# Biggest Band Drop-off After One Quits/Fired **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [August 15, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681 "2019-08-15T01:53:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/41 "2019-08-15T16:10:53Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > I don’t agree with this at all. In fact, I would cite _Wish You Were Here_ and “Dogs” from _Animals_ as prime examples of the band working collaboratively together, with more balanced input from each member. I’ll give you Wish You Were Here, song and album, but Animals as an album was mostly Waters, and Dogs is clearly a Waters song as the rest, with Gilmour contributions (probably the solos), almost like the Final Cut. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/42 "2019-08-15T16:12:43Z")
The Stranglers without Hugh Cornwell 10,000 Maniacs without Natalie Merchant. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/43 "2019-08-15T16:14:19Z")
Ok, to underline the end of this, it’s a divisive issue whether Waters leaving was problematic for Floyd, it was for some, not for others. However, I’d say Wright and Mason leaving the bands songwriting credits to disappear into drugs after Wish You Were Here, might be just as valid a point… ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/44 "2019-08-15T16:24:39Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > I’ll give you Wish You Were Here, song and album, but Animals as an album was mostly Waters, and Dogs is clearly a Waters song as the rest, with Gilmour contributions (probably the solos), almost like the Final Cut. Early versions of _Animals_’ “Dogs” and “Sheep” date from 1974, well before the band was Waters-dominated - here’s an [early version of “Dogs”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jij86XhWDOI). Roger Waters may have wrote the lyrics to “Dogs”, but the song is over seventeen minutes long, and majority-instrumental, with the instrumental parts being collaborative. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/45 "2019-08-15T16:28:33Z")
**Big Brother and the Holding Company** are still touring and releasing CDs. I would not know this without Wikipedia. Janis Joplin quit the band a couple years before she died. I assumed Lowell George’s death was the crippling blow to **Little Feat** ; in fact, half the band bailed on him a few months earlier and he was struggling to keep the band together right up until his death. They regrouped 8 years afterwards and had one pretty impressive hit circa 1990. They still tour. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/46 "2019-08-15T17:11:19Z")
Rush was never the same after the new guy replaced John Rutsey. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/47 "2019-08-15T17:26:24Z")
Dr Feelgood were a shadow of their former selves without Wilko. And, as an opinion on Pink Floyd seems to be obligatory - I don’t like anything they did after Syd Barrett left. So there. j PS: apart from Shine On, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/48 "2019-08-15T17:57:28Z")
I love Prince, but I don’t even pretend to enjoy the stuff he did after Wendy & Lisa left as much as what he did with them in the band. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2019, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/49 "2019-08-15T18:27:09Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The Who was never the same after Keith Moon left. Absolutely right. IMO he was the star of the band, and the only reason listened to them. (Still do.) ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/50 "2019-08-15T18:54:42Z")
Iron Maiden in the '90s when lead singer Bruce Dickinson left for a solo career. It’s not really Blaze Bayley’s fault that the songwriting is so uninspired on those two albums, but the older Maiden songs just weren’t a good match for Blaze’s vocal range when playing live. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/51 "2019-08-15T18:55:23Z")
Chicago after Terry Kath died. They were already drifting from rock to pop, but this shove them right over the edge. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/52 "2019-08-15T19:13:10Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Genesis lost their unique sound after Steve Hackett left in 1977. They had already made two good Genesis albums without Peter Gabriel: _A Trick of the Tail_ and _Wind and Wuthering_, both from 1976. Everyone has always made a big deal of Gabriel’s split from Genesis, but they came back strong without Gabriel; it was the loss of Hackett that precipitated their sudden drop-off in quality. Thank you! That’s exactly what I was going to say. Most people who know a bit about Genesis would say the drop-off happened after Gabriel left, and that did make a difference in the band to be sure. But folks who know more than a bit about the band realize that it was the loss of Steve Hackett two albums later (two FINE and very Genesis-sy albums) that fundamentally changed the band, and not in a good way. I’ve always the found band’s comments on Hackett’s departure to be disingenuous and quite funny. They claimed there were too many different sounds and phrases competing with each other and that it would become less chaotic without Hackett’s sweeping guitar wails and atmospherics. I don’t know how they kept a straight face while spewing such bullshit. It’s like: “Yeah. This symphony orchestra will sound great just as soon as we eliminate all the violins. They’re just getting in the way. Too many notes!” :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [August 15, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/53 "2019-08-15T19:23:33Z")
> [@](#): > > (Now, if only BS&T had re-hired Al Kooper and Steve Katz and gone back to the jazz-rock fusion of that first lineup…) You’re not kidding, digs. BS&T’s second album was decent. I liked their covers of Satie, Laura Nyro, and Billie Holiday. “Sometime in Winter” was a good song and “Spinning Wheel” and “You Make Me so Very Happy” were good Top 40 hits. However, the album wasn’t nearly as good as _Child is Father to the Man_. After the second album, things really went south, IMO\> ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/54 "2019-08-15T20:36:50Z")
Kajagoogoo fired Limahl, changed the band name to Kaja. Splat. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![montag01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@montag01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/montag01)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/55 "2019-08-15T20:46:01Z")
I think REM began a long downhill slide after Bill Berry left. I didn’t realize how involved he was in the band’s songwriting. They were still better than most bands around, but there’s just a lot lacking for me in REM’s post-Berry material. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/56 "2019-08-15T20:51:48Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > I don’t know if this fits the thread exactly, but the loss of Tom Johnston from the Doobie Brothers allowed Michael McDonald to completely ruin the band’s musical style. But they enjoyed great commercial success with McDonald. _Minute by Minute_ was, by far, their most successful album and McDonald wrote some of their biggest selling songs. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/57 "2019-08-15T20:57:55Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Most people who know a bit about Genesis would say the drop-off happened after Gabriel left, and that did make a difference in the band to be sure. But folks who know more than a bit about the band realize that it was the loss of Steve Hackett two albums later (two FINE and very Genesis-sy albums) that fundamentally changed the band, and not in a good way. It may not have been in a way you or I would have liked, but Genesis was far, FAR more successful after Hackett left. They had a string of 6 consecutive Platinum (US) albums after he left. They never had one with Hackett or Gabriel. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/58 "2019-08-15T20:58:20Z")
There must be solo artists who had support/collaboration from another musician who split and they went downhill… anyone know of one? Like if David Rawlings left Gillian Welch and she started doing commercial jingles… Or if Peter White stopped playing with Al Stewart (loved their work together [in the 80s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyFQv2sjQy4), looks like they’re [still at it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnXt80Xvq8E)). ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/59 "2019-08-15T21:02:10Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > It may not have been in a way you or I would have liked, but Genesis was far, FAR more successful after Hackett left. They had a string of 6 consecutive Platinum (US) albums after he left. They never had one with Hackett or Gabriel. I listen to a band because I like their music, not how much money they can make. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681/60 "2019-08-15T21:07:10Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > I’d say Cliff Burton from Metallica to me is the one who is most striking once pointed out. > > He brought the proggy elements to Metallica, and not just him, I think he inspired the rest to do more with their talents. > > His contribution to And Justice For All was clearly there, so still kind of one of his albums, **though I’d love to heard the remixed version where they actually mixed in Newsteads bass playing to make it like the album it should have been, rather than the tinny half album it was.** > > After that, they put out an almost Metallica tribute album without the “love” in the black album, and that was that. Re bolded: here ya go. And Justice for Jason. It sounds like a whole new and wonderful album, as it always should have been! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xtT_XSBdOj8/maxresdefault.jpg "Metallica - ...And Justice For Jason 2 (30th Anniversary 2018) FROST MEDIA VERSION") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtT_XSBdOj8) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-band-drop-off-after-one-quits-fired/838681.md?page=4)