Yeah, grass roots!
Posted on 08/22/2005 12:35:46 PM PDT by Cagey
Washington -- As Grateful Dead fans everywhere know, the music never stopped when Jerry Garcia died 10 years ago, and now a grassroots campaign wants to memorialize the Dead's driving force with a U.S. Postal Service stamp.
The centerpiece of the effort, so far conducted in the mellow fashion one would expect from Deadheads, is an online petition, first posted on Aug. 9, the 10th anniversary of Garcia's death at age 53.
Everyone involved recognizes that a Garcia stamp would be a leap for the post office by honoring a rock-era figure associated with hippies, casual drug use and a way-laidback lifestyle. But they proudly point out that Garcia was a great musician whose work blended many styles, a father figure to millions of Americans and others around the world and a philanthropist.
Besides, they say, in 1993, the Postal Service honored Elvis Presley -- who died of a heart attack after years of abusing prescription drugs -- and ended up with a best-seller. About 517 million of the 29-cent Elvis stamps were sold, and the Postal Service ended up with a $36 million profit. About 95 percent of those stamps are still in collectors' hands.
So far, the Garcia petition to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee has garnered more than 6,000 signatures without any publicity to speak of other than word of mouth or by fans finding the effort at www.petitiononline.com/Garcia/petition.html. Many of the signatures are accompanied by heartfelt messages, part of a response that has overwhelmed the petition's organizer, Steve Castonguay, a 40-year-old machinist who lives outside Rochester, N.Y.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
What about a stamp for Hendrix? Joplin? Morrison? Oh yeah, how about one for Kurt Cobain, LOL! Might as well put one on hold for the great Britney et al, LMAO!
That's not a bad idea. Maybe we could postpone the next postage rate increase if they did that.
The bright side of a Britney stamp is she'd be dead first.
LMAO!!!! Excellent, good point!!!
LOL!
I personally don't care for either performer but Elvis had a load of number 1 hits and the Dead had one. America loved Elvis and was indifferent about Garcia. That's just reality. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when Elvis died, and I am no fan. I can't even remember when Garcia died.
Neither can he.
Just yesterday, I was listening to the night before in Buffalo. That one is only a RCH below Cornell in quality.
America loves Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson, too. They love N'Sync. Since when did the tastes of the sheeple indicate talent? "America" likes whatever it is spoon-fed.
The Dead had one "hit" (Touch of Grey), but they managed to be one of the highest grossing touring acts right up until Jerry died.
Yeah, grass roots!
Whoops - meant night after.
LOL.
show date is all that is needed, that you very much. Those in the know already know it was the cornell show.
I was never a big fan of the "disco dead", but the version of dancing is pretty hot from that show.
If 1977 wasn't their best year as a band, it was pretty close.
So does "highest grossing touring acts" indicate quality and talent?
One more thing, Elvis was honored by the Post Office (wow, what an honor!) for being a pioneer in drug induced haze. That Garcia fellow, named after an ice cream flavour, for all we know, was a mere imitator!
Even more narrowly - May 1977 was their best month as a band. Every single show from that run is a wonder - but most of them suffer in comparison to 5/8 and 5/9.
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