Just some music / pop culture WI's

[Lemon flavoured]

Just a few things that came into my head, with some thoughts of my own:

WI some religious lunatic murdered Madonna in the 80's during her "Sex" phase?

I think if she'd died in that period then you lose a lot of the music that was influenced by her (Presumably no Lady Gaga lol).

WI Courtney Love, rather than Kurt Cobain, had died in '94?

I personally don't see Kurt staying in music if Courtney dies, he'd probably have become a recluse.

WI Michael Jackson is found guilty of child abuse (either occasion)?

I can see a Gary Glitter style vilification, maybe not as strong.

WI Princess Diana survived the car accident, but was paralysed from the waist down?

Maybe she takes up the cause of disabled people's rights?

WI the Britney and JT car accident story wasn't a hoax (and they both died)?

As with Madonna it removes a musical influence (albeit not such a great one) Maybe Xtina takes Britney's place as poster child for a generation.

 

[Metalicon]

Just a few things that came into my head, with some thoughts of my own:

WI some religious lunatic murdered Madonna in the 80's during her "Sex" phase?

I think if she'd died in that period then you lose a lot of the music that was influenced by her (Presumably no Lady Gaga lol).

Then we won't have to hear Poker Face on the radio over and over again!

WI Courtney Love, rather than Kurt Cobain, had died in '94?

I personally don't see Kurt staying in music if Courtney dies, he'd probably have become a recluse.

Nirvana's popularity declines as was happening before Cobain's death and they become insignificant by the late 90's. Both of them were pretty sub-standard musically, but in this case, at least the one with no semblance whatsoever of natural talent would be wiped out.

WI Michael Jackson is found guilty of child abuse (either occasion)?

I can see a Gary Glitter style vilification, maybe not as strong.

If 1993, no subsequent albums after Dangerous or at least anything selling at a platinum rate. Anything after HIStory or the other album wouldn't make much of a difference as his career was in serious decline by the late 90's.

Here's one:

What if the Canadian courts decide to throw the book at Keith Richards for his Toronto heroin bust of 1977 and he ends up getting a long sentence for it instead of being able to rejoin the Stones that is if they even continue. I say an earlier Mick Jagger solo career .

 

[Unknown]

Here's two, both involving the Beach Boys:

WI Brian Wilson doesn't have a breakdown and manages to release Smile in 1967 (note: there is a timeline with this premise at othertimelines.ipbfree.com)?

WI the Beach Boys don't cancel their performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967?

 

[Lemon flavoured]

What if the Canadian courts decide to throw the book at Keith Richards for his Toronto heroin bust of 1977 and he ends up getting a long sentence for it instead of being able to rejoin the Stones that is if they even continue. I say an earlier Mick Jagger solo career .

That is definitely an interesting one. A early Jagger solo career could have gone either way (awesome, or dire).

 

[Panzerfaust04]

WI Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone was never released in 1966? IOTL, it came extremely close to getting scrapped due to marketing not liking the length, and the track was only released after someone at the studio brought an acetate to a club and it was a smash hit. One thing that I can be pretty sure of is that it'd take longer for the era of the three minute single to end. After the six minute Like A Rolling Stone hit it big, far more artists and studios were willing to experiment with singles that went beyond the usual pop standard of three minutes. I don't imagine it would have taken THAT much longer to figure out that longer singles can be successful, but it probably would have taken another extremely successful artist for a studio to take that risk.

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

WI Ed Sullivan didn't book the Beatles for 1964? Considering it came pretty close to not happening...

 

[Lemon flavoured]

WI Ed Sullivan didn't book the Beatles for 1964? Considering it came pretty close to not happening...

That's obviously one of the biggest WI's in music.

 

[Emperor Norton I]

• Brian Epstein doesn't Overdose and remain manager of the Beatles.
• Pete Best is retained as Beatles drummer.
• Decca signs the Beatles.
• Paul McCartney is indeed killed in one of his mid-60's accidents.
• Rock dies off (since, before the Beatles, the rock scene had cooled down. Jerry Lee Lewis was a pariah for marrying his cousin, Elvis was doing films, Little Richard was going religious, and Buddy Holly et al. had been killed, so the scene was become more about corporatized acts and was winding down)
• Punk fails to take off, thus avoiding the post-punk musical transition, and the first great divide between rock generation.
• George Harrison quits the Beatles in 1966 after the Candlestick Park concert.
• John Lennon quits the Beatles in the mid-60's.

 

[loneranger]

Nirvana's popularity declines as was happening before Cobain's death and they become insignificant by the late 90's. Both of them were pretty sub-standard musically, but in this case, at least the one with no semblance whatsoever of natural talent would be wiped out.

Woah, woah, woah! Quite a bit of anger there!
Anyways, here's how I see it going:
Nirvana hangs together until about 1996, then splits due to "creative differences", Kurt starts a solo career (and probably fades out of the scene, once his little girl starts growing older), Grohl is up in the air, he might try to start a new band, he could be playing any of the instruments really, and most of the current Foos line-up didn't join until 1997 (and 1999) so we might see the Foos go OTL. Not really sure what Novoselic would do, I haven't looked much into him after the Nirvana period. Kurt will probably do some sporadic tours with other bands, occasionally coming out and singing with them (ala Chris Cornell), but I foresee him leaving the business sometime in the early Noughties and just trying to raise his daughter (who might end up being a musician himself).

Also, the world rejoices that one of it's worst musicians has been killed, and the band [Ass-]Hole will be disbanded, most likely.*

 

[wilcoxchar]

What if The Little Mermaid wasn't released around the same time as All Dogs Go to Heaven (actually, they were released in theatres on the same day)? This is usually cited as the reason for the latter not meeting Don Bluth's target returns at the box office. If it did better, might we have had sequels that Bluth was actually involved with? And would it start a trend of darker animated movies in the 1990s?

 

[Kate]

Glimpses by Lewis Shiner has several AH classic rock scenarios. Most of them have ironic, bizarre, and disturbing twists. Brian Wilson gets wild acclaim for Smile, but because of this he looses his social support network and commits suicide, im Morrison stays w/the doors longer, makes the best album of his career, then kills a homeless person in a drunken driving rampage. Hendrix survives his incident, but then gets hit by a car in New York a week later.

Sorry to be so depressing.

 

[AltSptHst]

Rhoads

1. What if Randy Rhoads didn't die in 1982 in the helicopter incident?

2. What if Saturday Night Fever wasn't a success in late 1977-Early 1978?

3. What if JFK served two terms? Does the Hippie culture become as popular as it was?

 

[PhilKearny]

1. What if didn't die in 1982 in the helicopter incident?

An increase in the production of bad music.

2. What if Saturday Night Fever wasn't a success in late 1977-Early 1978?

A decrease in the popularity of some bad music

3. What if JFK served two terms? Does the Hippie culture become as popular as it was?

More hot hippie chicks asking what they can do for their country.

 

[Mark E.]

2. What if Saturday Night Fever wasn't a success in late 1977-Early 1978?

Actually, it was an accidental success: a low-budget movie from a record producer who had just the right artists already under contract. It had only one star with any name recognition and he (John Travolta) was largely known for a foolish adolescent role.

1. Travolta's career might not take off as well.

2. Disco does not go through a 1978 revival and gradually fades away, making room for earlier punk/new wave.

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

Random thought -- Dustin Hoffman was Coppola's first choice for Michael Corleone; if he gets the part, there's a good chance Pacino won't get the famous part in Dog Day Afternoon (though he may still play Sergio), and that would butterfly into us seeing a lot less of him in the decades to come.

 

[Metalicon]

Woah, woah, woah! Quite a bit of anger there!
Anyways, here's how I see it going:
Nirvana hangs together until about 1996, then splits due to "creative differences", Kurt starts a solo career (and probably fades out of the scene, once his little girl starts growing older), Grohl is up in the air, he might try to start a new band, he could be playing any of the instruments really, and most of the current Foos line-up didn't join until 1997 (and 1999) so we might see the Foos go OTL. Not really sure what Novoselic would do, I haven't looked much into him after the Nirvana period. Kurt will probably do some sporadic tours with other bands, occasionally coming out and singing with them (ala Chris Cornell), but I foresee him leaving the business sometime in the early Noughties and just trying to raise his daughter (who might end up being a musician himself).

Also, the world rejoices that one of it's worst musicians has been killed, and the band [Ass-]Hole will be disbanded, most likely.*

Not trying to be angry, just brutally honest. There were a lot of great bands that came out of the Pacific Northwest that produced great music, but Nirvana was more about the attitude being at the right place at the right time than the music itself.

BTW, I did see the reincarnation of Hole on T.V. recently and well... it definitely reaffirmed my opinion that the music industry cares nothing about the actual quality of the music.

 

[loneranger]

Not trying to be angry, just brutally honest. There were a lot of great bands that came out of the Pacific Northwest that produced great music, but Nirvana was more about the attitude being at the right place at the right time than the music itself.

Yes, but Kurt's death spawned (indirectly) the Foo Fighters, the best band of the late 90s and the Noughties (IMHO, anyways), so I've formed a bit of respect for the man.

BTW, I did see the reincarnation of Hole on T.V. recently and well... it definitely reaffirmed my opinion that the music industry cares nothing about the actual quality of the music.

Well, TBH music isn't really a contest. Quality is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[AltSptHst]

Buddy Holly

What if the plane that carried Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper has the same fate as the Minneapolis Laker plane had the next year and crashes in a safe place?

How big would Buddy and Ritchie have been(I know that The Big Bopper was just a DJ, and his star may not have shown for too long)?

 

[Metalicon]

Yes, but Kurt's death spawned (indirectly) the Foo Fighters, the best band of the late 90s and the Noughties (IMHO, anyways), so I've formed a bit of respect for the man.

Well, TBH music isn't really a contest. Quality is in the eye of the beholder.

Well, in the case of Courtney Love, adding a good backing back with her is like adding deodorant to a turd.

I know someone mentioned Randy Rhoads earlier. Yeah, he was a sloppy lead-player which is why he double-tracked all his guitar solos but had a great basis on music theory. That being said, if he doesn't die in the plane crash, he stays on for another album with Ozzy and moves back to L.A. to conduct guitar clinics and puts out a few solo albums like Vai or Satriani.

 

[Mark E.]

What if the plane that carried Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper has the same fate as the Minneapolis Laker plane had the next year and crashes in a safe place?

How big would Buddy and Ritchie have been(I know that The Big Bopper was just a DJ, and his star may not have shown for too long)?

Bopper goes on with his DJ job.

Since music enters a slow-down period, Richie Valens assumes a more folkish sound, putting him more along side artists like Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, etc.

The fate of Buddy Holly is most interesting. In 1959, rock music was under attack, as many of its standard bearers were fading into the woodwork or falling out of favor. Even Elvis Presley, then in the US Army, only had four Top 40 songs in 1959. So, Holly has the chance to emerge as a standard bearer for rock and roll music.

In Britain, the Quarrymen will not be re-naming themselves "Beatles" in honor of Buddy Holly's band "Crickets." You have some big potential changes here.