Hey Mr. DJ: Your Sorry Solo Career Edition

Last week, my dedication from Thrill was a one-hit wonder guilty pleasure of mine so it got me thinking about one-hit wonders as a topic.  It is a pretty good indicator for the fickle nature of rock stardom that a band can put out a chart-hitting song and then never be heard of again.  As I thought about it, I got around to the one-hit wonder’s evil twin, the so-called “solo career” that often destroys the careers of both the solo artist and band no matter how big. This is because a rock band is a fragile blend of characters.

Sorry, Santino, our beloved Tears for Fears is a prime example of this.  They never survived Curt Smith’s solo career.  Yea, exactly.  “Who the fuck is Curt Smith?”  After “The Seeds of Love”, Curt Smith decided that the other half of the duo, Roland Orzabal, didn’t know what he was doing and went it alone.  “Elemental” was a decent album without Smith, but TFF was never the same and Curt Smith never heard from again until he resurfaced with Orzabal again 20ish years later in a TFF reunion.

There are many examples of this, so let’s give songs by bands that lost integral members and their resulting solo artists.  It doesn’t have to be a disaster, we can certainly include those that did well.  Sometimes the songs produced are good, but the charisma is lost somewhere.  Other times the solo breakout was the best thing ever.  Just because it usually goes wrong doesn’t mean it has to.  Give us your opinion!

Here is your playlist:

And your dedications:

Zurvan – Out of time man

Rich Taylor Big Log

Thrill – By The Sword (feat. Andrew Stockdale)

WVR – Barbarella

Santino – No One Knows Your Name

Lurking – Better

ilovecress – Cold

Grendel – Band on the Run

 

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19 comments

  8. Well, these seem like obvious choices:

    Going to definitely give you Ozzy’s solo stuff, but Black Sabbath and Dio? Ugh.

    OK, so I am one of those people that think that David Lee Roth’s departure and the resulting Van Hagar was an abomination. Hagar wasn’t a good fit. DLR didn’t do much after VH either.

    These ARE just my opinions though. A lot of people liked Dio and Hagar.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL8yWpUPMCY

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9Au3CMpXtg

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUZPdFf-zg

  13. Meanwhile-Morgan Freeman versus Harvey Weinstein, who finally took a perp walk:

    https://apnews.com/ebaf3f3100fd4fb9bdf8382f66f4ce0c/Harvey-Weinstein-arraigned-on-rape,-criminal-sex-act-charges

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/morgan-freeman-creepy-sexual-comments-interviews-article-1.4009817

    One is a talent-less, creepy middle aged slug. The other is an Oscar winner who made creepy comments. A little perspective might be in order here IMO.

  14. This sucks, though – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO1sQPs3U8k
    dear god in heaven WTF is that… someone owes me 30 seconds back!

    DIO, man i love me some Dio,

    Dio – The Last in line
    Rainbow – Man on the Silver Mountain

    Paul Simon had a decent career on his own.
    Paul Simon – You Can Call Me Al I remember when he debuted this on the Today show with Singers from South Africa.

    then there was Stevie Nicks.
    Stevie Nicks – Edge of Seventeen

    and this yoummy thing..
    Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl

    Then Glen Frey, loved his solo stuff, specially all Miami Vice themed stuff..
    Glenn Frey – Smuggler’s Blues

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