Music's Tragedies

[Harry]

I was just directed to this Comcast page which "ranks" the biggest tragedies in music.

Karen Carpenter ranks 20th on this somewhat gruesome list.

http://www.comcast.net/slideshow/music-tragedies/1/

Harry

 

[goodjeans]

...considering all of Carpenter's #1's, this to me ranks as the #1 biggest tragedy in music.

 

[Actorman]

I think this is just a list as opposed to an actual "top 20" ranking of tragedies. Otherwise, I don't see how Aaliyah and Lisa Lopes would have been ranked higher than Elvis, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and some of the other true legends (like Karen) on the list.

If I had to create a list like that with actual rankings, I think that murders (John Lennon, Selena, Marvin Gaye) would probably be most tragic, followed by accidental (Buddy Holly, Sonny Bono, Lynryd Skynyrd), then health related (Karen Carpenter, Cass Elliot, Freddie Mercury), then drug related (Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison) and lastly suicide (Cobain). Not that you can really put a heirarchy on that sort of thing but that at least puts some type of logic to that type of list.

However, if we're talking personally... I totally agree with goodjeans. Karen's loss was without a doubt the biggest musical tragedy in my world!

 

[Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar]

He only had one big hit, but I would add Bill Chase in there some where. He to was in a plane crash. j

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I agree with the consensus. Her death was almost seismic to me. I remember seeing that People magazine cover after I'd come in from playing out in the snow. Truly awful...

Ed

 

[Mr Bill]

The "Tragedy List" seems to be missing my #1 tragedy: Rap Music

--Mr Bill
won't someone put the "C" back in front of that category's name???

 

[goodjeans]

Her death was almost seismic to me

...and there is the appropriate adjective.

 

[Dave]

...#1 Tragedy: Rap Music...!

Won't someone put the "C" back in front of that category's name???

I'm surprised that you didn't, as I've usually seen you do...! o-\'▾'/-o



Funny how it was a mere two years before Karen's passing when I had actually discovered, listened to, appreciated, and bought Carpenters songs, at least what I could find on '45' at the time... (In that order, too, as they were regularly "playing on the radio", as in the way they were quoting that line in "Yesterday Once More"...!) And of course, the flashbacks to hearing them years ago before then when they had just come out, though I was far from being record-buying age at the time...

Hence "We've Only Just Begun", "For All We Know", "Yesterday", "Hurting Each Other", "Rainy Days & Mondays", "(They Long To Be) Close To You" and my mom's copy of "Top Of The World" made it into my collection of what were at first just '45's, before getting into albums a few years later...

As I've said before, it was quite sad to discover what the next two years would hold, after this joyful discovery of their music...!



Dave

 

[nightcat]

I agree with Actorman that unexpected deaths (murders, accidents, etc) should rank higher than suicides and deaths related to ill advised lifestyles or bad heath habits. I believe the John Lennon murder or the Buddy Holly plane crash should be number one. Lennon was part of the most popular band ever and the plane crash killed multiple stars.

I think Karen Carpenter's death should rank higher than Janis Joplin, Sid Vicious, Sonny Bono and others. However, I believe Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix should rank higher than Karen Carpenter.

The list in general is awful. Who are Aaliyah and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes ??!! To be honest, I don't know who Elliot Smith is either. If this is rap, hip hop or country, then its appropriate that I never heard of these artists. Does everyone else in this forum know Lisa "left eye" Lopes ?? I am also shocked that John Coltrane is not somewhere on this list. Has Elliot Smith really contributed more to the music world that Coltrane? And finally, on my personal top 20 list, I would have included Eddie Costa and Scott LaFaro. Certainly they wasn't as well known as these other musicians, but the loss of these outstanding young jazz musicians certainly was tragic.

Jim Croce would be another name to consider.

 

[goodjeans]

Karen Carpenter's death was 'unexpected' to many of her devoted fans, including myself as we were kept in the dark regarding her illness. Back then I followed their career very closely and except for their appearance on the Merv Griffith Show when I thought she looked 'model' thin still didn't know that she was seriously ill.

 

[thetijuanataxi]

How about Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Hank Williams Sr., Wes Montgomery, Laura Branigan, Bobby Darin, Keith Whitley, Clifford Brown, Nicolette Larson, Minnie Ripperton, O.C. Smith, Otis Redding and someone we all know here, Ervan "Bud" Coleman. Any of these are far more significant than Left Eye Lopez or Elliot Chase as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Dave]

Tommy Boyce, Paul Desmond and Phil Ochs, too...! o-\'•'/-o



Dave