| COME TOGETHER (AGAIN)
So that musical mismarriage The Police has ended
it’s 23 year separation & reunited in spite of the public
antipathy & antagonism for each other, chiefly targeted at Sting.
Let’s face it, even Sting must get annoyed at being around
Sting all of the time, especially when he picks up the lute.
Another band ending it’s public brawling
is Van Halen, with Eddie & David Lee Roth reaching some sort
temporary truce; perhaps because Diamond Dave’s radio career
has stalled, he was meant to be the replacement for king of the
shock jocks Howard Stern, & surely Eddie must be heartily sick
of looking at Sammy Hagar’s saggy butt.
Back in the pre-media no-secrets era the all-purpose
euphemism “ musical differences “ was all you got from
bands breaking up, covering up any number of betrayals, insults
& assaults. The Police will be playing 80 cities worldwide &
Van Halen 20, while both will no doubt generate mega selling discs
& DVD's out of it. Both exercise some nepotism, with Sting’s
son Joe in the support band while Wolfgang, Eddie’s son, will
be playing bass in Van Halen replacing some guy his dad sacked a
couple of years ago. But is it only the money that heals old wounds
or something else?
So many bands have buried the hatchet, not in
each other’s backs & reformed lately. Of course the appearance
on St Bob’s recent charity fest, albeit briefly, of the long-
feuding & mutually-loathing Pink Floyd & Roger Waters, who
in the past he has loudly proclaimed that HE was Pink Floyd, must
be the most breath-taking piece of rock n roll détente of
recent times. And now Genesis are to be born again minus Peter,
& Crowded House without Paul. As all of these people are already
multi-millionaires, is the quest for even more money so insatiable?
None of them are doing it for free & none of these people separately
have had as much success & acclaim as when they were together,
so it will keep a country estate or two in good repair for a while.
At least The Sex Pistols were honest enough to
proclaim that their recent reunion was purely for the money, while
The Eagles had the good humour to call their reunion tour “Hell
Freezes Over “ after a comment Don Henley made about the likelihood
of the band ever working together again & now they’re
recording a new album! But it’s not just long-term enemies
who are breaking bread, bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Jesus &
Marychain (the Reid brothers assaulted each other on stage during
their last tour & have not spoken since), Rage Against The Machine,
The Sugarcubes, Dinosaur Jr, The Pixies & many others are reuniting
in spite of public spats when they were together & sniping in
the press since they broke up. Money? Ego? Revenge? We will never
know & probably for the sake of our illusions it’s best
that we never do.
The Beatles broke up after only 8 years together
& left it that way, you don’t see Ringo & Paul touring
under The Beatles brand these days, & Paul Weller has declared
in the face of big dollar offers that a Jam reunion will never happen,
however just about everyone else seems up for grabs. It’s
actually hard to think of a band that the Grim Reaper has not already
decimated that hasn’t done it at least once.
Sometimes though it’s not as successful
as the band & everyone else might hope: The original Byrds lineup
reconvened in 1972 & released a mediocre album that sank without
a trace & then spent the next decade in the courts arguing about
who owned the name, The Velvet Underground reformed for a successful
tour in 1993 but Lou reneged on an agreement to record new material
with the band that led to even more long-term bitterness, the Doors
with Ian Astbury have received lawsuits by the non participating
ex member drummer John Densmore, & Daddy Cool & Skyhooks
released a comeback split-single in 1994 that deservedly flopped
& curtailed talk of a reunion tour for a while at least, whilst
members of The Faces are already questioning in public Rod’s
motives for a mooted reunion before the lawyers have even been called
in or the first rehearsal.
Whatever the motives of these bands for the revival,
they do it because there is an audience for them. First the long-term
fans, those who have all the records, who love the music & just
love to see their musical heroes together in the flesh but also
subconsciously seek self-validation by watching their favourite
band keep on rockin’, which by inference means that they are
too, even though they are sitting in a comfy high-priced concert
seat. Then the youngsters who have been told by their parents, older
brother or rock gurus & critics for years that this band was
soooo amazing & finally they get to check out them out for themselves
& find out what all the fuss has been about (they’re the
bewildered looking youngsters at a Bob Dylan concerts looking quizzically
at the their parents). While I’m sure there are a number who
almost hope for an onstage meltdown, to witness that moment when
we get to see how the band members really do feel about their business
partners.
When it comes to a wish list, these days it comes
down to not so much who you may want to see reform, but those bands
that you just hope never dare to commit the dastardly deed. Coincidentally
for me, the band who could probably command the biggest fee globally,
$ 1 billion was apparently the latest offer, is also the band I
most dread donning the glitter & spandex again, you guessed
it those simpering Swedes, Abba.
Be afraid.
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