# Lead singer takes a break: best and worst examples **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273 "2016-02-16T16:47:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/81 "2016-02-17T17:36:28Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I think it was one of the bigger hits in their post HC incarnation. Remember the \*Long Run \*era? I thought I remembered reading it was their biggest-selling single, but I am apparently mistaken. It was a pretty big hit anyway. 🙂 Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/82 "2016-02-17T17:37:38Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Also [Glad And Sorry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZfJIC_ACl4). Man, how I love this song. I learned it from the [Golden Smog cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LklxmPb-J9w), which is also beautiful, with Jeff Tweedy on lead, who was also a fine second lead singer with Uncle Tupelo. His [New Madrid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7CGkuLEs5U) is good. And to bring it full circle, Ronnie Lane’s and Pete Townshend’s album _Rough Mix_ is a fine collaboration of second fiddle singers from their respective bands. Speaking of Jeff Tweedy, he let bassist John Stirratt sing lead on one song (“Its Just That Simple”) on Wilco’s first album. It sounds like someone doing a very poor job of trying to imitate Neil Young. I usually skip over that one. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/83 "2016-02-17T19:24:09Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Robbie Krieger of The Doors on “Running Blue” I love Robby K, but have to agree with you on this one. Speaking of Jimbo taking a breather, I propose Ray Manzarek, doing “Close To You” on the first live album, as a simultaneous best AND worst example. “Best” example because Jim’s voice was already faltering by that time, and Ray really could sing. “Worst” because technical ability notwithstanding, Ray’s voice was so incredibly obnoxious. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/84 "2016-02-18T02:37:18Z")
I’m not familiar enough with Sonic Youth to know how often a male sang lead but one does in the cover of “Superstar” that appeared on the Carpenters tribute album. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/85 "2016-02-18T03:15:02Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I think it was one of the bigger hits in their post HC incarnation. Remember the \*Long Run \*era? Post hardcore? Seriously, post Hotel it was like that **one** LP that they took 3 years to make right? That’s an era? An error maybe. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/86 "2016-02-18T03:22:32Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Speaking of Jeff Tweedy, he let bassist John Stirratt sing lead on one song (“Its Just That Simple”) on Wilco’s first album. It sounds like someone doing a very poor job of trying to imitate Neil Young. I usually skip over that one. Someone tell me if they hear this too: I think it’s a parody of Jay Farrar, who they were in Uncle Tupelo with, and left the band without notice, after having started the band and having been 50% songwriter. Listen to the lyrics, and then compare the vocals with Jays. Jay had a deadly serious brittle style. Also I think Box Full of Letters is about the end of the prior group. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/87 "2016-02-18T03:46:31Z")
> [@TheInimitableMaven](#): > > On Steely Dan’s debut, _Can’t Buy A Thrill_, there were three instances of this…David Palmer did the lead vocals on **[“Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Under Me)”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVns5KE13gs)** and, more famously, on **[“Dirty Work”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghcsrblhn7A)**; and Jim Hodder took the lead on **[“Midnite Cruiser”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxo7V2HyYS4)**. While I like “Dirty Work” and “Midnite Cruiser”, I can’t say I blame the Dan for deciding to stick with Donald Fagen at the end of the day. It’s a shame though when they released a Steely Dan’s Greatest Hits LP they omitted **“Dirty Work”** and **“Midnite Cruiser”** , both are good songs. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/88 "2016-02-18T03:50:36Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Post hardcore? > > Seriously, post Hotel it was like that **one** LP that they took 3 years to make right? That’s an era? An error maybe. Wait . . .what? Are you mocking my response? I’m no Eagles aficiando , but going by memory, Hotel California was YUUUUGE and then they got popular again when they released _Long Run_. Sorry if I’m missing your joke. Also, hard core porn Don Henley would have been A-OK with me. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/89 "2016-02-18T03:52:41Z")
On the Wings album, _ **"Wings at the Speed of Sound"** _ every band member got a chance to sing lead on a track. While Denny Laine was a singer while with the Moody Blues he didn’t lead sing while with Wings, with the exception of the WATSOS track “Time To Hide”, which was very good. As was drummer Joe English who sang lead on “Must Do Something About It”. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/90 "2016-02-18T04:17:15Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > On the Wings album, _ **“Wings at the Speed of Sound”** _ every band member got a chance to sing lead on a track. > While Denny Laine was a singer while with the Moody Blues he didn’t lead sing while with Wings, with the exception of the WATSOS track “Time To Hide”, which was very good. As was drummer Joe English who sang lead on “Must Do Something About It”. The best Wings song not by Paul McCartney though is the tragic and ironic “Medicine Jar” by the late great Jimmy McCullough. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/91 "2016-02-18T04:22:53Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Wait . . .what? Are you mocking my response? I’m no Eagles aficiando , but going by memory, Hotel California was YUUUUGE and then they got popular again when they released _Long Run_. Sorry if I’m missing your joke. Also, hard core porn Don Henley would have been A-OK with me. I was around and Hotel California was inescapable for a couple years. Three years going by then was an eternity. They weren’t the same group really, the audience had moved on, and there was a lack of prominent good tunes. The only one I remember is the long run which didn’t pique my interest for the rest, and for the most part over the years radio has agreed. I am surprised that the song mentioned was as big as it was. I’ll give someone credit, but it was no real follow up to HC and they were dead in the water for the rock audience by then IMMHHO. By the time Long Run came out everyone I ever knew or thought of knowing couldn’t care less about the eagles. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/92 "2016-02-18T04:36:05Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I’m not familiar enough with Sonic Youth to know how often a male sang lead but one does in the cover of “Superstar” that appeared on the Carpenters tribute album. Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon (whose autobiography is excellent) traded most of the vocal duties for Sonic Youth; Steve Shelley sang on a few tracks over the years. To me, Bob Mould, and his vocals, defined Husker Du, and Grant Hart was that other guy who sang. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/93 "2016-02-18T04:51:54Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I was around and Hotel California was inescapable for a couple years. Three years going by then was an eternity. They weren’t the same group really, the audience had moved on, and there was a lack of prominent good tunes. The only one I remember is the long run which didn’t pique my interest for the rest, and for the most part over the years radio has agreed. I am surprised that the song mentioned was as big as it was. I’ll give someone credit, but it was no real follow up to HC and they were dead in the water for the rock audience by then IMMHHO. By the time Long Run came out everyone I ever knew or thought of knowing couldn’t care less about the eagles. …and yet [The Long Run](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Run_%28Eagles_album%29) was number 1 album for 8 weeks, was certified Platinum (meaning 1 million copies sold) within a year of release, and spawned 3 top ten singles, including a number one. That’s pretty good going for a band that was “dead in the water” and that “nobody cared about”. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/94 "2016-02-18T05:11:22Z")
> [@Cardboard](#): > > It was always kind of cringy whenever James Young sang lead on any of the Styx albums. > EDIT: “Miss America” is not terrible. JY sings enough songs so as to not be in the list. > [@Shakester](#): > > ABBA - Björn sings lead on [Does Your Mother Know?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkL7Fkigfn8) > > I like it but I’m an ABBA fan in general. It’s not one of their best songs, though. Björn sings lead in 14 songs and co-lead in 20 more. Not quite the OP Benny, however, has only one solo lead [Suzie-Hang-Around](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXKTeGIr9H0) Men at Work’s Greg Ham (Keyboards, flute, sax) and Ron Strikert (lead guitar) had a lead each on the first two albums. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/95 "2016-02-18T05:26:35Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > …and yet [The Long Run](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Run_%28Eagles_album%29) was number 1 album for 8 weeks, was certified Platinum (meaning 1 million copies sold) within a year of release, and spawned 3 top ten singles, including a number one. > > That’s pretty good going for a band that was “dead in the water” and that “nobody cared about”. Well I was a little strong there. I meant that they were not current anymore. When HC came out it was 1976 and they were the rulers of the world. When the long run came out Punk and new wave had happened and Black Flag already existed. Their fans had gone from high school to college or college to the real world etc. My subjective experience was that the success in 1979 had to do with a pop market that was lubricated for it and that it didn’t represent creativity in that band. And look at what happened after that. I’m not a fan but there are songs I love on HC. I heard a different band in 1979. It was over, for me, anyway. When I think of the Eagles I think of a band that fell apart creatively after HC. I really don’t remember that song. I’ll check youtube now. They were passe by 79. That doesn’t mean they couldn’t have a big hit. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/96 "2016-02-18T05:51:18Z")
Speaking of Hotel California: Randy Meisner wrote and sang my two favorite Eagles songs, Take it to the limit and Try and love again, and was apparently gone by the time Hotel was released. My point about long run is that it surprised me to call a 1980 single their biggest. The record industry was yoooge then and a new eagles LP was going to chart no matter what just from publicity and industry goodwill. Not to mention the ounces of blow that went to making the LP and songs hits. But it sounded tired. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/97 "2016-02-18T06:08:21Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon (whose autobiography is excellent) traded most of the vocal duties for Sonic Youth; Steve Shelley sang on a few tracks over the years. Lee Ranaldo typically had 2-3 tracks per album. Sonic Youth really didn’t have a “lead vocalist” per se - they all switched off enough no one really dominated. Though in sheer numbers it probably went Moore\>Gordon\>Ranaldo\>\>\>Shelley. ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/98 "2016-02-18T11:12:50Z")
Maybe I missed it, but has anyone mentioned Mick Jones (Clash)? Jail Guitar Doors The Prisoner Hate and War All Lost in the Supermarket Stay Free Police On My Back Somebody Got Murdered Train In Vain and of course Should I Stay Or Should I… uh, what’s after that?. Can’t remember but it was a really popular song. All sung by Mick. And Paul Simonon nailed Guns of Brixton and Crooked Beat. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/99 "2016-02-18T11:44:05Z")
I’m glad **nearwildheaven** got to post her eponymous suggestion. That same album (_Out of Time_) has both Mike Mills’ best and his worst compositions – “Near Wild Heaven” and “Texarkana” respectively. But he sings poorly on both of them (and on the earlier “Superman,” a cover song). As for Led Zeppelin, the only instance I’m aware of in the studio canon of someone else taking lead vocals is Jimmy Page singing the bridge (“Little drops of rain…”) in the song “Thank You.” A pleasant enough voice – odd he didn’t sing more. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273/100 "2016-02-18T11:46:57Z")
Not sure if it’s best or worst, but definitely an enjoyable moment in their live set - Meg White coming out from behind the drum kit to sing [Cold, Cold Night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bpR02KaKE0). But let’s not mention Passive Manipulation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-singer-takes-a-break-best-and-worst-examples/746273.md?page=6)