There are quite a few artists with alter egos for when they are doing something a bit different to what they’re known for.
Paul McCartney as The Fireman, John Lurie of The Lounge Lizards as The Legendary Marvin Pontiac, Phil Collins’ jazz-prog venture Brand X, Anna Meredith’s twin careers as orchestral composer and electronic musician, Jim Mullen as jazz guitarist and his continuing membership of funksters Kokomo. One I discovered just today, rising jazz guitarist star Shirley Tetteh has also recorded some left-field pop as Nardeydey.
I expect you lot could name a few more alter egoists.
Alter Egos
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Chris Gaines. Do I win a prize?
Hank Wangford’s little sideline as Dr Sam Hutt
Sam Hutt also dabbled briefly in a couple of things, pre- his Hank persona and his Country Music fixation.
On a political album project “Vote For Us” way back in 1964 on Transatlantic, with Leon Rosselson and various other lefty-types, and as Boeing Duveen & The Beautiful Soup on a 1968 Tony Visconti-produced single “Jabberwock/Which Dreamed It” on Parlophone.
Perhaps that second one’s more of a skeleton in his cupboard than an alter-ego.
Klark Kent springs to mind. Stuart Copeland’s side-project when the Police were huge.
Green Day as Numanesque pop act – The Network and 60s garage popsters Foxboro Hot Tubs
They would be better than the day job, if only the day job weren’t so good.
To dig a little deeper into the Dukes of Stratospheare, we have Sir John Johns, (Andy Partridge) The Red Curtain, (Colin Moulding) Lord Cornelius Plum (Dave Gregory) and E.I.E.I. Owen (Ian Gregory) and of course it was produced by Swami Anand Nagara (John Leckie)
And XTC also released tracks as Colin’s Hermits, David Dreams, The Golden, Choc Cigar Chief Champion, Terry & The Lovemen, The Colonel, and had some kind of Xmas hit as The Three Wise Men.
If Andy Partridge had got his way there would have been an entire album of “bubblegum” type music in the style of a compilation album under different names as well. Herbert Fountain and Sopwith Caramels were just two of the names he was going to use apparently. These two names alone are genius!
don’t forget their work with John Otway as Johnny Japes and the Jesticles on the seminal work ‘Bags of fun with Buster’
Bryce Dessner guitarist in The National is also a renowned modern classical composer – not the easily digestible soundtrack style but proper heavy modern classical stuff.
Which prompts that 3 members of AW “favourites” Radiohead have written film scores, Phil Selway, Johnny Greenwood and Thom Yorke.
And Greenwood is bloody good at it. Sorry.
And real AW favourite Jackie Leven had a sideline as Sir Vincent Lone and as the “Kirkcaldy David Sedaris”, Jackie Balfour. Mentions of winsome 60s singer-songwriter John St. Field optional. (He was standard JL in angry rockers Doll by Doll.
Buster Poindexter = David Johansen out of the New York Dolls
Not a sideline but a reunion they wanted to avoid being labelled as such. Rain Tree Crow were Japan.
Palace Brothers = Palace Music = Bonnie “Prince” Billy = Will Oldham
Neil Young = Bernard Shakey, film maker
Pixie Black Francis became Frank Black in solo form
Chris Dean, lead singer of rather excellent The Redskins = X Moore, NME journalist
Yes, apparently Chris Dean simply disappeared off the face of the earth sometime in the late 1980s…
Jim Irvin of Furniture = Jim Arundel of Melody Maker.
Sally Still of Furniture = Sally Margaret Joy of Melody Maker.
Jeff Healey may have made his name as a blue guitarist but he also performed and recorded as a jazz trumpeter.
And then who could forget Ritchie Blackmore’s folk work with Blackmore’s Night? Most of us, it would seem….
Hank Williams/ Luke the Drifter.
Lefty Wilbury and his brothers.
The blokes in Golden Smog were all aliases in the beginning if I remember correctly. Might be getting my bands mixed up though?
Jason Ringenberger of Jason and The Scorchers had an alter ego who did childrens songs….can’t think of his name at the moment.
Farmer Jason
Aphex Twin uses an alias or two. According to wikipedia: James has recorded as AFX, Blue Calx, Bradley Strider, the Universal Indicator, Brian Tregaskin, Caustic Window, The, Smojphace, GAK, Karen Tregaskin, Martin Tressider, PBoD (Phonic Boy on Dope), Polygon Window, Power-Pill, Q-Chastic, Dice Man, the Tuss, and Soit-P.P.
Seems to be a very common thing among electronic artists and remixers to use loads of different pseudonyms.
The Future Sound of London also record as Amorphous Androgynous, for instance.
Drummer Tommy Ramone was in a band produced by Tommy Erdelyi
Various Fairports and their friends recorded an album of old rock classics “Rock On” as The Bunch in ’72. Also that year came “Morris On” featuring some of the same suspects.
One Percy ‘Thrills’ Thrillington once did an orchestrated version of Paul McCartney’s album Ram. (Don’t you mean Paul and Linda’s album? Yes. Sorry.)
https://youtu.be/-_Qwzcq7Gjo
also known as:
Apollo C Vermouth (producer of I’m The Urban Spaceman)
and
Paul Ramon (drums on Steve Miller’s My Dark Hour)
I think The Fireman is actually Macca and Youth.
He was known as Paul Ramon briefly …
His former partner in crime had a few pseudonyms also :
Long John
Dr Winston O’Boogie
Mr Winston O’Reggae
Mel Torment
John O’Cean
Dwarf McDougal
Kaptain Kundalini
Reverend Thumbs Gherkin
etc
Also George: L’Angelo Misterioso on Badge by Cream
Also George: produced Splinter’s album and played on some tracks as Hari Georgeson.
Hadn’t thought of it before but Paul Ramon most likely source for title of Macca’s song Ram On. This was pointed out on Egg Pod podcast.
Yes, has been my thought for a while. He is singing a song to himself.
Two Thirds of Supergrass covene for cover album under the name Hot Rats
(yes, after the Zappa -album)
Here they turn The Beastie Boys into 60s West Coast-ish number
Plaudits must go to @Bamber for introducing me to this Altar Ego band via the last CD swap
A vast improvement on the execrable original! But then, the Beastie Boys were never anything other than atrocious – just 3 blokes shouting over stuff they stole from other peoples’ records.
The Damned set themselves up as Naz Nomad and The Nightmares issuing anb album of 60s covers. The album was made up to look like a soundtrack to a B-Movie Horror (even going as far as printing “Copyright 1967” on the cover)
And they did the renaming thing too:
Dave Vanian = Naz Nomad
Roman Jugg = Sphinx Svenson (guitar), and Ulla (keyboards)
Rat Scabies = Nick Detroit
Bryn Merrick = Buddy Lee Junior
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKetUfO3jZQ
U2 and Brian Eno turned out as Passengers releasing an album of 14 tracks from imaginary films
(of these 3 were actually real films)
Jimmy Page appears on Roy Harpers ‘Stormcock’ album as S. Flavius Mercurius.
Anthony Phillips, prolific early refugee from Genesis, had a Johnsonian relationship with the truth about his band members on early albums. Hubert Rinse and Humbert Ruse were amongst the contributors. His own vocals were attributed to The Vicar.
Other ones:
Elvis C was “The Imposter” for Pills and Soap
Prince’s writing credit on Manic Monday was “Christopher”
Elvis Costello is an alter ego.to begin with! Declan was also known as “Little Hands of Concrete” on at least one album.
While Stephen Patrick, when on backing vocals on The Queen is Dead, gave the credit to a certain Anne Coates, who may or may not be a suburb of Manchester.
Prince’s other alter egos…Joey Coco, Alexander Nevermind and of course O-I->
Camille
Costello
Declan Patrick Aloyisus MacManus
The Pope Of Pop – for one gig in the 80s
Eamon Singer
The Imposter
Little Hands Of Concrete
Napoleon Dynamite
The Costello Show
Howard Coward
The MacManus Gang
D P. Costello
The Beautiful Souths cover album Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs, contained a track from an obscure 70s band called The Heppelbaums.
They even managed to uncover an old video to go with the song.
Strange – they sound and look so familiar
R.E.M. not so famously once became their own opening act as Bingo Hand Job.
The Hindu Love Gods with Warren Zevon.
Mike Mills and Peter Buck plus Robyn Hitchcock as Nigel & The Crosses.
Also Warren Zevon as Lyme in the folk duo Lyme & Cybelle.
Simon & Garfunkel as Tom & Jerry, way back in their past.
Richard Thompson & Hugh Cornwell as Emil & The Detectives, way back in their pasts.
The B side of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Man of the World’ was ‘Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite’ credited to Earl Vince & the Valiants.
On the first Stiff Records tour, Nick Lowe’s Last Chicken in the Shop were also Larry Wallis’ Psychedelic Rowdies. i.e. Nick Lowe, Larry Wallis, Dave Edmunds, Penny Tobin, Pete Thomas and Terry Williams.