Stealing Leveraging Other People's Content Week continues, with an idea borrowed directly from Fark.com....
You have just been granted the power to force any band to reunite. So who do you pick? If you want, pick one from each of two categories -- bands that actually COULD reunite (i.e. all of the members are alive and have functioning brains and body parts), or go hog-wild and re-animate the corpses of John Lennon and George Harrison, or whoever.
Pink Floyd seemed to be a runaway winner over at Fark, and I can't argue with that choice -- although in the "still alive" category, I think I'd have to go with these guys, with this exact lineup:
(Wait, when I say that exact lineup -- that IS Steve Hackett over there on the left, correct? Anybody know?)
And for my raising-from-the-dead -- well, c'mon, gotta be The Beatles. Zep might be a distant second.
I will personally seek out and exterminate the first person who says "Wham!".
My choice for living band would be one that most of this blog's readers will have never heard of: The Headstones. The Headstones were a cornerstone of the late-90s Can-Rock scene. They rocked about as hard as any band can, and put on a small-scale live show that was totally unparalleled by any of the other bands I've ever seen. The singer, Hugh Dillon, had a habit of spitting on anyone he saw that was being obnoxious to other fans, so the only people front-and-centre at a Headstones show were the well-behaved moshers (shoulders and hipchecks only, no punches, kicks, elbows, or headbutts) and the insanely hardcore (the kind of people who relish being spit on by a rock band). But aside from the spitting, the Headstones were best known for powerful guitars, Dillon's unique gravelly voice, and songs that told stories, either self-contained, or the tale of the band's ongoing struggle with heroin.
As for bands with dead members... I dunno. Probably also the Beatles. Although I'm not a huge fan (I like about 1/3 of the songs from every album, but none of the albums really speak to me), I would love to see what they would do with the music of today. Not to mention what Lennon would do with today's politics.
Posted by: deadlytoque | December 19, 2006 at 10:58 AM
When I first glanced at 'toque's comments, I thought he said "Talking Heads," who would definitely get some consideration from me as well.
Along with 10,000 Maniacs. Somebody please explain to me why, when Natalie Merchant dumped the Maniacs for a bunch of musicians who were 10 times more talented, her music suddenly became 10 times less interesting?
Sadly, 10,000 Maniacs would require the resurrection of Robert Buck, who died of cancer a couple of years ago. I always liked his chimey sound, even though he was miles away from anybody's idea of a great guitar player.
Posted by: Bob | December 19, 2006 at 11:19 AM
Oh yeah -- gonna check out The Headstones, at DT's suggestion.
Posted by: Bob | December 19, 2006 at 11:20 AM
I agree with your choice. But only if Peter sings and Phil goes back to what he does best--drums--and leaves lead vox (and his ego) at the door.
Another good reunion band, for me, would be Kyuss.
And yup, that's Steve on the left. He never had the best look ... but MAN can he play.
-- david
Posted by: David Amulet | December 19, 2006 at 04:58 PM
I'd like to see Live regroup and Warren Zevon come back from the dead.
Congratulations. Subdivided is now filtered by the server at work. Must be doing something right.
Posted by: Frank | December 20, 2006 at 09:34 PM
The Kinks...both categories.
Yeah, Dave isn't dead, but he can't play and sing at the same time anymore.
Posted by: Ol'Froth | December 20, 2006 at 11:37 PM