Bob Marley Posters Rock

What exactly is the attraction when it comes to Bob Marley posters? They seem to be very popular amongst the college crowd for one. Walk through any college campus, and check out all the Marley t-shirts for starters.

Carry it a little bit further, and start asking questions. I’ll bet if you asked 100 students who Bob Marley was, the vast majority of them could tell you. A few could probably name a few of his songs, and if your really lucky a few more could sing you a few words. Your safest bet for this would be to ask the question around the music building. I’d hate to hear a Bob Marley song mangled by some engineering student that was rejected in the first round of American Idol.

So many of the photographs and posters of his concerts and life are almost icon as well. Much like the Warhol photos of Marilyn Monroe. We’ve seen them all so many times, it almost like they been marketing by a fortune 100 company. But in fact they haven’t.

The reason for no new material, is that Bob passed away from cancer over 25 years ago. His music, artwork, and image still seem to pervade our culture. Only a few icons seem to have achieved that the way he has. A few others that come to mind would be Marilyn Monroe, and John Lennon. The thing they all seem to have in common, is that there was more to them then just their art. They all had a message to was distilled in their work.

There still seems to be persistent demand even to this day for all things Bob Marley. Of a few of the legendary icons he still seems to garner more Google searches. Topping even James Dean, and The Beatles. One has to wonder what Bob would have thought of the internet. He could have reached even more people.

Would his popularity have been the same today, if he hadn’t died so young? What message would he have for us in this digital age?

While I can’t claim to owning any of his artwork, photographs, or posters, I do have a dozen or so of his CD’s. Not to mention a few reggae collections where is work is performed through others. Like his son Ziggy. One of my other favorite performers Jimmy Buffett has an adopted son (Marley) named after Bob.

It would be remarkable to see a Bob Marley concert today. His message is one that would ring clear in these troubled times. That goodness for the recorded medium. We’ll be able to see and hear him for many generations more.