| November 11th, 2005 10:42 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Let it go after a rock deity dies
By PAT CLARK
BEE SCENE EDITOR
November 11, 2005, 06:50:30 AM PST
It sounded wrong from the moment I read that Paul Rodgers — former lead singer of Bad Company — was taking over Freddie Mercury's vocal duties as the new Queen frontman, albeit billed as Queen + Paul Rodgers.
Just like it sounded wrong that ex-Cult singer Ian Astbury was stepping into Jim Morrison's shoes to perform classic Doors songs on tour with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger.
And just like it sounded wrong when INXS announced that it was going to replace Michael Hutchence with the victor of a reality TV contest.
Ick, ick and eeew, ICK.
Of course, it wouldn't be the first time a band found a replacement and soldiered on after the death of its frontman. And it's been done darn successfully — look at AC/DC, for instance. Brian Johnson took over the frontman duties after founding singer Bon Scott's death in 1980 and the band went on to huge success.
But Bon Scott died before AC/DC's seminal "Back in Black" was released. Despite the tragedy of his passing, he hardly had reached the icon status of a Freddie Mercury or a Jim Morrison.
And Michael Hutchence? Well, INXS is like a slice out of my college years, so I admit that's a completely personal thing.
A lot of people with rather good television taste urged me to watch "Rock Star: INXS." Everyone said the show was a ton of fun, and I believe them. But even though I kept telling myself to tune in, not once did I remember to do it. Attribute it to my subconscious knowing that a little piece of my heart died along with Michael Hutchence. It hurt to know his bandmates had reduced his worth to a TV talent contest.
It's gnatty stuff, really, replacing a deceased frontman. Sometimes, it can't be done. Sometimes, it just shouldn't.
When Kurt Cobain died, the surviving members of Nirvana didn't look in the rock star yellow pages for a replacement. Cobain was Nirvana and certainly couldn't be replaced. The same could be said — well, should be, anyway — of Mercury and Morrison.
If the surviving band members want to keep playing music for a living, they should give it a go by forming a new band with a new name — a real new name that isn't just for the sake of semantics or legalities.
And they shouldn't be doing it just to jump on the retro-act gravy train that's been raking in the top concert grosses the past few years.
Dave Grohl shed his Nirvana skin after Cobain died and his Foo Fighters have been a true rock 'n' roll success — despite the ridiculous name.
No matter how talented the musicians are from classic rock bands like Queen and The Doors, without the leaders who wrote the lyrics and put their indelible imprint on a bastion of beloved songs, reuniting and going back out on tour is more sad than enticing.
And finding some guy who's voice simply meets octave-range standards to regurgitate the beloved hits that their original singers made legendary is insulting to the memory of those icons.
As for INXS, no, Michael Hutchence wasn't an icon. And give the refashioned group props for recording new songs instead of just riding on the backs of the old ones.
But Hutchence did die a tragic death. The least his bandmates could have done was retire the name.
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| November 12th, 2005 06:58 AM |
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| corgi37 |
I saw the clip for INXS's new song. Not bad at all. I never liked them, but its not too bad. |
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