# Reviving Dead Performers -- \ **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691 "2012-05-02T22:09:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/1 "2012-05-02T22:09:31Z")
Based on responses and votes in – [Which dead performer(s) would you bring back to life?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=649932) – which has received – **Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 102** – at the time of this post and which – **This poll will close on 05-28-2012 at 08:28 AM** , – here are the top 23 names from votes and write-ins for a second round of voting. **This time please limit your votes to THREE in the public poll that follows.** Although I’m leaving off a specific “Other” in this new poll please feel free to list other names here or in that other thread. If the situation warrants it, we may have another follow-up poll later. For further details on the origin of this idea, see Post #4 in that other thread. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/2 "2012-05-02T22:52:01Z")
Zappa and Hendrix are gimmes for me. The third choice is a bit of a toss-up. As a major Beatles fan, I have a hard time not giving a nod to John and/or George, but I decided to go by the logic of a 27-year-old Janis Joplin at the peak of her career being a more vital prospect than the past-their-prime, semi-retired ex-Beatles. As I mentioned in the other thread, John Coltrane, Captain Beefheart, Eric Dolphy, and Sandy Denny come to mind before anyone else on this list. Anyway, bring back John Lennon and he’s likely to say, “Christ, after five years out of the business I pop me head up _once_ and look what they do to me! Buggered if _I’m_ ever making another album!” ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/3 "2012-05-03T01:12:41Z")
It seemed like such a fun poll that I didn’t read your very large and bold sentence of only choosing 3 until after I chose more than that :smack: ☹ Sorry. Can a mod erase a user’s poll choices? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/4 "2012-05-03T01:40:49Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > It seemed like such a fun poll that I didn’t read your very large and bold sentence of only choosing 3 until after I chose more than that :smack: ☹ > > Sorry. Can a mod erase a user’s poll choices? Not to worry! It’ll come out in the wash. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/5 "2012-05-03T02:07:49Z")
First two choices were easy for Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa. Both had a lot to contribute. After that the choices are tough between Lennon and Joplin, with some consideration for Harrison and Morrison. I picked Lennon as having the greatest talent as a composer, even though I wasn’t too keen on what he was doing at the time of his death. Given 30 more years, who knows what turns his career might have taken. Joplin was more of a performer than a composer. While she might have produced some great personal performances, her influence on music would probably have been less than Lennon’s. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/6 "2012-05-03T02:32:47Z")
Even without a sort it’s easy to tell this early that unseating Hendrix and Lennon will be a tough job. Narrowing the choices to three makes it much harder to be choosy over your favorites. Unless there’s some major movement or some massive write-in campaign for somebody not in this list, I’d expect this to be the last poll on this topic. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/7 "2012-05-03T02:59:16Z")
Due to a total failure to read carefully, dumbguy here failed to limit his choices to 3: sincere apologies. Remove one vote each from Zappa, Lennon, Cobain, and Morrison. I voted for those that I don’t feel had a good enough go at life, who had a lot more to contribute I think. Hendrix because I feel he was just starting to move on from his look-what-I-can-do phase, Buckley because genius deserves at least two albums, and Holly because that would change the entire future of rock’n’roll, I think for the better. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/8 "2012-05-03T03:02:08Z")
Croce, Joplin and Mercury for me. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/9 "2012-05-03T03:09:49Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Due to a total failure to read carefully, dumbguy here failed to limit his choices to 3: sincere apologies. Remove one vote each from Zappa, Lennon, Cobain, and Morrison. > > I voted for those that I don’t feel had a good enough go at life, who had a lot more to contribute I think. Hendrix because I feel he was just starting to move on from his look-what-I-can-do phase, Buckley because genius deserves at least two albums, and Holly because that would change the entire future of rock’n’roll, I think for the better. In case it should come down to a close vote on those folks, I’ll keep this in mind. But as I mentioned to **sparky!** , that oversight ought not to sway the main outcome too much. Thanks for the explanation, though. The main purpose in having this a “public poll” is to be able to spot such misfires. So if it does get to be an issue, there will be that sort of recourse. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/10 "2012-05-05T20:26:24Z")
It took quite some time for the Voter count to get to 30. Here are sorted summaries of both threads: ```auto View Poll Results: Who would you bring back to life (limit 5)? This poll will close on 05-28-2012 at 08:28 AM John Lennon 65 59.09% Jimi Hendrix 52 47.27% George Harrison 33 30.00% Johnny Cash 30 27.27% Janis Joplin 26 23.64% Elvis Presley 26 23.64% Kurt Cobain 17 15.45% Michael Jackson 17 15.45% Ray Charles 16 14.55% Bob Marley 15 13.64% Frank Sinatra 14 12.73% Miles Davis 10 9.09% Tupac Shakur 7 6.36% James Brown 5 4.55% Isaac Hayes 3 2.73% Whitney Houston 3 2.73% Luther Vandross 3 2.73% Biggie Smalls 2 1.82% Tammy Wynette 1 0.91% DJ AM 0 0% Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 110 ``` +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ```auto View Poll Results: Which dead performer(s) would you bring back to life? [Limit 3] This poll will close on 06-01-2012 at 05:14 PM John Lennon 19 63.33% Jimi Hendrix 12 40.00% Freddie Mercury 9 30.00% <=== George Harrison 6 20.00% Jim Croce 5 16.67% <=== Frank Zappa 5 16.67% <=== Buddy Holly 4 13.33% <=== Janis Joplin 4 13.33% Bob Marley 4 13.33% Warren Zevon 4 13.33% <=== Keith Moon 3 10.00% <=== Jim Morrison 3 10.00% <=== Frank Sinatra 3 10.00% Duane Allman 2 6.67% <=== Kurt Cobain 2 6.67% Stevie Ray Vaughan 2 6.67% <=== Jeff Buckley 1 3.33% <=== Johnny Cash 1 3.33% Ray Charles 1 3.33% Patsy Cline 1 3.33% <=== John Entwistle 1 3.33% <=== Elvis Presley 0 0% Michael Jackson 0 0% Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 30 <=== = Write-ins from original thread ``` ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/11 "2012-05-05T20:36:49Z")
Tough to pick only 3. Lennon and Sinatra were my easy picks but Marley won out over Hendrix and Vaughan. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/12 "2012-05-06T07:22:51Z")
Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, and Duane Allman. They all died young, and I think they all had a lot left to give us. I was thinking the other day about some all-day oldies concerts I used to go to that had many talented, but past their radio shelf-life, performers. A full day jam-packed with great music and fun. That led to thoughts about performers who had died young, particularly Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and Jimi Hendrix, and about how each would have aged, and what they might have created had their lives not been cut short. What would have become of Buddy Holly, by all accounts a tremendously creative and talented man? Then there’s the live-performance possibilities: Imagine Stevie Ray Vaughan getting a chance to trade licks with Jimi on stage! Duane and Jimi together. . . man, now I has a sad. Terry Kath also deserves mention on a poll such as this. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reviving-dead-performers-second-pass/620691/13 "2012-05-07T14:54:58Z")
After 40 Voters have selected: ```auto =========================================== View Poll Results: Which dead performer(s) would you bring back to life? [Limit 3] This poll will close on 06-01-2012 at 05:14 PM John Lennon 23 57.50% Jimi Hendrix 18 45.00% Freddie Mercury 10 25.00% Buddy Holly 7 17.50% Jim Croce 6 15.00% George Harrison 6 15.00% Janis Joplin 6 15.00% Frank Zappa 6 15.00% Kurt Cobain 5 12.50% Bob Marley 5 12.50% Warren Zevon 5 12.50% Duane Allman 4 10.00% Jim Morrison 4 10.00% Stevie Ray Vaughan 4 10.00% Keith Moon 3 7.50% Frank Sinatra 3 7.50% Jeff Buckley 1 2.50% Johnny Cash 1 2.50% Ray Charles 1 2.50% Patsy Cline 1 2.50% John Entwistle 1 2.50% Michael Jackson 0 0% Elvis Presley 0 0% Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 40 ```