Band Dynamics - One Point of View

[bugsymalone]

This one for your perusal. I think he makes some very valid points, though there are many who will likely disagree with his central idea.

I, for one, agreed wholeheartedly with it.

Bugsy




http://www.shotgunreviews.com/sgr/sgr041602.html

By Troy Brownfield
4.16.02

A Behind the Music Thought: You ever notice how so many big rock bands end up alienated from their front men? I'm thinking especially of bands like Styx and Journey here. For all intents and purposes, these are the guys who wrote the bulk of the material, represented the band in the press, and lead them on stage. They often based the material on their own personal lives, and often faced disdain from band members who didn't want to do "romantic" or "popular" material. Inevitably, for one reason or another, these guys are booted or part ways over quibbling. Then the rest of the band goes on touring with a replacement guy they easily control, playing these songs that they claimed to hate while collecting money off of a guy that they couldn't wait to get rid of.

What really intrigues me is the question of why this story is so common. Is it human nature to be so jealous of a person who attracts more attention, causing you to want to turn on that person? Sometimes the complaints are centered around the fact that the songwriter makes the most money in the band; one would then wonder why the other guys didn't step up and write more songs or at least try to collaborate.

This isn't to say that front men are totally innocent. Sometimes they can be controlling, and I honestly think that comes from the fact that they are often the "visionary" of the band. If you're writing the material and steering the ship, naturally the issue of control comes close to home. Sometimes people, like the rest of the band, don't want to lead, and conversely, they also refuse to follow. And what are they left with? Touring state fairs, slogging out the same songs from thirty years ago while the guy who came up with the stuff tours with orchestras or sits at home and collects royalty money anyway?

Who wins in those situations? VH-1, I guess.

A Coda to the Above: I'm almost, but not quite as, intrigued by how certain other bands manage to stay together. Aerosmith basically disintegrated in a morass of personal animosity, creative issues and substance abuse a couple of decades ago. Somehow they pulled it back together, had a great run in the '80s, and still manage to be a large act. Granted, their best creative days are behind them, but they can still hang out, do the stuff, be entertaining, and occasionally convert new fans.

Look at the Stones; it's almost the same. Mick and Keith have fought a lot, but are still the core of the band. KISS had their original line-up splinter for 16 years before reforming, yet the Simmons/Stanley core never departed. Perhaps the "duos" and "cores" are able to stay together because, despite differences, they appreciate that force within one another. Perhaps Tommy Shaw and the rest of Styx resent Dennis DiYoung not for anything he did per se, but for the fact that they don't necessarily have the "that" which he had. It could be that's why Steve Perry and his ilk have to hit the bricks, but Gene and Paul can look at each other at the end of the day and say, "Hey, we've both got something special here."

Maybe the secret to a great band is the visionary force, and the secret to an enduring band is the visionary "core". It's an interesting notion, and one worth exploring if you're plunking out songs in the garage.

[classicstyxfan]

Amen, brother Troy.........though I can see where Tommy might view himself ( and rightfully so ? ) as co-visionary, as he wrote his fair share of the Radio hits...Still, IMO Dennis was the heart-visionary of the band for all those years.

[swwskj]

I too feel that Tommy and DDY were on similiar levels as far as songwriting/performing/singing was concerned. The article mentions Kiss and the Stones with two guys who bicker but manage to respect the fact that it took the both of them to get where they were.

I think that there are two differences in the Shaw/Dennis dynamic though.

First, Dennis had full control for several years before Tommy entered the scene. JY was put in his place because no combination of Styx 1.0 members could outweigh Dennis. Hence he Reluctantly put aside his ego (remember he had an engineering degree, ya know) and supported Dennis. Once Tommy showed up the balance of power shifted. Maybe if Tommy had been in the band from the beginning, the Styx story could have been quite different. This might not have been a good thing, one never knows.

Secondly, the break between the end of the Kilroy tour and the begining of the Return to Paradise tour was too long. That long of a layoff showed Dennis that he didn't need Styx financially and certainly didn't need to tour constantly anymore. He also got to have total control over things he liked doing and his tastes shifted. If EOTC had included Tommy, maybe the present Styx would look more like classic Styx, then again maybe they would have booted Dennis in 1992.

It's really hard to tell what would have happened if someone turns left instead of right and what is...is.

Just my $0.02

Scott

[Adam]

I think the article is B.S.

The Stones kicked out Brian Jones. Perhaps not the front guy, but for anyone old enough to remember the early 60s, undoubtedly the "cute" one, the one with most charisma and the most experimental member of the band. Try to imagine Ruby Tuesday without that recorder (or flute or ocarina or whatever it was) and you might understand Jones' importance to that band.

Kiss has been taken over by two of the guys - by far the greediest examples of rock excess ever - who've replaced the originals a few times themselves. Not only that, but guess who wrote and sang their most likely biggest charting hit? You know, Kiss' one ballad? You guessed it - the drummer who was kicked out.

I do agree that Aerosmith is a bit of a wonder. But pointing to Kiss and The Stones, who are down to three out of the 5 original members, who've replaced guitarists a number of times, is ridiculous and inaccurate.