Tammi Terrell, Oliver, Sammi Smith, Bobbi Martin, Minnie Riperton, Laura Branigan, Harry Nilsson, Eddie Kendricks, Van McCoy, Freddie Mercury, Michael Hutchence, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Big Bopper, Keith Moon & John Entwistle.....

These are just some that come to mind right now... I'm sure if you dig deep enough with some research, you could come up with so many more. This could make quite an interesting program, especially hearing about some forgotten artists you don't hear about anymore. But again, I don't know if audiences would find this morbid and depressing.

A great idea.........................but probably better suited for satellite radio. Lightning will strike the tower of any terrestrial radio station that plays music from the '50s, and there are a few artists from that era on your list.

 

[firepoint525]

I'd have to see the Billboard charts from those days before I can say whether or not they were "hits"! the balad of the green berets # 1.. 2/9/66..stayed on charts for 11 weeks...billy don't be a hero #1.. 5/11/74..stayed on charts for 12 weeks..although not mentioned under BJ thomas, he did a song called "billy and sue" the stations in our area played it along side his hits at the time..maybe the ultimate sad lover dieing song...above taken from the billboard book of top forty hits..september 1990

Actually, I was referring to the previous poster's reference to John Phillip Sousa. Notice that I highlighted the lines I was referring to. I know that Billboard magazine was publishing as far back as Sousa's day, but I believe it wasn't until 1940 that they started printing sales charts. So it would have been impossible for "Stars and Stripes Forever" to have "charted" during Sousa's lifetime! ;D

 

[TheFonz]

I've often thought it might be a neat idea for Memorial Day to have a countdown of artists who've left us before their time... a tribute to those who died way too young, but then I wonder if that would be in poor taste (I don't know).

The countdown would feature artists like Elvis, John Lennon, George Harrison, Karen Carpenter, Mama Cass, John Denver, Eddie Rabbitt, Rick Nelson, Dan Fogelberg, Andy Gibb, Dusty Springfield, Sonny Bono, Jim Croce, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Otis Redding, Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Darin, Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Roy Orbison, Marty Robbins, Conway Twitty, Roger Miller, Sam Cooke, Barry Sadler, Barbara Cowsill, Mary Wells, Tammi Terrell, Oliver, Sammi Smith, Bobbi Martin, Minnie Riperton, Laura Branigan, Harry Nilsson, Eddie Kendricks, Van McCoy, Freddie Mercury, Michael Hutchence, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Big Bopper, Keith Moon & John Entwistle.....

These are just some that come to mind right now... I'm sure if you dig deep enough with some research, you could come up with so many more. This could make quite an interesting program, especially hearing about some forgotten artists you don't hear about anymore. But again, I don't know if audiences would find this morbid and depressing.

A great idea.........................but probably better suited for satellite radio. Lightning will strike the tower of any terrestrial radio station that plays music from the '50s, and there are a few artists from that era on your list.

Actually, you would want to edit the artist list somewhat. You wouldn't want to include artists who pretty much caused their own deaths (Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, etc). That would be disrespectful to those who died fighting for our country.

 

[BlueHen]

Actually, you would want to edit the artist list somewhat. You wouldn't want to include artists who pretty much caused their own deaths (Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, etc). That would be disrespectful to those who died fighting for our country.

That might be hard to do, Fonz, and I did think of that. For instance, if presented in a countdown form, some people could argue (and deservedly so) that Elvis would be No. 1 since his death came as quite a shock and he's still a best-selling artist today, 30 years later. However, I'd put him at around No. 5 or so... surely his death could be attributed to self-destructive behavior. More tragic to me would be something like the gunning down of John Lennon or John Denver's plane going down in the ocean.

Now that I think of it - as I'm sitting here writing this - I realize it's impossible to assign a number value to something as subjective as the impact of someone's death. After all, self-destructive behavior could also be said to have caused the heart failure of Karen Carpenter (although I in no way claim to understand the causes of anorexia nervosa). So, as an afterthought to my post above, a countdown is a dumb idea. The only way it might work would be to rank the artists in order of their chart performance only.

By the way, some earlier posts here listed some appropriate songs for Memorial Day. Today I heard a couple good ones, but they're country hits and not pop... "More Than A Name On A Wall" by the Statler Brothers, and "Riding With Private Malone" by David Ball.

 

[firepoint525]

I've often thought it might be a neat idea for Memorial Day to have a countdown of artists who've left us before their time... a tribute to those who died way too young, but then I wonder if that would be in poor taste (I don't know).

The countdown would feature artists like Elvis, John Lennon, George Harrison, Karen Carpenter, Mama Cass, John Denver, Eddie Rabbitt, Rick Nelson, Dan Fogelberg, Andy Gibb, Dusty Springfield, Sonny Bono, Jim Croce, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Otis Redding, Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Darin, Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Roy Orbison, Marty Robbins, Conway Twitty, Roger Miller, Sam Cooke, Barry Sadler, Barbara Cowsill, Mary Wells, Tammi Terrell, Oliver, Sammi Smith, Bobbi Martin, Minnie Riperton, Laura Branigan, Harry Nilsson, Eddie Kendricks, Van McCoy, Freddie Mercury, Michael Hutchence, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Big Bopper, Keith Moon & John Entwistle.....

These are just some that come to mind right now... I'm sure if you dig deep enough with some research, you could come up with so many more. This could make quite an interesting program, especially hearing about some forgotten artists you don't hear about anymore. But again, I don't know if audiences would find this morbid and depressing.

A great idea.........................but probably better suited for satellite radio. Lightning will strike the tower of any terrestrial radio station that plays music from the '50s, and there are a few artists from that era on your list.

Actually, you would want to edit the artist list somewhat. You wouldn't want to include artists who pretty much caused their own deaths (Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, etc). That would be disrespectful to those who died fighting for our country.

Not only that, but I would say that for many on that list, especially the ones who lived into their 50s or even 60s, many of those died of natural causes. So we can't really say that they died "too young" or "before their time."