lesser member bands

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inspired by the current Darkside thread, I submit the following, for your approval:

spin-off bands comprised of the lesser members of the original band are generally dud...I am thinking here about your Darksides, Slipstreams, Hair & Skin Trading Cos., etc...sure, on occasion a Damon and Naomi can surprise and impress, but the history of the Lesser Member Band, from the Billion Dollar Babies to Snowpony, is a big collective MEH...

am I right or am I right?

― henry s, Friday, 23 February 2007 22:09 (eighteen years ago)

Are we talikin' about GG Allin's tiny pee pee again?

― PappaWheelie V, Friday, 23 February 2007 22:10 (eighteen years ago)

Well, the one weird Hair & Skin Trading Co. album (what's it called...Lava Surf Kunst or something like that) is my favorite album by any of the related folk.

If you count Kevin Tihista's Red Terror as a band, then that's probably better than anything by his previous group (where I think he was pretty minor).

Enon, possibly? Sebadoh (depending on how you view the original band)?

Not arguing the overall point, but I'm sure there are lotsa exceptions.

― dlp9001, Friday, 23 February 2007 22:16 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, and Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports (which is apparently what the band was called).

― dlp9001, Friday, 23 February 2007 22:19 (eighteen years ago)

I had meant to mention Sebadoh...good call on them...(even though I wouldn't rate anything of theirs/his over Bug or You're Living All Over Me)...still, far more MEH's than Sebadohs come to my mind...

― henry s, Friday, 23 February 2007 22:19 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, Noonday Underground probably a very good example, especially given how much fighting there was at one point over "who's the guy behind Adventures In Stereo" -- a now forgotten teeny-tiny indie feud.

― dlp9001, Friday, 23 February 2007 22:24 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, duh. Helmet (if I'm correct in assuming that he went from BoS to Helmet). Not that I really like Helmet at all, but probably hard to argue that they're a Meh.

― dlp9001, Friday, 23 February 2007 22:29 (eighteen years ago)

on occasion a Damon and Naomi can surprise and impress

Yes, on the occasion of their first album only.

I think that it is sometimes very difficult to tell who the lesser members are though. I think I reject the premise that D&N were lesser members of Galaxie 500, because without them as musicians and influence-gobblers, that band would not have been the same at all. Galaxie got more far praise for their sound (Peter Hook and Ed Blackwell comparisons etc.) than for their songs.

Clearly when you get down to the Darkside dude, you are talking about the "lesser members" though.

― Saxby D. Elder, Friday, 23 February 2007 22:34 (eighteen years ago)

Bunny Wailer (Wailers)
Gene Clark (Byrds)
Colin Blunstone (Zombies)
Royal Trux (Pussy Galore. Best lesser member band ever?)
Magazine (Buzzcocks)
Barry Adamson (Magazine/Bad Seeds)
Crime and the City Solution (Birthday Party)

― Alex in SF, Friday, 23 February 2007 22:39 (eighteen years ago)

weren't Clark, Blunstone and Devoto among the primary singer/songwriters of their respective bands?...talk to me about any band fronted by Greg Norton, or anybody from The Jam not named Weller...and speaking of Peter Hook, I offer up the MEH of The Other Two...

― henry s, Friday, 23 February 2007 22:48 (eighteen years ago)

Blunstone was the primary singer, but he didn't write (m)any songs (Argent and Chris White.) Clark wrote the songs that Bob Dylan didn't, I guess, but he also left after the 2nd album. Devoto's tough because he was a primary member before he left, but the Buzzcocks were also far far more successful once he was gone.

― Alex in SF, Friday, 23 February 2007 22:56 (eighteen years ago)

hahaha wait there's a darkside thread?!?

Royal Trux wins this hands down. D&N a close second for their collabs with Ghost alone.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:01 (eighteen years ago)

The only picky reason to reject Royal Trux is that John Spencer used to go on about how Haggerty was the only band member who could actually play guitar. For people who like later PG (like me), this isn't a small thing. Does seem like this should be a thread for groups formed by the non-writing bass player, drummer, or rhythm guitarist. And drummers only if they weren't distinctive.

― dlp9001, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:08 (eighteen years ago)

Rip Rig & Panic or Pigbag (Pop Group) are also good choices.

― Alex in SF, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:13 (eighteen years ago)

" Does seem like this should be a thread for groups formed by the non-writing bass player, drummer, or rhythm guitarist."

b-b-but Hagerty has repeatedly claimed in interviews that PG was "all Spencer's thing" and that he didn't write any of the material, contribute to any creative decisions, etc.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:16 (eighteen years ago)

I mean Darkside is really a pretty extreme example in that a) no one thought Pete Bassman was a very vital part of the Spacemen 3 when they were around and b) he pretty much proved he wasn't by forming a mediocre group after they split (while the other two guys both released great things.) If Darkside had been great, everyone would have gone back and said "oh yeah you know Bassman really played a huge part in those records" instead of just focusing on awesome genius of Kember and Pierce ya know.

― Alex in SF, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:19 (eighteen years ago)

I would think Wilco and Foo Fighters qualify as "lesser member bands", and at least one of them pretty much surpassed the original band. And a lot of people really seem to like The Autumn Defense, which would be a lesser-member band of a lesser-member band (although maybe by that time Wilco had lost its lesser-member band status).

Hot Tuna may have qualified as a lesser-member band, too -- Kaukonen and Casady were probably the most musically proficient members of Jefferson Airplane, but they weren't the stars at all.

Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire started out as a lesser-member side project of Squirrel Nut Zippers, I think.

― Vornado, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:21 (eighteen years ago)

Haha he's just being modest Shakey!

― Alex in SF, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:21 (eighteen years ago)

Yes, Gene Clark was the lead singer and principal songwriter for the Byrds and was in the middle of the stage in the lead spot (albeit stuck with just a tambourine) in any clips you will find from that era. Also, his incredible subsequent work (and the group's finances) would bear out anyway that he was not by any means a lesser member.

I am a pretty heavy Byrds revisionist though.

― Saxby D. Elder, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:21 (eighteen years ago)

what about someone like Jim Mankey, who was a lesser member of Sparks prior to being a (debatably) lesser member of Concrete Blonde...? (or am I thinking of Earl Mankey? I get them mixed up)

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:22 (eighteen years ago)

(I def. don't mean to imply that Concrete Blonde is somehow better than Sparks, btw!)

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:23 (eighteen years ago)

Let's be honest, how hard could it have been to play bass in Spacemen 3?

― Saxby D. Elder, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:24 (eighteen years ago)

Wilco wasn't much a lesser member band as both Tweedy and Farrar were getting pretty equal press. The band formed by Uncle Tupelo's drummer (if there even was such a band) is the lesser member band.

― Alex in SF, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:24 (eighteen years ago)

Wasn't there a Spiritualized rhythm-section spin-off too? Lupine Howl was it?
TS : Lupine Howl vs The Darkside.

― Matt #2, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:24 (eighteen years ago)

[i]Let's be honest, how hard could it have been to play bass in Spacemen 3?"[/]

harder than being the drummer!

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:24 (eighteen years ago)

Haha oh god don't make us listen to those records.

― Alex in SF, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:24 (eighteen years ago)

haha I still can't make italics

Lupine Howl were definitely shittier than the Darkside, even shittier than Slipstream! (of all the Spz/Spacemen3 spinoffs I actually woulda expected Slipstream to be the best but Darkside might win it)

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:25 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, that Darkside record wasn't bad exactly....

― Saxby D. Elder, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:27 (eighteen years ago)

Do Tortoise count as a Bastro spin-off band?

― Matt #2, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:27 (eighteen years ago)

Doesn't that all go back to Squirrel Bait somehow actually anyway?

― Saxby D. Elder, Friday, 23 February 2007 23:29 (eighteen years ago)

I think all the smart money was on Peter Searcy being the "greater member"... shows you never know!

― Saxby D. Elder, Saturday, 24 February 2007 04:56 (eighteen years ago)

The Psychic Paramount!

― Ivan, Saturday, 24 February 2007 06:25 (eighteen years ago)

was elliott smith a lesser member of heatmiser? also sam coombes for that matter..

― electricsound, Saturday, 24 February 2007 06:47 (eighteen years ago)

Alex is going to hell for saying things like that about Gene Clark, Magazine and Colin Blunstone. And the first Colin Blunstone is written/produced by/with Rod Argent and Chris White, so it's basically a Zombies record anyway.

― dan selzer, Saturday, 24 February 2007 08:04 (eighteen years ago)

Bobby Gillespie was a lesser member of JAMC, and his career trajectory has been somewhat more successful since leaving. (I'm not making no mention of relative quality, right?)

― ailsa, Saturday, 24 February 2007 10:25 (eighteen years ago)

i dunno, did primal scream really sell more records than JAMC? i think this is questionable..

― electricsound, Saturday, 24 February 2007 13:02 (eighteen years ago)

Gillespie's a good call...whatever you think about Primal Scream, they've certainly left their mark...(though some would call it a skid-mark...oh no I dih-int!)...speaking of JAMC, here's yet another lesser member meh: John Moore's Expressway...and let's not forget the lesser member spin-off from Disco Inferno that was Lisp...(yawn)...

― henry s, Saturday, 24 February 2007 15:29 (eighteen years ago)

I can't believe you fuckers invoked Lupine Howl. JESUS H.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 24 February 2007 15:31 (eighteen years ago)

The only way it could be more horrifying is if you said "Lupine Howl to open for a reunited Gene."

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 24 February 2007 15:32 (eighteen years ago)

oh man, here's a blast from the past: Honey Tongue, a one-off spin-off of Perfect Disaster (Josephine Wiggs) and yet some other guy from Spiritualized...don't remember?...I'm not surprised...

― henry s, Saturday, 24 February 2007 15:37 (eighteen years ago)

Now Honey Tongue were actually good! That and the Josephine Wiggs Experience (same lineup, essentially; the 'other guy' was Jon Mattock) are both sharp little albums.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 24 February 2007 15:38 (eighteen years ago)

Husker Du: Sugar or the Nova Mob?

New Order: Electronic, Monaco, or indeed the Other Two?

― Neil S, Saturday, 24 February 2007 16:22 (eighteen years ago)

or Pixies?

― Saxby D. Elder, Saturday, 24 February 2007 16:24 (eighteen years ago)

I will have to add Honey Tongue to my bargain-bin searches...

although he didn't form a band in the technical sense, I will always have a soft spot for the solo work of Epic Soundtracks, if not a lesser member of Swell Maps, then certainly the least-likely one...a rare exception that proves the rule...

― henry s, Saturday, 24 February 2007 16:25 (eighteen years ago)

speaking of pussy galore, i was never a fan of Bewitched.

is kim gordon lesser? don't need any of that stuff. harry crews? no thanks.

on the positive tip: after phil volk and drake levin and michael smith left paul revere & the raiders they ruled the cosmos! not that they were really "lesser" raiders, but people knew paul and mark better probably. both brotherhood albums are awesome. friendsounds is of course godhead and the greatest amerikan krautrock album ever made. only paul revere & the raiders-related album to make the nurse with wound list, no?

― scott seward, Saturday, 24 February 2007 16:47 (eighteen years ago)

i was never a fan of Bewitched

They were pretty cool live, but I think it is safe to say that the drummer rarely makes it out of the seminal outfit as the top offshoot.

Julia Cafritz was probably my favorite member of Pussy Galore and I enjoyed Free Kitten, though obviously they weren't anything approaching the quality of either of their original bands, apropos of both of your mentions.

Epic ruled, his solo stuff is way better than Nikki's, IMO, though obv far less voluminous. I still listen to him all the time.

― Saxby D. Elder, Saturday, 24 February 2007 17:05 (eighteen years ago)

I just thought of Green On Red... I always thought that Dan Stuart was the real talent there (and his solo album is indeed fantastic) but Chuck Prophet has really been the successful one.

I thought that the Jack Waterson and Chris Cacavas albums were a bit meh...

― Saxby D. Elder, Sunday, 25 February 2007 16:46 (eighteen years ago)

Now Honey Tongue were actually good! That and the Josephine Wiggs Experience (same lineup, essentially; the 'other guy' was Jon Mattock) are both sharp little albums.

Same with the Dusty Trails (Wiggs & Vivian Trimble of Lucious Jackson) album

― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 25 February 2007 17:30 (eighteen years ago)

Lesser member band that does not suck: O.Rang (Paul Webb and Lee Harris of Talk Talk)

― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 25 February 2007 17:30 (eighteen years ago)

Also, I have to admit that I kinda like the Monster Movie (Christian from Slowdive) albums

― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 25 February 2007 17:34 (eighteen years ago)

In retrospect, the two Freelovebabies albums (Will & Kev Cowen) might just be the best post-Spz/Sp3 spin off band

― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 25 February 2007 17:37 (eighteen years ago)

Yes to all three of Elvis's posts just now. I still need to get that second Freelovebabies album.

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 25 February 2007 18:00 (eighteen years ago)

The Dolphin Brothers (Japan spin-off).

― Fanboy 3, Sunday, 25 February 2007 18:22 (eighteen years ago)

inner sleeve / televise (simon from slowdive and some dude from chapterhouse, the bass player i think)

― electricsound, Monday, 26 February 2007 00:01 (eighteen years ago)

we're gettin' pretty deep here...I mean, I ain't even heard of these last few bands...(well, everything this side of O.rang, who I will admit do/did not suck)...

― henry s, Monday, 26 February 2007 00:08 (eighteen years ago)

Scala were pretty ok. I mean, not everything, but they had some decent cuts. Actually, I'd say apart from "Looking for Snags" and "Running Taper," neither Mark Clifford nor the "lesser" Seefeel members were as astoundingly great as they were together in Seefeel.

― William Selman, Monday, 26 February 2007 01:47 (eighteen years ago)

I have both Dark Star's and Levitation's albums and Dark Star's (i.e. the spin-off's) is better.

― unfished business, Monday, 26 February 2007 01:55 (eighteen years ago)

New Pornographer Todd Fancey's record is great.

― calstars, Monday, 26 February 2007 02:14 (eighteen years ago)

Isn't Levitation a House of Love spinoff? I am lost now, adrift in irrelevant English spinoffs....

― Saxby D. Elder, Monday, 26 February 2007 04:54 (eighteen years ago)

ooh, i thought of a stinker. preston school of industry. yawnsville.

― scott seward, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:00 (eighteen years ago)

Chris & Cosey?

― S-, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:03 (eighteen years ago)

OMG no way. they rule.

― scott seward, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:08 (eighteen years ago)

yeah, Chris & Cosey, new beat, were you not there?

― Saxby D. Elder, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:24 (eighteen years ago)

duds:
bash & pop

borderline:
dump
richard hell & the voidoids

not duds:
tom tom club
breeders
johnny thunders/heartbreakers

― fact checking cuz, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:39 (eighteen years ago)

any sleater kinney fans here? Cadallaca's debut was pretty damn wonderful.
Latin Playboys, esp. the first one is as good as any Los Lobos.
the knitters are pretty fun also

― outdoor_miner, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:41 (eighteen years ago)

"tom tom club"

later to become very big dud.

― scott seward, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:42 (eighteen years ago)

Latin Playboys, esp. the first one is ~~as good as~~ way the hell better than any Los Lobos.

Improved.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:42 (eighteen years ago)

the knitters were everyone in the band though!

― scott seward, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:43 (eighteen years ago)

the latin playboys were indeed great, but they weren't exactly a lesser member band. nor were the knitters.

― fact checking cuz, Monday, 26 February 2007 05:43 (eighteen years ago)

oh, forgot the obvious Motorhead (Hawkwind), and another one that's semi- obscure- Wussy (Ass Ponys). i reallly reallly like their record Funeral Dress.

― outdoor_miner, Monday, 26 February 2007 06:12 (eighteen years ago)

i believe wussy, too, fails the "lesser member" test.

― fact checking cuz, Monday, 26 February 2007 06:27 (eighteen years ago)

[i[Dump[/i]

What the hell is that supposed to be a spinoff of?

― Saxby D. Elder, Monday, 26 February 2007 06:34 (eighteen years ago)

oops I think I meant [i]

― Saxby D. Elder, Monday, 26 February 2007 06:35 (eighteen years ago)

i believe wussy, too, fails the "lesser member" test

shite, i'm an idiot...was just thinking spinoffs there....

― outdoor_miner, Monday, 26 February 2007 06:36 (eighteen years ago)

yo la tengo

― fact checking cuz, Monday, 26 February 2007 06:38 (eighteen years ago)

(that being an answer to the dump question)

― fact checking cuz, Monday, 26 February 2007 06:39 (eighteen years ago)

um yes, but Dump actually pre-dates to my recollection McNew's involvement in Yo La Tengo. (and even if I have that part wrong it is just a McNew vehicle and not a spinoff).

― Saxby D. Elder, Monday, 26 February 2007 06:41 (eighteen years ago)

And it was just a lousy 7", hell you can have my copy.

― Saxby D. Elder, Monday, 26 February 2007 06:42 (eighteen years ago)

i think they're more or less simultaneous, which in itself probably disqualifies them anyway. not sure what the difference between a vehicle and a spinoff is, though.

(also, i'll pass on the 7-inch offer, but thanks)

― fact checking cuz, Monday, 26 February 2007 06:44 (eighteen years ago)

You're welcome... What does the Dump single go for on the open market anyway?

I am almost positive, just for the record, that McNew was doing this before he ever got into YLT.

― Saxby D. Elder, Monday, 26 February 2007 06:48 (eighteen years ago)

So make McNew a former member of Christmas (where he also didn't write) and everything's ok...except that it's still not really a band, but hey, if he wants to call it a band...

― dlp9001, Monday, 26 February 2007 09:24 (eighteen years ago)

So I was going to suggest Yum-Yum, and I go to check to see what exactly Chris Holmes did in Sabalon Glitz and discover that he's got a myspace page and an ep from last year (called "Get Your Yum-Yum's Out" which I'm guessing that just about nobody is going to connect w/his old band) (unless they live in Chicago or read Harper's). And it sounds just like Yum Yum. And a track was featured on The OC last year. Jesus!

I'd start another thread, but there's probably like 2 people in the world who'll be excited/dismayed by this. Will a new generation fall prey to his stinging irony?

Anyway, he wasn't a lesser member of Sabalon Glitz, so never mind.

― dlp9001, Monday, 26 February 2007 09:39 (eighteen years ago)

somebody help me here: was Yung Wu comprised of Feelies members not named Mercer or Million?...that Shore Leave LP was pretty good...

― henry s, Monday, 26 February 2007 11:27 (eighteen years ago)

Weckerman sang lead. Can't remember who else was in it, but I think it was all Feelies.

― dlp9001, Monday, 26 February 2007 11:55 (eighteen years ago)

>> What does the Dump single go for on the open market anyway?

Which one?

― Colonel Poo, Monday, 26 February 2007 12:25 (eighteen years ago)

duds:
bash & pop

Don't forget the Slim Dunlap and Chris Mars solo albums.
Not sure if Tommy was a lesser member--the bassist, I know, but was the on-stage representation of the original Replacements spirit after his brother was fired and Paul turned into James Taylor.

― Joseph Kallinger, Monday, 26 February 2007 13:41 (eighteen years ago)

the on-stage representation of the original Replacements spirit after his brother was fired and Paul turned into James Taylor

after bob was fired, they were ALL lesser members.

― fact checking cuz, Monday, 26 February 2007 16:17 (eighteen years ago)

so true.

― scott seward, Monday, 26 February 2007 16:26 (eighteen years ago)

How many bands have been formed by disgruntled members of the Fall?

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 26 February 2007 16:27 (eighteen years ago)

(Not a trick question - I actually need to know this!)

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 26 February 2007 16:27 (eighteen years ago)

Motorhead is a great answer.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 26 February 2007 16:28 (eighteen years ago)

I think Blue Orchids were a decent Fall spiin-off band...

― henry s, Monday, 26 February 2007 17:37 (eighteen years ago)

Lesser member Magma spin-offs :

Zao
One Shot
Weidorje
Yochk'o Seffer
Paga
Didier Lockwood Quartet

Probably hundreds more, ranging from dodgy fusion to sub-Magma and "all" points inbetween. How long before Dominique Leone gets here to prove me wrong?

― Matt #2, Monday, 26 February 2007 18:10 (eighteen years ago)

has tom tom club been mentioned yet?

― FreighTrainMan, Monday, 26 February 2007 18:26 (eighteen years ago)

Brix did Adult Net after her first stint in the Fall.

― Saxby D. Elder, Monday, 26 February 2007 18:26 (eighteen years ago)

How about Black Sabbath? Tony Iommi was about as "lesser" a member of Jethro Tull as you can get, and formed a band that could absolutely crush his former employer.

― Bill Magill, Monday, 26 February 2007 20:39 (eighteen years ago)

interesting point, though Iommi (by all accounts) was in Tull for all of a week, and never recorded with them...it's also hard to consider the lead guitarist a lesser member of any band (there are exceptions, of course...Glen Buxton comes to mind)...in this case, Iommi replaced Mick Abrahms, and was subsequently replaced by Martin Barre, neither of whom are considered chopped liver in the Tull legacy...

― henry s, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:05 (eighteen years ago)

I see your point, but disagree with your assertion that a lead guitarist can't be a lesser member. Dave Mustaine was lead guitarist AND principal songwriter for Metallica, and he still got booted out of the band.

― Bill Magill, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:10 (eighteen years ago)

So Metallica was a lesser band of Megadeth then basically.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:19 (eighteen years ago)

Agreed

― Bill Magill, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:20 (eighteen years ago)

well, pretty much anybody can get booted out of a band...Terry Bickers (whose band Levitation has been mentioned in this thread) was the lead guitarist and co-songwriter for House Of Love, and was literally kicked out of a moving van...(as legend has it)...Gram Parsons was also kicked out of the Flying Burrito Brothers...I've never formed a band (for this you should be thankful), but if I did I'm quite sure I'd be kicked out of it at some point, sooner rather than later...

― henry s, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:24 (eighteen years ago)

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