A short story, with a time traveler convincing a musician not to get on a doomed airplane.

[Cricket_Philo]

In the future there is an alien invasion, and humans without adherence to a "big idea" are being exterminated. Those with strong unifying beliefs (I think Islam and Communism?) are being spared. A human time traveler visits the USA in the past, and attempts to persuade a musician (Buddy Holly? Glenn Miller? I'm not sure he is ever named) whose music has unified the nation, not to board a doomed airplane so that in the future the West may also be spared due to their being devoted to music.
The musician declines, explaining that the whole of western civilization is based on independence of thought and freedom of expression, and that if that's how it goes, that's how it goes.

I used to read Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke and numerous others, but I haven't been able to re-find this story. Thanks for your help!

 

[Ravensquawk]

I hope this is found, so that I can read it.

Therefore I searched and saved time travel themes from TV Tropes, which in spite of its name has a good literature section in nearly every trope.

It has a long list of Time Travel Tropes. I thought the most likely ones that would fit a story of someone from the relative future trying to correct a tragedy in the relative past are

"Set Right What Once Went Wrong"

When doing that makes things even worse, then someone actually
"Set Wrong What Was Once Made Right"
The very first literature example is someone trying to save JFK's life, which leads to even worse nuclear and environmental collapse than anything we actually had in "real" time.
So you get the idea.

TV Tropes has a really similar-sounding trope
"Make Wrong What Once Went Right"
I think the difference is intent: the first is attempting to prevent a tragedy but making life worse for an entire planet, which sounds like the best match for your story in question, vs. full intent to cause harm in the second one.

It's such an egregious oversight not to have that story in these tropes that if it's found, I'll look into how to sign on and add it!

It sounds like a great story. In fact that seems to cause the problem -- there are so many stories with a similar theme that it's a difficult find.

But maybe the tropes have it in there and you'll find it.

 

[Ravensquawk]

Nothing else appeared yet?
Sill looking. The time-changing tropes include alternate-history tropes.
(I can't tell for sure from the question whether the changed universe stayed that way.)

A similar trope is alternate histories. Searching for musicians with changed lives from not going on flights in this one, "Alternate History", specifically the "Literature" tab.

I read until I was crosseyed, then did text searches for flights, planes, and so on. One possible match showed up on that page of tropes. It's the "Wild Cards" series of novels.

It doesn't have a close match to the rest of the question, but the text copied and pasted from the trope page says

Fidel Castro pursues baseball as a career rather than revolution, and Buddy Holly never takes the fateful flight with The Big Bopper and ends up a washed-up has-been who manages to literally tear himself to pieces and then re-build himself on-stage during one story, becoming a modern-day shamanic figure.

It doesn't sound like an apocalyptic decline of the western world, but sounds more like the personal decline of a famous musician.

I do not get him "literally" tearing himself up and rebuilding himself, but the story might be that wacko. Maybe more fantasy than science fiction?

No idea whether this is a match, but anything to get the story found.

Let us know!

 

[Cricket_Philo]

Wow! Thank you very much for your intensive search! About the changes future - In my recollection their is no change. The bandleader gets on the doomed plane, and it is understood that the time traveler has failed to change the course of history.

Im afraid the Castro story doesn't match, but it's been interesting to find the true hold that both Buddy Holly and Glenn Miller have on people's imagination.

I'm still searching too, but I am so grateful for your work - you have managed to go much deeper than I have.

 

[BAYLOR]

Wow! Thank you very much for your intensive search! About the changes future - In my recollection their is no change. The bandleader gets on the doomed plane, and it is understood that the time traveler has failed to change the course of history.

Im afraid the Castro story doesn't match, but it's been interesting to find the true hold that both Buddy Holly and Glenn Miller have on people's imagination.

I'm still searching too, but I am so grateful for your work - you have managed to go much deeper than I have.

Try Scop by Barry Malzberg also Kelly Country by A Bertram Chandler

No musicians in either but both both interesting time time travel a stories

 

[Ravensquawk]

Wow! Thank you very much for your intensive search! About the changes future - In my recollection their is no change. The bandleader gets on the doomed plane, and it is understood that the time traveler has failed to change the course of history.

Im afraid the Castro story doesn't match, but it's been interesting to find the true hold that both Buddy Holly and Glenn Miller have on people's imagination.

I'm still searching too, but I am so grateful for your work - you have managed to go much deeper than I have.

"Wild Cards V/5: Down and Dirty" is an anthology, so the copied and pasted text probably describes separate stories in the anthology.
(Fidel Castro gets his own story without horning in on Buddy Holly!)

It has a fandom page with a brief summary of the stories. "The Second Coming of Buddy Holly" is the specific story.

However, if that had been the story you were looking for, the recognition would have come flooding back. So we'll keep looking.

Even though not the one you were looking for, it is "sort of available" on The Internet Archive.
But it is available only to those who register on Archive with print disabilities.

Orcadian, you were looking for some alternative published stories. I've been learning about registering for Archive's print disability books, but don't know much more about it yet.

 

[Orcadian]

Orcadian, you were looking for some alternative published stories. I've been learning about registering for Archive'sprint disability books, but don't know much more about it yet.

Thanks!

 

[Yammerhant]

In the future there is an alien invasion, and humans without adherence to a "big idea" are being exterminated. Those with strong unifying beliefs (I think Islam and Communism?) are being spared. A human time traveler visits the USA in the past, and attempts to persuade a musician (Buddy Holly? Glenn Miller? I'm not sure he is ever named) whose music has unified the nation, not to board a doomed airplane so that in the future the West may also be spared due to their being devoted to music.
The musician declines, explaining that the whole of western civilization is based on independence of thought and freedom of expression, and that if that's how it goes, that's how it goes.

I used to read Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke and numerous others, but I haven't been able to re-find this story. Thanks for your help!

I think this is "Weep for the Moon" by Stephen Baxter, which is included in his collection "Traces".

Excerpts:

‘People start dying, Glenn; in great swathes. Like footfalls.’

‘Why?’

Herb shrugged. ‘The Visitors don’t have a reason. They don’t need a reason. Glenn, we can’t even see them; maybe they can’t see us.

‘They don’t know we’re alive. They think ideas are alive.’ Herb looked into his face. ‘Are you understanding me? The Visitors are like ideas, too. Maybe. Maybe they can talk to the ideas; I don’t know . . . Anyway they respond to the biggest ideas, the strongest. And, if you don’t happen to have the Biggest Idea in your head, the Visitors will wipe you out without even thinking about it.’

Glenn declines:

Herb studied him. ‘Well? Have you decided?’

‘There’s nothing to decide, Herb. Not if Helen’s going to be okay. Remember the statement I put out when I joined up?’

Herb nodded and closed his eyes. ‘“I, like every Ameri-can, have an obligation to fulfil. . .”‘

Glenn opened the top few buttons of his coat, pointed to the pips on his shoulder. ‘I’m a serviceman, Herb. I have to do my duty, even if it means I risk my life. Just like every American serviceman in this damn war. And, Herb…maybe all this “living idea” stuff really could save the world. But, damn it, there’s something about it that just isn’t American.’

 

[Ravensquawk]

I think this is "Weep for the Moon" by Stephen Baxter, which is included in his collection "Traces".

Excerpts:



Glenn declines:

That's probably gotta be it!
I found it available on the Internet Archive and read it.
Thanks!

It's got it all -- the famous musician; a simulacrum or projection of a real person from the "future" to the past to convince the musician to get off the plane; the projection of the person freezing time while he's "there"; music being a part of free speech, invention, and the highest human qualities; two alternative history timelines; the detailed description of the timeline if he had lived, and alien "Visitors".

I think it could have flown well as a story even without mysterious, invisible alien Visitors crowding the plot elements.

Except that in this one, the alternate future in which the musician got off the plane and lived sounds golden.
(Well, more so, but still with the rest of our wars.)

"They're still playing 'GI Patrol' as they sweep through 'Nam in their helicopter gunships . . . "

" 'Nam?"

Anthologized only once outside of the author's own collection that you mention.