peterr@utcsrgv.UUCP (Peter Rowley) (08/18/83)
As a group that stayed together and still makes good music, consider Roxy Music, which has Brian Ferry, Phil Manzanera, and Andy Mackay, all of whom have made good solo albums. I'd guess their longevity is due to their breaking up once (for about 2 or 3 years), their numerous solo projects that allow individual egos to be satisfied, and that the main tension in the group, between Ferry and Eno, was resolved early on by Eno's departure. On the other hand, I wouldn't consider Roxy a "great" group, though even their recent albums have some great moments on them.
rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (08/19/83)
Speaking of the tension between Eno and Ferry... Pete Frame (British rock journalist) has often created rock music FAMILY TREES which depict the history of a particular group, artist, collection of artists, or musical movement. Of course, there is a chart that covers Roxy Music and (I think on the same chart) King Crimson. The chart looks sort of like a genealogy graph, showing the members of each group in the "family" at various times, with downward pointers showing where each member came from/went to. (Did you know that Bryan Ferry tried out for the position of vocalist with King Crimson under the name Byron Ferrari???----I've heard that Elton John also tried for the same job) Anyway, one interesting side-note on this graph showed how the split between Eno and Roxy Music came about. Remember that Ferry was the leader of the band, but Eno's bizarre costuming and flashiness stole the show. First, Bryan's version (paraphrased---sorry): "Well, after recording For Your Pleasure, we realized that Eno was going off in a different direction from the rest of the band, and needed his independence..." And now, Brian's version: "Bryan came up to me after a particularly good show, grabbed me and said: 'YOU *******, GET OUT OF MY BAND!!! I NEVER WANT TO APPEAR ON THE SAME STAGE WITH YOU EVER AGAIN...'" The moral: Never have two Br[iy]an's in the same band. Rich