Complete band re-boots

[GuitarGeek]

And I guess it was more of a gradual evolution thing, but I know the Little River Band tours with no original members. I gather some of the original LRB guys tried to wrestle the band name from them in a court of law, but they lost, so they went with one of those lawfirm sounding names, and hope that people realize they're the guys who wrote most of the classic LRB songs.

[jake]

By the time the Velvet Underground did their New England tour of 1973 the band consisted of Willie Alexander, Walter Powers, Don Silverman(now known as Noor Khan) Doug Yule and Billy Yule. Apparently Doug Yule did not want to use the name the Velvet Underground but was over-ruled by the band's manager. The band fired the manager after three dates and the tour folded shortly after that. The band, of course, reformed in 1992 with the original line-up of Reed, Cale, Morrison and Tucker - minus the departed Nico.
final VU.jpg

[Trane]

I don’t know about that. On “Bound for Infinity,” Annie seems to be deliberately trying to sound like Jane. Let us not forget that Jim McCarty continued to write songs for them on all of these albums.

McCarty is the only link between the old and new Renaissance, that's for sure

Yeah, obviously Prologue still has some of the debut's classical borrowings as well, but Rajah Khan feels psychy as the lengthy Past Orbit of Dust (which is if memory serves the "odd" track on Illusion, since it was recorded by the intermediary line-up with Binky singing)

[JKL2000]

The Young Lads (I used to work with one of the New Young Lads).

[bRETT]

Iron Butterfly is a weird case. After the original band broke up in the early 70's, a few years went by, and I believe it was the rhythm section (Ron Bushy and Lee Dorman) who put together a new version of the band with two guitarists (one of them Rhino Rheinhardt, who presumably got roped in by Dorman, since both had been in Captain Beyond in the interim) and a new keyboardist. That lineup recorded a couple albums. Then I believe Dorman and Bushy continued to tour with an ever changing lineup that time onwards, only occasionally involving original keyboardist/songwriter/lead singer Doug Ingle. .

It happened more like this: Rheinhardt joined Iron Butterfly (pre-Captain Beyond) in 1969-70. He and singer/guitarist Mike Pinera together replaced Erik Braunn and joined the other three Gadda-da-Vida members to record the "Evolution" album. Then Butterfly broke up. It was Braunn and Bushy who revived the band in 1974, recording the two (very bad) MCA albums.

After the MCA period there were a million lineups, Rheinhardt came back for a time, so did Ingle, Pinera and Dorman. The complete Gadda-da-Vida lineup toured in 1987-88. At the moment,as noted, they're touring without anyone from the heyday.

[Harbottle]

Last year, Gong announced it would continue with a lineup of mostly new players. The most senior member only joined in the late 00s.

Now the Enid have done the same thing. They are down to three people I have never heard of. Not a classic-era member in sight.

This re-boot phenomenon is different from gradual attrition and replacement of existing members, a la Kansas or Yes.

Will this approach catch on? Will fans accept it? Thoughts?

The British folk/folk-rock group The Albion Band 'reformed' with a totally new lineup, one of whom is Ashley Hutchings' son, Blair Dunlop. They did a fairly decent album, toured a bit and then gave up. I heard that the venues were quite large and not very well attended.

The band had a fluid lineup anyway, but this reboot did raise a few eyebrows on forums. It clearly wasn't sustainable.

[bRETT]

The band had a fluid lineup anyway, but this reboot did raise a few eyebrows on forums. It clearly wasn't sustainable.

And Hutchings has just recorded a new Albion Christmas Band album, with Simon Nicol and others of the old crew.

[Liquid Tension]

I can't remember a band that put out anything close to as good as their earlier stuff once they hit their 40s even if they stayed together so why bother...

[Mister Triscuits]

Then I think at some point, Dorman dropped out, and most recently, Bushy (who apparently owns the band name now) has had to drop out in recent years for health issues, so the current band has none of the guys who played on Inna-Gada-Da-Vida, never mind the original lineup.

Wikipedia claims that Ron Bushy is still an official member even though he no longer performs with the band, but the band's own website doesn't even show him in the lineup anymore. I think all it really means is that he owns the name.

Blood Sweat & Tears is another one where the original drummer, Bobby Colomby, still owns the name, but the actual performing band is all guys who were in diapers when BST was a charting band.

[moodyxadi]

I can't remember a band that put out anything close to as good as their earlier stuff once they hit their 40s even if they stayed together so why bother...

In general terms in pop & rock music, that's true.

To the OP: I don't think that bands are like soccer clubs. A case like Renaissance is unique; King Crimson and to a certain extent Dire Straits too. They are the proverbial exception.

[arturs]

To the OP: I don't think that bands are like soccer clubs. A case like Renaissance is unique; King Crimson and to a certain extent Dire Straits too. They are the proverbial exception.

yeah I agree about your soccer analogy overall, but some bands have clearly made it work: LRB, BST and Dr. Feelgood as per some of your examples. The first two make sense, because they have a big audience who just know the hits (and these bands had many hits). As long as these fans hear their hits they go home happy. Apparently the new LRB makes $2M annually touring. Dr. Feelgood is a little more surprising. They have a dedicated fanbase who seem to have embraced the new group. That is I think the big challenge for most of the re-booted acts

I think Iron Butterfly will be an interesting test case. Dave Meros appears to be still on board. I remember being very surprised seeing him the "Animals" about 10 years ago.

[GuitarGeek]

By the time the Velvet Underground did their New England tour of 1973 the band consisted of Willie Alexander, Walter Powers, Don Silverman(now known as Noor Khan) Doug Yule and Billy Yule. Apparently Doug Yule did not want to use the name the Velvet Underground but was over-ruled by the band's manager. The band fired the manager after three dates and the tour folded shortly after that. The band, of course, reformed in 1992 with the original line-up of Reed, Cale, Morrison and Tucker - minus the departed Nico.

Didn't the Doug Yule led lineup actually put out an album or two under the Velvet Underground name?

[GuitarGeek]

It happened more like this: Rheinhardt joined Iron Butterfly (pre-Captain Beyond) in 1969-70. He and singer/guitarist Mike Pinera together replaced Erik Braunn and joined the other three Gadda-da-Vida members to record the "Evolution" album. Then Butterfly broke up. It was Braunn and Bushy who revived the band in 1974, recording the two (very bad) MCA albums.

I stand corrected. I somehow had the impression the Pinera/Rhino lineup was the mid 70's one. At any rate, it seemed weird to me that there would be an Iron Butterfly at all, without Doug Ingle, given that he was the lead singer and main songwriter on the first gaggle of albums.

After the MCA period there were a million lineups, Rheinhardt came back for a time, so did Ingle, Pinera and Dorman. The complete Gadda-da-Vida lineup toured in 1987-88. At the moment,as noted, they're touring without anyone from the heyday.

Interesting. I was vaguely aware that Ingle had been in for awhile, but I didn't realize they had ever reconvened the entire Inna-Gada-Da-Vida lineup. I know there's a list of all the lineups on Wikipedia, and as you say, it's quite convoluted.

[GuitarGeek]

In general terms in pop & rock music, that's true.

To the OP: I don't think that bands are like soccer clubs. A case like Renaissance is unique; King Crimson and to a certain extent Dire Straits too. They are the proverbial exception.

How does Dire Straits come into this?

[jake]

Didn't the Doug Yule led lineup actually put out an album or two under the Velvet Underground name?

Yes there was an album called Squeeze which was not terrible - hardly essential stuff - actually clever Dougie played just about all of the instruments except drums - the drummer was Deep Purple's Ian Paice!
Squeeze_The_Velvet_Underground.jpg

[bRETT]

Interesting. I was vaguely aware that Ingle had been in for awhile, but I didn't realize they had ever reconvened the entire Inna-Gada-Da-Vida lineup. .

They did it for the Atlantic Records anniversary show, but played a few dates around it. I was lucky enough to see one. There are recordings out there.

[BravadoNJ]

re-boot bands= cover bands

[Dan Roth]

How does Dire Straits come into this?

Maybe from the recent band "The Straits"? http://ultimateclassicrock.com/dire-...an-clark-2014/