Me and a buddy were watching Letterman the other night when flavor of the week GlasVegas came on. My fiance is from Glasgow, so I know how tough it can be and these boys fit the part, leather jackets and all. But then the camera moved from the Joe Strummer impersonator singer to the drummer. My friend was first to comment: “Why is the lead singer’s mom drumming for these guys?” We then exchanged cracks around the imagined premise of him trying to get her into the group. (If I’m in. me mum’s the drumma yah fooks!”) Good times.
Anyway, to the point. Watch the video and ask yourself this question. Has there ever been in which the members have such a uniform look, but one stands out like a sore thumb? I think in this case it may seem even more discernible because she is actually kinda dressing like them…
Mum is concentrating too hard on her technique to sit down even.
You know, the reviews of their CD were pretty good, but this performance seemed especially lame. The kind of thing that might make a publicist think “Maybe TV is not the best way to promote this band.”
Didn’t Spirit have a dad drummer? That guy, though, seemed to fit in just fine. Good question – the broader one you ask, that is. Let me think about it.
So she’s not “hot” I didn’t think she messed up their look. I was more curious about the fact that she had no bass drum and no hi-hat but kept a pretty full drum sound. Kept looking for the cocktail kit reverse bass drum pedal and did not see one.
I thought they were dull for TV and the song sounded like Bowie’s Heros without the hook (or early U2…without the hook)
Yeah, Spirit’s drummer, Ed Cassidy…his presence in the band, combined with the hair and beards the rest of them sported, always makes me think they looked like a traveling production of The Hills Have Eyes in band photos.
I have to bring up Dr. Fink for this topic. Was he under the impression that the Revolution was going to be an occupation-themed band like the Village People or All-Sports Band and he thought “I’ll be the doctor!”? But then he showed up, and Prince told him that no, they were all going to be space mobsters, and he said “Screw you guys, I already paid for these scrubs!”
In the GlasVegas clip above, maybe it’s the lead singer who’s got the wrong look for the other three? The drummer just needs a seat and maybe a sleeveless leather vest, if the worry is a leather coat would get in the way. If anything, I like that she seems to have gone for a Pink Ladies-style neckerchief to match his T-Birds jacket. Points for her.
If she were the bass player, she would fit the maternal template proposed the other day.
And didn’t we have a thread awhile back on one-note guitar solos?
Must be my day to be a contrarian but I liked the song. At the least, it’s a heckuva lot better than most of the musical acts on Letterman these days.
Of course, they are no Rick Nelson.
I can’t help it. The guy that pops into my head is the unusually unattractive, overweight bassist for the Atlanta Rhythm Section.
Sorry, bass player guy – I know it seems like I’m pickin’ on you. Maybe you’ve lost weight, or come into your looks a la Pete Townshend!
See if you can spot him in this band pic:
http://www.umeportal.com/images/local/umgartists/659866cf-7cdb-4872-9cc5-a3255ff6ac90.jpg
I always thought Chester Thompson stood out from the other guys in Genesis:P
And the guy with the Hitler mustache stands out from the other guy in Sparks. What was he thinking?
The early Grateful Dead. All the band members looked like freaky hippies, except their sometime frontman, Pigpen, who stuck with his greaser/biker look.
Did Peter Hook ever conform to the Very Clean Look of his New Order bandmates? The other band members, on the other hand, never had scruff and messy hair, did they? Their shirts are always buttoned to the top button.
How about aging hippie Gary Young tapping out his minimalist drum sounds behind the young hipster slackers of early Pavement?
Good one, Sourbob!
I thought the fat older looking guy from the Hives, but after looking at pictures for references it seems there are two guys with mustaches in the band and this makes them look older. One of them is heavier. Maybe doesn’t count…
Cheap Trick’s collective look gets a lot of shit around here, but I’m a fan of bands that look like a collection of people from other bands, so I give them props.
Art Brut pull this off too, with its mix of punks, goths, indie rockers and fops.
http://www.photopass.com/Portfoliopages/Art_Brut/images/Art_Brut3200.jpg
I never knew that about Pavement. Just read about Gary Young-hilarious.
For me, that upgrades Pavement from completely uninteresting to almost completely uninteresting. I couldn’t stand their post REM affected college boy musings in the early 90’s and i’m not inclined to give them another chance.