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Band Personnel Changes


Quilly

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Hi Everyone

I joined a band last Feb/Mar that was pretty much defunct for over a year for want of a bassist. Anyway when I joined we quickly dusted off  and get going again pretty quickly playing indie alternative covers. It was me and one of the bands 'founders' that pretty much organised all the gigs. I pulled in a really talented rhythm guitarist and that really transformed our sound.....then the drummer quit (he was in about 5 other bands) So I managed to hunt down a replacement, then the singer and co-founder quit...again I think I've secured new singer/guitarist.  At this stage the only original band member is the remaining founder (LG). At this point though is it basically a new band? Or like Fleetwood mac do we drive on with the original 'ethos'.  Is this strange? -  I dont think this has happened to me in my 30+ years of playing in bands. 

 

 

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Just now, uk_lefty said:

Do whatever you want, to my eyes it's a new band, unless the original founder was appointed band leader of the original project and continues to be so now. If he quits then you really are a new and different band

I was thinking of a 1930s style coup d'etat :) 

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so this is like when you find that one of your favourite bands from back in the day is touring and when you go and see them it turns out to be one of *insert band name here* and some sidemen helping out?

By the sounds of it you're now the effective BL...I think a name change to The Quilly Experience or Van Quilly is overdue

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At one point in time there were two bands calling themselves "Bucks Fizz" on the holiday camp circuit. They tried to sue each other for exclusive use of the name. When it got to court the judge said there was no mileage left in the name and they should just do whatever they want and stop bickering, just in more eloquent language that was even more cutting, and also legally binding.

Suggest you fire the lead guitarist/ founder member but only one he condition that he sets up a rival band and you have a huge rock and roll feud with local newspaper coverage.

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It's a long and drawn out story, but here goes.

About eight years ago, I formed a band called Nancy Johnson with a guitarist and a singer that I found through small ads and a drummer that I'd known since school (we were each other best men).  We laughed like drains, constantly...I remember doing a gig in front of about 1,000 people and was laughing uncontrollably wondering how we'd gotten to this point.  That said, revolving doors; the line up ebbed and flowed until I was the remaining original member. 

Musically, we moved away from a pop/punk ethic to a more garage/punky sound and we changed our name to Who Killed Nancy Johnson? but ultimately, it was still my band.  We continued for around a year/eighteen months, gigging once or twice a week, trip to Milan/Turin, more gigs.  Irrespective of the talent, I could write a book on the intertwined personalities in that band; guitarist hated the singer ('Can't we just fire him?'), singer worshipped the ground the guitarist walked on, the drummer just sat on the fence and saw every gig as an opportunity to hit on women.  Me?  I just wanted to write good tunes (I was doing the bulk of the writing) and have fun playing them...we were too old for world domination and it was never going to happen. 

Inevitably (as covered elsewhere), I left.  The attitude of the other three, at a time where I had just lost my father-in-law and had a mother dealing with cancer, was abhorrent; everything came to a head and I walked.  So there's now a band out there partially using my name, still playing my songs, with not an original member in it.  It's like a football team, sure it's the same band, but it's not the same band.

If there's an upside to all this, the band I'm currently recording with (Lutz) contains 75% of the original Nancy Johnson lineup.  Musically, it's way more intense from where we were at eight years ago, but it's more fun than I've had in a while.

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1 hour ago, uk_lefty said:

At one point in time there were two bands calling themselves "Bucks Fizz" on the holiday camp circuit.

Think there still may be - 'Bucks Fizz' has one original member, whilst one now calling themselves 'The Fizz contains the other 3 originals. Just don't ask me how I know this please...😅

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Not 100% sure but I think I may have replaced the last original member of the covers band I joined this year. There seems such an utter lack of direction and leadership so I'm guessing there are no 'originals' left and I'm not really interested in kicking them into shape, tried that a couple of bands back and ended up getting ripped off. It's possible they've always lacked momentum, thei rgigging history seems very patchy for a band around for 4-5 years.

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As said above - if you are all happy with the direction the band is going then all's good. However it could be worth a discussion with the other band members to ensure everyone is happy with the band or if anyone fancy's a change. You never now, the remaining original band member might feel like a change himself.

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1 hour ago, casapete said:

Think there still may be - 'Bucks Fizz' has one original member, whilst one now calling themselves 'The Fizz contains the other 3 originals. Just don't ask me how I know this please...😅

I used to work with Bobby G's version on the holiday camp circuit about 15 years ago.  It was quite a litigious mess.  If I remember correctly, Mike Nolan and David Van Day (Dollar) had joined forces and were doing hits from both, but when Mike quit, DVD kept plugging away calling himself Bucks Fizz, or something like that.  However, I think all the legal stuff has forced a wedge/hatred between Bobby and the rest of the original members.  Shame, I used to think Bob was a lovely bloke when I knew him.  His missus used to bring us cakes!

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4 minutes ago, SubsonicSimpleton said:

If the name is established with a good reputation, changes in personnel are not that important assuming you want to fill the diary - value of the brand eclipses the actual product (bit like when the major cola manufacturers decide to change the recipe of their product)

Hard to believe, but the agent of the function band I played with back in the 90's actually suggested cloning another band using the same name as he was turning down so many gigs for us. As mentioned on another thread, we actually split the band in two for one pair of gigs, 4 original and 4 dep players on each gig, and got away with it.

Seem to remember there were a good number of bands going out at one point using 'The Drifters' name, so maybe that's what they did?

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the one that makes me laugh was when Algy Ward left Tank in 2006 he let them keep the name as he was going to do something else and while none of the rest of them had been on the first three albums some had been in the band since the mid '80's.

then Ward wants to make music again and decides to release it as "Tank", what with everybody knowing that it's really his band.  Doesn't seem to have descended into legal attrition, but I'm sure that there are some ruffled feathers

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When I decided to start playing again after a 25 year break I got in touch with 3 guys over the internet  told them about my previous history and the the subject of a band name came up they suggested we use the old  band name Verbal Warning even though I'm  the only original member and I'm  playing  Bass instead of guitar. That was 13 years ago and I still get people telling me they saw the original band, nobody cares it's no where near the same band

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Many of the punk bands on the scene have only one, maybe two of the original members. To me I`ve always thought that once there are no originals left at that point question keeping the name but even then that can be argued against. You could have a band where one original member leaves after a year, replacement does 14 years in the band, if the other originals leave it`s not like he hasn`t served his time and possibly entitled to carry on.

The thing that cracks me up is the amount of bands that formed in 1977 as part of the punk explosion, split in probably 1979, then reformed in say 2015, and are saying they`ve been going for 40 years. Well not really, unless they`re like bears and been on extended hibernation.

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5 hours ago, Monkey Steve said:

so this is like when you find that one of your favourite bands from back in the day is touring and when you go and see them it turns out to be one of *insert band name here* and some sidemen helping out?

By the sounds of it you're now the effective BL...I think a name change to The Quilly Experience or Van Quilly is overdue

Well I do feel like Mr Sellotape.   

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It's funny because the Royal Danish Orchestra dates its inception to 1491 and nobody seems to complain that none of the original musicians are still in the band. 

Mind you, there was nasty spat a few years ago when the Hallé Orchestra got into one with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic over who'd been going the longest. The Scousers eventually prevailed but not before some serious argy-bargy. 

2 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

I saw Dr Feelgood at a festival the other year, no original members they were awful the guitarist played nothing like Wilko

To be fair, hardly anyone plays like Wilko. His immediate replacement - the late Mr Gypie Mayo - was more 'conventional' but still came up with some interesting twists on the standard RnB cliches. Thereafter (and not wishing to be unkind) the Feelgood guitarists have all been a bit meat and potatoes though I suppose that copping Wilko's pretty unique style would expose them to accusations of plagiarism and - anyway - we've got the original studio recordings and Stupidity upon which to recline.

Though I applaud the band's longevity and persistence the Feelgoods kind of stopped being the Feelgoods when Brilleaux croaked 24 years ago. Even though The Great Man himself wanted the band to carry on it must be admitted that that he was irreplaceable - as time and events have sadly demonstrated. 

Funnily enough, that legendary figure from my own musical past - The Guitarist Who Could Only Play In The Key Of A - claimed at our first meeting to be a Feelgoods fan. I should have smelt a rat when he later confessed he'd never heard of Wilko.

Edited by skankdelvar
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