Since nobody specified that we had to be talking about rock bands, although it was a universal inference, can I point out that several of the swing group “Big Bands” from the 1930s are still around and performing under the same name, although every member has changed, sometimes several times? Glenn Miller and the Dorseys come quickly to mind as examples; I think the Guy Lombardo and Lawrence Welk organizations outlived their founders too.
This is going to come as a huge shock to the 30,000 people who saw them live at Madison Square Garden a week ago…
:rolleyes:
I’m not sure that breaking up acrimoniously, staying broken up for over a third of a century, and then re-forming for a series of one-off shows entirely counts: I was thinking more of bands which have had a more or less continuous recording career and still remained, however tenuously, the same band.
The Moody Blues 1966-2002
Ray Thomas
John Lodge
Justin Hayward
Graeme Edge
2002-2005
John Lodge
Justin Hayward
Graeme Edge
And don’t even get me started on the Berlin Philharmonic, although I’m not sure covers bands qualify under the OP.
What happened to Mike Pinder and Patrick Moraz?
Oh.
Does it help my position at all that I was listening to the Royal Albert Hall CD when I posted that??
[QUOTE=bienville]
Fairport Convention
They actually nearly called an album ‘Don’t Look Now, the Lineup’s Changed’ 
I would say, at a guess, that another Ashley Hutchings folk-rock group, The Albion Band (aka The Albion Country Band The Albion Dance Band, Albion Band 1990 and probably several other names), has had more lineup changes than any other.
Past members are practically a who’s who of British folk: John Tams, Simon Nicol, Ric Sanders, Cathy Lesurf, Phil Beer, Greame Taylor, June Tabor, Shirley Collins, Richard Thompson, Martin Carthy, even Mike Oldfield (guest on a track for a charity album) to name but a few.
Every album has a different lineup, iirc.
The Cult’s album Sonic Temple had a map of quite the family tree of reincarnations of the band.
What an incestuous group of muscians those Brit-prog-rockers are.
“We’re so pretentious that no one else will play with us.”
The Temptations?
Wow - I’m truly humbled. I thought I had a decent nomination - The Cure - but I see that they’re not even in the same league with some of these other bands!
Having said that, The Cure has expanded and contracted over the years, having 5 members at their largest and 1 at the smallest (“In Between Days” was basically just Robert Smith, even though it was released as being by The Cure). Not only that, but IIRC 2 members have joined, left, joined again, and left, making it an expanding and contracting revolving door too.
Sorry, the Wikipedia article isn’t very clear on their linup changes.
Lessee if I can make more sense of this:
1964-66
Pinder, Thomas, Laine, Edge, & Warwick
1966-78 (with about a 5-year hiatus toward the end)
Pinder, Thomas, Edge, Lodge, & Hayward
1978-early '90s
Moraz, Thomas, Edge, Lodge & Hayward
Early '90s-2002
Thomas, Edge, Lodge & Hayward
2002-2005
Edge, Lodge & Hayward