Ditto. Although I guess now I will. 
Will do, thanks for the recommendation.
The Tubes - Fee Waybill.
Un-cited on Wikipedia, it mentions that when he left the band in 1986, another band member (it says not who) quipped, “Fee broke up.”
Actually, they were first called “Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids.”
As for my entry, I vote for Ministry. Al Jourgensen…and no one else.
And it could be argued, based on each band members’ output since GnR became basically just Axl, that Axl was in fact the least talented member of the original band.
Izzy Stradlin actually wrote a large portion of the music throughout his tenure in the band, and it could be argued, and is actually quite clear to me, that his departure marked the beginning of their downfall.
Although Fee was indisputably the face and fantastic frontman of the band, he wasn’t the main songwriter and not really an instrumentalist. Back in the day I worked with a bunch of huge fans and they often judged performances by what kind of night Steen or Spooner had. (not to mention Prairie Prince, who is a fantastic drummer)
The Johnny Holm Band
Abso-fricken-loutly! He’s been Todd Rundgren’s go-to drummer for years, and has been fantastic. I once saw him play three different concerts in as many days - the Tubes, Todd Rundgren’s Arena and a concert production of Sgt. Pepper’s.
I think Jimmy Chamberlain had a lot to do with Smashing Pumpkins’ success. The guy is a monster talent. He had to be for Corgan to put up with his addiction struggles and not fire him after the keyboardist’s fatal OD and Chamberlain’s close call. I read that Corgan wrote off D’arcy and James Iha as window dressing or something like it, but I haven’t read/heard him slag off Jimmy anywhere. Here’s a quote from Corgan about an early meeting of the two when Jimmy was interested in joining the band:
Also, as of 1984 there had been 37 people in Spinal Tap, despite it being David and Nigel’s band.
Marilyn Manson-Brian Warner
Owl City-Adam Young
Hunter Revenge-Hunter Burgan
The Revolution-Prince
Sounds like Big Country was mostly Stuart Adamson.
That’s OK, I haven’t heard of a lot of the bands mentioned here either.
Off the top of my head I’m going to say Bright Eyes and maybe Matthew Sweet.
Missed the edit window but:
ETA I guess Matthew Sweet is a bad example. Interesting to note though that they’re both from Nebraska
Bright Eyes is a good example.
Except that Billy played all of the instruments, except drums, on some of heir most important recordings (I’m thinking of Siamese Dream). And in the end, Jimmy proved disposable (at least in Corgan’s eyes) when he finally left the band, and SP continued without him.
Jon is the only legal member of Bon Jovi the entity. All the other guys are on salary. Of course they are high salaries and recieve their due for songwriting and other compensation but they are employees of Bon Jovi.
So I think they might qualify as far as legal status- since Bon Jovi is Jon and his guys. However, I think it would be a stretch musically- especially since they achieved their greatest success with outside songwriters and collaborators.
Has no one mentioned Sting & the Police yet? True, Stewart Copeland and Any Summers each did contribute songs to various LPs…both those songs only demonstrate exactly why Sting was a major international superstar and they were “the other guys in the band.”
“Mother” anyone?
10,000 Maniacs was essentially Natalie Merchant & co.
And then there’s the legendary rivalry that took place between Diana Ross and the other Supremes - Mary Wilson & Florence Ballard. Despite being a genuine group act initially who split the lead singing / backup harmonies parts equally, Ross began dating Motown’s CEO Barry Gordy, and hence got all the lead singing parts, and the lion’s share of the spotlight. Finally the band’s name was officially renamed "Diana Ross & the Supremes.’ When Ross left the group, the Supremes (minus Ballard who had already quit & was replaced) were quickly demoted to being a “B-list” act in Motown’s roster. Ballard was living on welfare when she died in '76. Wilson still harbors such antipathy towards Ross that she refused a multi-million dollar offer to rejoin Ross in a “Supremes” reunion tour several years ago.
Totally disagree. Sting’s solo output is quite distinct from his output with the Police, despite being the primary songwriter. Copeland was the heart of the band and you can hear it in his solo work; also, IMHO, his songs with the band (and his style of drumming) really made them more of a real band than simply “Sting and two other guys”.
If Simon & Garfunkle and The Black Keys are worthy of mention, then I’d submit the The White Stripes.
Derek & The Dominoes was mentioned earlier but I don’t think they quite qualify. True, Eric Clapton is prominent. But keyboardist Bobby Whitlock shares lead vocals on a number of songs and on the Layla album he cowrote 5 songs and wrote one more entirely on his own (on which he is the only singer). The piano coda to the song “Layla” was written by drummer Jim Gordon. And last but not least, Duane Allman’s guest appearance on the Layla album on co-lead guitar is an integral part of the music.