Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

[Sits]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

Stephen Duffy / The Lilac Time

On the Blondie front, as a fan at the time I remember correcting people on many occasions when they referred to DH as Blondie. So in a way this one was almost the inverse of the thread. To the credit either of the label or management, there was actually a "Blondie is a group" campaign run during the height of their success.

[Jah Womble]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

I always found that a bit cringeworthy, tbh. I mean, a) not many people were still making that error by the height of Blondie's success; and, b) if you don't want folk going that way, why call the band 'Blondie' in the first place? (Because Debbie H drew attention? Possibly.)

"It was named after the comic-strip character and had nothing to do with Debbie!" Yeah, right.

[Fussbudget]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

Jah Womble wrote: Stephen Malkmus/Pavement

Nah, I completely disagree with that one. I think most people who have enough interest in indie music to be familiar with them would see them as a proper band and could probably name at least one other member.

[WOM]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

But that caveat undoes the whole premise. I mean, people who 'know' the bass swear by the guy in Queen, but 98% of the music listening population probably couldn't tell you his name.

[Fussbudget]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

Well yes, but 98% of the music-listening population have never heard of Pavement. I really don't think that the ones that have see them as a one-man band in the way described in this thread.

Unlike, say, Robert Pollard/Guided by Voices, to pick an example from the same stable.

[WOM]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

Fussbudget wrote: Well yes, but 98% of the music-listening population have never heard of Pavement. I really don't think that the ones that have see them as a one-man band in the way described in this thread.

Yeah, okay. I can see that.

[Jah Womble]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

I own at least four Pavement albums but haven't engaged sufficiently with the roster to be able to name the rest of the band. (Plus, Malkmus has done other relatively high-profile stuff - which one couldn't say about the other members.)

But, as has been said, they're not even remotely big enough to qualify here.

[MsD]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

Well, there's Adam, and then there's the Ants.

[Satchmo Distel]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

The Wailers was originally a group of three great talents (plus eventually some great support musicians) but I think Island quite cynically groomed Marley for the rock market and it became a vehicle for him, for better or worse, and the other two either jumped or felt they were pushed.

At what point did Haircut 100 become a Nick Heyward vehicle?

Echo & The Bunnymen - clearly a band but the mouthy lead singer dominates.

[treibeis]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

The Sisters of Mercy (since the late 1980s).

Spear Of Destiny / Theatre Of Hate

[Sam]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

3 Colours Red wrote: Jamiroquai, surely?

I'd have thought that as Sits says with Blondie, they're the inverse, aren't they? Mention Jamiroquai and a large number of non-fans will assume you mean Jay Kay. But perhaps both things can be true at once.

I wonder whether Prince would fit? A lot (a large majority, no?) of his albums were by Prince and the New Power Generation/Prince and the Revolution etc. etc., but I doubt even an absolutely die-hard fan would have much of a problem with someone stating that, say, Purple Rain is 'a Prince album,' or that they'd gone to see Prince live. Fela Kuti's another along similar lines.

George Clinton? He's put on a few gigs in recent years with members of his formers bands billed as 'George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic' or 'George Clinton and P-Funk', if I'm not mistaken.

Sly Stone?

Jazz is good for this kind of thing, too, of course. I've got ten albums on my hard drive by different bands (in some cases only very slightly different bands, it's true) which are all listed as being by 'Miles Davis'. One of them (In A Silent Way) is almost entirely composed and arranged by Joe Zawinul, but still gets recognised as one of Miles's seminal LPs. Of course, it's a rather different approach to what constitutes a band, or to how stable that band need be, in the first place. And if ever there was a bandleader who could carry it off ...

[Jah Womble]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

I'd return you to my earlier proposal that bands whose front men/women are named therein - eg, Prince & The Revolution; Sly & The Family Stone - are going to prove a little unwieldy here.

One could have said Tubeway Army, but Numan made that decision for us as soon as he hit the big time.

[Kevin S]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

[No History ? My Arse]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

I personally think that the ultimate tester for this is how recognisable the band is with the lead singers name missing.

Most of those mentioned so far I reckon most music fans would have recognised the names and known the band.

Try these 4 from a 5 piece very well known band without using the t'internet.
Patrick Olive, Harvey Hinsley, Tony Connor,Larry Ferguson

Anyone ?

[Fussbudget]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

Wow, well I would never have recognised that band without looking it up even if you'd included the singer's name. Not such great name recognition outside Britain I suspect.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

They did have several hits in North America, including three US top tens. Which, I confess, came as a surprise to me.

[Fussbudget]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

They had a few hits on the continent too, but no way would I have been able to name any of the members. I always think of them as a novelty act.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

Lead singer, I would but no one else.

They're a bit like a minor version of The Drifters who've had 35 members over the years, but almost no one can remember more than two of them — hard-core R&B/soul fans maybe four.

[Sam]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

I can only name one of the Drifters (the one you'd expect, if you're wondering), but bloody hell on looking them up they have had a lot of members, haven't they?

I thought a few days ago that Incognito would probably go pretty well in this thread, if anyone other than Acid Jazz fans had a clue who Incognito were. I suspect the only reason Bluey doesn't get mistaken for 'being Incognito' is that to even be aware of them, you've already got to be pretty clued-in (I mean, I like them, and I wouldn't recognise him if he walked up to me and introduced himself).

[ad hoc]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

Wonder if there's room for a thread to celebrate those people who are the "other one" that people remember after you've removed the lead singer. I'm talking about people like Lol Tolhurst, Steve Nieve, Clarence Clemons, John Foxx

(obviously there isn't one of them in the previous example)

[Jah Womble]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

The Drifters would almost be a non-starter, given the various different versions of the group that have existed. (Researching my book threw up at least eighteen deceased former members...)

Although most would cite Ben E King as the most recognisable member, it was Johnny Moore who fronted the more-successful-in-the-UK edition that charted with 1970s hits like Kissin' in the Back Row and There Goes My First Love, etc.

[Benjm]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

Sam wrote: I thought a few days ago that Incognito would probably go pretty well in this thread, if anyone other than Acid Jazz fans had a clue who Incognito were. I suspect the only reason Bluey doesn't get mistaken for 'being Incognito' is that to even be aware of them, you've already got to be pretty clued-in (I mean, I like them, and I wouldn't recognise him if he walked up to me and introduced himself).

Let's face it, the other 75% of The James Taylor Quartet probably feel sorry for the lesser Incognito members.

[No History ? My Arse]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

Well I do think that to dismiss the ONLY band (and they were a genuine band with that line up staying together from 75 - 86) to reach the British charts in every year of the 70's as a novelty act a tad surprising for it was Hot Chocolate if you didn't know.

Anyway my other suggestion would be The Alarm who without Mike Peters are pretty anonymous

[Benjm]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

Until recently I thought that kids TV gonk Gaz Top had been in The Alarm, but he was a roadie rather than a member of the band.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Marc Bolan IS T.Rex

Jah Womble wrote: The Drifters would almost be a non-starter, given the various different versions of the group that have existed. (Researching my book threw up at least eighteen deceased former members...)

Although most would cite Ben E King as the most recognisable member, it was Johnny Moore who fronted the more-successful-in-the-UK edition that charted with 1970s hits like Kissin' in the Back Row and There Goes My First Love, etc.

See I would never have got him. After Ben E those of my generation would almost certainly have picked Clyde McPhatter. After that it's a bit of a lottery, Bill Pickney for those in the know I guess. I remember Rudy Lewis only because he was the lead singer who died the night before the recording of Under the Boardwalk. The mood of devastating loss comes through in, what was intended to be, an upbeat Summer song.