# Musical Collaborations that Should Have Happened **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627 "2004-10-11T13:25:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/1 "2004-10-11T13:25:48Z")
My friends and I went camping this weekend, about two hours away. On the ride home, through Radio Void USA, I cajoled my friend into putting in a CD, which turned out to be a mix CD he’d made. It was all 80s songs and the first six or so could have all been linked to Prince, oddly enough. There was a Sinead O’Connor song, Sheena Easton, Shelia E. and a couple others. Finally, an artist came on that made me think, gee… Two of the most influential musical icons of the 80s – that I can think of – **Madonna** and **Prince** , have never collaborated and worked together. We think the product of such a team would be cool, but we realized quickly that there’s no way Madonna’s ego and control freakishness would ever fit into the same room as Prince’s and he probably thinks she has no talent because she can’t play 57 instruments like he can. The collaboration will never happen. And **Rick James** and **Prince**. Did they ever work together? Maybe they should have. I think **George Clinton** and **Prince** would put out a hell of a record. We thought **Eminem** and **Elton John** worked out okay. **Eminem** should do more of that. **Elton John** should not. So whaddya think, wise Dopers? What musicians should team up, but never have? We can also do the flip side: What musicans should never have collaborated because the product of their work was less than stellar? ---
**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:** [October 11, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/2 "2004-10-11T13:34:06Z")
Brian Wilson was supposedly going to ask Andy Partridge to help him write an album. That really, really, really should’ve happened. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/3 "2004-10-12T22:09:00Z")
You’re right. That would have been great. You know what would be another great collaboration? If the music fans of the SDMB and this thread got together… what a great combination that would be. :smack: (I must really suck.) ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/4 "2004-10-12T23:02:53Z")
David Byrne and David Gilmour woulda been a nice collaboration. I’d also say Byrne and Roger Waters, but Waters is notorious as being really stubborn… ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/5 "2004-10-12T23:08:17Z")
George Clinton and Prince did do an album together- it’s called Grafitti Bridge. I always thought Melissa Etheridge and Dave Matthews should do a duet together. They have very compatible voices, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/6 "2004-10-13T01:45:54Z")
I’ve gone on record before saying that **Norah Jones** and **Jamie Cullum** should do something together… How about **Madonna** and that \*\*Britney Spears \*\* girl? …Oh, wait. 😉 **The Beatles** and **David Bowie**. No idea why, I’d just have loved to hear that. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/7 "2004-10-13T01:48:34Z")
Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/8 "2004-10-13T04:00:39Z")
**Warren Zevon** and **Neil Young** **John Prine** and **Bob Dylan** ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/9 "2004-10-13T16:39:33Z")
Madonna & Prince worked together on _Like a Prayer_ ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/10 "2004-10-13T18:29:27Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > **The Beatles** and **David Bowie**. No idea why, I’d just have loved to hear that. **Bowie** didn’t do anything with The Beatles (his career never really took off until after they broke up) but he did co-write “Fame” with **John Lennon** who sings back-up on the record. That may be not exactly what you’re looking for but it’s pretty damn close. > [@Sam Stone](#): > > Warren Zevon and Neil Young Also, **Warren Zevon** and **Elvis Costello**. I’m still surprised those two masters of sardonica never collaborated on a project or covered each other’s songs. (Although, it still isn’t too late for Costello to do a Zevon cover.) ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/11 "2004-10-13T18:51:33Z")
**Nick McCabe** and **Radiohead**. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/12 "2004-10-13T19:23:14Z")
Tom Waits and Nick Cave ---
**Author:** ![Waccoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Waccoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waccoe)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/13 "2004-10-13T19:45:50Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Tom Waits and Nick Cave I’m seriously into NC ATM, haven’t got the new album yet. But I don’t think he’d go well with yer man Tom. He needs something lighter that can still fit within the Gothic parameters - like the Corrs. And ye may laugh, but a man who duets with Kylie will do anything. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/14 "2004-10-13T19:47:46Z")
> [@Waccoe](#): > > I’m seriously into NC ATM, haven’t got the new album yet. But I don’t think he’d go well with yer man Tom. He needs something lighter that can still fit within the Gothic parameters - like the Corrs. And ye may laugh, but a man who duets with Kylie will do anything. Nah, the two are thematically very similar. Tom Waits has more than a smidge of Gothic in him as well, and Nick Cave can be extremely fierce. They’d go well together. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/15 "2004-10-13T20:16:29Z")
The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix! Or the Beatles, the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, and Monty Python, as George Harrison suggested in _I Me Mine_ as the alternative to the Beatles’ having broken up. I think some kind of artistic collaboration between Frank Zappa and Salvador Dali would have been great. The closest think I know of is Dali’s hologram of Alice Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/16 "2004-10-13T21:16:04Z")
Tom Waits and Neko Case Nick Cave and Neko Case Ben Folds and Tori Amos (although I know they toured together last year, I’m not sure if they ever collaborated musically.) Ben Folds and Nellie McKay Queen and The Darkness (although I hear this is in the works.) Spinal Tap and Tenacious D ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/17 "2004-10-13T22:04:25Z")
Hendrix and Prince ---
**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:** [October 14, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/18 "2004-10-14T00:29:17Z")
> [@Already in Use](#): > > Or the Beatles, the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, and Monty Python, as George Harrison suggested in _I Me Mine_ as the alternative to the Beatles’ having broken up. Neil Innes, one of the two main songwriters for the Bonzo Dog Band, worked with Monty Python for years, writing “We Love the Yangtzee,” “Brave Sir Robin” (and singing it in the movie), and “Knights of the Round Table.” And while the Beatles and the Bonzos didn’t perform together, the Bonzos did perform in “Magical Mystery Tour.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/19 "2004-10-14T00:33:32Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Neil Innes, one of the two main songwriters for the Bonzo Dog Band, worked with Monty Python for years, writing “We Love the Yangtzee,” “Brave Sir Robin” (and singing it in the movie), and “Knights of the Round Table.” He also wrote songs for The Rutles. I was able to fool a couple of people into thinking some of the songs from the soundtrack were actually Beatles’ songs. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627/20 "2004-10-14T00:42:14Z")
The group Emerson, Lake, and Palmer was to get personal funk lessons from Jimi Hendrix. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-collaborations-that-should-have-happened/268627.md?page=2)