famous bands (or significant portions thereof) who backed up a solo artist or were absorbed into an existing band for a single album: the thread

Todd Rundgren & Utopia on Shaun Cassidy's Wasp.

The Cure backing up their postman (?) for the "I'm A Cult Hero/I Dig You" single.

This happened a fair bit in the '60s for British blues bands. Most of Fleetwood Mac backed up Otis Spann (Mick Fleetwood wasn't involved) on the fantastic "The Biggest Thing Since Colossus" LP. The Yardbirds backed up Sonny Boy Williamson II in '63. Along the same "British Invasion band backing up Americans", the Hollies backed up the Everly Brothers - and wrote most of the songs - on "Two Yanks in England" (also a fantastic record)

The Animals backed up Sonny Boy II, uh, too.

Clover & Elvis Costello

Believe that was mentioned upthread, as was Two Yanks in England.

can someone sort out the Moe Tucker Half Japanese thing for me? Sorry, it’s been a while.

they toured together with HJ as the backing band for Moe, also I think HJ is the band on Life In Exile?

The Cure backing up their postman (?)

Obscured by subsequent lineup changes in and famousness of the Cure, but this was a Crawley supergroup of various non-famous people, including Robert on guitar and Lol on drums. Bassist Michael Dempsey is relegated to keyboards, the keyboardist for the Magazine Spys also plays keyboards, the bassist for the Mag Spys plays bass, Robert’s sister’s boyfriend plays second guitar, Robert’s sister and Robert’s other sister and another local band are on backing vocals. It was, yes, a local postman on lead vocals.

Having checked that they could be drunk all night in a studio together, Robert fired Dempsey & hired the Mag Spys bassist, whose keyboardist pal came along for a six month stint. The bassist has spent most of the next forty years in The Cure, quitting for a year or three here and there. Smith’s sister’s boyfriend did some art and played some sax for the band five years later, then did two 6+ year stints on guitar, 13 years apart.

So while there are a lot of eventual Cure members on the single, it’s more of an audition for them to be in this indie band from the local town with one half-promising album, than global superstars The Cure backing someone.

(Most of the people involved were teenagers at the time; Robert & Lol were 20.)

(Details supplied as a curiosity, not a corrective.)

In the late 90s I saw Tom Ze with Tortoise as his backing band (not this show but a similar one):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYs2J_YHrik

i dig you was played a shit ton on lir 82-85 and always described then as by "cult hero" feat some cure folk

Another REM one: Backing the Troggs on Athens Andover

another one for the uk blues groups backing touring americans trend: a nascent groundhogs & john lee hooker

on lir 82-85 and always described then as by

yah by ‘85 the ppl involved were nearly 50% Cure members! but in ‘79 it was just some kids who’d booked a cheap night session in a studio

Sleater-Kinney backing the Go-Betweens on The Friends of Rachel Worth.

Orange Juice's rhythm section backed the Go-Betweens on "I Need Two Heads" I think.

Has the Smiths backing Sandie Shaw been mentioned?

Heh, Pet Shop Boys backing Dusty Springfield, Liza Minnelli ...

^^

Sandie Shaw did a 12" of three Smiths covers, backed by the Smiths in 1984

Pet Shop Boys wrote and produced Nothing Has Been Proved as a theme song for the 1989 Whalley / Hurt Profumo affair biopic Scandal; sung by & credited to Dusty.

(If we're going to count that, there's also them backing and producing Boy George on the cover of The Crying Game that was the theme to the 1993 Neil Jordan film. But if we're going to count that, then there's also the Carroll Thompson cover of Let The Music Play on the same soundtrack album (which PSB released on their own imprint). And if we're counting that, then the three versions of the Cicero song they produced on the album lead to the other singles and half an album that they produced for Cicero, their singles with Eighth Wonder and Sam Taylor-Wood and Robbie Williams and Absolutely Fabulous and cetera & cetera...)

The Liza album is this one.

ah Sandie Shaw is a good one !

The Monochrome Set on The Camera Loves Me (1988) by Would-Be-Goods.

The Gourds on Get A Life by Doug Sahm/Sir Douglas Quintet.

on the new strand of oaks album, lead singer Tim Showalter is backed by My Morning Jacket (minus Jim James)

I think a couple of PAVEMENT guys were on the first Silver Jews.

Jim O'Rourke and Sonic Youth.

― nicky lo-fi, Wednesday, June 5, 2019 7:56 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Malk & Nasty were in the Joos before both were in Pavement

― Theodor Adorno, perhaps the greatest philosopher alive today (morrisp), Wednesday, June 5, 2019 8:09 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

related, apparently the band Woods is the backing band for the new David Berman band Purple Mountains

Mae Moore & Margot Smith (RIP) each had albums produced by Steve Kilbey - so most/all of The Church show up.

The Smithereens have been Dave Davies’ backing band every so often.

Curve were part of Eurythmics’ touring band (it was how Toni & Dean Met)

Jason poached Julian Cope’s band for a Spiritualized line up.

Jason had already poached half his previous lineup from a previous Cope band too!

Curve were part of Eurythmics’ touring band (it was how Toni & Dean Met)

Garcia was a studio "member" of Eurythmics too, but I'm pretty sure Halliday didn't sing with them - they did meet through Dave Stewart though, and formed their first band in 1985 (also including the Eurythmics' long-time drummer Olle Romo), who flopped, split, and formed Curve a few years later after Halliday had another solo flop on Stewart's label. Eurythmics no longer existed by then, incidentally.

but! Feargal Sharkey's debut solo (the one with A Good Heart and You Little Thief as b2b openers) was produced by Stewart with himself on guitar and BVs, Garcia on bass, Romo on drums and a keyboard player who went on to be on various Eurythmics (after Garcia left) and DAS records in the following years. so not an actual lineup of Eurythmics that existed at any time, but close enough to note.

(Future hubby) Alan Moulder and Flood are all over the first Toni album, too, which further helps tie the story together.

Gawd... I forgot about that State Of Play album. Thanks for the details.

The Smithereens have been Dave Davies’ backing band every so often.

On occasion in the 80s, the Smithereens acted as the Beau Brummels, backing Sal Valentino and Ron Elliott.

The first Rainbow album was basically Elf w/Ritchie Blackmore.

R.E.M. sans Stipe throughout Zevon's "Sentimental Hygiene." Dylan and Neil Young on that record for a sec, too. Guess this was what gave us Hindu Love Gods.

Yup. Hindu Love Gods was stuff recorded during level checks and downtime during the SH sessions.

I guess in jazz it's more fungible but Norman Connors' 'Dance of Magic' is essentially all of Pharoah Sanders' band at the time minus Pharaoh but including most of the Headhunters

The Fabulous Thunderbirds are the backing band for most of Carlos Santana's Havana Moon.