I think these comments are worthy of discussion under a new

[Baddaz]

i have only one contribution to this thread... bob marley was already big in the usa in 1979... he might not have sold millions in the usa but he was drawing big crowds and selling out stadia all across america by 1979...

he had already sold millions of records worldwide before 1979... in fact bob marley was already a millionaire by 1974... that was told to me by someone who toured with bob for years... and i have read that in books as well...

one of my treasured possessions is a 120 minute cassette tape of bob marley live at harvard stadium...

btw, bob marley survival tour in 1979 took him all accross the usa...

bob marley was simply a genius... dreadlocks or not.... ganja smoking or not...

in the history of the world, no musical artist has impacted the life of people on earth as bob marley did and continues to do... period...

[Tilla]

in the US...he was HUGE in europe and africa waaaaaaay before that. how yuh think the song zimbabwe came about? dem pick him name out of a grab bag?

Not only that, Bob was special guest of the new Zimbabweian government when they gained their independence in 1980. The Zimbabwe people loved him.

[Peter R]

Bricktop: "Take away the locks and ganja smoking and you would never have heard of Bob Marley"...

How else should I interpret these words?

[Peter R]

"My argument is that his popularity today is tenfold what it was before his death and that this increase in popularity can greatly be attributed to his rasta image."


You realize that the above is a TOTALLY DIFFERENT position than the "Take a way the locks and ganja smoking you would never have heard of Bob Marley." comment

I would argue and I have no facts...(we could check cd sales?) that he is AS popular today as at the time of death...maybe even more, but "ten times" is just conjecture, unless you do not mean that literally. I would argue against the popularity being "greatly attributed" to the rasta image... His MUSIC by the time of death had become GLOBALLY recognized, give or take a 280 million people if you wish.

BTW Is Shakespeare (William not Robbie) more popular today than when he died in the 1600s? The attribute of genuis...

[Peter R]

What do you play your cassette on? Need a deck?

Bricktop has changed or maybe clarified his position... the fact is that "popularity" is relative...but we know that Bob was a huge INTERNATIONAL star long before his death.

[Gamma]

why? elvis is LARGER in death than he was in life....as YOU said...marley was courting the US when he died and just becoming more popular when he died ... his death ESCALATED his popularity.

bricktop...you made a nonsense spur of the moment comment and now trying reason backwards to rationalise it.

[Gamma]

if your point is that the fans are not rastas and ganja smokers but like the style of music and the message then yes, we are agreed.