It is a truth, unversally acknowledged, that rock ‘n’ roll is full of peaks and pitfalls; and that band members come and go through pop’s revolving door of time. Some musicians are replaced out of necessesity (such as those who fall victim to drugs or alcohol, or those who choose to persue other opportunities), whilst some are ousted unceremoneously at inopportune momements, just as they’re driving out of the car dealer’s in their brand new Ferrari.
When Brian Jones left the Stones, they carried on under that moniker. But what if Mick had left the band in the 1980s? Would you still go and see Keith, Charlie, Ronnie and [Guest Singer] perform as The Rolling Stones? If George Harrison had quit the Beatles in 1968 and been replaced by Eric Clapton, would you accept the changeover without quarrel? If Chris Difford left Squeeze and Glenn Tilbrook carried on performing as the band, would you care? What if it was the other way round?
There are bands that have always had leaders, and they are often the songwriter(s)/singer (The Smiths – Morrissey/Marr, Oasis (Noel and Liam) and The Jam (Paul Weller) – If these bands reformed without any of those people present, you’d feel a bit cheated, surely?
So, who would have to leave a band, or be absent from a reformed band, for you to no longer consider them as such?
But there are hundreds of such bands playing near you now…. How can it be Dr Feelgood without Lee, Wilko, John B or the BigFig, let alone Gyppie Mayo, but, apparently it is. Big Country without Stuart Adamson and with him out the Alarm instead, and then again without him, when the Alarm were, arguably, a bigger draw?
Maybe it doesn’t matter, as the Blockheads without Ian show. Or SAHB without Alex. When does a band become a tribute to itself solely thru’ the luck of having a sole original member or two? I’m looking at you, Mike Love.
Or the Fairport view, where Simon Nicol sees the band as a name akin to the name of a football club or an orchestra, going on forever as the ranks change therein.
What would you call the Jam without Paul Weller? From the Jam with Bruce Foxton are, aren’t they?
And the 2 versions phenomenon: are there not now more than one Barclay James Harvest, Wishbone Ash and Sweet. And UB40 , now the warring brothers are both allowed to use the name.
None of which musing answers your question. I suspect the answer lies with the those bands who are beginning to discover they can still tour post the grim reaper, Steely Dan being one at the moment.
Point of order: there are NOT two Wishbone Ashes. It’s dealt with in great detail in Andy Powell’s autobiog. There is Wishbone Ash (with Andy Powell being the one constant, with members leaving then in some cases coming back and then leaving again) and then there is ‘Martin Turner Ex-Wishbone Ash’. Until a court case a couple of years back it was being touted as ‘Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash’. This can no longer happen.
Fairport is/are an interesting concept as at one point there wasn’t an original member left though there had been contiguous lineups.
Despite having an original member in the lineup for many years I don’t count that the current lineup as Fairport. But that’s due to the musical ‘quality’ for the last few years.
Well The Attractions and The Rumour both released albums without their frontman and both were crap despite them being excellent musicians.
Apparently the Blockheads are very good live without Mr Fury and maybe they are but would their records be any good?
These seem fair enough to me, as they were ‘& The ……’
Steve Harris a rare example of an indispensable bassist.
Rush may be a rare example of a band where all of them are indispensable.
I reckon Phil Collins must be at least a little bit chuffed that it was he, and not any of the posh kids that turned out to be the indispensable one in Genesis.
Another indispensable bassist – Chris Squire….
And, arguably, the really indispensable one in Genesis actually turned out to be Steve Hackett….Genesis down the pan after Wind & Wuthering, imo……
I have a certain fondness for the 3 Rumour albums, or the first 2 anyway, but, yes, Mad About the Wrong Boy is dire. Blockheads are great live, even without anyone “pretending” to be Ian, as I think they now have, Dury’s erstwhile minder having “found” his voice.
Do The Blockheads have a number of guest vocalists (think HIGNIFY) or have they decided to tour with the one (a la Queen)? I seem to remember Phill Jupitus performing with them in the past, though that may be another band?!
It’s Derek Hussey these days. There is a core group with him and other constants (including Chaz Jankel and Norman Watt-Roy) while some other positions, such as saxophone, are a bit more fluid.
I saw them at a local festival this summer and they were terrific. There was a single ‘this is a new number’ but, perhaps because it was a short festival set, the rest was Dury classics – What a Waste, Reasons to be Cheerful, Billericay Dickie … Daft not to play those songs if you have them in the repertoire.
I saw them once with Guy Pratt on bass who, allegedly, hadn’t rehearsed and it was awesome. Sometimes I think that losing the tricky lead singer means the ‘others’ can get on with what they really enjoy doing, whether that be (say) mopping up at festivals or creating long-running musical theatre. They also get to do slightly longer solos.
Funny that, as my one constant for the Blockheads would be the great (and sweaty) Norman Watt-Roy. I remember seeing the Blockheads in about 2001, maybe 2002, at Guilfest, the introductions of from where each member had flown in from and where they were going to, listing the innumerable bands they were also in, was formidable.
I wonder if Wilko was ever tempted to call his band the Blockheads, seeing he was one and Norman is?
Yes, Wilko’s usual touring ensemble is him, Norman and current Blockheads drummer Dylan Howe. With Mr. Howe sometimes substituted due to other comittments, as is sometimes the case with The Blockheads.
Davey Payne very rarely plays with The Blockheads. Indeed, they fell out and he was a sacked persona-non-grata for a good few years.
Gilad Atzmon has been their usual sax player for several years, occasionally replaced by Dave Lewis if unavailable due to his jazz comittments. I’ve even seen them a couple of times with both Lewis and Atzmon on stage.
That was 2001 Retro. We lived in Godalming at the time and took my 7/8 month old son to his first gig!
It was a good Guilfest! Pulp on friday night were great.
New Order without Hooky.
Suede without Bernard Butler. Paging Moose. Saying that, I saw the Dog Man Star tour with his schoolboy replacement and it was ace.
Coming Up is a good album!
Bernard Butler was eight when I left Suede. Or perhaps it was the other way round? Either way, Beautiful Ones was the first Suede single I was familiar with so his decision to leave has never hindered my admiration for the band.
Given that “Music Complete” is a better album than “Waiting For The Siren’s Call”, there’s probably a case to be made for Gillian actually being more important to New Order…
But I take your point that Hooky is definitely more synonymous with their overall image than anyone else.
Better than WFTSC isn’t saying much, is it?
Republic was the last one to feature all four members, but was recorded under duress and sounded like it. Get Ready lacked much input from The Other Two, so that’s only half of the classic lineup. Everyone except Barney had given up by Waiting For The Sirens’ Call, so that’s 1/4. Music Complete is 3/4 lineup + a Hooky soundalike.
Part of me wishes they’d pack it in, but I suspect there’s good pension money to be made in touring nowadays, and they lost a fortune before. I reserve their right to carry on, but I won’t be going to see them.
New Order sans Hooky were excellent at Manchester International Festival (not least because they deigned to play something other than the ‘hits’) and Hooky’s gigs are really enjoyable and just a big singalong celebration plus he likes to play all sorts of b-sides and oddities which is fun. Dare I say it both versions of the band are more fun than the last few gigs I saw by the actual New Order before the split when they were really phoning it in and clearly didn’t want to be there.
Genesis are a good example – they did two good albums after Mr Gabriel left and then went down toilet. OOAA of course.
Not a coincidence that they went down the shunky when Hackett left….
The Eagles are currently out without Frey, who remains dead, and is replaced by his son.
Thin Lizzy are still touring, which is weird. I realise they’ve got bills to pay and it certainly beats working for a living.
Springsteen has done a good job of replacing vital E Streeters.
I wouldn’t see Iron Maiden without Bruce. I retired during the Blaze era and was too young when Paul was out front, though I now consider their first album one of their best.
Thin Lizzy when playing live, Black Star Riders when on record (unless they decide to play live as Black Star Riders).
Either way, both names are fine – they still make a good noise (especially when Rick Warwick is concentrating on what he’s doing, rather than trying to be Mr Punkyman)
I seem to recall back in the 90s that an Australian tour of The Who was announced – the lineup being Roger, John, Zak Starkey on drums, and someone on guitar (Pete was presumably smarting over the ’68 tour). In the end it was cancelled due to insufficient ticket sales.
However, in the new century The Who have toured a few times, consisting of Roger and Pete, with some reliable hands filling out the line-up, and have been fairly well received.
I saw The Who in 1981,and I didnt feel they were really The Who without Keith. Certainly wouldnt think they were without the Ox too.
The Steve Miller Band might lack a little something without SM.
Ditto the Steve Gibbons Band and the Marshall Tucker Band. The Silver Bullet Band might be firing blanks without Bob Seger. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band didn’t fare so well sans Alex.
The J Geils Band, however, thrived
News to me. I guess Little Feat are an example of thriving without their founding member and supposed leader. The killer blow for me was the death of drummer Richie Hayward. The new guy ain’t got that Richie swing
The Feat were OK without Lowell, I suppose, although none of the post-Lowell material came close to prime Lowell.
Deffo a nail in their coffin with Richie Hayward’s passing. That guy was just amazing. Totally unique.
Allman Bros continued credibly without Duane then Dicky Betts. But no Gregg a bridge too far.
The Band without Robbie. You’d think Richard, Rick, Garth and Levon remaining would be enough but nope.
The Band were one songwriter short. Richard wasn’t writing at that point and Rick seemingly always needed someone to bounce ideas with.
I think it has a big effect where new material is concerned. Skids without Stuart Adamson turned out to be far better than expected, and even the one new song was fine – but people weren’t there to hear the new stuff.
I have this conversation with my wife, as she is firmly of the opinion that as long as the singer is on stage he is the band. For example, using the kind of rubbish she listens to, Spandau Ballet with a new lead singer or one of the Kemps singing wouldn’t be Spandau Ballet to her, whereas Tony Hadley and 4 other blokes would be.
Deep Purple – Blackmore = Tribute Band + famous guitarist nobody knows = Sheep Purple.
The Velvet Underground once Doug Yule left were no Velvets at all.
VU after John Cale left was effectively a completely different band….
Hmmm main songwiter and singer was still there.
(H’mmm….)
Wouldn’t disagree….
Doesn’t negate my comment, though…..for better or worse, not so much drone / classical / repetition as art after Cale left….
Similarly: two Roxys – wi’ and widdout Monsieur Eno, even though the main songwriter and singer was still there..
Hmmm, interesting… whereas mostly it’s the singer or songwriter who defines a band, in Eno’s case (and Moony with The Who I think), it’s the most flamboyant member…
Sorry, I disagree. Eno was important to the band in the early years, but it’s always been defined by Ferry’s conceptual vision, (mainly) his songwriting and his unique vocals.
There are two versions of the Beat one fronted by Ranking Roger the other by Dave Wakeling, out of the two bands they are the only original members of what was the Beat in the early 80’s. Everett Morton used to play drums in RR’s band but he left quite a while ago. Both seem to be making a living, possibly the fact that Wakeling is based in the US helps to avoid too many problems. Not sure if Wakeling’s “English Beat” have made any new music or rely totally on the back catalogue but RR’s crew released an album last year which, whilst not really comparable to the early work by the proper Beat, was not too shabby. I’ve never seen Wakeling’s band but a night out at a RR gig is damn good fun.
Saw Wakeling’s English Beat supporting Squeeze in New York last year and the crowd were well and truly warmed up by the time Squeeze were ready to start their set.
Indeed RR’s The Beat are a great night out! Saw the original line up in 1980 supported by the au Pairs, and if seeing them in 2010s isnt the same it is still good fun. One of only 2 bands I’ve seen twice on the same tour (the other oddly enough is Elkie Brooks!)
Bill Wyman leaving the Stones was no big deal, really. Without Mick or Keef or Charlie would be the end of them, for me. Not that I have much interest in them these days.
There could never be a Kinks without Ray being present. Minus Dave, I suppose so but a bit iffy if you ask me.
Dr. Feelgood has been an ongoing travesty since Lee Brilleaux’s sad departure.
Soft Machine without Robert Wyatt were occasionally great, but not really the same band at all.
Yes are now a complete sham without Anderson and Squire.
Would Sham 69 without Pursey be known as Sham Sham 69?
Soft Machine – arguably the change had already started by third album, intensified by 4 as Wyatt was effectively frozen out by the chilly jazz-rock….
I know most people really rate “Third”, but “Soft Machine Volume Two” is still my favourite of their studio albums.
I completely get that – I actually like the Jazz-rock Softs (Fifth & 7 being particular favourites) – but I do think of them as a different band by then….the sequences from Volume Two and Third (especially Moon in June) on the BBC sessions might be my favourite tracks of all time….
There’s a fair bit of good live Soft Machine stuff available from that time. With the brass section they were really something. The Fairfield Hall live recording on “Noisette” is good.
Unsurprising that Wyatt was ousted, from a band point of view, because he was a terrible pisshead and Ratledge and Hopper were teetotal.
I have loved “the moon in June” for decades. Think i first heard it on Alan Freeman rather than John Peel. IMBW. Didnt Soft Machine continue after they lost all original members?
Yes. John Marshall and Karl Jenkins took over leadership after Hopper and then Ratledge had left.
“Bundles” in 1975 was the last one featuring Mike Ratledge.
I love the early Softs but I also have enjoyed fathoming out the later stuff esp. Soft 7 and Bundles and all that – they’ve changed line-up so many times and I think by the mid-70s Soft Machine had no original members so it’s long established that Soft Machine is something that transcends the people in it – I’m seeing “them” soon in fact and to be fair that’ll be Babbington, Etheridge and Marshall who have been Softs..on and off for over 40 years plus Theo Travis who has an impressive CV. Not expecting to hear any Ayers/Wyatt era stuff but who knows!
That’s a good lineup, for sure. Theo Travis has worked with both Gong and Robert Fripp in the past.
It so happens John Etheridge is appearing in December at the pub jazz place I go to in Colindale.
T.Rex without Marc, Mickey, Steve, Bill or even Tooky? Shirley this is just a tribute act?
http://www.t-rex.co.uk/
Does contain Jack Green, who was a fully fledged member (for about 10 minutes in 1974)
Quo are still touring although Parfitt has been summoned East.
I think the recent “frantic four” tour demonstrated that Quo needed Lancaster and Coughlan on board, to really summon up the spirit….
Tbf to “Big Country”, “Thin Lizzy” etc I think death is the ultimate sick note. Fans want to hear the hits and, until hologram Philo is ready, they are happy to see the band together.
Strange then, that following Ian Curtis’ suicide the three superterranean members of Joy Division felt they simply must change the band’s name, whereas the “differences” which saw the permanent exit of a still-breathing member of 30 years required no such readjustment.
I imagine Barney was burned by the Bad Lieutenant experience. There’s money in the NO name.
Pixies were never the same without Kim Deal (although Head Carrier is still a decent album), even though it’s Black Francis who most people would most associate with them.
My favourite Throwing Muses albums are among the ones featuring Tanya Donelly and I was gutted when she left, but – as important as David Narcizo is – Kristin Hersh is the defining element there.
Ditto. And similarly I prefer The Breeders when Tanya was with them fine though they are without her. Incidentally Belly have reformed too.
Reformed Belly? Sounds like a dodgy meat product in Bejams.
AC/D.C. without Bon Scott.
They seemed to lose the erm, “fun” when Brian Johnson died.
Of course BIB is a fine album…of its type, but the skewed humour seems missing to my ears, and what follows is a slow, painful descent into self parody.
A mate who has seen all 3 versions of AC/DC live rated the version with Axel Rose above Brian’s. and he cant stand Guns and Roses.
I was a big Marillion fan in my youth, which coincided with the Fish years. No Fish (everything from 1988 onwards), No Marillion. Friends who remained fans have passed on Steve Hogarth recordings but none of them have made the slightest impression on me.
Firmly in the Fish camp too.
Talking Heads without David Byrne would have been pretty pointless which is why I guess they split.
There was that Heads album No Talking, Just Head which had a variety of guest singers. By and large, your theory stands correct.
That would then be Tom Tom Club.
That’s a very good point, Tiggs. The Heads (Weymouth, Frantz, Harrison, guest vocalists) = not great. Tom Tom Club (Weymouth, Frantz, guest musicians) = great.
The Stranglers without Hugh Cornwell.
Yes. but JJ sang quite a few songs.
… were better than I expected.
Baz Warne was/is a pretty good faux-Hugh, and the 2006 album Suite XVI was surprisingly good.
If Led Zep were persuaded to give it yet another go, it would have to be Plant and Page at least. They’d get away with it without Jones, I suspect.
Plant currently has no interest in it as he’s doing fine, thanks, and Page would never dare with a different singer.
Page tried with David Coverdale which was a pastiche of what Zep might have been like if they had carried on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg1Ok-tGwjs
Therapeutic in some ways, godawful in others.
Jimi Hendrix Experience did not survive the loss of all 3, and I certainly wouldn’t see carl palmer. Maybe if future tribute bands declared themselves thematically – Canterbury for a Canterbury covers act, “Grebo Freak Flag” for a Hawkwind tribute, etc?
Depeche Mode could easily survive, musically at least, without Andy Fletcher. But the loss of either Martin Gore or Dave Gahan would be the end. I think a new record that had either of them missing would not be Depeche Mode. For the shows, if he wanted to, Dave Gahan could go it alone with the live band they have worked with for 20-odd years and still make a good living under the Depeche Mode name. Whether they would still fill stadiums though – not sure.
Does even Fletch know what he’s doing in the band? He’s Martin’s childhood friend, yes. He plays – allegedly – bas. Has anyone seen him play bas?
Live he mostly stands behind his keyboard, occasionally he claps his hands a bit. Seems like a nice guy though.
“Dave is the singer, Martin is the songwriter, Alan is the great musician and I just bum around”, is his famous quote from 101. Bless him.
I’m fascinated by Fletch. Lots of bands have members who don’t contribute to the songwriting or play much on the studio recordings but are still very much part of the live band -but quite what Fletch does in Depeche Mode is beyond me – go and search online – you won’t get an answer. He must surely have a lot of “down time” during the tours, and if I were him I’d spend that learning to play keyboards – but apparently he prefers to play chess and ping-pong. I suspect he’s there out of loyalty to the old gang and also, without him, Depeche would be a synth duo of Gahan and Gore – and that would be intolerable and they’d implode.
For a long time his thing seems to have been to keep Gore company. Gore was very introverted when he was drinking, and even more so when he was only speaking with Gahan through lawyers.
Gore and Gahan seem to be more relaxed and friendly now, which must be nice for them after 37 or so years in the same band.
Gahan never mentions Fletch in interviews though. Always just “Martin and me did so and so”.
It’s a unique situation I think. A non-musical, non-songwriting member of a trio who is deemed indispensable. He certainly has opinions during the recording of songs and vetoes things. However, like Morecambe performing without Wise, I can’t really imagine Depeche Mode without Fletch. The live band has co-written Depeche Mode songs with Gahan and have been around for a lot longer than Alan Wilder and certainly Vince Clarke. I do wonder whether these guys feel they should be in the official lineup – but maybe they don’t care and they’re quite happy with the set up. It all seems to be going well for everyone as it stands.
The Flaming Lips are a trio in photos and studio, where Steven Drozd plays everything bar voice and bas. They are then augmented when playing live
Monkees are interesting. I saw Jones, Tork and Dolenz tour as them about 5 years ago, then Jones died. they then toured with Nesmith, Tork and Dolenz a little, before another tour with just Dolenz and Tork. I recently heard that a Dolenz and Nesmith (no Tork) lineup will be touring next year. Confusing!
The Manics were (sort of) “the last gang in town” (or the only band in the village?).
They survived the loss of Richey James, but I doubt they would survive anyone else departing
Because he couldn’t play an instrument and they had already toured without them when he was alive (and in rehab). So live they didnt need to change anything once they had the courage to continue.
This may go against conventional wisdom (revisionist hipster history?) but The Manics are a better band without Richey
Madness initially survived the departure of Mike Barson (although eventually ground to a halt).
But without Suggs …
Not been to any of their gigs but from what I’ve seen on film, Glasto etc., the spark appears to have left them along with Chas Smash. If Suggs was to knock it on the head too, Madness would be kaput.
Still put on a good show.
Although the older stuff lacks Chas, anything from Norton Folgate onwards works well
“Michael Caine” was Madness without Suggs. He briefly left the band and they decided to carry on without him and made one of their best songs. He came back by the time they were doing the album.
I thought their Glasto set was terrible, but then I saw them at the Electric Picnic festival in Ireland two months ago and even though the rain was starting, they were the business.
Surprised Madness and The Beat were mentioned before the Dammers-less Specials, a clear case of the singer(s) being more important than the songwriter and actual founder of the band…
But The Specials are yet to release any new music. Should we expect them to?
I doubt it, but it’s not as if Terry Hall can’t pen a jaunty tune…
The Damned without Captain Sensible wasn’t The Damned.
Still not entirely convinced they are The Damned without Rat Scabies
The Revolution have been touring in the wake of…y’know. Nodoubt cathartic for them and the audience, and they were a great band, but there’s no getting round that hugely small hole at the centre of it all.
I would like to see a version of The Waterboys without Mike Scott!
The Fall.
Hmmm … yes.
If Smithy departed, that would just leave your granny on bongos, which wouldn’t be too entertaining. It would just be a big raucous racket. Oh, hang on a minute…
I’m guessing The Heartbreakers won’t continue without Tom Petty
There has been a thread about this over on the Steve Hoffman Forum. Personally, I think The Heartbreakers will do something, just not sure what it is. Four people in the core of the band go back 40 Years, they seem to get on, and their manager is one of the good guys, so like Queen, it seems hard to think that they’ll just stop. Maybe they’ll do a Grammy performance…maybe they’ll tour with Eddie Vedder or someone, who knows.
Eddie Vedder is a possibility. I rewatched the Running Down a Dream documentary on Netflix and he’s featured on stage with them.
But if they just call themselves “The Heartbreakers”, some people might think that they were the old Johnny Thunders band…
Enough of these Petty disputes…
Rimshot for Mr H please
Thank you, thank…. (*bows, takes applause, milks applause, comes back for barely deserved encore*)
After INXS lost their lead singer Michael Hutchence they tried various frontmen – Terence Trent Darby, Jon Stevens, and then did a reality TV show to find one. Which against all odds was a successful show and the guy was OK. But none of them had Hutchence’s charisma.
Was it Ciaran Gribben they got from a TV show? I know Ciaran – he very kindly helped me out with vocals on a couple of recordings circa 2007 – and I know he was doing stadium tours with some resurrected version of INXS for a while. It was quite funny in a way, as before that I’d always thought of Ciaran as a stadium rock god – even when he was doing solo shows in small bars to 20 people.
Saw The Pretenders supporting Stevie Nicks last. Can’t imagine a Pretenders world without Chrissie Hynde.
Looking at this the other way round….Paul and Ringo could reunite and go out as the Beatles..? The Stones have lost two originals, as have the Who….so why not?
This isn’t original, but as the drummer and the bass player in The Who are deceased, while the drummer and the bass player are the only Beatles still alive, should they form a band and call themselves the Whotles?
As Pete Townshend famously thinks the Beatles are “lousy” that’s unlikely.
But then he’s been almost deaf for ages.
Is this something he has said recently?
He’s always been a bit chippy about the fact that the ‘Oo never did have a No.1 single in the ’60s, despite releasing some corkers.
He seems to be chippy about a lot of stuff. Probably what has been his drive all those years. See also Laughing Rog Waters.
Top idea
The Undertones without Feargal Sharkey. Shouldn’t work, but it does.
Saw them a couple of years ago at Koko and it was a fabulous evening.
It does, it does. I saw them 5 times first time round, and recently in Holmfirth. Gosh they are good. How many good songs must you have if you can play Teenage Kicks in the middle of the set and not as an encore?
The inverse of this is why Elvis Costello doesn’t call The Imposters, the Attractions? There’s only one difference in personnel between the two bands, and surely it would sell a few more tickets and most people wouldn’t notice. At the same time, The Imposters do seem different to The Attractions, so maybe EC knows what he’s doing.
Summat to do with Bruce Thomas, I imagine.
By the way, this thread is a version of the Ship of Theseus paradox. Malcolm Gladwell discussed it on a podcast recently.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
aka ‘the Grandfather’s axe’, or ‘Trigger’s broom’ depending on your level of education.
Dr. Feelgood should be renamed the Trigger’s Broom Band.
I’ve never bought Public Enemy without Terminator X, even though he was just a big feller in sunglasses playing some records.
Now runs an ostrich farm – true story.
Every time I hear the Flash sample start up on Terminator X to the Edge of Panic I can’t help smiling. They really were the best band in the known universe at that point.
I actually laughed at that first time I heard it. Totally uncool and outrageous Queen sample goes into a backwards Rebel Without a Pause punctuated by interjections from that nice Mr Farrakhan? Poptabulous, mate!
PE were on for a few seconds at the start of that recent George Michael telly doc, in order to set the historical context. I thought they were the most interesting thing of the whole two hours.
I dug out Fear Of A Black Planet after. Listen Without Prejudice remains on the shelf.
So, in a sense you Listened Without George and had a much better experience?
I thought the oddest thing was Liam Gallagher declaring his admiration of George Michael. Who’d have thought Manchester’s finest had heard of a singer other than John Lennon or Ian Brown?
Do Blondie buck the trend?
Debbie, Chris and Clem still present but surely I’m not alone in thinking Blondie pretty much ended over 25 years ago?
Quite a few like them, surely. Still with sufficient proper personnel but little more than a nostalgia, heritage act (not that there’s anything wrong with that – can be a great night out, in fact original members can be next to non-existant but top entertainment through well-performed back catalogue can be present and correct).
I was shocked to realise that their comeback hit Maria was nearly 20 years ago. 1997.
I feel old.
Wilmer X utan Jalle Lorensson, right @kaisfatdad?
Damn right! His harp-playing drives that band along.
What an interesting chap. The Principal of the local Kulturskolan and a keen birdwatcher as well as a local hero.
https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2017-02-09/passionen-forblir-nodvandig-i-hans-liv
Hadn’t seen that interview before. Nice!
Denny Upham, once he left the band were never the same.
Just read Johnny Marr’s book, and he is clear that The Smiths was him and Morrissey with a couple of hired hands (who disagreed in court). So he thinks the other 2 are dispensable.
But he’s wrong isn’t he? Great rhythm section.
Great rhythm sections have been replaced numerous times in rock ‘n’ pop’s history. Think how many great rhythm sections Frank Zappa or Robert Fripp have had.
To be honest, I wish Zappa hadn’t changed his rhythm section after the mid 70s or so. Make a Jazz Noise Here is an album featuring a band that’s trying hard to swing accompanied by a lumpen rock drummer (Chad Wackerman) that just won’t let them.
You need to bear in mind that by the time of that final tour the bass player and drummer hated each other deeply.
Chad Wackerman and Ed Mann were the prime movers of the plot to get Scott Thunes fired, which resulted in Zappa aborting the tour and firing the entire band.
Wackerman was a bit lacking in swing though, it’s true. Stolen Moments off “Broadway The Hard Way” shows this up. Too heavy on the toms.
Phil Oakey – Human League.