Adam And the Ants begat Bow Wow Wow thanks to Malcolm McClaren. Adam gets a new band together with the guitarist who'd been in the initial 100 Club version of Siouxsie and the Banshees then becomes popular for several lps as a teenybopper. Do still like the first of those lps though.
― Stevolende, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 17:01 (seven years ago) link
xpost!!! If we'll allow for a group of band members, then Adam's original Ants moving to Bow Wow Wow would certainly count.
― Gorvernment Stoodge (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 17:04 (seven years ago) link
Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne. Their last two albums with him were significantly less successful than their peaks with him, only going gold, and when Ronnie James Dio took over as frontman, Heaven and Hell went platinum in the US.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 17:07 (seven years ago) link
The Human League / Heaven 17
― PaulTMA, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 17:08 (seven years ago) link
Buffalo Springfield.
Neil Young and Stephen Stills. Richie Furay and Jim Messina too, actually.
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 17:10 (seven years ago) link
Oh wait, never mind on Buffalo Springfield. Read the thread title wrong.
Jason Isbell and Drive-By Truckers maybe?
― nomar, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 17:22 (seven years ago) link
kind of cheating but wayne hussey / sisters of mercy
― NickB, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 17:35 (seven years ago) link
Kurt Vile and The War on Drugs?
― MarkoP, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 17:41 (seven years ago) link
Vince Clarke (again) and Alison Moyet with Yaz(oo)
― by the light of the burning Citroën, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 17:55 (seven years ago) link
robbie williams / take that
― hunk of poo, big fart, girlfriend, and Dove soap (bizarro gazzara), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:18 (seven years ago) link
crosby & the byrds? or were byrds more popular w/ crosby
― marcos, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:20 (seven years ago) link
Tanya Donelly / Throwing Muses
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:22 (seven years ago) link
I don't think Take That were more popular post-Robbie than when he was still in?
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:22 (seven years ago) link
the byrds did not become more successful than they had been before crosby left.
― new noise, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:23 (seven years ago) link
yeah, take that split up not long after williams left.
― new noise, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:25 (seven years ago) link
In fact, didn't they break up pretty soon after he left?
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:25 (seven years ago) link
Xpost
they got back together in 2006 and have been at least as big if not bigger than before - comeback album sold nearly 3m in the UK alone, iirc, and they enjoyed a level of critical success they didn't have before
― hunk of poo, big fart, girlfriend, and Dove soap (bizarro gazzara), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:28 (seven years ago) link
i am by no means an authority on take that studies but the tax-dodging tory cunts have been inescapable in the uk since the comeback
― hunk of poo, big fart, girlfriend, and Dove soap (bizarro gazzara), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:30 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, but Everything Changes alone sold over 3 million, and they've hardly had any hit songs (at least outside the UK), compared to the steady stream of hits in the early '90s.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:33 (seven years ago) link
Also, their reunion and second success was hardly a "result" of Robbie leaving them 10 years earlier, it's a totally different phenomenon.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:35 (seven years ago) link
Tuomas, thread-lawyer
― Neanderthal, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:37 (seven years ago) link
Fleet Foxes and Father John Misty
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:40 (seven years ago) link
enh, like i said, i'm not enough of a takethatologist to support the suggestion - i probably could make a somewhat tortured narrative to say there is a cause/effect relationship but tbh i don't care enough to type it out xxp
― hunk of poo, big fart, girlfriend, and Dove soap (bizarro gazzara), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:42 (seven years ago) link
xpost Did Fleet Foxes get bigger since 2012?
― duped and used by my worst Miss U (President Keyes), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:42 (seven years ago) link
Bobby Brown / New Edition, for a few years at least
― HPSCHD, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:44 (seven years ago) link
no
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:52 (seven years ago) link
FF haven't released anything since he left
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:53 (seven years ago) link
Blondie, when original bass player Fred Smith quit to join Television
― Josefa, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:56 (seven years ago) link
Jonathan Donahue/Flaming Lips
― Gavin, Leeds, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 19:05 (seven years ago) link
both kevin ayers and daevid allen did pretty well for themselves after leaving soft machine, and soft machine stayed on the up-and-up. mind you the softs were downhill after robert wyatt left, but that was years later...
― increasingly bonkers (rushomancy), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 19:11 (seven years ago) link
Both Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock sold more records after they parted ways in '68, though not immediately
― Josefa, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 19:12 (seven years ago) link
jazz seems like a p big grey area for this
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 19:13 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, I guess especially in that period when jazzers were alternating between an esoteric approach and a more commercial one.
Maybe slightly more relevant would be cases where singers got famous from big bands in the '40s and the band got bigger too, which I'm sure has happened, but don't know if it's worth opening that box.
― Josefa, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 19:21 (seven years ago) link
I was gonna say, sidepeople seems like cheating. Hell, Miles alone -- Coltrane, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Billy Cobham, John McLaughlin...but in a lot of instances, the sidepeople were also recording (or had already recorded) as leaders while with Miles.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 20:09 (seven years ago) link
Wayne hussey / dead or alive
― NickB, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 20:11 (seven years ago) link
arguably Suede/Butler who both had a big(ger) success right after the split : Suede with "Coming Up" and Butler with "Yes".that didn't last a long time, though.― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, January 10, 2017 4:46 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Suede were successful right up to A New Morning, which was their first poor seller. Butler's solo career was a non-starter, and Suede are making some of their best music now.
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 20:42 (seven years ago) link
Stephen tin tin Duffy / Duran Duran
― NickB, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 20:45 (seven years ago) link
The Housemartins -> The Beautiful South / Fatboy Slim.
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 20:46 (seven years ago) link
Tin Tin Duffy/Duran Duran
I was thinking of that one earlier as I headed out. Think it took a while before Stephen Duffy became popular or was that just became credible. Was Tin Tin a teenybop popstar who became more underground with the Lilac Time?
― Stevolende, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 20:47 (seven years ago) link
He was massive in smash hits for a whole month in 198~
― NickB, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 20:50 (seven years ago) link
Fleetwood Mac / Bob Welch (his leaving the band led to Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joining).
― 2017, how bad could it be? (snoball), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 21:33 (seven years ago) link
Did Welch become more successful after leaving the Mac, though?
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 21:56 (seven years ago) link
he had a successful jelly line iirc
― Neanderthal, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 22:00 (seven years ago) link
I'd say yeah. Mac with Welch had some medium selling albums and a bunch of non-charting singles; French Kiss went #12 on the Billboard chart and spawned 3 hit singles.
― Snorting and all (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 10 January 2017 22:03 (seven years ago) link
Jam & Lewis/The Time
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 22:17 (seven years ago) link
When did they quit The Time? They play on "Pandemonium", the band's most popular album, so it doesn't seem like they'd fit this thread's premise.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 22:33 (seven years ago) link
I mean, Jam & Lewis are certainly now better known outside The Time, but The Time didn't become more popular without them.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 22:35 (seven years ago) link
Klaus schulze / tangerine dream ?
― NickB, Tuesday, 10 January 2017 22:56 (seven years ago) link
How about Skip Spence starting a bunch of bands then leaving them to, well, make it? Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape and The Doobie Brothers..
― Mark G, Thursday, 12 January 2017 21:39 (seven years ago) link
Didn't Moby Grape fall off the map after their first three (Spence) albums, though? I know they made more albums.
― clemenza, Thursday, 12 January 2017 22:35 (seven years ago) link
I don't think this one really fits, but how about Michael Steele leaving The Runaways in 1976 before they recorded their first album, then joining the Bangles 8 years later.
(Random Wikipedia fact: Michael Steele briefly played bass for Snakefinger.)
― Hideous Lump, Friday, 13 January 2017 03:50 (seven years ago) link
Hard to know what would've become of Genesis had Gabriel not left but I highly doubt it could have resulted in something like Invisible Touch. Phil was definitely more of a hitmaker than Peter was, and I don't think Peter could've done the things he wanted to within the band.
In an alternative universe, "In Your Eyes" would have probably sounded almost same and just been called a Genesis song. And stuff like "In Too Deep" would have been saved for solo Phil Collins because it sounds way more like his solo stuff than full band.
― billstevejim, Saturday, 14 January 2017 09:37 (seven years ago) link
maybe not but Kim Deal/Pixies of the 90s? she left and within 2 years the Breeders had a bigger hit than the Pixies ever did.
might be hard to make the case for now financially but imo creatively the Breeders are still way more successful whereas Pixies have kind of lost their magic and turned into a generic bar band.
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 14 January 2017 15:00 (seven years ago) link
Eh? That is almost completely wrong afaik. Kim didn't leave, the band broke up, the same year as the Breeders had their big hit. I suppose the same year is within 2 years, so not quite completely wrong.
But how do you figure Kim "leaving" the Pixies made them more successful when the Pixies were then defunct for 10 years?
― Transform All Suffering Into Poo (Colonel Poo), Saturday, 14 January 2017 15:33 (seven years ago) link
can't believe we're this deep in with no mention of van halen
― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Thursday, 19 January 2017 19:50 (seven years ago) link
Van Halen's apex was 1984, no? so they wouldn't qualify
― flappy bird, Thursday, 19 January 2017 19:56 (seven years ago) link
No way, Van Hagar sold waaaaaaay more records.
. Also the rare instance, along with Genesis, of both the original singer and the replacement singer having successful solo careers of their own. Though I don't know if Hagar counts, because he was successful pre-VH.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 19 January 2017 19:57 (seven years ago) link
Well, actually it's complicated, re: VH.
http://www.guitarplayer.com/news/1024/roths-van-halen-sales-trounce-sammy-hagars-hold-on-there-dave/52326
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 19 January 2017 19:59 (seven years ago) link
solo Roth was big, but did he ever equal 1984 sales?
― duped and used by my worst Miss U (President Keyes), Thursday, 19 January 2017 20:03 (seven years ago) link
Yeah I don't buy that re: Van Hagar. The whole thing about Roth taking seven records to sell what Hagar did in four... well, yeah. Hagar joined after VH's best-selling album ever. the thing about the Hagar albums hitting #1 is useless imo, only sales matter.
― flappy bird, Thursday, 19 January 2017 20:11 (seven years ago) link
I thiiiiiiink Van Hagar made more $$$, if I recall Hagar's memoir "Red" correctly, but yeah, established brand.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 19 January 2017 20:21 (seven years ago) link
There were a lot of factors at work re: Van Halen vs Van Hagar. Van Hagar were building on Van Halen's established rep, and the industry around them was changing, too - they'd started out a bar band, served a couple of years as an opening act, and only in their last few years (say, 1981-84) headlined. Meanwhile, rock shows were themselves getting bigger, so VH circa '85 was able to play stadiums rather than arenas, which wasn't an option for Roth-era VH until close to the end of their run.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Thursday, 19 January 2017 20:32 (seven years ago) link
On the flip side, think how much Hagar lost paying speeding tickets.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 19 January 2017 20:52 (seven years ago) link
I guess Fairport Convention shedding members in 69 to begat solo Sandy Denny and Steeleye Span and a little later solo Richard Thompson doesn't count? Not sure how popular Fairport Convention remained at the time. Maybe it does though, could be when they were closest to being a popular band. Certainly meant a lot of great music came out. The Albion Band or whatever variation thereon was also great.
― Stevolende, Thursday, 19 January 2017 23:09 (seven years ago) link
The Commodores only Grammy winning single "Nightshift" was released after the departure of Lionel Richie.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 5 September 2019 15:50 (four years ago) link
hard to argue that they were more successful overall after he left, considering that was their last hit and lionel became one of the biggest stars of the 80s
― normal fucking rockman (voodoo chili), Thursday, 5 September 2019 15:52 (four years ago) link
I know but I was listening to that song this morning and was like wow that was the only Grammy they won (& not for "Easy" nor "3x a Lady" nor "Lady" nor lol "Brick House" etc.)
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 5 September 2019 16:16 (four years ago) link
it's a good song
― normal fucking rockman (voodoo chili), Thursday, 5 September 2019 16:19 (four years ago) link
Did we mention Massive Attack and Tricky?
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Thursday, 5 September 2019 16:24 (four years ago) link
A rare situation where two members of a band leave and both the original band, now a solo act, and the new one do better:
Black Dog / Plaid
― octobeard, Friday, 6 September 2019 08:12 (four years ago) link
Okkervil River and Shearwater are an interesting case. Shearwater was originally an Okkervil River side project for songs which didn't fit on their albums, and for which writing credits were more or less split between Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiburg. I think Meiburg became dissatisfied with this arrangement so he left OR and after that SW became more or less a Meiburg solo project. Since then Shearwater have become much more successful than they were before the split, although it's a moot point whether OR have also become more successful.
― van dyke parks generator (anagram), Friday, 6 September 2019 09:13 (four years ago) link