Unmatched Configurations in Rock

By Mr. Moderator on Jun 1, 2008

You wouldn't think it would be that difficult reconstruct - two smokin', rockin' sisters fronting a solid hard rock band - but to date the closest the rock world has come to reconstructing the dynamic of Heart is The Breeders. Although Kim and Kelly Deal sisters were kinda kute, they were no Wilson sisters, and the other two Breeders don't round out as hot a lineup as the other chicks did in Heart.

Follow up:

The fact that the Wilson sisters excelled at kid sister Led Zeppelin should not be held against them. Theirs was a special, seemingly simple configuration that has gone unmatched. Don't give me The Donnas, Joan Jett, and any other cartoonish women-led hard rock outfits. Sleater-Kinney might be the only multiple women-led band (as opposed to, say, PJ Harvey, a "band" led by a sole woman) that's had as natural a way with anything approaching hard rock. But they didn't have a bassist.

Find me another young, sultry Ann Wilson; a totally femme, Ovation-playing sister; a pair of butch guitarists; a tough rhythm section; and the teenage boys will once more understand.

For better or worse, that's my unmatched configuration. What's yours?

Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
I suspect this question I've posed, especially because of the example I've used, may be troubling some of you. Let me know if there's anything I can clarify. Thanks.
06/02/08 @ 10:59
Comment from: Oats [Member]
My unmatched configuration is the '72-'73 lineup of Roxy Music.
06/02/08 @ 12:04
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Right on, Oats! I was counting on you for this choice. That was the next one I was going to write up as an example, and then I thought, "Come on, Mod, let The People suggest these configurations! The People are intelligent. The People know what's going on." Score one for The People.
06/02/08 @ 12:12
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
I just received a call from a concerned Townsperson who wanted clarification on what I am looking for in this post. By "unmatched," he wanted to know, did I mean Never having been replicated? Yes, I think that is another way to say what I had in mind, and I mean it in terms of the lineup and roles, not the quality of the outcome. For instance, although there it might be argued that no quartet ever matched the superpowers of The Beatles, many tried to replicate that lineup and balance of responsibilities.
06/02/08 @ 14:20
Comment from: alexmagic [Member] Email
At the risk of taking the idea too literally, I can’t think of another group that regularly used the singers-dancing-in-a-line Motown formation, but included people actually playing instruments in the line. Even the members of the Family Stone would either shuffle in place or typically stop playing when it was time to break out some moves. Am I forgetting anybody really obvious?

I appreciate the symmetry of the bass player on one end of the line and a guitar player on the other, and both required to participate completely in all the moves. Tito being required to play bass while doing that step-forward-half-step-back-turn-half-step-back move earned him some degree of difficulty points, enough to make him third-best Jackson in his day.
06/03/08 @ 09:10

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