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This week’s question is a mouthful, I know. But one perk of how wordy it is is that it requires no additional explanation.
What one dead musical act would you have a necromancer resurrect so you could see them perform live (and why)?
I’m truly torn here between three different acts that I love for very different reasons and which have all brought me huge amounts of joy in my life: Bing Crosby, Queen, and David Bowie.
Yes, Queen technically still exists, but I’d want to see the original line-up - which would probably mean trading one of my kid’s souls to Mephisto to bring Freddie Mercury back to the land of the living. As for which of these acts I would ultimately choose, I think the only honest answer I could give is how I feel today. That means Queen, since its arena shows are legendary at any point in their career.
If I went with Bowie, it would have to be mid-’70s Bowie, preferably before he headed to Berlin.
And as for Bing…well, I’d take him anytime between 39 and, say, 60. Thirty-nine because that’s the year he first recorded “White Christmas”, which I’d want to see him close the night out with during a Christmastime performance. After 60, his stage performances began to wane in quality.
So, friends, what have you got for me? Be sure to read others’ responses and dig deeper into them with the posters.
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Instead of a band, I thinking the lineup for what's now called The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World in March 1967 (Ellington, Fitzgerald, Hawkins, Peterson, Walker, and on and on). If I answer the question as you meant it, I agree with those saying The Doors, maybe Prince, and while not exactly dead, certainly won't be resurrected - The Beatles.
I've seen Queen 3 times with Adam Lambert as lead, because he's one of my favorite singers. Seeing the original Queen with Freddie, just once, would be neat too.
My answer is The Beatles. I fell in love with the band almost 29 years ago thanks to the Anthology. I've even had the privilege of crossing Abbey Road and seeing other Beatle sites in person, but I was born in the wrong decade. Many times I've imagined myself seeing them perform live; and enjoying the music, not screaming.
Hmm, well, this is a tough one since my taste in music spans too many genres, most especially because my father was a huge jazz, big-band/swing junkie. So I had the immense privilege to see a few "deadset legends" as the Aussies say, including Dizzy Gillespie and the Count Basie band with Frank Foster and Billy Eckstine. So, if I reach that far back I'd say Ella Fitzgerald or Benny Goodman. Fast forward to Prince!
I also saw Miles Davis play his red trumpet in 1985 at the Amnesty International concert in the Meadowlands. That was pretty fantastic! When I think of seeing the Beatles or The Who, as much as I like rock and roll, I think of huge, raucous crowds. Nowadays, I just prefer to hear the artist's music and feel their hearts in an intimate setting.
Exactly. I want to watch fingers dance across an instrument, not a giant screen showing me what I can't see. Also, I just saw that you became a paid subscriber - THANK YOU for helping to keep the lights on here at 5AM STORYTALK!
Happy to help keep the lights on down under! I know how challenging it is to be a freelance writer/artist/creative. I have an MFA in creative writing and studied with two phenomenal writers, Robert Olen Butler and Ernest J. Gaines. I have many unfinished stories and scripts and a couple of finished ones. Used to be a daily newspaper reporter and a freelance writer. I just couldn't figure out how to survive by writing. Now I'm paid even less as a full-time Zen Buddhist priest living in a monastery! However, the writing habit just won't quit me. I'm slowly chipping away at a graphic memoir that I'm calling Zen Ate My Life. LMK if you know any rockin' illustrators. I'm trying to finish the book proposal or at least enough of it to get an illustrator interested. And check out my Spark Zen substack. It's memoir infused Zen. Gotta go meditate! Sending some peace from the monastic valley
One can only hope the meditation and monastic life is better for your mental health than the chaotic uncertainty of a freelancer's life. That said, I don't think I'd have it any other way. I'm heading over to Spark Zen now!
Honestly not sure any of these folx are dead but if Pere Ubu does a reunion tour I will cross continents and hand cash over fist for the opportunity to see them live.
Although seeing the whole of Led Zeppelin fulfills a childhood dream, the chance to see the Doors at Whisky a Go Go when they were the house band(!?)... yeah, that's probably the top spot right there.
I think the one I'd resurrect would be Jimi Hendrix.
But if I could borrow a TARDIS and go back to any specific performance, I'd go to the first performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Because it's the greatest music ever written, and because I want to see if it's true that he was so deaf by then that his friends had to get him to turn round so he could see the audience applauding.
If I've got to sell my soul, I'd like to pick the specific gig; Roy Orbison's Black and White Night, please! But I'd also be extremely tempted by an Elvis Vegas dinner show.
Frank Zappa. When I was at college at Syracuse University in the 80s, he was scheduled to give a concert at USA Sam's, a large bar/club in the city. I was a weird kid, and already enjoyed Zappa by the time I was 14 (late 70s) -- his lyrics were fun, but his music was unusual and spectacular. Zappa canceled the concert about 3 days before the event. I got my money back, but to this day it's the only concert in my life I genuinely regret not getting to see and hear. Honestly, with his improvisational musical skill and the amazing bands he put together (Steve Vai, Terry and Dale Bozzio) I'd ask him to play me a few concerts with different band members to salve my disappointment.
So many, but I would gladly trade an organ to see Giuni Russo. She was an opera-trained Italian singer who became famous with a synth-pop summer hit but had an impressive range of genres. She died way too young in the early 2000s.
There's a Bowie Biography by Dylan Jones based on a bunch of interviews. Enjoyable, gave a real feel for his life and process, great section on Live Aid where Bowie and Queen collaborated. The Bowie Bing Christmas collaboration is wonderful and everyone should revisit. My resurrection pick would be Frank Zappa. Late in life, he was early and often commenting on artistic freedom. Our current moment would be an interesting one for him to drop into.
There's so many. I was a little too young (and had overprotective parents) to have seen Nirvana or Soundgarden or Alice in Chains in their heyday, even thought grunge was hugely influential on me. I wish I could have see Wu-Tang Clan before ODB died. I wish I could have seen the Sex Pistols on their shitshow of a US tour. Or maybe the MC5 at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit.
But, my answer to this question is always the same, and it's The Doors. Specifically the early era, say self-titled/Strange Days era Doors before Jim got completely fucked up.
Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers was a legendary nightclub act. There is very little evidence of it. I would also love to see Fred and Adele Astaire dancing together onstage. Again, no footage (ha!) survives.
The Doors
Nina Simone - in a small jazz club. Smoky and intimate.
That would be amazing!
Great choice.
Instead of a band, I thinking the lineup for what's now called The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World in March 1967 (Ellington, Fitzgerald, Hawkins, Peterson, Walker, and on and on). If I answer the question as you meant it, I agree with those saying The Doors, maybe Prince, and while not exactly dead, certainly won't be resurrected - The Beatles.
TUPAC
Run DMC with Jam Master Jay still alive, playing material from Raising Hell, King of Rock, Tougher Than Leather.
I've seen Queen 3 times with Adam Lambert as lead, because he's one of my favorite singers. Seeing the original Queen with Freddie, just once, would be neat too.
My answer is The Beatles. I fell in love with the band almost 29 years ago thanks to the Anthology. I've even had the privilege of crossing Abbey Road and seeing other Beatle sites in person, but I was born in the wrong decade. Many times I've imagined myself seeing them perform live; and enjoying the music, not screaming.
I saw Queen with Lambert in LA. As a Mercury fan, it was...surreal. But also, nice.
Amy Winehouse
Yes! I’d have loved to have seen her performance with The Specials in particular.
Prince, The Beatles, and I agree with you on Queen
Woody Guthrie
Yeah, I expect this would've been amazing.
I’d really want to bring him, Pete Seeger, and Phil Ochs on tour
Jimi Hendrix Experience…all gone now😥💙☮️
James Brown.
Great pick.
Hmm, well, this is a tough one since my taste in music spans too many genres, most especially because my father was a huge jazz, big-band/swing junkie. So I had the immense privilege to see a few "deadset legends" as the Aussies say, including Dizzy Gillespie and the Count Basie band with Frank Foster and Billy Eckstine. So, if I reach that far back I'd say Ella Fitzgerald or Benny Goodman. Fast forward to Prince!
It's remarkable how much I'd prefer to see jazz artists like these than a lot of the bigger bands others have cited. Probably just where I am in life.
I also saw Miles Davis play his red trumpet in 1985 at the Amnesty International concert in the Meadowlands. That was pretty fantastic! When I think of seeing the Beatles or The Who, as much as I like rock and roll, I think of huge, raucous crowds. Nowadays, I just prefer to hear the artist's music and feel their hearts in an intimate setting.
Exactly. I want to watch fingers dance across an instrument, not a giant screen showing me what I can't see. Also, I just saw that you became a paid subscriber - THANK YOU for helping to keep the lights on here at 5AM STORYTALK!
Happy to help keep the lights on down under! I know how challenging it is to be a freelance writer/artist/creative. I have an MFA in creative writing and studied with two phenomenal writers, Robert Olen Butler and Ernest J. Gaines. I have many unfinished stories and scripts and a couple of finished ones. Used to be a daily newspaper reporter and a freelance writer. I just couldn't figure out how to survive by writing. Now I'm paid even less as a full-time Zen Buddhist priest living in a monastery! However, the writing habit just won't quit me. I'm slowly chipping away at a graphic memoir that I'm calling Zen Ate My Life. LMK if you know any rockin' illustrators. I'm trying to finish the book proposal or at least enough of it to get an illustrator interested. And check out my Spark Zen substack. It's memoir infused Zen. Gotta go meditate! Sending some peace from the monastic valley
One can only hope the meditation and monastic life is better for your mental health than the chaotic uncertainty of a freelancer's life. That said, I don't think I'd have it any other way. I'm heading over to Spark Zen now!
Velvet Underground & Nico (rub shoulders with Andy Warhol in the audience?)
Chester Bennington from LINKIN PARK
INXS
Bob Marley
The Ramones
The Doors
I saw INXS during their "Kick" tour in the USA when I was in college They were fabulous.
Honestly not sure any of these folx are dead but if Pere Ubu does a reunion tour I will cross continents and hand cash over fist for the opportunity to see them live.
Also wouldn't mind seeing Sonic Youth.
Although seeing the whole of Led Zeppelin fulfills a childhood dream, the chance to see the Doors at Whisky a Go Go when they were the house band(!?)... yeah, that's probably the top spot right there.
Marc Bolan. I really felt he went too soon.
God I'd give a lot to see T-Rex live.
I think the one I'd resurrect would be Jimi Hendrix.
But if I could borrow a TARDIS and go back to any specific performance, I'd go to the first performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Because it's the greatest music ever written, and because I want to see if it's true that he was so deaf by then that his friends had to get him to turn round so he could see the audience applauding.
I love that you went with Beethoven!
Otis Redding. I’d love to see him perform These Arms of Mine, I’ve Been Loving You Too Long and Cigarettes and Coffee.
Great pick!
If I've got to sell my soul, I'd like to pick the specific gig; Roy Orbison's Black and White Night, please! But I'd also be extremely tempted by an Elvis Vegas dinner show.
I think I would've loved to see one of Elvis's Vegas shows with my mum. I wish I'd ever been able to share something like that with her.
I’d like to take my dad to see Elvis.
Frank Zappa. When I was at college at Syracuse University in the 80s, he was scheduled to give a concert at USA Sam's, a large bar/club in the city. I was a weird kid, and already enjoyed Zappa by the time I was 14 (late 70s) -- his lyrics were fun, but his music was unusual and spectacular. Zappa canceled the concert about 3 days before the event. I got my money back, but to this day it's the only concert in my life I genuinely regret not getting to see and hear. Honestly, with his improvisational musical skill and the amazing bands he put together (Steve Vai, Terry and Dale Bozzio) I'd ask him to play me a few concerts with different band members to salve my disappointment.
Sorry that you missed that concert! I'm friends with his son. In fact, we sold two projects to Sony together.
His name is Prince. And he was funky.
He was indeed.
Ron Koslow
Elvis - Pan Pacific Auditorium, 1957... When he was still a rocker. It remains the best I've ever seen.
Definitely The Beatles, but I'm 69, and lucky enough to have seen a lot of my idols perform before they died.
Nirvana. Yeah, only one of them is dead, but he was a fairly important member of the musical group.
So many, but I would gladly trade an organ to see Giuni Russo. She was an opera-trained Italian singer who became famous with a synth-pop summer hit but had an impressive range of genres. She died way too young in the early 2000s.
Harry Chapin, Buddy Holly
The Who, with Keith Moon. I was 11 years too late, the first time I saw them.
Yes!
Queen, the Supremes, and Harry Chapin-- that last bc I had TICKETS to see him before he died
Vladimir Horowitz. I had tickets to see him in Philadelphia. And then, as he often did, Horowitz canceled. He died before I had another chance.
Hendrix or Prince. I really cannot decide.
Scott Walker
Leonard Cohen
Jimmy Buffet
Kinky Friedman
Hank Williams
Nirvana
Queen
Bob Marley
Selena
There's a Bowie Biography by Dylan Jones based on a bunch of interviews. Enjoyable, gave a real feel for his life and process, great section on Live Aid where Bowie and Queen collaborated. The Bowie Bing Christmas collaboration is wonderful and everyone should revisit. My resurrection pick would be Frank Zappa. Late in life, he was early and often commenting on artistic freedom. Our current moment would be an interesting one for him to drop into.
Tim, I just posted a note (yesterday) about that Jones book: https://substack.com/@colehaddon/note/c-77072970?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=1mimd1
And I've written about the Bowie/Bing collaboration here: https://colehaddon.substack.com/p/one-surreal-christmas-day-in-1977?utm_source=publication-search
The Bowie-Bing rendition of the Little Drummer Boy is the freakin' best!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCpXMy5GalI
As I just mentioned to Tim, I've actually written about this collaboration here at 5AM STORYTALK: https://colehaddon.substack.com/p/one-surreal-christmas-day-in-1977?utm_source=publication-search
I saw that the night it aired on Bing’s special! It remains my favorite Christmas song to this day.
There's so many. I was a little too young (and had overprotective parents) to have seen Nirvana or Soundgarden or Alice in Chains in their heyday, even thought grunge was hugely influential on me. I wish I could have see Wu-Tang Clan before ODB died. I wish I could have seen the Sex Pistols on their shitshow of a US tour. Or maybe the MC5 at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit.
But, my answer to this question is always the same, and it's The Doors. Specifically the early era, say self-titled/Strange Days era Doors before Jim got completely fucked up.
Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers was a legendary nightclub act. There is very little evidence of it. I would also love to see Fred and Adele Astaire dancing together onstage. Again, no footage (ha!) survives.
I’d like to see the sensational Alex Harvey band.