Identity and Transmigration of Musical Soul

[dsrtao]

First postulate: a band which is named after the lead singer cannot survive said singer's departure. E.g. Pink Floyd, which became a sad mockery of itself after Pink left*.

Second: a band which has only one major songwriter cannot survive the songwriter's departure.

Third: a band of three may be able to stand the drummer's departure, if and only if the drummer was neither the lead singer nor an amazing drummer. For instance, Rush, replacing John Rutsey with Neil Peart immediately before their first big US tour.

Fourth: in larger bands, any part who is neither an amazing player nor the sole lead singer can be replaced. Consider Styx.

Fifth: if the band shares lead singing responsibilities, the usual lead singer can be replaced. Consider Chicago.

Am I missing anything? Other heuristics?





*Yes, I know.

Comments

[dlevey.livejournal.com]

Third postulate's example shows how the band may be improved/transformed by such a replacement, when the replacement becomes the major lyricist.

[dsrtao]

And turns Rush into a band where nobody can be replaced, because (a) they have a lead singer who does basically all the singing, (b) they have a world-class drummer who is also their lyricist, (c) they have a lead guitarist with a distinctive style.

Any examples of a three-piece where the non-drummer, non-lead singer was replaced without destroying the band?

[dlevey.livejournal.com]

Once you specify "non-drummer" you exclude ELP, and P was (according to my drummer friends) amazing.

Once you move beyond three-piece, you've got to look at Yes.

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

You're missing Fairport Convention, which I believe leads the world's record for versions of the band.

I don't know how to map them to your postulates, or beyond, but you can't leave them out.

… or Steeleye Span.

[dsrtao]

Fairport has always been four or more, usually five, right? So that would be postulate Four, a larger band, where none of them have been astounding musicians except for Richard Thompson.

Steeleye Span, the same -- generally five parts, occasionally touring on four, once as large as a dozen, right?

I would compare them both to the Grateful Dead, being five to seven people and always at least four of them singing various bits.

[jducoeur]

Has Fairport actually had more permutations than Steeleye? We were at the Steeleye 25th Anniversary Concert in London, which almost everybody attended, and which ran through all the versions in order -- it was quite the astounding list...

[woodardp.livejournal.com]

While he wasn't a singer, and doesn't exactly fit your model, I think Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band deserves mention.

[dsrtao]

Looking over the wikipedia entry... that's pretty confusing. Do you want to use them as an example or a counterexample, and to which?

[woodardp.livejournal.com]

I would say a counter example. Certainly, the band maintained its success after there was only one Allman brother.

Also, as a counterexample to your second point, I would give you Pink Floyd. When Syd Barrett left (or was kicked out) he was responsible for the overwhelming majority of their material. They did fine after that.

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

Is your first postulate entirely a joke, or only the example? Because the J. Geils Band saw all of their popularity after Geils's departure...

[dsrtao]

Only the example was meant to be a joke; I was thinking of the numerous bands which are named "Lead Singer's Name" and consist of that person plus theoretically replaceable backing parts.

Is Geils actually a counterexample? I wasn't aware that he had ever left the band -- are you thinking of Peter Wolf?

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

Nope, I was just wrong. I had believed that Geils was only with the band during the early years, and that Peter Wolf had taken over once he left. But I see that's entirely mistaken. Postulate intact.

[fangirl715.livejournal.com]

If a band is big enough and goes on long enough, everyone in the band can be replaced, one at a time, until by the end it's an entirely different band with the same name. Consider the Doobie Brothers--I don't remember who the original singer was, but the Michael McDonald version of the band was a completely different entity by the time they bowed out.

Second: a band which has only one major songwriter cannot survive the songwriter's departure.

Consider the Gin Blossoms & Doug Hopkins, if you will. Doug was their main songwriter (and guitarist, IIRC), but was, alas, a hopeless alcoholic (hence the band's name). Internal band tensions finally led to Doug getting the heave-ho either during or shortly after the recording of New Miserable Experience. Adding insult to injury, they gave the new guy at least half, if not all, of Doug's performance royalties for the album. My memory's a bit foggy, but I want to say the new guy also got most if not all of Doug's songwriting royalties for the album--which had the hits "Hey Jealousy" and "Found Out About You"--as well.

Now, I understand needing to turn loose someone whom one just can't work with anymore, and I understand wanting to make sure the new guy isn't left out in the cold financially, since he's the one doing all the touring; I do remember thinking at the time, though, that the way they went about it all seemed rather cold, and cheating Doug out of his royalties for songs he wrote and recorded for the band struck me as pouring salt in the wound.

At any rate, while the album & singles were still on the charts, Doug blew his brains out, and the big question was "who's going to write your followup album now that your main songwriter's dead?" No problem, they claimed--we'll write it all, we can do it, we don't need no stinkin' Doug, etc. etc. etc....and so they did....and the album pretty much tanked, and so have all the other albums since; that last album w/Doug was their only hit album, and provided their only hit singles. I think they may have broken up for a while, but got back together and may now be playing the county fair circuit or something similar, and yes, they have longterm fans, but not all that many.

The moral of the story, IMNSHO? Even if you do have to kick someone out of the band for being impossible, try not to be an asshole about it, because karma can & will bite you in the ass but good...