Whitney Is DEAD

[Mega]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17001548

Sad beyond words, she had tallent to throw away & sadly she did.......i can only hope that her sad example was seen by many as a warning not to do DRUGS.

After the revolution i hope to enlist EJ in my Time displancement machine project.....then i can go back in time & save people like her & Ayton Senna etc....may be if i blew the head off her would be HUbby before he got her into Coke?

Mike

[lakedaemonian]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17001548

Sad beyond words, she had tallent to throw away & sadly she did.......i can only hope that her sad example was seen by many as a warning not to do DRUGS.

After the revolution i hope to enlist EJ in my Time displancement machine project.....then i can go back in time & save people like her & Ayton Senna etc....may be if i blew the head her would be HUbby before he got her into Coke?

Mike

Meh......

I see an incredible talent that flushed herself down the toilet.

I see one drug addict that died today that dominates the news cycle to the benefit of the malevolent, while other less famous drug addicts that died don't even make the news......and far worse....folks with character and integrity who made considerable contributions to their communities and countries who also died today, but go largely ignored.

I see waste and signal lost in the all the pop noise.

[EJ]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

There are two kinds of people in this world.

There are creators and there is everyone else.

She and her voice were the product. The music industry exploited her and she let them.

Her mistake was to allow herself to be turned into a cottage industry that enriched hundreds of publicists, producers, and others but without controlling the supply chain.

It's not that she lost control, she never even understood the concept that she was an entrepreneur and her product was herself.

Amazing she got as far as she did. Without the knowledge of finance and economics the mass market creator is exploited to death at an early age like James Marshall Hendrix was in the prime productive years.

Radiohead and Price, for example, are the polar opposite. The creators of these brilliant products gained control of pricing, channel, and and all early.

Today all creators bow their heads and say to themselves, but not aloud as not to offend the "others" do not understand it: "There but for the grace of god..."

On the balance sheet of creative givers to takers, the deficit grows.

With deep respect for Whitney Houston and every under-equipped and exploited gifted artist throughout history, we say good-bye and lament a loss.

[oddlots]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

On the balance sheet of creative givers to takers, the deficit grows.

Today all creators bow their heads and say to themselves, but not aloud as not to offend the "others" do not understand it: "There but for the grace of god..."

I don't know EJ but that seems a bit overwrought. I'm sure there are a legion of influences on Houston who never had anywhere near the opportunities to "monetise" their talents to the extent she did. They seem strangely outside this economy of "creative givers and takers." And I'm sure they were proud to see her succeed. Why is monetary gain the ultimate metric?

Put another way, some wag said "money is the way that people without talent keep score."

Who cares whether she understood finance or not, died penniless or not. The thing that moves people is she apparently died unhappy.

[lektrode]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

I don't know EJ but that seems a bit overwrought. ...

perhaps - but it was a damn fine eulogy
and a great comment on the state of the music/entertainment biz, as well.
its also clear that mr J has a great gift/sense of observation in lots more than finance...

[EJ]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

I don't know EJ but that seems a bit overwrought. I'm sure there are a legion of influences on Houston who never had anywhere near the opportunities to "monetise" their talents to the extent she did. They seem strangely outside this economy of "creative givers and takers." And I'm sure they were proud to see her succeed. Why is monetary gain the ultimate metric?

Put another way, some wag said "money is the way that people without talent keep score."

Who cares whether she understood finance or not, died penniless or not. The thing that moves people is she apparently died unhappy.

I have known a handful of famous performing artists -- actors, singers, and comedians -- in my life. My observation is that it takes an almost inhuman amount of discipline and effort to become a "star." The project essentially comes down to producing the unique, highly differentiated product -- your talent -- with near perfect consistency, endlessly and on schedule. The product thus delivered not only enriches yourself but your agent, record or movie producers, and others riding the gravy train that stops the instant you stop for more than a few days. Momentum is key.

As the person and the product occupy the same mind and body, the rewards -- the money, the entourage, the fans -- are a trade-off for the demand for perpetual production and an utter loss of personal freedom and privacy.

All of the above if you as a performing artist choose the standard mass-market sales and marketing route that Whitney and others took and which artists like Thom Yorke mindfully avoided. I'm saying she didn't know any better.

She suffered from poor judgment in many areas of her life and ultimately failed because of the decisions her poor judgment led her to make. I was never a Whitney fan but she had an extraordinary voice.

[davidstvz]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

Combine the psychological demands above with the physical and mental demands of performing (not to mention regular performing), and it's no surprise many performers turn to drugs. Playing music with a little chemical assistance can be incredible and it can also begin to feel essential very quickly. The extra burst of energy hides the erosion of your edge--at first.

[renewable]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

Why is monetary gain the ultimate metric?

Exactly. Whilst I'm not into that type of music, Whitney had a great voice and made a lot of people I know happy by listening to her. We don't know the cause of her untimely death, and even if it was drugs or booze, who is it to say that she was into them because she was 'only' a multi millionaire rather than a billionaire? If Mammon is the ultimate metric, let's all worship at the alter of someone like Jay-Z.

[charliebrown]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

I knew a classical bassonist in a major orchestra for awhile, and she had lots of problems with drugs, and pressure, and being lost etc. And she would tell me stories of other musicains in the orchestra with the same problems. I was shocked to think that classical musisians lead the life of rock-and-roll stars too.
I think it is in their nature, the drive for perfection, the fierce competition etc.

If any performing artists read this site, I urge you to please pick up a dialog with your parents, or sibilings, or friends that you had before you made it.. (If they aren't wackos) and get grounded. When you have fame and fortune it is very hard to find friends that have your best interests at heart.

My wife and I used a Whitney Houston song for our first dance at our Wedding. Another great talent blew her self up. God rest her troubled soul.

[ST]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

There are two kinds of people in this world.

There are creators and there is everyone else.

So true.

The subset within the creator group who have figured out that recognition, while rewarding, complicated & perhaps a basic human psychological need, is merely complementary and must be overcome, ...since it's unnecessary for true fulfillment,.... these people, well... they just keep creating, regardless. Though, I suppose I do have optimistic theory that everyone knows innately that they need to create, and some realize it at 5, some at 15, 50 or others at 80 or whenever - I suppose the point is that it's never too late to discover the medium and make the transition from "everyone else" to "creator".

[vinoveri]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

So true.

The subset within the creator group who have figured out that recognition, while rewarding, complicated & perhaps a basic human psychological need, is merely complementary and must be overcome, ...since it's unnecessary for true fulfillment,.... these people, well... they just keep creating, regardless. Though, I suppose I do have optimistic theory that everyone knows innately that they need to create, and some realize it at 5, some at 15, 50 or others at 80 or whenever - I suppose the point is that it's never too late to discover the medium and make the transition from "everyone else" to "creator".

Each of us is a creator ... it is a fact to obvious to dispute. The toddler playing in the dirt creating his fantasies, my 11 year old who can't help but canibalize his remote control toys just to use their part to create some hybrid, my 12 year daughter practicing classical piano, but often heard alone by herself plunking out a new melody, to my father who still tends his yard, planting shrubs and flowering bushes in arrangement of aesthetic appeal.

Most of these creations don't lend themselves to money making ... unless one creates to provide what people want, but what do people want? What the followers of Edward Bernays tell them they want. Earning a living is hard enough if you're educated and indoctrinated into the 8-5 school/work week working for the weekend mindset.

Incredibly, today there are a tremendous number of opportunities to create and earn a living, and I'm glad my kids are growing up into it.
The absence of a market for Truth however is one of those telling indicators on the nature of man. For man does not create Truth (rationalist and materialist en guarde), but can apprehend it with intellect, imagination and faith (nihilists and relativists excepted). History continues to repeat with those who thought they could create absolute truth or with those who denied its existence and so the folly continues.

apologies for digressing off topic there at the end..

[Master Shake]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

Thom Yorke??

[Master Shake]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

Interesting to have a thread in an econ blog about a drug addict singer who basically won life's lottery by being born with exceptional vocal cords. She did a great version of the Star Spangled Banner, which turned out to have been lip synched.

As for her hubby, I think it was Dave Chappelle who noted that Bobby Brown never got into trouble until he met Whitney.

[Verrocchio]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

Thom Yorke??

Click

[rjwjr]

Re: Whitney Is DEAD

As the person and the product occupy the same mind and body, ...... the demand for perpetual production ......

I would imagine that some of these same pressures haunt doctors, laywers, and any professional whose income is so directly tied to their personal effort and reputation. I'm grateful that I'm a small business owner with a competent management team. A relatively stress free existence all things considered.