The Ongoing History of New Music, encore presentation: The Last Moments Of… part 2

[It’s summer encore season. This is a chance for me to prepare to the fall season and for you to catch up on episodes you may have missed. – AC]

When someone dies, our first reaction is disbelief. We’re stunned. That’s immediately followed by a need to know what happened. How? Where? It’s only natural. We need information to help us process the news and the emotion that comes with it.

The next stage might be “Could anything have been done to prevent this?” And “Could someone have helped or intervened?” In some cases, perhaps. In the case of health issues, maybe not.

And finally, there’s this question: “Could what happened to that person happen to me?” Again, totally normal.

When it comes to the death of a famous musician, there’s an additional aspect to processing the news. Chances are we never knew this person as, you know, a person. Our only relationship with them has been as a fan. So why does their death affect us?

Here’s a possible answer. Although we never knew them, it was through their music that we learned more about ourselves. And in a way, when they die, a little of us dies, too.

This might only cause us to go deeper into what happened. We just need to know, to make sense if it, and to put everything to rest the best we can. Yes, some people get very nosey and gossipy and intrusive, but there’s always a way to handle what’s known through the public record: family statements, doctors’ accounts, police reports, coroners’ testimony, toxicology examinations, and autopsy results.

And we often can’t look away because we just need to know. This is The Last Moments Of…, part two.

Songs heard on this show:

• Alice in Chains, We Die Young
• Amy Winehouse, Rehab
• Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts, Vasoline (Live)
• Stone Temple Pilots, Big Empty
• David Bowie, Lazarus
• Chris Cornell, Nothing Compares to You
• Linkin Park, In the End
• Cranberries, Linger
• Foo Fighters, Learn to Fly (Live)

As usual, Eric Wilhite has compiled a playlist for us.

The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on these stations. Don’t forget that there’s a podcast version, too, in case you miss any episodes. Get them for free wherever you get your podcasts.

• 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
• Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
• Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
• 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
• FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
• Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm
• 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
• Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
• The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 8am and 9pm
• The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10anm and 10pm
• The Goat Network/Interior BC
• Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
• WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm