Re: Most Gruesome Headless Corpse Poll

Bands who carried on, or attempted to, under (roughly) the same name after the charismatic frontperson the band was most identified with departed. Vote for the most hopeless and misguided.

[www.yourfreepoll.com]

Not counting latter day updates like the Doors of the 21st Century or the New Cars.



Post Edited (08-18-08 19:49)

The Doors, The Dead, The Misfits, Dead Kennedys, and the New Cars. Had to mention them!

The Velvet Underground are the best example of this.

here is the opposite question.
what bands have went through a major or various major personal changes and have still put out good music or kept their integrity.
this is all subjective.

1. the band- without robbie robertson who was the main songwriter and lead guitarist reformed in the late 80s and were great.
2. stones - losing brian jones who was once leader of the band
3.pink floyd- losing syd barrett. many tp readers would argue they shouldnt be on the list . well lets just say they became a different band without them
4. fleetwood mac- lost about everybody , became a different band each time. similar to floyd.
5.the pretenders- lost 2 original members yet do to strong songwriting and good musicianship didnt lose it although there is nothing that tops their first album.

Japan kept it brilliantly alive through reunion (Rain Tree Crow), with sum parts exceeding the whole - even if it only partially answers the questions. They found the perfect moment to split, and then rejoined once it meant something again. Sylvian and Karns' work speaks for itself - Peter Murphy's 'Japan' still hits my turntable regularly and Nine Horses tops the mountain even if Sylvian's recent When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima broke a leg down a crevice. Birthday Party's mutations also parallel, although those boys strike only gold lately with Grinderman, Dig Lazarus Dig and Cave's collaborations with Warren Ellis.
Buzzcocks 'carried on' while, where would music be without Magazine's contribution?
Crimson or Zeppelin (let's overlook The Firm) easily slide in there somewhere.

I heartily second the Misfits for the first ? and INXS tops my poll - while I can hardly follow Talking Heads' inclusion? Hell, Byrne solo and Tom Tom Club rate well in my book and "The Heads" brief 5 month? exercise was hardly enough to blight their musical landscape much - I'd probably substitute The Floyd for them on the poll. [PS: Byrne & Eno's brand new stuff is great]
I hate to remind myself about what Echo & the Bunnymen became, but there was never really any hope after De Freitas died and Ian's solo work from the start was plain misguided - you'll never get anywhere when you pick Sting as a role-model or was it a J. Cope shudder.
Somehow Generation X fits right in and has a lot to answer for - Sique Sique Sputnik and not least of which, a Christmas album?! How about a nice trashy one - Mike Reno solo?

On the second question I would say Killing Joke - after initially running out of steam, Connelly's Murder Inc was excellent, as was Jaz's return with Extremities...', but they've been a bit hot and cold since - the recent remasters greatly improve the sound of their '78-84 material.
Tones on Tail equaled or surpassed Bauhaus, as did Love & Rockets - 7th Dream really is, even if its peaks would be squandered 3 albums later.
Black Flag rose above their lineup changes and regardless of shelf life, Rollins was not part of my favorite lineup, but no accounting for taste, I was also a Dos/Circle Jerks fan.
Mission of Burma were great, and then happily followed Birdsongs..., Volcano Suns & Shellac - "White Elephant" still gives me some sort of musical woodie.
New Order!

Who would've predicted Danny Elfman, Mark Mothersbaugh or Alex Paterson's influence and longevity... =P



Post Edited (08-19-08 01:40)

Forgot all about the Velvets - the post-Reed/Tucker/Morrison lineup was so counterfeit they don't even register on my radar.

didnt mott the hoople have a lineup which didnt have ian hunter and a bunch of other key members?

The Jam, who recruited a lead singer from... a Jam tribute band.

Oh, and the Gin Blossoms are back after over a decade off, and are playing a free concert Wed. night, at a park. That's starting over from the beginning...



Post Edited (08-19-08 02:17)

MrFab wrote:

> The Jam, who recruited a lead singer from... a Jam tribute
> band.


judas priest and journey have both pulled that boner move, too.

As has Boston. Isn't this a signal to finally give it up?

Speaking of Boston, I thought at first that the new guy was Matthew Sweet, not Michael Sweet from Stryper. As the 21st Century cliche goes, "My bad".

Matthew Sweet fronting Boston would be...interesting, if not hilarious.

I forgot the Specials, who soldiered on despite losing all three of their frontmen in one fell swoop.

> I forgot the Specials, who soldiered on despite losing all three of their frontmen in one
> fell swoop.

I presume you're talking about Dammers & Co. putting out an album as The Special A.K.A.

Two of the three frontmen (Neville Staples and Lynval Golding) came back for The Specials' reunion in the '90s; Roddy Radiation took over Terry Hall's vocals. He acquitted himself admirably. I wouldn't trade the two shows I saw from those '90s tours for anything.

The remains of The Specials and The Beat tour as The Special Beat, doing hits by both bands. I think a couple of thier sons' are in the band.

Does Brandon Cruz, the Courtship of Eddie's Father guy, still front The Dead Kennedys?

I know just about everyone from Patti Smith to the good folks here were not too impressed, but I had a great time at the MC5 show a few years back. I liked seeing Deniz Tek playing with those guys.

The DKT MC5 show I saw in Austin a few years ago was pretty terrific too, despite the presence of Evan Dando.

How about the Who? Anyone think they should have soldiered on making records without Keith Moon? (Although I must say I did enjoy the concert last year with Zak Starky on the drums).

Spinal Tap. Once Ross McLochness left, it was all over.

No, seriously, those two Mott the Hoople albums after Hunter left? Both worse than Squeeze.

The Velvet Underground Album.

Yes, Drive On and Shouting and Pointing by Mott were indeed horrible. But the weird thing is, the versions of them I've had rattling around in my head since the 7th grade actually sound pretty good. Then I listen to the actual albums and am horrified by how bad they are.

It's always puzzled me how the memories of the songs sound so good (especially "Monte Carlo" and "Stiff Upper Lip" - those are killer songs in my head) while the actual songs themselves are so terrible I can't imagine how I ever liked them, even in the damn 7th grade, when I had Ian Hunter's 1st solo album to compare them to. But somehow they do.

Public Image Limited, post-Wobble/Levine. Sorry, but no matter how Johnny tries to spin it nowadays, PIL was never the same after those 2 left and it became pretty much the Johnny Rotten Show.

The Clash w/o Mick Jones. I'm surprised you didn't include this one!

And if we have Dead Kennedys w/o Jello (which is what I voted for) then would Vice Squad and Selecter count as well (kinda the mirror image of the current DK reunion, original singers but no other original members).

> The remains of The Specials and The Beat tour as The Special Beat, doing hits by both bands.
> I think a couple of thier sons' are in the band.

Dave Wakeling tours these days under the English Beat moniker, with no other original members. That "mirror image" thing again, as DJ called it above.

> Does Brandon Cruz, the Courtship of Eddie's Father guy, still front The Dead Kennedys?

No, he left the group a few years ago. He was replaced by a singer named Jeff Penalty.

This year, the DKs (such as they are) seem to have fallen apart. Penalty left the group, then Peligro left, and now Klaus Fluoride has announced his departure for health reasons. No word yet on whether East Bay Ray will continue on with the band name.

Quote

whether East Bay Ray will continue on with the band name.

No I'm sure he's getting ready for the big Kage reunion we've all been waiting for.

Quote:

whether East Bay Ray will continue on with the band name.


No I'm sure he's getting ready for the big Kage reunion we've all been waiting for./Quote

Must...resist...snarky...Skrapyard...comment....

Have to admit I found it interesting that when I checked their "official" website (last update back in May, Klaus still shown with the band) they didn't bother to feature Peligro's picture among the past or present band members (I mean if they could had Brendon Cruz - if not Jeff Penalty - and even their Archenemy Jelllo among the "past members" you would think Peligro would rate a mention. Why did he leave - or "leave" - anyway?).

I so wanted to keep enjoying them and not give the weirdo acidhead former lead singer all the credit, but The Pogues without Shane just didn't work well at all.

Judging from the times I saw 'em ... maybe Peligro just got tired of the long, long pauses between songs, as Ray struggled to get his guitar effects to work right. Man, I'm hard pressed to name another guitarist who's insisted on using just one specific configuration of effects, for so long, without ever actually figuring out how.

How about Lynyrd Skynyrd? Still a little entertaining but not the same band as the "classic" lineup

Heh. About 10 years ago they came to tape an episode of the TV show I work for. At the time Leon Wilkeson was still alive, so they had a whole 3 original members. Their guitar lineup included not only Gary Rossington (leader by default, according to Classic Rock), but also Hughie Thomassan of the Outlaws and Rickey Medlocke of Blackfoot (plus a drummer who'd been in, I think, Bad English). It was basically a Southern rock Frankenstein's monster. It was fun, but it was more like listening to a Skynyrd cover band that happened to have original members than the real thing.

Once Wilkeson died, it seemed like it was way past time to hang it up. And yet, they still soldier on. Now I hear Billy Powell, the only other original member besides Rossington, is ailing. How big and bright does the writing on the wall need to be?

I read in Spin that when the re-formed Skynyrd started touring, Gary Rossington reached an agreement with Ronnie Van Zant's estate. It stipulated that, in order to call itself Lynyrd Skynyrd, the band had to include Rossington (who's led the band since the '80s) and at least two other musicians who had been members of Skynyrd before the plane crash. At that time, there were five living musicians who qualified. (Allen Collins was alive, but confined to a wheelchair.)

Today, that list is down to four: Bob Burns (who has long eschewed rejoining Skynyrd), Ed King (who's retired, and reportedly likes it that way), Artimus Pyle (who has legal problems that prohibit him from leaving the state of Florida) and Billy Powell.

So, if such a contract did exist between Rossington and Van Zant's widow, I guess they've since amended it, or perhaps just chucked it. No sense letting lawyers ruin the music business for you.

Quote

No sense letting lawyers ruin the music business for you.

speaking of which...

I've heard about this too - it came up a lot after Wilkeson died and Rossington and Powell were the only original members left. I never heard how it was resolved. You're probably right about an amended agreement.

Thin Lizzy still exists, with one original member (guitarist Scott Gorham), and a frontman who played guitar for them near the end of the original incarnation before going on to (*cough*) Whitesnake. How you can have Thin Lizzy without Phil Lynott is beyond me.

At least they're smart enough to just tour as a nostalgia act and not try to make new music under the Thin Lizzy name.

joy division via new order.
or
kenny jones sitting on kieths stool.

only brad could come up with something as great a topic as this.

joy division via new order/quote

In their defense at least they tried to be a different group (complete with different songs) instead of getting a pseudo-Ian singer and continuing to crank out "Love Will Tear Us Apart", et al (aside from maybe the very beginning, I don't think they did any JD stuff live for, what, 15 years or so?)

> Aside from maybe the very beginning, I don't think they did any JD stuff live for, what, 15 years or so?

I saw them in '87, and they closed with three JD songs. However, their onstage computer gear had just decided to dump its programming. When it became clear they wouldn't be able to get that equipment back into commission that night, they had to resort to what they actually could play live — "without the fookin' robots," as Bernard put it.

I feel a thread comin' on...