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Melodic-linear thinking is entirely independant of what kind of tonality you use.
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Not quite sure I've understood you properly. Do you mean that melody and harmony are independent? That's certainly not true with tonal music, where the harmony dictates the melody and vice versa.
The Bolero does have a catchy repetitive rhythm, but it is the entire effect of the piece that made it so successful. If the melody was completely abstract, the piece would not have been successful.
Being remembered isn't necassarily a goal, since you won't be around to appreciate your own rememberance once you're dead. But surely, you want your music to be heard by as many people as possible. The only way to do this is to succumb to simplicity to a degree. I tell you now, if I played a piece of Boulez to an average listener, there is very little chance they would enjoy it. Not everyone wants to be bombarded by extreme dissonance without resolution. Truthfully, a very, very small part of the population want this.
Sure, you shouldn't write music only on the basis of being successful, but I personally want to write something that is a) bloody good, and b) popular! I don't want my friends to listen to my music, and say 'Alex... wtf?!!' I want the average person to be able to indentify with it in some way, and the only way to do this is to write a damn good melody, even if a lot of the piece is complicated and extremely competently written. I don't think I'm alone in this way of thinking!