RIP Whitney Houston

In no shock, she apparently was on a bit of a bender before she died:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2100025/Whitney-Houston-news-Star-reportedly-partied-heavily-eve-death.html

 

Not sure there is any inductee whose repertoire is less rock than ABBA.

 

My daughter's take on this leaves me a little speechless. Our text dialogue when I found out:

ME: It's being reported that Whitney Houston died.
HER: Well, she's a crackhead, so that makes sense.
ME: I still find it shocking.
HER: Oh yeah. But crackheads. That's just how it is. Like MJ.

I realize that she is not of the generation that was impacted by her music, voice or talent. Has anyone else seen this type of reaction? Apparently, drug users of this caliber simply don't deserve too much sympathy, in my daughter's mind, upon a death they apparently bring upon themselves.

I recall her having a similar reaction to Amy Winehouse's death. Someone that was from her generation.

 

All of this "She didn't deserve big play because she threw her life away..."

Reports are now coming out that she was found underwater in the bathtub and had Ambien in her room. She had her stylist and two bodyguards in the room, and they got concerned when she'd been in the bath for an hour.

So someone takes Ambien, following a long night of drinking, and passes out and drowns. People die from Ambien all the time.

Can we PLEASE stop assuming she "threw her life away" until we hear about an autopsy? Please?

For the love of Pete.

 

Shit. Piss. Fuck.

Britney Spears

 

OK, OJ.

 

At one time, I would guess, about 30-50% of all little girls in America wanted to be Whitney Houston. Before the drugs, she was an American princess. No one could sing likes her. She was take your breath away beautiful. She had a sense of class.

This was shot in the first few months of her breaking onto the scene. If people want to remember her, remember her this way. Being late out of the gate and pulling together, and please notice the camera shot at the :58 mark. I cannot remember them doing this shot often, and I would guess the director wanted wanted to show that the audience was just jaw dropped watching her.

She was great. She was Mickey Mantle great. She was Bo Jackson great. She was Michael Jordan great. She was Doc Gooden great. She was Ali great. At her prime, she might have been the GOAT when you factor in her beauty.

 

There's two unofficial ways to determine possible A1 worthiness.

One is the WTF factor. As in, "Whitney Houston died? WTF?" Substance abuse problems or not, it was a surprise.

The other is the "make fun of after death" test.

I'm not a Houston fan, so among my first thoughts when I read that she had died was, "I believe the children are our future ... and I believe Whitney Houston will not be part of that future."

But I held back. Because even though she hasn't been artistically relevant since the mid-to-late 90s, I knew she had a legion of fans and they wouldn't take too kindly. Probably still a bit too sooney.

Now if Billy Ocean dies? I doubt I would hold back. Any of the following might be said ...

"Suddenly ... you're in rigor mortis." (cue minor piano key: bing, bing-bing-bing)
"Get out of my dreams ... get into my casket."
"When the going gets tough, the tough get going, going, going ... (clutches chest) ... tough, ow, er, ugh-ah-ouch-uhh ... when the going gets tough, the tough get ... owww, uggggh, uh, uhhhh, uhhhh, uhhhh ... (he's dead)."

That's because my fear factor of upsetting a hidden legion of Billy Ocean fans would be very low. Because not only is Ocean not A1 worthy, he might not be A6 worthy. In many papers, on a tight-space, heavy-local copy day, he might not even make the cut.

And I like Billy Ocean.

 

Well, it depends on whether you think pop is a part of rock.

Consider, from Wikipedia:

 

I'll drop this off, only to be read when it has been determined that enough time has passed:

The EMTs would have pronounced her dead sooner, but they thought she was waiting to exhale.

NO PEEKING UNTIL WE GET THE ALL CLEAR SIGNAL

 

Slim chance.

 

Don't be so sure. Turn it around. If ABBA is in there, why would the Carpenters not be?