That's Entertainment : Spin-offs
This week, I'm looking for something breezy to mull over and present to you.
So, I thought I'd take a look at spin off groups - basically, bands that were created when members in a current band were either bored, jaded or needed so creativity on the side OR were created when band members left or were kicked out of their respective bands and started their new one almost right away. Some times bands die or go on hiatus, and a number of members splinter off in to other groups - for example Blink 182 begat Angels & Airwaves AND +44; Duran Duran splintered in to Arcadia and The Power Station; Oasis dissolved and 4/5 of the band became Beady Eye whilst Noel Gallagher started the High Flying Birds.
The greatest spin off I can think of is the Foo Fighters. When Kurt Cobain suicided, Dave Grohl was left doodling his demos which ultimately would become the self-titled debut album and a popular legacy that matches Nirvana's (IMO). Pearl Jam are the ultimate spin off - gaining members from Mother Love Bone (whose singer Andrew Wood died of a heroin overdose - and was a band that took members from Malfunkshun AND Green River and begat some of them to both Mudhoney and Pearl Jam) and Temple of the Dog (a tribute album to Andrew Wood) and these days also contains Soundgarden's in and out drummer. Keeping up? Similarly, Joy Division's singer Ian Curtis committed suicide and the remaining members regrouped as New Order (roping in the drummer's girlfriend and future wife) to take on where Joy Division left off but in a more electronic vibe.
Mick Jones was kicked out of The Clash, so eventually ended up fronting various incarnations of Big Audio Dynamite, with B.A.D. II being the biggest in 1991 with Rush and The Globe. Tina Weymouth (bass) and Chris Frantz (drums) were the in Talking Heads and husband & wife. They started the Tom Tom Club to groove on the side. The Sex Pistols imploded and snot nose singer Johnny Rotten / John Lydon created Public Image Ltd. The Jam and The Smashing Pumpkins would up and the singers' started new bands in the Style Council and Zwan. Kim Deal who thought she was getting a raw deal in The Pixies started her own band in The Breeders. Miffed with their own bands, Robert Smith of The Cure and Steve Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees collaborated for The Glove - a weird, arty, psychedelic concept album.
Of course there's Electronic. A creation of Bernard Sumner (vocalist and guitarist of New Order) and Johnny Marr who was now bandless after the breakup of The Smiths recorded their debut album together. The song most remembered is Getting Away With It, which also featured the Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant and in turn created a classic.
Then of course there's Queens of the Stone Age (Kyuss AND ), Them Crooked Vultures (Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and John Paul Jones [formerly of Led Zeppelin], Velvet Revolver [Stone Temple Pilot's singer and members of Guns N Roses] and Audioslave [Soundgarden's singer Chris Cornell and Rage Against The Machine's musos]. 1960's trippers Jefferson Airplane finally became 1980's corporate pop Starship, before eventually melding the two in to Jefferson Starship.
Finally, there's the Travelling Wilburys. The classic spin off AND supergroup which produced two wonderful albums. George Harrison was riding high in the late 1980's with his Cloud 9 . He mentioned he wanted to do an album with his mates and when he was called to record a B-side for the single of This Is Love, he and his 'mates' and produced Handle With Care. Jeff Lynne - one of the mates, producer of Cloud 9 AND the vocalist mastermind of ELO - Electric Light Orchestra and Roy Orbison [legend] had had a meal and decided to do something together and here was their chance. The decamped to Bob Dylan's home studio to record and Tom Petty got involved by fluke as George had left a guitar at Tom's place, went to fetch it and Tom Petty returned with George. Anyway, Handle With Care was created. The record company scoffed, suggesting this was no throwaway B-side...and could they do 9 more songs and release an album.
Sure enough. It all came together and one of the classiest, greatest supergroup spin off albums of all times hit the airwaves. Eric Idle wrote the album liner notes. From there, they all basically worked on each others next records which were all hits. Sadly, Roy Orbison died and the remaining four released the second album wryly titled by George Harrison Vol 3.
So there you go. Sometimes alls well that ends bad. Go and enjoy!
Travelling Wilburys - Handle With Care http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8s9dmuAKvU
Tom Tom Club - Who Feelin' It http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EIwOXhHnNU
Arcadia - Election Day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3Yy6c0Tlvk
The Power Station - Some Like It Hot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgYqIvnPvqQ
Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPrPNpzLHIk
Foo Fighters - This Is A Call http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imxAeQZjBeI
Pearl Jam - Alive http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM0zINtulhM
New Order - Ceremony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pr6SxJb-Dw
Starship - We Built This City http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_EdzOSSDV0
Public Image Ltd - Public Image http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cifo77azntk
The Breeders - Cannonball http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxvkI9MTQw4
Style Council - Shout To The Top http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m94ip38UKs
Zwan - Honestly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLPgz9K4D20
Electronic - Getting Away With It http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46z4K-tV_Io
The Glove - Mr Alphabet Says http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yylfV1SaWSY
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