Most worthless members of pop music groups (open discussion, not a poll)

[swag]

My favorite worthless band members (you may have your own!):

Joel, from Brian Jonestown Massacre



Bez, from Happy Mondays (a pretty worthless band, though they did have four songs, by my count, that vindicated their existence)

[progmom]

1. Andrew Ridgely from Wham

Though he was mighty fine looking!

[BattyDem]

9. You beat me to it!

:toast:

[terrya]

45. Yeah...that's my choice. You weren't really sure what he did....

I guess Andrew was the straight guy. :-)

[Strawman]

57. You've obviously never heard his solo album "Son of Albert"

:sarcasm:

[Catch22Dem]

2. Here ya go, take your pick

[Blue Belle]

24. I think they're on the "County Fair" circuit now...

:+

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Whichever ones are still breathing, I guess

sigh....someday, someday, they'll all finally be dead.

[swag]

7. As my dead grandmother-in-law Inky said,

"It doesn't take 'em long."

[dolo amber]

4. From what I understand,

Bez was more of a good pills connection...his contributions as a "band member" are questionable. :D

And the Mondays were brilliant, btw. :P :spank:

[swag]

8. You know

if they had done only "Wrote for Luck," I'd be grateful for their presence on earth.

As it is, I'm grateful for their presence on earth, but cringing at the bulk of the output.

[dolo amber]

15. You're probably one of those horrid people

who don't like the Stone Roses either, aren't you? :cry:

;)

I think I appreciate the *idea* of the Mondays as much if not more than their actual output...but then again I was way into the whole Manc scene back then, so I would say that. :D

[swag]

17. Yes, I'm one of those horrid people

My Manchester was always the Fall, Joy Division, Magazine, and others.

Sorry to be a cocksucker, but that's who I am.

Pleased to meet you, regardless.

[Beware the Beast Man]

39. No Freddie and the Dreamers?

:cry:

[swag]

48. Freddie, is that you?

[BattyDem]

5. An oldie but a goodie:

Andrew Ridgeley aka: The "other guy" from Wham!



George Michael wrote the music, sang the songs and did the interviews. Ridgeley did ... well, nothing. :shrug:

[progmom]

10. hey - great minds, baby!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=3501036&mesg_id=3501060

[tuvor]

6. Adam Clayton.

I'm hunching that there'll be a lot of bass players on this list.

[jobycom]

11. Stu Sutcliffe, of the Beatles. They should drop him. nt

[johnnie]

12. Not technically "pop"

But some would argue that point.
Sid was pretty worthless

[swag]

13. Oh, good one.

Worse than worthless, him.

[Zuni]

14. good call

he didn't really play bass---he just barfed and made an ass out of himself.

[johnnie]

16. He was in the band for what? 6 months?

He brought down one of the best bands of their genre.

[tuvor]

18. Charlie Haj of Dread Zeppelin.

[evlbstrd]

19. Linda McCartney in Wings.

Heard at a concert:
"Oh, wow, man, did you know that Paul was in a band before Wings?

[swag]

21. But she added those beautiful 1/3 tone harmonies.

[evlbstrd]

22. And played a mean tamborine.

I think she faked the keyboard parts.

[swag]

25. Hey, was it your son with the hangover?

What happened the next morning? Is there a thread on that?

[evlbstrd]

28. Yep, that's the one.

There wasn't a morning after thread.
He denied everything to me. Although he told his mom everything.

I still made him mow the lawn. Early.

[swag]

29. Evil bastard indeed

Thank you

[evlbstrd]

31. You're welcome.

And, yes, I am the resident monster.

[asthmaticeog]

20. Gillian Gilbert.

Was the drummer's girlfriend really necessary? Hell, in New Order, is the DRUMMER really necessary?

[swag]

23. Oh, she was the Steve Morris girlfriend?

At a show at the long gone Ontario Theater in DC, I saw them in 1983, I think it was. Some famous show where Peter Hook had passed out after drinking too many melon-ball shooters in one of those Adams Morgan bars.

New Order opened with "In a Lonely Place," and without Hook (he showed up later and there was some onstage belligerence, along with Hook's raised eyebrows when someone yelled, "Ian lives!"). And, as my long lost pal Danny lamented, "they didn't do the thing with the cymbals, the splash." Danny had come for the cymbal splash on "In a Lonely Place."

Bernard went back two or three times to Gillian's keyboards to change her settings to suit his preferences. I guess he was the boss, or fancied himself as that. I just thought he was being a dick. I don't understand show business.

Was she really pointless? Did Bernard do all her studio parts?

[asthmaticeog]

32. The one time I saw them

Morris kept getting out from behind the drums (which *amazingly* kept playing...) to do what looked like showing Gilbert where to put her fingers on the keys. Three or four times, this. It was a laughable show, and all the sadder since they followed Echo and the Bunnymen, whose set was triumphant and beautiful.

I'm fairly sure that in the studio, Bernie and Hook are pretty much the whole band, though I could be wrong.

[tigereye]

59. sheesh

guess you shouldn't put the paramours on stage unless they can actually play something....

[tigereye]

58. I love that someone was living to hear the cymbal splash

how rare is that? Well, maybe not so much. Does anyone live for paradiddles though? ( sorry, drummer joke.)

[swag]

74. Danny was a rare guy.

But he's not the one guy who would live for the cymbal splash.

The drums are always important. And the tuning of the snare drum can be critical. The tight Fugazi unsnared snare tuning drives my girly apeshit, for example. Now she likes some Fugazi, but that rotten tuning turns her right against a song.

Don't ever underestimate the power of the drummer.

[Blue Belle]

26. I'm torn between "Milli" and "Vanilli"

each being equally void of talent.

[swag]

27. Top flight.

I salute you.

[bif]

30. Male singer from the Sugarcubes

Sorry Dude. Your career was going nowhere.

[Lannes]

37. Beat me to it!

That was her ex-husband.Damn that guy got on my nerves.No wonder she went solo.

[fudge stripe cookays]

78. Yep, agreed.

Especially the "I DON'T REALLY LIKE LOBSTER!" from 'Regina.' WTF was that?

FSC

[enigmatic]

33. The elderly dude in Arrested Development..

[jpgray]

34. Pete Quaife

I really like some of his bass lines, though. And he was a good buffer for the group. That is, I hear he could absorb a misdirected hurled guitar or high-hat pretty well.

[KG]

35. michael anthony - luckiest bassist alive

[Squeech]

38. Yeah, but

aren't most bassists that useless? The reason Jaco and Flea stand out is that there are so few people equipped to make so personal a statement on the bass guitar. Most bassists, unless they're also writers (e.g. Paul McCartney) aren't worth the neurons to remember. (Well, there is Gene Simmons, but somehow I don't believe it's his bass playing that people pay attention to.)

I'm a bass player myself, and I like to think I occupy a middle ground: I'm no Jaco, but unlike Anthony I do more than roll joints for my guitarist. But nobody knows what I sound like because there's a picture of my band in the dictionary, next to the word "obscure."

[Magrittes Pipe]

36. Brix Smith.

BANANA!

[asthmaticeog]

40. Oh, come on!

"This Nation's Saving Grace" was Brix all over, and that's a great album!

[swag]

41. Maybe he was talking about Adult Net

and not the Fall.

[Magrittes Pipe]

42. Thing is, there really never was a *useless* member of the Fall...

...I just wanted to needle swag.

Anyway, the later Brix records were among the worst stuff MES ever made -- in that they were half-good and half-awful (c.f. The Frenz Expiriment, I Am Kurious Oranj).

[swag]

46. Thanks for needling me.

I'm quite flattered.

[SKKY]

43. Andrew Fletcher from Depeche Mode is the all-time most worthless...

...member of a band. By his own admission, he hadn't contributed to a DM song in like, 15 years. As they are self-managed, and the rest were too coked up to do much, he took over the duties. I think his last contribution to any music was on the "Construction Time Again" Album. Although, I heard he did do something on the "Song of Faith and Devotion" Album. He just manages them, learns the few key clicks he needs to perform in concert, and that's it.

[Blue-Jay]

44. The skanking guy from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

He *is* fun to watch, however.

[Magrittes Pipe]

47. EVERY member of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

:eyes:

[Blue-Jay]

51. Fuck off, music snob.

[Magrittes Pipe]

55. Come, now. If you decline to eat rhino shit, do I call you a "food snob?"

:eyes:

[swag]

49. Oh, I thought of another one (though competition was stiff in this band)

[swag]

50. Is it wrong for me to pick on the tambourine and maraca people?

[tigereye]

60. no

just wrong of you to pick on small children! ;)

don't pick on Airto, though, he'll whup your ass with all that percussion equipment.

[swag]

62. You're right, of course, but that Tracy Partridge just makes me so mad.

Senator, she is no Susie Cowsill.

[tigereye]

69. snort

[woo me with science]

66. oops you beat me to it :) nt

[WeRQ4U]

52. Ben Carr of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones...All he does is dance

I've always found that odd. Original for sure, but so odd.

His existence in the band is quite pointless.

[mark414]

53. jerobi from a tribe called quest

i still can't figure out what he does :shrug:

[swag]

54. I don't think Phife knows either.

When I saw Tribe, I think Jarobi's mic was off.

[HughBeaumont]

56. Whoah, I can think of several . . .

At least 4 members of Slipknot are unnecessary (one could argue the entire BAND is) and can't even be heard live; I'll let you choose which ones.

At least 3 members of Mushroomhead are unnecessary. Coming from Cleveland, this band was made up of members of several go-nowhere Cleveland metal acts. They just slopped together some average Pro-pain/10th-rate FNM riffs, stuck on some Bile/Bungle-influenced costumes and BAM - created a regional phenomenon that's . . . still pretty much regional while Slopknot went through the roof. The point is moot because both bands pretty much suck.

Janick Gers - Iron Maiden. PLEASE, people. The guy just twirls his guit-fiddle and guestures stupidly. All you needs is Steve, Dave and Adrian. KICK him oot.

Chris Knight - Brady Bunch. I mean, by his own admission the sumbitch COULDN'T SING!! Like he cares, he's banging America's Next Top Model.

Joe Hasselvander - Raven. Possibly the worst live drum performance ever captured on video. Looks like Ozzy in his Bea Arthur-hair years and plays like him too. HOW do you fuck up a simple end fill?

Meg White - White Stripes. Personally, I REALLY don't understand the giant pants-shitting deal over this group; dude, if that's your thing, go for it by all means. I . . . damn. But seriously, could any drummer suck worse than her?

Terry Roberts - ex-Ministry. One of these guys that was simply there to fill space.

Joe "Mama" Besser - Spinal Tap. I never thought there could be a worse drummer than Fred Asparagus. I was wrong.

[tigereye]

61. you said

"Meg White - White Stripes. Personally, I REALLY don't understand the giant pants-shitting deal over this group; dude, if that's your thing, go for it by all means. I . . . damn. But seriously, could any drummer suck worse than her?"

Sadly, this is the only time you will ever see me agree with a statement about a female drummer/musician. I play drums and I am a much better drummer. The drummers from the Gogos, The Bangles and The Donnas,etc. are much better as well.


Although I have to say The White Stripes were the best thing at the Grammy's one year. ( course there was little competition.)

[swag]

65. Their first record really pissed me off because it seemed like

such a right fucking ripoff of Pussy Galore's Right Now!, the glorious reductio ad absurdum of Rock and Roll.

I do like their little vignette in Coffee and Cigarettes though. They are both such awful actors.

[tigereye]

68. huh

I watched about a half hour of Coffee and Cigarettes... I had to take it back to the vid store. I only got to the Tom Waits and Iggy part, which I really enjoyed. Maybe I should rent it again.

Tom and Meg are to be commended for getting to the top with something that "looks" alternative, and musically, is "sort of" alternative. I think he's an interesting guitar player and I love the Michel Gondry vids I've seen. (Also I think parts of Van Lear Rose are excellent)

At the same time, I think they are laughing all the way to the bank.

[arwalden]

63. Suzanne Crough (Tracy Partridge)

There! I finally said it... and I'm glad I did! Go ahead and flame me if you want to. I don't care. I just don't care!

[woo me with science]

64. Tracy in the Partridge Family...

How hard is it to play a tambourine? }:-)

[swag]

67. Wow, it's pile on Tracy time.

This seems like a good time for me to mention that it took me years to come to closure on the disappearance of Jeremy Gelbwaks.

[NeoTraitors]

70. What about Ringo?

How do you know that the Beatles were on drugs? They actually let Ringo sing a few songs!

[swag]

72. I would not have accepted Ringo as Chris Partridge

any more than I accepted Brian Forster as Chris Partridge.

Jeremy Gelbwaks was the one true mysteriously disappearing Chris Partridge.

[jpgray]

71. Mike Thorne for his "contribution" to the single version of Outdoor Miner

The lengthening and the really dopey piano arrangements totally ruined the song.

[Dukkha]

73. Not ONE vote for John Oats?

You're making my dreams come true
ooh ooh ooh ooh
ooh ooh ooh ooh

[Initech]

75. Every member of Nickelback, Creed, and Staind

Really, these groups ALL SOUND EXACTLY THE SAME!

You could switch the labels on their discs and no one would know the difference!

[swag]

76. If they all sound like Creed or some other bleating band,

cunna agree more.

I tend to change the channel.

[Jamastiene]

77. Precisely

I couldn't agree with you more. Only their discs aren't worth buying to switch the labels on in the first place. Expensive shiny frisbees maybe...

[fudge stripe cookays]

79. BINGO!

They are the reason I rarely even turn on the radio anymore unless I'm listening to Air America.

It was so nice to get out of Clear Channel land for a few weeks and hear decent music up north.

FSC

PS- I HAVE to buy that "Dead 60s" album. One of the few things that's actually screamed "Like me!" that I've heard in quite some time.