Mott the Hoople replaced original led singer Stan Tippins with Ian Hunter before they hit it big. (Hunter was actually in the band for quite along time before they actually started having hits, but they had quite a big cult following and critical acclaim for most of that period.)
As I understand it, Tippins was actually a pretty good vocalist, but suffered from terrible stage fright. He stayed on as road manager after Hunter replaced him, and sometimes still contributed to the vocals, both in the studio and even from a mike backstage when they were playing live. Hunter, however, also became the band’s main songwriter, as well as lead vocalist (and playing rhythm guitar and sometimes keyboards).
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
I don’t think that is correct. Matlock was still in the band when they first hit it big, and for their first few hits, including Anarchy in the UK, and I believe he is considered to have made a large contribution to the writing of them. I think he is playing the bass on (and co-wrote) most of the tracks on their album, too, even though it came out after he had left. His replacement by Sid Vicious (who had the right image, but almost no musical ability whatsoever) was more the beginning of the band’s decline and disintegration than the start of their success.
From the Documentary, Beyond the Lighted Stage, they said it purely health reasons. It was made after Rutsey’s death, and maybe they were BSing, but the tour manager at the time was interviewed and said they didn’t think he would survive a tour of the States.
Didn’t Gregg Rolie leave the band because of family issues? People say only women do that kind of thing, but I’m pretty sure he was the prominent musician in that era who had children and realized that he couldn’t be the kind of dad he felt kids deserve if he stayed in the band. AFAIK, he stayed in the music industry but only did local gigs and session work, and all the money he made with Journey enabled him to do that.
They were the “One Direction” of their times; while I did enjoy their music, and still find it fun to listen to, I didn’t fall for the “Rollermania” most of my friends did. We also had no idea that at least two of them, well, let’s just say they were more interested in the boyfriends some of the girls dragged along than the girls themselves.
The correct answer for Genesis is not Peter Gabriel but rather Chris Stewart, their original drummer. Stewart was dismissed and replaced by John Silver, who left and was subsequently replaced by John Mayhew.
Mayhew was then dismissed and replaced by Phil Collins. So they sacked two drummers before hitting their stride.
And the six Grammy awards, and 16 nominations, 3 Golden Globe nominations, and a couple of dozen other awards and nominations.
Yeah, not much of a career. Good thing he also has Real World Studios to fall back on. You know, so he can live vicariously through all of the other musicians he helps and mentors.
Dinosaur Jr booted Lou Barlow before* Green Mind* (their first album on a major label), but they had started to have success with Bug and the Freak Scene single just prior to Mascis booting Barlow. Barlow eventually came back in 2005 (15 years alter).
In the Vh1 “Behind the Music” special about the band, one of the original members relates (quite amusingly) that he & his fellow band-mates HATED Steve Perry’s songs and his music style (“He’s a crooner!”) when he was foisted upon them by their manager. But then they did their first tour with Perry, and be began to notice - their audiences were initially composed mainly of schlubby, greasy, overweight, hairy male “prog rock” fans. Before long, their audiences were being composed of cute young girls. THAT made it all the more bare-able!
Anyway, back on topic - Jefferson Airplane: Their original drummer was an ex-police officer who could not abide even the smell of marijuana. He barely lasted a month with the band. Alas, the group replaced him as drummer with talented but schizophrenic guitarist (and pointedly NOT a drummer) Skip Spence, who proved to be too flaky to show up to gigs. Eventually, they replaced him with Spencer Dryden.
The band also replaced original female singer Signe Toly (later Anderson) after she had a baby, making appearances at hippie rock venues… difficult. She had threatened to quit numerous times. Signe also was married to one of Ken Kesey’s original band of Merrie Pranksters Jerry Anderson, who was apparently a volatile person that caused several ruckuses at early concerts (assaulting people for minor slights.) Of course, the band replaced her with Grace Slick, whose presence really put the band on the map.
Jethro Tull’s original guitarist, Mick Abrahams, was replaced for a short while by Tony Iommi (later of Black Sabbath) before they settled on Martin Lancelot Barre. Before their big album Aqualung, they also shed drummer Clive Bunker and bassist Glenn Cornick. By the time they hit their stride, Roland Kirk was the only original member.
Crosby, Stills & Nash originally had a fourth member. Once they shit-canned him they they had great hits like Suite Judy Blue Eyes and Marrakesh Express, and the other guy was never heard from again.
