Do just the frontmen make a legit rock band ?

[Mikey]

The KISS thread got me thinking ... What actually constitutes a true band ? - or true ORIGINAL band ?

Does Gene and Paul need Ace and Peter to be truly a legitimate KISS ?

On the same note,

Does Roger and Pete alone make a legit Who ?

Same with Mick and Keith ... or Plant and Page.

It's a tough call ...

I would say the frontmen really don't need the others to be legit.

Beatles, imo are different because of so much input from Starr (his persona alone) and Harrison .. That there is no REAL Beatles unless there are all four.

What do you think ?

[wolfie]

I think for the true fans there will only ever be the original line up of any band. When people leave and others come in it can be just as good but never quite right somehow.

Fleetwood Mac are an example of this, Peter Green left and that should have been it but they re-invented themselves as a diffrent type of band and carried on.

Genesis also did this after Peter Gabriel left. In both cases fans of the original band threw there hands up in horror but the bands found a new set of fans.

Queen tried it but i think Freddie was such a massive presence that it was never going to work.

[Riffster]

actually I found Queen with paul rogers to be pretty good...

I think it depends on how much everyone in the band contributes.
Beach Boys carried on after Brian left and Carl died and Al jardine left, and with mike love and Bruce Johnston they're just marking time at this point.

Kiss i think where the 2 missing members didn't sing the bulk of the tunes are easily replaced and not missed. same as Page/Plant

When Tork left the monkees he only sang 4 songs so they could carry on. but say if Dolenz left forget it.

v so like i said it all depends

[david_b]

'Course there's the Wilburys.. A group with ALL frontmen..!

It was really George's band, and if anyone left, the magic would be severely dissipated, like missing ol' Roy Orbison after Volume 1.

david_b

[Mego Milk]

can't have just one Beatle.
they'd be called Wings.

[Zemo]

I think Van Halen shoots that theory down.

[The Bat]

To me...the Frontman(lead Singer)IS the Band!! I HATE Van Hagar.

Take away Mick Jagger, Peter Wolf, Ray Davies, Freddie Mercury, Joe Strummer, Joey Ramone, and what have you got? NOTHING! Guitarists are a Dime a dozen, so are the rest.

When you hear a song on the Radio...what's the first thing you notice? Why, the lead vocals of course...duh! Can you imagine "The Kinks" without Ray Davies?

[Cosmicman]

I dunno.
I think the new Dokken CD is pretty good. I think he and the drummer might be the only original guys left. It sounds pretty Dokkenish to me.

[Hector]

Let's get this straight...

Without Brian May...there would be NO Queen.

Brian May founded the rock band Smile...then Mercury came on board...and they became Queen.

The man is not only a massive intellectual (he's an astrophysicist...yes...an astrophysicist)...but he wrote HALF the Queen songs...he is the true backbone of Queen...and that distinct Queen sound (he built his now famous Red Special guitar while as a teen) is Brian May's and Brian May's only.

What Mercury brought was theater, operatic bravado, glam, stage presence...and of course that voice of his.

But it took two to tango.

I always get defensive when people say Mercury this, and Mercury that (when talking about Queen)...don't get me wrong, I love Freddie...the best frontman ever...solid pianist too...but to me...the backbone of Queen will always be Brian May.



Brian May - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[jwyblejr]

To me...the Frontman(lead Singer)IS the Band!! I HATE Van Hagar.

Take away Mick Jagger, Peter Wolf, Ray Davies, Freddie Mercury, Joe Strummer, Joey Ramone, and what have you got? NOTHING! Guitarists are a Dime a dozen, so are the rest.

When you hear a song on the Radio...what's the first thing you notice? Why, the lead vocals of course...duh! Can you imagine "The Kinks" without Ray Davies?

Black Sabbath survived without Ozzy. So there's that hole in that theory.

[Hector]

If Adam Lambert ever agrees to tour with Queen...watch out world...

[Zemo]

To me...the Frontman(lead Singer)IS the Band!! I HATE Van Hagar.

Take away Mick Jagger, Peter Wolf, Ray Davies, Freddie Mercury, Joe Strummer, Joey Ramone, and what have you got? NOTHING! Guitarists are a Dime a dozen, so are the rest.

When you hear a song on the Radio...what's the first thing you notice? Why, the lead vocals of course...duh! Can you imagine "The Kinks" without Ray Davies?

Yeh, you and others may have hated Van Hagar, I personally liked them both and Van Halen was, if not more popular without Roth.

[Hector]

Yeh, you and others may have hated Van Hagar, I personally liked them both and Van Halen was, if not more popular without Roth.

I like them both.

[thunderbolt]

To me...the Frontman(lead Singer)IS the Band!! I HATE Van Hagar.

Take away Mick Jagger, Peter Wolf, Ray Davies, Freddie Mercury, Joe Strummer, Joey Ramone, and what have you got? NOTHING! Guitarists are a Dime a dozen, so are the rest.

When you hear a song on the Radio...what's the first thing you notice? Why, the lead vocals of course...duh! Can you imagine "The Kinks" without Ray Davies?

Hmm, take away Brian May,Jimmie Page, The Edge, Pete Townshend, Andy Summers, heck, even Pete Buck and you have a bunch of kaput bands. A real band is the sum of its parts, no matter who is there.

[Mikey]

This thread is moving a little off topic --- which is fine, but I think some of you are missing my original question.
You guys are naming bands like Queen and Van Halen which moved on without their lead singers and the band continued.

my question was from a different perspective .......
Can the lead singer and perhaps another member of the band leave and take the band name with them ?

In other words ......

Imagine David Lee Roth in the mid 80's calling himself Van Halen with a new band.