What if Nicky had disappeared instead of Richey?

[Nikolai]

This is a harmless enough thread, but Nicky is such a different character to Richey that I find this premise impossible to comprehend really

He's so much of a home loving and internally grounded character that if he'd 'done a Richey' I think it'd have ended up akin to Ringo's attitude when the Beatles went to hang with the Maharishi. The Wire would have toddled off with a suitcase full of beans, crisps and HP sauce...and returned with his tail between his legs about 5 days later when all that had run out! Bless 'im.

[raven]

What if Nicky was missing presumed to have taken his own life instead of Richey? What the fuck.

Bad taste? A little

[Nature's Discontent]

Originally Posted by Mr Richey

Would?

True, but the mass cult fandom around him only really kicked off (IMO) in the late 90s, after the whole 'I hoovering' t-shirt and pretty much everything else. Up until EMG he was still in the shadows a bit, compared to Richey and his 'problems'.

[Finn]

Originally Posted by raven

What if Nicky was missing presumed to have taken his own life instead of Richey? What the fuck.

Bad taste? A little

I agree.

That said, I bet a lot of Americans, and John Lennon's family, would feel the same about "The only good thing about America is that you killed John Lennon," if they came across that.

[Europa Gluten Free]

Originally Posted by raven

What if Nicky was missing presumed to have taken his own life instead of Richey? What the fuck.

Bad taste? A little

Get over yourself my fellow forummer (two "m"s or one?). It is no more than a little bit of what might have been in terms of the artistic output of the band detached from the everyday reality of what really happened.

As you can see above if you read the OP - without your keyboard warrior righteousness blinding the forum frolics in front of your very eyes - the question is prefaced by the (extremely unlikely event if it had actually happened) of the band deciding to continue and focuses predominantly on the group's output.

[someone, somewhere, soon]

to rephrase the question - if Nicky had quit the band after THB to focus on the happy domesticity of married life, away from Richey's problems and planned direction for the band (a feasible scenario: Nicky did once mention in an interview the last thing he wanted to be doing immediately after his wedding was touring the country singing about serial killers, concentration camps etc);

judging by the notes / ideas proposed in the JFPL folder, the Holy Bible follow up would've been either:

1. a much, much denser and impenetrable interpretation of Richey's mindset, with JDB forced to compose layer after layer of industrial noise to complement the lyrics, resulting in something akin to NIN's The Downward Spiral or The Wildhearts' Endless Nameless.

2. still quite a musically dense, industrial affair but with fairly spartan, obscure lyrics by Richey - 1, 2, maybe 3 lines per song, each lyric open to the listener's own interpretation.

timing-wise, it'll have been released around the height of Britpop's second wave (95/96), and it'll have been utterly slated and buried within that environment; a large proportion of their 92-94 fanbase would be lost, leaving them as a mere footnote of the 90s music scene.

poor sales of the album would lead to the rapid dropping and eventual break up of the band by 97/98 (not financially viable to continue), or, at a push, a radically different, last-ditch 5th album:

3. a Richey-helmed version of EMG (more pop-orientated - Removables, Interiors, Elvis Impersonator would be similar to what we ended up with, but songs such as Australia or EMG probably wouldn't pass Richey's eye)

or

4. a proto Rewind The Film stripped back approach - more Too Cold Here / Love Torn Us Under type songs - still fairly dark and reference heavy, but more accessible than the previous album.

typing all that, what's interesting is that, ultimately, I reckon something similar to EMG would've have still emerged, regardless of whether it was Nicky or Richey led - the inevitable adaptation to a more accessible, pop-orientated sound would still have been necessary, albeit delayed by 2-3 years.

despite everything, even Richey couldn't have continued as the troubled, angry young man as he left his 20s behind - age, successful counselling and increasing maturity would take the edge off his writing and also propel him towards wanting a more EMG-type sound.

regardless of these scenarios, the band would not have achieved the heights they did between 96-00 - if the follow up albums did retain fans, they'll have continued in much the same trajectory as they have done, but on a much smaller scale (i.e. alongside the continued existence of bands such as The Wildhearts, Therapy?, etc).

[someone, somewhere, soon]

musically, Richey would also have developed to contribute to albums 4-5: a Kevin Shields-esque drone-noise for album 4, developing to proper rhythm guitarist level by album 5.

Nicky would be replaced on bass by an available bassist from a similar band - although can see Richey insisting on recruiting from Planet Female Bassist, recruiting someone such as Melissa Auf Der Maur to the band.

[tzb]

Originally Posted by raven

What if Nicky was missing presumed to have taken his own life instead of Richey? What the fuck.

Bad taste? A little

Agreed, fucking grim thread. These are human beings you're talking about.

Originally Posted by Europa Gluten Free

Get over yourself my fellow forummer (two "m"s or one?). It is no more than a little bit of what might have been in terms of the artistic output of the band detached from the everyday reality of what really happened.

As you can see above if you read the OP - without your keyboard warrior righteousness blinding the forum frolics in front of your very eyes - the question is prefaced by the (extremely unlikely event if it had actually happened) of the band deciding to continue and focuses predominantly on the group's output.

Read that post and tell me who's being a self-righteous "keyboard warrior". You get over yourself.

[Borderliner]

I don't wanna think about it. Like in Roger Waters Gunner's Dream ... No one ever disappears

[grimlock]

Let's ask the What-If Machine...

The Machine says 'out of order, try again later'.

[Europa Gluten Free]

Originally Posted by tzb

You get over yourself.

Coming from tzb. That has made my day.

[Aestivate]

We wouldn't have had A Design For Life or Autumnsong

[someone, somewhere, soon]

people are annoyed at this... why? it's pub level hypothesising, classic "what if..?" scenario discussions music fans have had throughout the ages; from Richey's disappearance, to Cobain's suicide, Lennon's murder, Curtis's suicide, Elvis's death, probably right back to Buddy Holly's plane crash.

[rosetree]

I think the hypothesising is prompting negative comments for Richey

[cs]

yes.. what if.... kurt cobain didnt die, would richey still be around..?