The idea of there being anything more than a tenuous link to the death’s of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse’s at aged just 27, is examined in Simon Napier-Bell’s Rockumentary ‘27 Gone Too Soon’. Childhood unhappiness, alcohol, drugs and artistic pressure seem to be the main causes of these untimely deaths. The film runs through each of the artists for between ten and twenty minutes and what you end up with is a sort of ‘best of compilation’ of celebrity passings. The film interviews a host of journalists, a psychiatrist, record label executive, music lawyer along with Gary Numan, Paul Gambaccini and Tom Robinson. Each interviewee gives their own version and thoughts on said individual and at times it’s like listening to a friend describing a football match, that you’ve already seen. Brian Jones is portrayed as a victim in some Rolling Stones power struggle and puts forward the notion that Keith Richards didn’t just steal his girl but his look also his look, while Jagger took to the Stones throne. According to the documentary, Hendrix’s issues revolve around his upbringing, Joplin’s childhood bullying while Morrison’s had a self-destructive streak and Cobain’s family have a history of suicide.
‘27 Gone Too Soon’s’ decision not to involve any of the departed’s, bandmates, managers, family or even friends maybe a subtle omission but with very little original music and a lack of unseen or even rare footage, it offers very few new factual insights. The film does, however, raise some very interesting analytical theories. Our appetite for gossip, death, drama and sex in so-called stars lives fills a void left in the 9-5 dirge that the majority fight against on a daily basis. Sordid tabloid tales helps sell papers which helps promote the artist’s latest product which in turn increases album sales and so the circle of media/artist manipulation will continue forever more. The only losers in this catch your own tail charade are the departed and their grieving families. The dead Pop star will always prick our morbid curiosity especially if their music is darkly uplifting and after their demise, the words and notes take on even more artistic credence.
The Q+A afterwards turns into a discussion about artist welfare and in particular mental health. Who is ultimately responsible for an artists welfare? In my opinion (for what it’s worth) it lies with the manager and the artists family, which is why Amy Winehouse’s death is the most depressing of them all. The Winehouse tragedy could have so easily been avoided if the people closest to her had just put her mental and physical health before their own needs…they didn’t.
27 GONE TOO SOON
Regent Street Cinema
7.5/10