# Bands that are better than the individual members **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2019, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987 "2019-03-12T03:39:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/41 "2019-03-14T02:22:53Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Come to think of it, Poco is a perfect example. Furay, Messina, Randy Meisner/Timothy B Schmit, Paul Cotton, and the amazing Rusty Young, the answer to “Hey, Jerry Garcia, who would you recommend on slide guitar?” And to underline Poco as deserving of this thread, some of the artists’ solo work is [downright embarrassing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCUilkA38Xo&list=PL754A8A7192B22613&index=1)… Just to nitpick, Rusty Young played pedal steel guitar, not slide. I’ll go with my perennial, the Bonzo Dog Band. Together, they were the Monty Python of music (and Python learned a lot from them), but post breakup no much came of them. Neil Innes had some nice songs, but never caught on except for his work for Python, and Vivian Stanshall’s work was more weird than musical. There’s also Spirit. Great group. One hit by Jay Ferguson, but they never recaptured the genius. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/42 "2019-03-14T03:31:02Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There’s also Spirit. Great group. One hit by Jay Ferguson, but they never recaptured the genius. TIL that Jay (“Thunder Island”) Ferguson was in Spirit. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/43 "2019-03-14T08:19:59Z")
Let’s try some jazz. I nominate the classic John Coltrane Quartet: Trane on soprano sax, McCoy Tyner on piano, Steve Davis on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. As good as Trane was, Tyner and Jones were first-rate musicians in their own right and Davis wasn’t bad, though I think I would prefer Jimmy Garrison. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/44 "2019-03-14T22:01:59Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I’d argue that most of the really great rock bands over the years would fit this. At least the ones that lasted. In a fledgling band where one guy is clearly the driving force it tends to distort that band dynamic and eventually it becomes X and the Y. > > Seriously, Queen, Rush, Kiss and so forth. All great bands. But the solo projects - while sometimes fun - lacked the special something that made them famous in the first place. All right, **Mr. Chance** , I’m gonna challenge you because we’ve disagreed on this in other threads: Styx I’ve got almost everything from Equinox through Cyclorama and I still think the essential line-up is Dennis DeYoung, James (JY) Young, Tommy Shaw, and the Panozzo brothers. Yeah, Dennis pissed-off his band-mates with ballads and the theatrical conceptual Kilroy Was Here (from which you take Tommy’s namesake) to the point that Tommy left and that Sucherman guy filled in [Edge of the Century]. And then Dennis and Tommy put out competing solo albums and Tommy gathered the Damn Yankees. Then they got back together and put together Brave New World and Dennis couldn’t join the tour to back it. So they dropped him and found Gowan and spent a lot of time after the Brave tour just getting their groove together on oldies and remakes. Now The Mission has had only mediocre sales (though one must admit this is a different era and model for marketing music than when they started). I still think that, if Dennis had joined the Brave New World tour anyway\* the others wouldn’t have voted him out and the signature synergy would still be going strong today with better tracks on The Mission and better sales (i.e. greater popularity) because of it. I still think the essential Panozzo-Dennis-JY-Tommy version is better than any of their substitute (e.g. Sucherman for John, Burtnik for – ?who?) incarnations. What say you, Mr. Chance? –G? \*But of course he couldn’t because Disney lawyers would have shredded him for breach-of-contract and ruining their live production of Hunchback of Notre Dame – for which, ironically, his original scores have yet to see the light of day. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/45 "2019-03-15T01:52:18Z")
Interesting that one of the acts at Summerfest last year was “Dennis DeYoung: The Music of Styx”. More honest than some musicians trying to pass themselves (with random musicians) off as the original band. Dewey Whatshisname toured as The Buffalo Springfield, Bob Shane put together a new Kingston Trio, and I think there were three bands last summer touring as “The Beach Boys”. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/46 "2019-03-15T02:08:32Z")
Motley Crue. When they went their individual ways their music wasn’t nearly as good. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/47 "2019-03-16T05:36:22Z")
Hmm, how about “Bands you thought would just feature one superstar, but they ended up being a team effort?” Little Village, Captain Beyond, Blind Faith, but even moreso Derek and the Dominoes… …thanks to Clapton’s relationships with Duane Allman and Bobby Whitlock, and their desire to share and play off each other. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/48 "2019-03-16T05:41:00Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Interesting that one of the acts at Summerfest last year was “Dennis DeYoung: The Music of Styx”. After DeYoung was kicked out of Styx in the late 1990s, he sued the band for the right to use the band’s name in the context of the solo career he was embarking on. As part of the settlement of the lawsuit, Shaw, Young, & co. can still call themselves Styx, and DeYoung is allowed to use the band’s name in terms like “the music of Styx,” and refer to himself in promotional materials as “formerly of Styx.” ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/49 "2019-03-16T05:52:09Z")
KISS proved this because I think it was their 3rd or 4th album contract had a thing that said everyone got their own solo album so over a couple of years, they all came out … and I think the critics and fans said only 1 or 2 of the 4 was even semi-decent and I don’t think any of them had a hit so they took the hint and didn’t try again … Note I’m remembering this from behind the music and things I read so I could be off … ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/50 "2019-03-16T13:44:22Z")
While everybody knows the songs of the Village People, I don’t think any of the individual members every had a solo career. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/51 "2019-03-16T16:23:56Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Hmm, how about “Bands you thought would just feature one superstar, but they ended up being a team effort?” > > Little Village, Captain Beyond, Blind Faith, but even moreso Derek and the Dominoes… > > …thanks to Clapton’s relationships with Duane Allman and Bobby Whitlock, and their desire to share and play off each other. While the initial work of \*Blind Faith \*and _Derek and the Dominos_ was great collaboration, Clapton’s superstardom overshadowed both bands, leading to their early demise as Clapton strived to get away from his “Clapton is God” reputation. It’s possible _Derek and the Dominoes_ may have continued longer if Allman had stayed and shared the limelight with Clapton, but he (Clapton) was already on his way to self destruction because of his fame and Patti Boyd. _Blind Faith_ is considered by many to be the first Supergroup, since Ginger Baker (Cream) and Steve Winwood (Traffic) were as well known as Clapton. Clapton has said that people initially expected them to play Cream and Traffic songs rather than their own work. Allman wasn’t an official member of _Derek and Dominos_ (though he played with him live a couple of times) and was already well known for his work with _The Allman Brothers_, to which he returned after the _Layla_ sessions. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/52 "2019-03-16T17:07:49Z")
> [@digs](#): > > …Captain Beyond… Good pick. Their first album was a masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/53 "2019-03-16T21:51:29Z")
> [@Royal\_Nonesutch](#): > > Although David Byrne has done some interesting solo stuff, it doesn’t touch the level of creative brilliance he achieved with Talking Heads. Yes. My wife (now passed), before I met her, back in the 70s, had a loft near CBGBs. David Byrne stayed in a room there for a time. It was a place where a lot of musicians, artists, actors, hung out. Most of them from Rhode Island School of Design. Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz were among this group of people. Now I can’t really comment on Franz’s drumming, but Tina’s bass playing was amazing. And when the band was forming, she didn’t even know how to play. She taught herself. My wife claimed that she suggested the name of the band. I’ve always took it with a grain of salt, because there was a lot of partying in those days. I still have a Polaroid of a relatively famous actress doing cocaine. > **[The Genius of Tina Weymouth: Breaking Down the Style of Talking Heads and Tom...](https://www.openculture.com/2018/07/genius-tina-weymouth-breaking-style-talking-heads-tom-tom-clubs-basslines.html)** > > The best part about watching videos of my favorite musicians talking about their playing is the moment they reveal that certain stylistic quirks--the ones that made them who they are--came about more-or-less by accident. Dinosaur Jr.’s J. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/54 "2019-03-18T01:34:20Z")
I’ve just got to say I will never utter anything half as cool as “My wife had a loft near CBGB. David Byrne stayed there.” One of these nights at the local tavern, the regulars (who argue about music nonstop) are going to put together a fantasy band of near-geniuses. Sir Brian May (PhD in Astrophysics), Tom Morello (Harvard & DC), Laurie Anderson (BA, MFA, invented some of the instruments she uses), Kesha (crazy high IQ), Greg Graffin (PhD, Cornell -where he was teaching while still playing with Bad Religion), and of course David Byrne. ETA: Sorry for the hijack. Just loved the opening to Mike’s post. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/55 "2019-03-18T16:05:23Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > KISS proved this because I think it was their 3rd or 4th album contract had a thing that said everyone got their own solo album > > so over a couple of years, they all came out … and I think the critics and fans said only 1 or 2 of the 4 was even semi-decent and I don’t think any of them had a hit so they took the hint and didn’t try again … > > Note I’m remembering this from behind the music and things I read so I could be off … Don’t shoot me, but I like Ace’s first solo album (the one you are referring to). And it does have a couple songs that I would consider hits, particularly his cover of New York Groove. He has several more solo albums but I haven’t given them much listen time. KISS was better together, at least up to the Alive 2 period. Beyond that, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/56 "2019-03-18T16:14:27Z")
In 1999, Kiss’s Paul Stanley starred in a Toronto production of The Phantom of the Opera, in which he played the role of the Phantom. He appeared in the musical from May 25 to August 1, and again that year from September 30 to October 31, 1999. Though an official album of him in the role was never released, I’ve heard it and Stanley was excellent in the role. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/57 "2019-03-18T17:01:24Z")
I’d argue that Neil Young’s solo career after CSN&Y at least equaled (if not surpassed) his works with the group. If I could go back in time and pick which one to see in their prime I would pick CSN&Y, but only because I’ve seen Neil perform 5 times already (including in his prime). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/58 "2019-03-18T18:11:04Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Don’t shoot me, but I like Ace’s first solo album… particularly his cover of New York Groove… One of my favorites, especially the spoken intro. A couple of times (during stressful periods in my life) I’ve run off to NYC for a long weekend. On each occasion, as I’m getting out of the car/taxi/subway in mid-town for the first time, I just _have_ to say\* “Well, here I am/back in the ci-tay/with a fistful of dollars/in my hand…”\* ---
**Author:** ![tingbudong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tingbudong/32/520_2.png) [@tingbudong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tingbudong)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/59 "2019-03-24T03:55:48Z")
Smashing Pumpkins Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987/60 "2019-03-24T04:24:18Z")
> [@tingbudong](#): > > Smashing Pumpkins Though I always wonder if Billy Corgan would agree… :dubious: \<–the emoji even looks like him! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-are-better-than-the-individual-members/830987.md?page=4)