Unwise departures to pursue solo careers

[Stumpy Pepys]

Brian Poole leaves Brian Poole and the Tremoloes to go solo. He promptly disappears and finds himself running the family butcher's shop. Meanwhile the Tremoloes do quite well and have a UK #1 with Silence is Golden.

Likewise, Wayne Fontana's solo career was rather less successful than the Eric Stewart-fronted Mindbenders, who did Groovy Kind of Love.

[Etienne]

Is this just unwise commercially, or are we talking artistically as well? In which case Sting comes to mind.

[Gangster Octopus]

Shouldn't this be in the other forum?

[Stumpy Pepys]

Shouldn't this be in the other forum?

Yes, seems senility's setting in. If an admin could move it …

[Jah Womble]

Syd Barrett's entire life didn't exactly go to plan after his departure from Pink Floyd. (But then again, this was the primary reason as to why he left.)

Limahl's departure from Kajagoogoo did little for either his or their chart careers: just a couple of further hits for both. (Meanwhile, Nick Heyward leaving Haircut 100 was worse for them than it was for him, although ultimately not so great for either.)

There was a post-Brexit meme that did the rounds on Facebook likening our departure from the EU to 'Geri leaving the Spice Girls'. This clearly doesn't work at all since she racked up eight UK Top 10 hits in her own right, including four consecutive number ones - ie, a far better return than any of the other Spices' solo careers. (This made Geri H at the time the only female artist to have scored four or more chart-toppers both in a group and solo. I'm not sure whether this record has since been equalled or broken, but I doubt it.)

[elguapo4]

Fish leaving Marillion didn't help anyone. Except music lovers (smiley)

[Snake Plissken]

Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith leaving Iron Maiden is a period which seems to have been successfully glossed over by the band.

[matt j]

(Back in the TV/Film forum, I thought this was going to be about McLean Stevenson. A questionable departure that was well-known enough to be referenced in Animaniacs ~20 years later.)

[Hot Pepsi]

The list of departures to go solo that did work out is probably a lot shorter.
I really can't think of many.

[Stumpy Pepys]

The list of departures to go solo that did work out is probably a lot shorter.
I really can't think of many.

No, there's loads. Diana Ross, Neil Young, Beyoncé Knowles, Bryan Ferry, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Brian Eno, Justin Timberlake, Phil Collins …

[Lang Spoon]

Lou Reed artistically?

[Stumpy Pepys]

Lou Reed artistically?

Yeah, he made four or five great albums. That people bought.

[Hot Pepsi]

Yeah, but that's not many is it?

Of all the bands that have had some success and then broken up, presumably most or almost all of them had at least one member that wanted to parlay that into continued success. So if 25 of them really succeeded, that's a low rate, I'd think. Or maybe I'm vastly overestimating how many somewhat successful musicians in bands have tried to go solo. In my mind, it's in the many hundreds.

Of course, even if somebody's solo work isn't as good as what they did in a band, that doesn't mean they necessarily made a mistake. All three members of The Police appear to be happier not being in the band any more even though none of them, including Sting, ever did anything as exciting again. Same with The Beatles. It had just run its course, I guess.

Of course, "solo," except possibly in a few cases like Neil Young, is kind of a misnomer. Because they still work with other musicians and producers. In some cases, the solo artist has a lot more control of the output than they did in the band, but there are some bands that are pretty much just one person doing most or all of the writing and decision-making anyway.

[Heliotrope]

I thought that Limahl was let go from the band, not that he quit. I guess in this case, the firing hurt them more.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Yeah, but that's not many is it?

I'm not going to sit and list every artist I can think of.

[Hot Pepsi]

Why not? Isn't that the most important thing you could possibly be doing right now?

[Amor de Cosmos]

Heh! Very good.

[Hot Pepsi]

I suppose Andrew Ridgeley is the most famous example of this. At least, most famous among bands I recall from my youth.

Wiki says:
"Shortly after the [Wham] breakup, Ridgeley moved to Monaco and tried his hand at Formula Three motor racing. Meeting with little success, he moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a career in acting. He returned to Britain permanently in 1990...

[His solo album] Son of Albert sold poorly, failing to make the top 75 in the UK Albums Chart. It was also one of the worst received albums of 1990 among critics, achieving only half a star in a savage Rolling Stone magazine review. As a result, CBS passed up the option of a second album. Ridgeley later said, "It was disappointing and depressing to receive quite such a beating over that album."

IIRC, Hugh Grant's character in Music & Lyrics is a not-even-thinly-disguised version of Ridgeley. The cover of his unsuccessful solo album even looked like Ridgeley's.

I've never actually heard Son of Albert. I wouldn't be surprised if it's not really that bad, but I wouldn't be shocked if it is.

He did marry one third of Bananarama and has made a small fortune from the "Careless Whisper"royalties.

My recollection from Behind the Music was that Ridgeley was originally the one who really willed Wham! into existence, but, of course George Michael was the more talented singer and maybe the better songwriter too - I'm not sure.

I also recall the BTM trying to make it seem like the decision to break up was more his than GM's, but I suspect that's not quite how it happened.

[Jah Womble]

I don't think there's much doubt that George Michael was the more gifted songwriter. (There was a rather cruel joke on a TV show for which I used to write that went along the lines of: 'Ridgeley was clearly delighted to marry Bananarama's Keren Woodward - mainly because he'd finally be in a partnership where he was the talented one.')

However, Wham split rather than either member departing, so I don't know whether that really qualifies does it?

[Jah Womble]

I thought that Limahl was let go from the band, not that he quit. I guess in this case, the firing hurt them more.

I might be contradicting my previous post, but does that not still constitute a 'departure'?

(Maybe 'unwise' then becomes the issue.)

[Hot Pepsi]

I don't think there's much doubt that George Michael was the more gifted songwriter. (There was a rather cruel joke on a TV show for which I used to write that went along the lines of: 'Ridgeley was clearly delighted to marry Bananarama's Keren Woodward - mainly because he'd finally be in a partnership where he was the talented one.')

However, Wham split rather than either member departing, so I don't know whether that really qualifies does it?

When there are only two members, how could you distinguish a "split" from "one member departing?"

I suppose one of them could have carried on as Wham! I'm not aware of any duos splitting that way although perhaps that's just because so many duos are named for their members. For example, it would have been hard for Paul Simon to call his act Simon and Garfunkel if Garfunkel wasn't there, even though I imagine he thought about it.

If Ridgeley had done it, he'd be part of an ignoble tradition of a band's weaker members keeping the name after the real talent departs, aka, the The Beach Boys Gambit.

[Satchmo Distel]

I think it depends whether the person subsequently regretted the decision. They are ultimately the only one who can make that assessment. Sometimes a solo career can be less successful but more personally fulfilling, affording other opportunities, such as Paul Jones branching into acting after Manfred Mann.

David Ruffin leaving The Temptations is a tough one. Some hits but also drugs then early death. But that's another of those inevitable departures caused by personality clashes.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Gene Clark leaving the Byrds was not a good career move as it turned out, but it was pretty much inevitable.

[Jah Womble]

When there are only two members, how could you distinguish a "split" from "one member departing?"

I suppose one of them could have carried on as Wham! I'm not aware of any duos splitting that way although perhaps that's just because so many duos are named for their members. For example, it would have been hard for Paul Simon to call his act Simon and Garfunkel if Garfunkel wasn't there, even though I imagine he thought about it.

If Ridgeley had done it, he'd be part of an ignoble tradition of a band's weaker members keeping the name after the real talent departs, aka, the The Beach Boys Gambit.

(Or 'From the Jam', or whatever Foxton and Buckler like to call themselves now.)

To answer your first question, a 'split' is fairly often mutually-agreed - as I believe was the case between Michael and Ridgeley - so any 'decision' to go solo is a moot point. (Effectively any decision has been made for you, or was necessitated by events.)

[Amor de Cosmos]

When Ric Grech left Family (without telling them) to join Blind Faith, he must have though he'd hit the jackpot. Sadly Eric had other ideas.

Denny Laine must have wondered if he'd done the right thing when he quit the Moody Blues too, until Mr McCartney came to the rescue.