(This zombie still has some life in it.)
R.E.M. after Automatic for the People.
Gotta second Bill Cosby.
WE HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU BILL!!!
As much as I love Electric Light Orchestra, Roy Orbison should have passed before Jeff Lynne got his mitts on him. George Harrison–same reason.
I disagree with the guy above who said “Sting”. I like practically all of Sting’s stuff.
How about Michael Jordan, before he joined the Wizards?
Tom Clancy if he had died in 1993 instead of 2013. His early books were great.
Ronald Reagan
Eric Clapton would still be God if he died in 1970
Neil Young in 1977:
Just after he sang “It’s better to burn out than it is to rust.”
You do know that Bill Berry almost died twice when he was in the band - Rocky Mountain spotted fever in 1989 (yes, it was from a bizarre gardening accident) and an onstage brain aneurysm in 1995 (the drummer exploded onstage).
He left the band in 1997; the group itself disbanded in 2011 and Berry himself just turned 57 last month.
How about Nirvana?
Oh, yeah.
Sinatra after his collaboration with Jobim. Ozzie after Sabotage. Pryor after his second standup film. PeeWee before masturbating and of course Hitler before invading the USSR 
And really have to disagree about Sting. Watch that 1985 film…its awesome. Check out the live vid for Burn for You. Its amazing thank you Omar Hakim…I’d link but I’m on my phone.
I missed this thread the first time around, it’s an interesting topic.
I’d suggest Peter Frampton in the mid 70’s. Not that he’s done anything to tarnish his reputation that I’m aware of, but I sure thought he’d do more than he has.
Eddie Wilson.
God, after creating the Earth & Adam and Eve - think of all the squabbling that wouldn’t have happened.
(just kidding God, I love your work, past and present and what you’re working on for the future)
Count me in as well. I can actually take or leave Achtung Baby myself, but I recognize it’s a great, important album.
Absolutely. It’s easy to forget how kind of revered Cosby was right up until the dam broke. I remember other comedians talking about seeing him touring standup (well, usually sit-down at that point, but still) in 2012 or so, when he was still doing shows, and talking about how he’s still got it, he’s a legend, etc.
You wish *death *on Woody Allen? A bit harsh, don’t you think?
OK, I know, that’s not at all what you said. And I am sorry, but this whole thing has been grating on me for a while. Not picking on you in particular, it was just the last straw. Can we all just ease off the poor guy a bit?
My problem with Woody is that for some reason he thinks that he has to make a movie every year. That leads to a lot of forgettable movies. Woody, how about taking your time on a really good one instead?
But I suppose that it’s his end of the agreement that he made with the Devil, back when he negotiated for the inspiration to make* Annie Hall* and Manhattan.
I won’t hit you, I was thinking the same thing. Another deal with the Devil situation. Didn’t Bob get the inspiration for his early career as part of a deal, where in return he pledged to tour constantly for the next five hundred years? I believe that I’ve heard him say something to that effect in interviews.
Sometimes I make up an imaginary version of the world to improve on the real one, where Bob doesn’t die in that crash in 1966, but retires, and becomes a recluse in some unknown location. Many years later, maybe just about now, he sends one letter. Probably to some unknown scholar at some university, who has written a book of analysis of his music. He invites the scholar to come visit him. Just before the dude arrives, Bob dies from old age. It turns out that this whole time, he has been making music. He had left instructions to have it all destroyed, and his wife (who turns out to be Joni Mitchell, who in this version went missing in the seventies, and joined Bob in his hideout) and a crew of Oompa Loompas that he has been keeping around, destroy it all in a fire. It was mostly crap, but no one ever gets to know. Well, they destroy almost all of it. The scholar manages to pull one album out from the blaze: Blood on the Tracks.
The Rolling Stones, after Exile on Main St.
Woody Allen right after Love and Death. But it could have been any time after Bananas. Woody was a comedian. Ever since he thought he was obligated to be an artist he has been a failure at it. The movies aren’t even funny anymore.
BTW, I actually have a theory that it wasn’t the Devil in either of those cases, but Loki, pretending to be the Devil. Loki seems more like the kind of guy of who would trick the muses out of a bag of divine inspiration in a bet, and then make deals for it with a bunch of poor artists and performers, just for the shits and giggles.
…
Wait, there’s a movie script in here somewhere…
Au contraire. even a so-called “bad” Woody Allen film is better than most of the stuff that gets put out there. I am extremely grateful he puts out one a year, and he has many, many really good ones.
:dubious:
Of course, I’m the guy who found Interiors to be a load of giggles.
Not to derail this into a Woody Allen thread.
Peter Frampton is still a monster on guitar. I have a fairly recent live DVD of his (granted, it is heavy on his greatest hits) but he can still rip on guitar and sing well enough.