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should bands carry on when there's only one original member?


PaulWarning

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just watched Status Quo on the iplayer when I got back from the pub, thoroughly enjoyed it, which surprised me, only Rossi is in it from the original line up they even did a decent new song.

I thought they should have packed it in when Parfitt died now I'm not so sure, as long as they're not devaluing the brand (and Quo have done a fair bit of that in their time) where's the harm?

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I guess it depends on who the remaining member is, in the case of Francis Rossi, he was a key member of the band and was instantly recognisable on all of their songs, much like Mark Burgess from The Chameleons, however, Marky Ramone still tours as the Ramones despite not being an original member and hardly a vital part of that Ramones sound, I think they had at least 4 drummers during their lifespan which does support the statement that the original drummer wasn't the key to the Ramones sound

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If promoters want to book the band and audiences come then why would anyone stop gigging?

You've got your records of the bands you like, but like a photo, that is only a point in time.  Bands are not fixed entities, they change and evolve and even after "golden periods" they can create good music and performances. Little Feat, Genesis, Pink Floyd and many other bands evolved and made great music after the original line up and style of music changed.

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I'll follow this with interest. I play with Stray - Del Bromham is the only 'origina'l member although we do have Pete Dyer with us who was a long serving member through the seventies. Having loads of fun and meeting loads of interesting people - Roger Mayer popped into our dressing room last night and I've also met a guy who guitar teched for hendrix and shared a flat with Lemmy - Neville Chesters. Blooming amazing experience!

Edited by King Tut
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13 minutes ago, Roger2611 said:

I guess it depends on who the remaining member is, in the case of Francis Rossi, he was a key member of the band and was instantly recognisable on all of their songs, much like Mark Burgess from The Chameleons, however, Marky Ramone still tours as the Ramones despite not being an original member and hardly a vital part of that Ramones sound, I think they had at least 4 drummers during their lifespan which does support the statement that the original drummer wasn't the key to the Ramones sound

and Ritchie Ramone as well, saw him a couple of years ago, they're basically a Ramones tribute act, it's surprising how many bands go round with only the drummer as the original member, I saw John Coghlan's Status Quo a couple of years ago as well and I think The Vibraters only have the drummer left

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IMO one member is fine but I'd draw the line at no members!

I did some gigs a few years ago with a Thunderclap Newman and the closest they came to an original member was the guitarist who replaced Jimmy McCulloch. To be fair they were billed as Thunderclap but the posters could be misconstrued, and often were!!

In the Early 70's Fleetwood Mac's management tried to send Stretch out as Fleetwood Mac on a US tour. In the end the tour didn't happen because Stretch refused to do it.

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I have no problem with it as long as they capture the spirit of the band. What some people forget is often an original member might be a fan favourite but the replacement isn't going to be a rubbish player. To audition and get in a name band you have to at least be of a certain standard so usually, from my experience, you wind up watching a decent show.

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2 minutes ago, chris_b said:

IMO one member is fine but I'd draw the line at no members!

I did some gigs a few years ago with a Thunderclap Newman and the closest they came to an original member was the guitarist who replaced Jimmy McCulloch. To be fair they were billed as Thunderclap but the posters could be misconstrued, and often were!!

In the Early 70's Fleetwood Mac's management tried to send Stretch out as Fleetwood Mac on a US tour. In the end the tour didn't happen because Stretch refused to do it.

I think Dr Feelgood haven't got any original members, and they weren't very good when I saw them.

There's a version of Sham 69 without any original members but to confuse matters even further most of the original members are now touring as Sham 69 but they always have Pursey, Parsons, Tregunna on the posters.

Bizarrely, there's 2 versions of the Glitter Band as well, or was, no idea how many were original members are in either band 

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There are many bands with only one original member left, that’s fine with me, but once there are no original members - well some could say it’s then become a tribute band. That said in some cases the non-original band members have been in the band longer than the originals, so that puts a different light in it again. Too confusing all this.

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I guess it’s how important that one member is. I think Level 42 were down to one original member at one point. That was Mark King, who was probably the most vital member.

I’m always surprised about David Gilmour. At one point he was touring with Nick Mason and Richard Wright, yet under his own name.

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Depends on the band - a lot of bands have a revolving-door membership with one or two members being the core of the band. I'm a big fan of Opeth, who had released four or five albums before I discovered them. The current line-up has only two members of the line-up they had when I first saw them and bizarrely, neither of them are actually original members! Mikael Akerfeldt, guitarist, vocalist & sole songwriter, actually joined Opeth as bassist in the band's early days.

Completely different situation though if a band's identitiy is entirely dependent on its individual members. I could hardly see, say, Alex Lifeson recruiting a random drummer & bassist and get away with touring as Rush, for example. For me there's a bit of a whiff surrounding current incarnations of bands like Big Country, who tour under that name with only two members of its "classic" lineup, and despite the fact that writer/frontman Stuart Adamson - who in many ways was the band - has been dead for 18 years. That doesn't seem right.

 

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Blackmore's Rainbow has only one original member altho couldn't see that working without him :laugh1:

Uriah Heep same only Mick Box original member.

Altho i'm not a huge YES fan i don't see YES the same without Squire who was more than just a bass player in the band.

Even Genesis only have 2 of the original members albiet Collins was in a very long time and probably the drummer most people link to Genesis. He certainly changed them when he took over the lead vocals. (some say for the better and others not)

Sweet only have Andy Scott altho Steve Priest still tours as Sweet i believe. ?

Think if the band still sounds good or like the original in some ways then i have no real problems with it.

Dave

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I've been a 10cc fan since the mid seventies and I still go and see them whenever they play in the Midlands, in spite of Graham Gouldman being the only member who survives from the "classic" lineup. Two of the touring band (Rick Fenn and Paul Burgess) have played with Gouldman for forty-odd years and they do a fantastic job of keeping the music of the band alive. As long as no-one turns up to the show expecting to see Eric Stewart, Lol Creme or Kevin Godley (and you'd need to be a pretty fly-by-night fan to not know they weren't in the band by now), then there's no harm done. 

An old band of mine supported Dr Feelgood on a number of occasions over the last few years. I can't remember anyone getting irate over the lack of Lee Brilleaux et al. They're probably the ultimate "Triggers Broom", UK band.

As bands get older and members leave (or die...), we can't expect them to carry on with the same lineups. I was really hoping that when Kiss announced their retirement, that they would just announce replacements for Stanley and Simmons and carry on as a sort of franchise, as everyone's favourite Puerto-Rican boy band Menudo have done.

As long as no potential ticket buyers are actively deceived and they know what and who to expect, I can't see a problem.

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1 minute ago, rushbo said:

 

As long as no potential ticket buyers are actively deceived and they know what and who to expect, I can't see a problem.

that's the crux of it, but in the case of, say Dr Feelgood and the alternative Sham 69 to name a couple, not sure how many folk would know it's not got any original members, in which case they should be billed as a tribute.

Haven't got a problem with tributes btw, some are better than the original band 🙂

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1 hour ago, E sharp said:

I think Foreigner are playing without any original members - Mick Jones occasionally joins in for a gig or two .

That's a strange one

I think as serious music fans, we can sometimes have a distorted perception of the make up of audiences and their expectations. A large proportion of an AC/DC audience might be thinking "Is this the one with the bloke who dresses as a school boy?". Meanwhile, Back In Black sits, unplayed on their shelf because it's one of those albums that you're just supposed to have. Many of the Foreigner audience probably have no clue who is in the band, don't care and wouldn't understand why anyone would care. They just want to buy a T shirt with a logo, sing along to I Want To Know What Love Is and have good time with their friends. As I've said before, I'm sure "The Beatles" will be touring in 2062.

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The Bootleg Beatles have been together far longer than the real thing were. And they’re very good. 

The Feelgoods relaunched with the last lineup that backed Lee. He wanted them to continue, and given the number of tributes - many of a high standard - why shouldn’t they?

Also, every member of Dr Feelgood still earns from them thanks to ‘fifth member’/manager  Chris Fenwick. That can’t be bad...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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