cantkeepjohnnydown Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Music history is littered with bands who lost members and were never quite the same, but occasionally there are band splits with unequivocally positive outcomes. My first example would be Ashleigh Hutchings leaving Fairport Convention in 1969, which led to the birth of Steeleye Span as well as Fairport recruiting Dave Pegg (and making their best album). Incredibly, Hutchings repeated the feat a couple of years later when he left Steeleye to form The Albion Band. I'd dare say no other musician has made a finer career out of forming and leaving bands! Another example is Howard Devoto making the first seminal Buzzcocks EP and then swiftly taking off, the result of which was the formation of Magazine and the incredible blossoming of Buzzcocks as led by Pete Shelley. What are your examples? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Sneaker Pimps. Although they didn't match the commercial success of Becoming X after Kelli Dayton left the band, IMO their subsequent albums are musically much stronger, and Chris Corner's post Sneaker Pimps band IAMX are even better yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 The Small Faces and The Faces were fabulous bands, but the latter wouldn’t have existed if Steve Marriott hadn’t walked away from the former … 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 DLR leaving Van Halen. They got even bigger with Hagar, and we got 2 banging DLR solo albums. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Dave Mustaine leaving Metallica. Assuming him and Hetfield wouldn't have just ended up killing each other Metallica would have been a different band with Mustaine's creative input and obviously Megadeth would never have existed. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Clapton leaving John Mayall. . . . and Peter Green and John McVie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Fleetwood Mac, massive in their Buckingham/Nicks period, much bigger than any of the previous incarnations. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Terry Butler and Bill Andrews leaving Death, which allowed them to reform Massacre with Rick Rozz and Kam Lee, resulting in the fantastic From Beyond album. As for Death, Sean Reinert and Paul Masvidal came in from Cynic, along with Steve DiGiorgio from Sadus and they changed what death metal could be with Human. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 More a member losing a band than a band losing a member, but The Band leaving Ronnie Hawkins and joining Bob Dylan was a pretty decent move all things considered 👍 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Ozzy leaving Sabbath, both the Sabs and Ozzy produced some pretty decent material following the split? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 13 minutes ago, Beedster said: Ozzy leaving Sabbath, both the Sabs and Ozzy produced some pretty decent material following the split? We’ll look past the Gillan album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Roy Wood leaving ELO. He took half the band with him and formed Wizzard, expecting ELO to maybe make an album or two then fold. Jeff Lynne never looked back! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveXFR Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Lemmy getting ditched by Hawkwind. If that hadn't happened, Motorhead wouldn't have formed and Lemmy wouldn't have achieved metal god status and Hawkwinds latest bassist wouldn't have bought my Thunderbird vintage pro which I wish I'd kept 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Guns N Roses, if Slash, Duff & Matt hadn’t left the three of them probably wouldn’t have formed Velvet Revolver, likewise Duff & Matt probably wouldn’t have joined The Neurotic Outsiders. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 33 minutes ago, SteveXFR said: Lemmy getting ditched by Hawkwind. If that hadn't happened, Motorhead wouldn't have formed and Lemmy wouldn't have achieved metal god status and Hawkwinds latest bassist wouldn't have bought my Thunderbird vintage pro which I wish I'd kept I can't put both a Like and Sad TLRT on a post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meterman Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd. Pretty awful circumstances for Syd, but Floyd were still great for a few albums afterwards. Sex Pistols, purely because after they split, Public Image Ltd released “Public Image” and it’s one of my favourite singles. Ultravox, where John Foxx got to do his solo thing and the fellas he left behind managed to carry on without him. Oh, and Oasis. Just, because. 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Peter Gabriel and Genesis - the band were still ok for a bit, and PG went on to massive and better things. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Deke Leonard leaving Man for a time. It allowed them to take their music in a different direction and him to make some excellent solo albums. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeresaFR Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Vince Clarke leaving Depeche Mode, which gradually led to DM becoming increasingly dark and against all likelihood transforming into a stadium band. Vince managed to carve out brief but very respectable chart success with Yazoo and another hit with the Associates (with Feargal Sharkey) before forming the duo that would be where he'd spend the majority of his musical career - Erasure. How long would DM have gotten and how long could they have lasted with Vince? I feel probably not as huge as they got and to actually still be a going concern (even if rather diminished from their peak) is highly unlikely. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeresaFR Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 10 minutes ago, toneknob said: Peter Gabriel and Genesis - the band were still ok for a bit, and PG went on to massive and better things. I'm not sure Genesis would have gone on to such mainstream pop success, or that Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford would have had solo/ side project success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles'tone Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 27 minutes ago, TeresaFR said: Vince Clarke leaving Depeche Mode, which gradually led to DM becoming increasingly dark and against all likelihood transforming into a stadium band. Vince managed to carve out brief but very respectable chart success with Yazoo and another hit with the Associates (with Feargal Sharkey) before forming the duo that would be where he'd spend the majority of his musical career - Erasure. How long would DM have gotten and how long could they have lasted with Vince? I feel probably not as huge as they got and to actually still be a going concern (even if rather diminished from their peak) is highly unlikely. Nothing but respect for Vince Clarke - the quiet genius with the Midas touch. His remix 12" of Wrote For Luck by the Happy Mondays is the best thing they ever released imho and still gets a regular airing in my house to this day. 👌 Agree regarding DM btw 👍 He helped create some great bands and artists along the way didn't he? Always stepping aside when his babies could do it on their own then onto the next project before they blew up too big. It takes a rare kind of self confidence to choose creativity over cash, always looking forward. Although I expect he did alright with Erasure eventually. I wish I knew more about him to honest. I wonder if he's still at it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Marillion and Fish. I think both sides benefitted. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 (edited) 10 hours ago, cantkeepjohnnydown said: Music history is littered with bands who lost members and were never quite the same, but occasionally there are band splits with unequivocally positive outcomes. My first example would be Ashleigh Hutchings leaving Fairport Convention in 1969, which led to the birth of Steeleye Span as well as Fairport recruiting Dave Pegg (and making their best album). Incredibly, Hutchings repeated the feat a couple of years later when he left Steeleye to form The Albion Band. I'd dare say no other musician has made a finer career out of forming and leaving bands! Another example is Howard Devoto making the first seminal Buzzcocks EP and then swiftly taking off, the result of which was the formation of Magazine and the incredible blossoming of Buzzcocks as led by Pete Shelley. What are your examples? Wham! splitting up turning George Michael from pop star to global megastar. Robbie leaving Take That. Big success for both, once Take That reformed. Hollywood Rose, and LA Guns, disbanding to form Guns n Roses. Edited July 11, 2023 by MacDaddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earbrass Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 (edited) If Daevid Allen hadn't been refused entry to the UK on returning from a gig with Soft Machine in France, we might never have had Gong. Edited July 11, 2023 by Earbrass 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 8 hours ago, toneknob said: Peter Gabriel and Genesis - the band were still ok for a bit, and PG went on to massive and better things. 7 hours ago, tauzero said: Marillion and Fish. I think both sides benefitted. How did I forget those two examples? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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