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
You got post-Guns N’ Roses Axl and Slash, but what about Duff?
10 Years – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCpy9yWSJVg
I also neglected a few Beatles. They seem somewhat immune to the solo career curse.
Here is a decent Ringo Starr – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvEexTomE1I
George Harrison – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP9wms6oEMo
John Lennon – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVXR2LYeFBI
That Dave Mustaine guy did alright after leaving Metallica, I’ve heard.
Holy Wars by Megadeth – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBtYOI8U3Cc
Those two bands invert my thesis. They BOTH did better after the departure of Mustaine, probably because Mustaine was such an asshole.
This sucks, though – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO1sQPs3U8k
Gawd. A lot of these are laughably bad. How out of control were some of the egos here?
I mean, even Jermaine thought he could it alone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQad3_5Sc6Y
Well, these seem like obvious choices:
Ozzy Osbourne — Flying High Again
Sammy Hagar — Red
David Lee Roth – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3xMrazv2jM
Van Halen with Sammy Hagar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VaEdKwXJhM
George Michael – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcmjnND-158
Dave Stewart – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBCQtAv2E70
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
Ha! You beat me to it!
Girls with Guns – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgHW5QSLE3E
Wow, that song just screams “Where the Fuck is Annie Lennox”?
EXACTLY!!! 🙂
One Direction just isn’t the same without Zayn – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLaAOHv3qCY
Fortunately the Killers have survived Brandon Flowers solo career.
Brandon Flowers – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM0LLh3604g
Killers – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z42XD30V4w
These guys did rather well on their own:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPyPT7fb0-Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hev2qx1y2IU
On the other hand:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7HheYR-vDM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGGIQQKKD0Y
Bonus (maybe this was what drove him around the bend?):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rppD6QPatQw
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.
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… Read more »
OH WG! Venture Bro! is coming back early!@
https://news.avclub.com/the-venture-bros-are-coming-back-this-summer-1826336164?rev=1527282276687&utm_content=Main&utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=SF&utm_medium=SocialMarketing
The Eagles was another breeding ground for solo performers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8nEfXEGISE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGM43B_kyxk
Jimmy Page:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_–l7CPc7E
This just screams Eighties:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt7vCUfxZTk
Of the Fleetwood Mac solos careers, Stevie did WAAAYY better than Lindsey Buckingham and Christie McVie in her solo career. If John McVie had one, I didn’t see any songs in a search.
Christie McVie – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A62Grc3zLmU
Greatest of all time.
Pete Townshend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FZbcoWrUsw
Was Ace Frehley the only one who had a decent solo career out of Kiss?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfrMku67yD0
Bob Mould:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR2im4QN5uk