# Who was the bad guy in the band? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123 "2020-06-05T22:18:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/61 "2020-06-09T00:45:40Z")
> [@Flare4roach](#): > > . . . the dreadful “Satanic Majesties” album . . . Where is that “eating my popcorn” emoticon when you need it? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/62 "2020-06-09T00:45:55Z")
Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Keith Moon almost formed a band together. The story goes Moon said that lineup “will go over like a lead zeppelin” and Page used the name when he formed LZ 2 years later. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/63 "2020-06-09T19:28:24Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > … > > **Rick Davies** , keyboardist Supertramp. Lets be honest, when you think Supertramp, you think the likable Rodger Hodgson, not the huge headed Davies who was lead singer on maybe 3 hit songs for them at tops. Hodgson left the group with a handshake agreement with Davies that Tramp would tour only playing Davies meager catalog of songs, and Hodgson as a solo act would only play his songs. > > That all changed about 10 years ago when Davies toured with a Hodgson lookalike and sound alike: > > [Supertramp feud as Roger Hodgson accuses former bandmate Rick Davies of playing 'his songs' | Daily Mail Online](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1318725/Supertramp-feud-Roger-Hodgson-accuses-bandmate-Rick-Davies-playing-songs.html) > > In other words the clod Rick Davies, who no one really likes, proved he did not have the talent to build a Supertramp catalog of his own and tried to steal the legacy of his former bandmate. I dunno. Davies and Hodgson are credited as co-writers on almost every song on their classic era albums (1974-1979). If Davies sang lead on his own songs, then it’s roughly 50% of their material during this period. I’ll grant that Hodgson sang lead on (and thus probably wrote) about 2/3 of their radio hits. But it’s not even close to 100%. If Davies violated their verbal agreement to not play Roger’s songs in concert, then, yeah, that’s a dick move. ETA: OK, a few others are questioning this narrative! ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/64 "2020-06-09T19:39:31Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > …Likewise Hodgson and Davies. Together they balanced off their worst tendencies. Apart, Hodgson has produced little that’s memorable and most is acoustic pop… Check out Hodgson’s first solo album “In the Eye of the Storm”. It’s really good. The song “Only Because of You” is amazing: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IE5SwypNrDM/maxresdefault.jpg "Only Because Of You") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE5SwypNrDM) ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/65 "2020-06-09T22:39:20Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > [Geoff Tate - Queensryche.](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/qa-geoff-tate-on-queensryches-ugly-split-backstage-brawl-in-brazil-102316/) Incredible band, largest douchebag. > [@Superdude](#): > > Geoff Tate responded unfavorably when the band [Queensryche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoff_Tate?wprov=sfla1) fired his stepdaughter from running the fan club, and his wife as the band’s manager. Things came to a head when Tate confronted the band about the firings (the band felt like they didn’t have a voice anymore. That Tate and his wife were essentially the bosses). > > They would end up taking each other to court over who owned the rights to the band name. At one point, there were two bands known as Queensryche touring. The band eventually won the rights to the name, so Tate retaliated by naming his band [Operation:Mindcrime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation%3A_Mindcrime_%28band%29?wprov=sfla1), which is the name of the original band’s more famous albums. I’m a huge Queensryche fan, and I would agree with this. His stage presence was egotistical even after he spent decades ruining his voice with cigarettes and whatever. Add to that his history of adding family members to the band (his son-in-law cane on board to take over for Chris Degarmo at some point, IIRC) His replacement has great pipes, and a really nice persona. He didn’t even blink when I got a crowd full of biker guys to start chanting, “Who needs Geoff? Who needs Geoff?” ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/66 "2020-06-09T23:16:54Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > My first concert was Crosby, Stills, and Nash, on what my friend and I would come to call their, “I’ve jumped bail, I’m high, and I’m armed” tour. The Band opened. This was about a year before Richard Manuel killed himself, thus kickstarting my disturbing tradition of seeing ppl perform a year before their untimely death. CSN came out, played 2 or 3 songs, then Crosby walked offstage. The rest of the concert was Stills and Nash performing solo, while the other went back to talk him back out. He came out, performed 2-3 more songs, and that was the end of the show. I still enjoyed myself. Stephen Stills kicks ass live, and those concerts where things go memorably wrong are all the more . . . well, memorable. Crosby is a dick, though. I saw them on the same tour. Great show. When I saw them they seemed to be getting along onstage and no one walked off. > [@Tamerlane](#): > > Yeah, it can be a bit hard to untangle. Robbie Robertson often comes off to me as a massive egotist and entitled jerk. BUT…he was apparently the straight(ish) one who stayed mostly clean while the rest of The Band positively wallowed in drugs and booze. Who’s to blame when the adult in the room is an a-bit-full-of-himself egotist, but everybody else is stoned to the gills? And here I thought the thread was going to be about Robbie Robertson. It’s pretty evident while watching The Last Waltz that Robertson is trying really hard to make a great movie and to say what needs to be said. In the few usable interview segments Danko and Manuel are blasted out of their gourds and Levon is slightly more sober. If that’s how they were going to be when they knew they were being filmed by Scorsese for a movie how were they the rest of the time? Robertson was also completely sincere about his desire to never tour again. He’s made plenty of music and performed live here and there on occasion but he has never toured since The Last Waltz. The rest of the group wanted to tour and make money. I forgive a lot of Robertson’s flaws due to his brilliance with The Band and the fact that his first solo album remains one of my favorite albums of all time. > [@Superdude](#): > > They would end up taking each other to court over who owned the rights to the band name. At one point, there were two bands known as Queensryche touring. The band eventually won the rights to the name, so Tate retaliated by naming his band [Operation:Mindcrime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation%3A_Mindcrime_%28band%29?wprov=sfla1), which is the name of the original band’s more famous albums. Tate’s retaliation was putting out an album under the band’s name called Frequency Unknown (with a big “FU” on the cover) in which many of the band’s biggest songs are redone with different musicians. That’s retaliation. I’m pretty sure being able to use the Mindcrime name and being allowed to play the band’s music live were part of the deal they agreed to in court. > [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I find it hard to picture Garth Hudson “wallowing in drugs and booze.” The guy was a music teacher, for god sake. I’ll bet Rick, Levon, and Richard went off to wallow in drugs and booze while Garth headed back to his hotel room for bible study. Garth is…Garth. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/67 "2020-06-10T00:10:30Z")
Billy corgan from the smashing pumpkins Phil Anselmo from pantera Dee Snider from twisted sister Supposedly all assholes. ---
**Author:** ![medicated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@medicated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medicated)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/68 "2020-06-10T03:16:33Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Warren Zevon was never really in a band, but he managed to kick himself out of his own solo act. I’m not terribly familiar with Zevon. But this sounds like a good story. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/69 "2020-06-10T03:24:06Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I saw them on the same tour. Great show. When I saw them they seemed to be getting along onstage and no one walked off. Pity. My story is better. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/70 "2020-06-10T03:26:48Z")
> [@medicated](#): > > I’m not terribly familiar with Zevon. But this sounds like a good story. > **[His Sh\*t’s F\*\*\*ed Up: The Complicated Legacy of Warren Zevon](https://www.theringer.com/music/2018/9/7/17830460/warren-zevon-career-music-albums)** > > The late singer-songwriter has been gone for 15 years, but his life and career still aren’t any easier to make sense of: He was as gifted, haunted, and destructive as any musician from his generation. > [@](#): > > Throughout Zevon’s prime in the ’70s and ’80s, he was very much the epitome of the “problematic” artist — in one of his best-known songs, he sings gleefully about an “excitable boy” who rapes and kills a woman and then takes her home. In his personal life, Zevon was a womanizer who raved maniacally (and sometimes violently) through alcoholic blackouts, terrorizing his wife, Crystal, and scarring his two children, Jordan and Ariel. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/71 "2020-06-10T04:41:13Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Pity. My story is better. 😃 Agreed ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/72 "2020-06-10T06:02:12Z")
Even in a band of zonked-out acid-heads like Hawkwind, Lemme Kilmeister’s style proved too much by the time he was (ha - wrongfully, it turned out) convicted of cocaine possession in Toronto and got kicked out of the band, and proceeded to go back home and screw some of his (very recent) ex-bandmate’s girlfirends. Is it possible that one of the Gallagher brothers (of Oasis) was more toxic than the other? David Byrne of the Talking Heads. When their double live album ('82) was made, the guitarist added on for that tour was the venerable Adrian Belew. Franz and Weymouth were about ready to kill Dave in (I think) Japan, and approached Adrian if he’d like to replace him, but the Twang Bar King politely declined, with his sites set on some project;) with Robert Fripp and Bill Bruford. IIRC there was a mid-80s Spin cover story on the Talking Heads being “Byrned out”. I can’t remember what particular thing it was in reference to, but Franz mentioned something about Byrne “playing dirty pool”. How about a band with no bad guy? Is that even possible? ELP? You can’t count Kieth’s tragic suicide because that was way after they were a band. (Even if they’d still been a regularly-playing band, calling him a “bad guy” - however one would define it here - being someone who kills himself? Hmmmm.) From my somewhat limited perusings, they seemed to have been quite boringly compatible the whole time. I can’t see anyone in the Osmonds being a toxic cesspit of badass degradation, unless someone steeped in Osmondia can otherwise shitkick the ignorance out of me on that. Whoever that band was that did that song that went “So put your hand in the hand of the man who spilled the waters.” ok that one was just a blind stab. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/73 "2020-06-10T06:41:02Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Is it possible that one of the Gallagher brothers (of Oasis) was more toxic than the other? Liam. Easily. > [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > How about a band with no bad guy? Is that even possible? Rush. I don’t think Rutsey counts. I’ve never heard them say anything bad about him. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/74 "2020-06-10T10:59:22Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > How about a band with no bad guy? Is that even possible? By all accounts, the members of Rush got along very well. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/75 "2020-06-10T14:44:10Z")
I think the same goes for ZZTop. I’m basing this off of the fact that they’ve been together for like 50 years with the same lineup. ELP had their infighting, but I don’t think it was any one member who was the “bad guy.” ELP, Rush, ZZTop… I guess it’s easier to keep cool when there’s only three people in the band. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/76 "2020-06-10T15:19:06Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > I think the same goes for ZZTop. I’m basing this off of the fact that they’ve been together for like 50 years with the same lineup. > > ELP had their infighting, but I don’t think it was any one member who was the “bad guy.” > > ELP, Rush, ZZTop… I guess it’s easier to keep cool when there’s only three people in the band. 🙂 Sure. Just ask The Police. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**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:** [June 10, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/77 "2020-06-10T15:22:01Z")
**Old 97s** are another band that has been together close to 30 years with the same lineup, and they all seem like genuinely nice guys who get along great. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2020, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/78 "2020-06-10T15:34:52Z")
How has this thread gone so long without any mention of [Lead Singer’s Disease](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lead%20singer%27s%20disease)? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/79 "2020-06-10T16:24:33Z")
> [@tripthicket](#): > > I heard things long ago about mean ol’ David Lee Roth abusing poor puppy Eddie Van Halen, but I never really followed up on that whole saga. Back after the first split, it sure seemed like Roth’s ego had gotten too big, his happy-go-lucky schtick was just an act and Eddie was the wronged party. But after hearing horror stories from Hagar and Michael Anthony\* after their ousters, and reading Eddie’s Billboard interview given right before they launched the second reunion tour with Roth where he flat out said “We are not friends” and stated he’d rather tour with someone else but the fans want to see Roth, I’d say Eddie’s quite a bit of a dick as well. \*Eddie forced Anthony out of the band before their last tour together (reunion with Hagar), forcing him to perform as a salaried support musician, denying him any share of merchandise or ticket revenue. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123/80 "2020-06-10T17:57:07Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > David Byrne of the Talking Heads. When their double live album ('82) was made, the guitarist added on for that tour was the venerable Adrian Belew. Franz and Weymouth were about ready to kill Dave in (I think) Japan, and approached Adrian if he’d like to replace him, but the Twang Bar King politely declined, with his sites set on some project;) with Robert Fripp and Bill Bruford. > IIRC there was a mid-80s Spin cover story on the Talking Heads being “Byrned out”. I can’t remember what particular thing it was in reference to, but Franz mentioned something about Byrne “playing dirty pool”. Wellllll…let’s just say there are multiple potential [sources of friction in the Talking Heads](https://www.salon.com/test2/2003/12/03/heads_2/) ;). To quote: _Talking Heads fans generally don’t take kindly to dumping on Weymouth, but she really is the Lady Macbeth of rock._ That shouldn’t let Byrne off the hook of course, as he seems to have been genuinely odd and frustratingly difficult. But apparently he wasn’t the only issue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-bad-guy-in-the-band/855123.md?page=5)