Doug: Today's question doesn't require much background, so I'll cut right to the chase. This is a multiple subject Face-Off, by the way. Can you think of bands that had two lead singers in the group at the same time, or in some cases two singers who were perfectly capable of carrying the band?
Got one or two in mind? OK -- simply tell us which singer you preferred/enjoyed more on a given bands discography, and why. Some nominees for consideration:
- The Beatles: John Lennon and Paul McCartney
- The Who: Roger Daltry (who sang far and away most of the band's mainstream hits) and Pete Townshend
- The Eagles: Don Henley and Glenn Frey
- Chicago: Peter Cetera and Terry Kath
- Journey: Gregg Rolie and (of course) Steve Perry
- The Cars: Benjamin Orr and Ric Ocasek
- The Monkees: Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz
- Three Dog Night: Cory Wells and Chuck Negron
- Earth, Wind, & Fire: Maurice White and Philip Bailey
- The Beach Boys: Brian Wilson and Mike Love
- KISS: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (duh... can't believe I left them off! I'll have to surrender my KISS Army card! Thanks, Erick!)
Have fun, and be sure to throw out some other favorite groups!
KISS! Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons sang most of the songs.
ReplyDeleteErick --
ReplyDeleteDuly noted! I can't believe I overlooked KISS!!
Thanks,
Doug
Pink Floyd -- I liked Roger Waters.
ReplyDeleteMoody Blues -- Loved the John Lodge tunes over Justin Hayward, for the most part; Ray Thomas had many little treasures, too (but no airplay).
Styx -- I preferred Tommy Shaw.
Alan Parsons Projext -- Eric Woolfson for the win.
Marillion -- there is only FISH.
Fleetwood Mac actually had 3 lead singers, at least from the period after Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks joined, each becoming lead singers along with Christine McVie, and each getting at least 2 songs per album. The Beatles were one of the few groups of 4 or more members in which all members regularly sang lead, although of course John & Paul sang lead far more often than George and Ringo only got about one track per lp, if that.
ReplyDeleteThe Jefferson Airplane also had multiple lead singers, even if Grace Slick's sultry good looks made most fans forget about Marty Balin and Paul Kantner.
Supertramp and XTC are two other bands with two lead singers who regularly alternated on their albums.
Wow, it's confirmed----I'm the ONLY resident Deadhead around here.
ReplyDeleteJerry and Bobby, trading songs back and forth for 3 hours, i really miss the shows.....or exchanging verses on "Jack Straw".
PEACE
starfoxxx
Buffalo Springfield---Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, and Neil Young.
ReplyDeleteThe Byrds---Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby.
Scott Lovrine, aka Cherokee Jack
Didn't 10CC manage the unlikely feat of having four lead singers? Or is my memory playing tricks on me?
ReplyDeleteTaking it one step further.., I was always more a fan of great harmonies between the two (or three) leads.. Lennon, Harrison, and McCartney always had a GREAT 3-way harmony.
ReplyDeleteThe Lennon-Harrison harmonies were very rich, as was Dolenz and Jones (or Dolenz and Nesmith). Grace and Marty Balin had some great vocals together in the Airplane/Starship line-ups.
Since someone above already mentioned both Buffalo Springfield and the Byrds, I'll just add the obvious: Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young).
ReplyDeleteThe Band had several lead vocalists as I recall, although Robbie Robertson's the only one I know by name off the top of my head.
And starfoxxx, I'm not exactly a Deadhead (although I did manage to catch 6-7 of their shows from the late 80s to early 90s), but I also thought of Garcia and Weir. And god, I loved those marathon concerts of theirs - once I saw them two nights in a row, each concert lasted over 3 hours, and they didn't repeat any songs on the second night...
@Edo: The Band's vocalists were Levon Helm, Richard Manuel and Rick Danko, all fantastic, soulful singers. Robbie Robertson was the main songwriter and guitarist, but he only sang lead on a couple of The Band's ( lesser )songs.
ReplyDeleteFor a slight change from the mostly soft-rock stuff above, I'd just like to mention one of the greatest rock bands ever, The Clash, and their fantastic frontmen, Mick Jones and the late Joe Strummer. Clash City Rockers!
ReplyDeleteEvery member of Blue Oyster Cult sang, with guitarists Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma being the principle lead singers.
ReplyDeleteTriumph-Rik Emmett and Gil Moore as well.
ReplyDeleteFor the Cars I preferred Ben Orr over Ric Ocasek. "Moving In Stereo" case in point. For Fleetwood Mac, I like Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The Beatles, George Harrison no question. In The Eagles, they all have their great moments. I would have have to say Joe Walsh and Don Henley are my favorites. But listen to Timothy Schmidt on "I Can't Tell You Why". Stellar. For The Who I can't pick one, because it seemed like the appropriate singer for their individual songs. But I've seen Pete sing Roger's vocals with no problem...
Also, in Heart both girls can rock the vocals...why hasn't Nancy sung more?
There's been a regular smorgasbord of ABBA on the BBC over the last week, so I feel duty bound to mention them. Have there ever been two singers whose voices meshed as seamlessly as Agnetha and Frida's did?
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly Bjorn sang lead from time to time but it's probably best to draw a veil over his efforts, bless him.