The "bad guy" in the band: who are the other Mike Loves in music?

great eagles quote. frey really pitches in to lift henley's prickishness to another level there.

what are the counter-examples, the good guys in bands of dicks? I always think of Gene Clark as the good guy of the byrds, but that's probably just because i like his stuff the most. maybe he was a dick too.

Byrne, Wareham are principal songwriters & musicians - something Mike Love never was. Feel like anybody who is that much of a creative leader of the band doesn't really qualify.

First: that Mike Love article is incredible.

I'm curious how many other examples there are where the dynamics play out like this--with the guy who handles the business of the band and is the asshole enforcer. A lot of times it is the main guy in the band--the David Byrne example, Jeff Tweedy kicking Jay Bennett out of Wilco by saying "a circle can have only one center," and then turning over the a huge chunk of his band's "personnel" 6-7 years into their existence.

I don't think anyone in Slint or the music-loving public at large considers him an asshole on any level, but Brian McMahan plays a role like this in Slint. The Spiderland 33 1/3 book basically paints him as an intense perfectionist that picked apart each component of their music obsessively until it met a certain standard of quality. But he's not necessarily the one with the chops or the ideas--that was Walford and Pajo.

And that recent Guardian article basically said he quit and imploded the band because there was no way this would ever be sustainable from the business/making-a-basic-living end.

That said, there is no evidence that he's an asshole on any level, or that the rest of the band resented him.

So he doesn't fit, so maybe he's just an example of that role on a smaller, non-asshole level.

fwiw yeah og post article is one of my favorite things Bagge ever did, had the accompanying drawing of Mike Love on the wall in our rehearsal space for a longtime, v motivating

altho the image in that link cuts off the "Motherfucker" on his t-shirt!

Definitely fans of early- to mid-period Wilco and Jay Bennett partisans viewed Tweedy as a Mike Love-figure.

Ginger Baker even though he's my favorite player in Cream. Does Sharon Osbourne count?

that Mike Love article is incredible.

yeah thanks for posting that. surprised it hasn't appeared here before.

I've referenced it, but it wasn't available online for a long time

but he has never lessened my enjoyment of the beach boys.

I honestly can't stand the sound of Mike Love's voice. You get these ethereal harmonies and then Mike steps in with his flat nasal bah-bah-bah's.

I dig Mike Love for ruining the Beach Boys

Cream might be 3-Mike Love band, but that Ginger Baker doc definitely makes the argument for him as king prick. I love the part when he just starts showing up at Blind Faith practices and they're all to scared of him to not let him in the band.

what a disaster for beach boys

feel like Lou Reed deserves a mention here for persecuting John Cale throughout the latter's time in the VU

The other guy from Supertramp, the one with the lower voice.

Andrew Eldritch is the Mike Love of the Sisters of Mercy

what would be the Supergroup of all Mike Loves?

Mike Love - lead vocals
Robbie Robertson - lead guitar, vocals
Johnny Ramone - rhythm guitar
Ginger Baker - drums

are there no hated bass players?

Crosby could play bass actually

Gotta be McCartney, right? Not a perfect fit given creative input, but tbh Johnny Ramine seems pretty creatively crucial to the ramones.

Paul McCartney - bass

xpost!

Definitely the dickies taskmaster of the Beatles, seems more business-minded as well

I'm sure Ginger wouldn't be thrilled with Crosby's bass work since he basically said Jack Bruce sucked once he switched to electric bass.

Dickish, I mean

Baker Ramone Love McCartney Army

God that'd be a terrible band

is Billy Corgan a Mike Love?

David Crosby was too high to be much of a problem to his bandmates. Stephen Stills, however, was exactly high enough to be a terrible problem to his bandmates.

Also Joey DeMaio or Peter Steele for asshole bassist in the asshole supergroup.

xp crosby was an egomaniac and agitator who played a big part in driving gene out of the band.

OK, fair enough on the Byrds. But CSN(Y) was a different story.

Billy Corgan doesn't fit, now that i think about it. You can't be the undisputed leader of a band and be a Mike Love. Need to be a pretender to the throne, more of a pre-torture Theon Greyjoy-type to be a Mike Love. Corgan's more of a Joffrey.

xp billy corgan is a brian wilson & a mike love

xps yeah i nominated crosby purely for his time in the byrds.

Lindsey Buckingham is the only member of Fleetwood Mac who isn't a Mike Love

Gene Simmons should actually be the bass player in The Mike Loves.

xpost sorry I don't actually know much of the ins and outs of Fleetwood Mac. Lindsey Buckingham is just a really dickish name.

and re crosby i don't dislike "mind gardens" but to most people it's the byrds' "student demonstration time".

lots of amusing search results here for it.

I thought that was Triad? or Chestnut Mare? Byrds have a few Student Demonstration Times.

"mind gardens" seems to be the most universally hated.

Dude wrote Ladyfriend. That's a Mike Love disqualifier in my book.

Steve Perry was surely the Mike Love of Journey, though putting Neal Schon at the same rank as Brian Wilson is making my brain laugh.

it's hard to think of three people who - after their initial stardom - made more records that you don't need to own than the members of cream. and believe you me i've heard a LOT of stuff that jack bruce is on. and you pretty much don't need any of it. if it weren't for that one masters of reality album (which i adore) i wouldn't have any ginger baker in my record collection.

wtf, "Triad" is like the 2nd best Byrds song

I want to second Stills; notice you don't see Stills & Nash solo records. Eat a peach, asshole.

Cream is the band whose rep has dropped the highest in the entire histoire de rock, selon moi.

I have all three West, Bruce & Laing albums in my iPod right now. But I'm insane.

Jack Bruce's first two or three solo records are pretty decent, certainly far better than any non-Dominos Crapton thing.