The 0% success rate of free trade introducing any kind of freedom to a country apart from the freedom of US corporations to exploit local markets is hard to argue with, Bats!

I'm certain all those US dollars going into China will save Hong Kong.

I bet the Miles Davis collab would've been cool to hear, but if Hendrix survived he would have definitely soiled his career. I think he'd basically wind up in SRV's role and it would overshadow his psychedelic work.

This is an aside to your specific point but I think most top tier musicians go through a time where they're putting out garbage. Top tier in this case meaning mainstream popularity. Hendrix most likely would have put an album out in the 80's that sounded like a mix between Stevie Ray Vaughn and The Edge. I mean...look at what the 80's did to Iggy f*cking Pop...

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ahblahblah.jpg

Motherf*cker had a shirt on AND tucked into his jeans. Nobody survived the 80's unscathed.

Mr. Waits would like a word. And if you use Blood Money or Alice as counterexamples I swear to god I'll ban you.

So as I was typing up my post, I thought about Waits, and I deliberately added the part about "mainstream popularity" which is a line I think Tom stayed right under. He never really had a "radio" hit. Popular? Yes. Household name? No. Obviously there are artist who never put garbage out and stayed clear of the hivemind 80's garbage machine but most didn't and Hendrix certainly would have succumbed to it. I mean, f*ck, look at Jefferson Airplane.

He was in the Shrek movies though (twice!), it doesn't get more top tier mainstream than that.

Good point. Also, I'm surprised in your knowledge of Shrek 2.

My utmost respect for the Shrek franchise is one of the reasons why I don't give people **** for being nostalgic anymore.

Now I'm curious if there are any other counter examples. I can't really think of any.

Bowie comes close