Thursday, May 17, 2018

A Rock Band Is A Business



We tend to think of our favorite rock bands as the people who recorded the soundtrack to our lives. They do that, but they are also building up their brand. A rock band is a business. We don't think about that as much when these bands are in their heyday recording the new hits. Years later, when the radio station isn't playing their new music, the bands rely on the old hits. They rely on the brand name that they created

One of the shrewdest business men in music is probably Gene Simmons. Gene realized early on that not only was his band Kiss recording music that the youth of the day was enjoying, he also knew that he could market the brand and make even more money. Gene and fellow band member Paul Stanley never lost sight of that, and they've made very good money through the years. Some might say these guys we're corporate sellouts or overdid it or whatever, but really it's just good business.

As the years go on, our bands change personnel, and sometimes it's not a pleasant situation. Key members of bands are sometimes kicked out. Sometimes they want to be a part of what's happening today, and their bandmates won't let them. To the hardcore fan of whatever band, that can be difficult to accept sometimes. To the casual fan, when they see the name of the band that they loved in their youth still playing, they just go and see them. Personal doesn't matter as much as the songs they love being performed at a reasonable level.

We've watched the drama through the years regarding Van Halen. David Lee Roth left the band, there was a time when he might have rejoined and he upset the Van Halen brothers. Ultimately, David was welcomed back, but his replacement, Sammy Hagar, as well as longtime bassist Michael Anthony, seem to have been exiled. It's a business.

If you're a fan of Styx, you know who Dennis DeYoung is. He's the man who wrote a majority of the band's biggest hits. In fact, he wrote eight of their nine Top 10 hits. His voice is unmistakable, though he does not have the image of your typical rock star. Some people say he would look more at home on a Broadway stage. But when you listen to this guy sing he sounds like he did back in those glory days. He just turned 71 years old.

Rather than get into all of the particulars, about a year after the band's successful reunion tour, Return To Paradise Theater, things started to get shaky with the other bandmates. They felt Dennis was holding them up, and they ended up kicking him out of the band. Tommy Shaw and James Young, who were with the band through their most popular years, continue to rock with other people taking the other roles, along with the occasional appearance of founding member Chuck Panozzo.

This ended up in court. Dennis DeYoung did not go down without a fight, and he won the right to bill his concerts as Dennis DeYoung and The Music Of Styx. This was significant because, despite rumors that he didn't want to tour, Dennis has been touring at some level every year for nearly two decades. He surely wanted to continue to rock and perform the music of Styx. We can now say that it was a clash of personalities in the band. The thing is, people still want to hear the music of Styx performed live, and now they have two options. Will there ever be a reunion? Who's to say, but I doubt it.

Another band that has had some major controversy over the use of their name is the Australian based Little River Band. Pretty much a soft rock group with good harmonies, they recorded many hits in the late 70s. At some point, at the request of record executive Irving Azoff, the band was brought back together in the 80s. They signed an agreement that made them all equal partners in the corporation that owned the name The Little River Band. By then, they had recorded all of their relevant hits.

For whatever reason, lead singer Glenn Shorrock, vocalist and guitarist Beeb Birtles and vocalist and guitarist Graeham Goble all walked away. These were the three who wrote and sang almost all of their big hits. This left a man who did not record on any of the major hits, Stephen Housden, as the sole owner of The Little River Band trademark. Currently, Stephen doesn't even tour, but there is one singer from the tail end of the band's success, Wayne Nelson, still touring with them.

It has been messy in the years that have followed. Glenn Shorrock, Graeham Goble and Beeb Birtles attempted to tour as The Original Voices Of The Little River Band, only to be shut down by Stephen Housden. The Little River Band at the time attempted do some of the band's classics for a 40th Anniversary appearance on The Tonight Show, only to receive a cease and desist letter from the three founding members.

Legally, Steven Housden can do whatever he wants. Legally, he owns a name that he really did not have a hand in building up to the famous level that they had achieved. Is it fair that the people who clearly wanted to play the band's music live and tour were shut out? There are certainly differing opinions on the topic. Personally, I think it's a bit unfair that it has turned out this way, but life is sometimes unfair.

The bottom line to music is that while it is an art form and the musicians record songs that are dear to us, it is also a business. Years later, when your new music isn't being received to the level it once was, you can still tour on those big hits and make quite a bit of money. While a hardcore fan of The Little River Band knows that this band isn't what it once was, the casual fan remembers the hits. As long as the current band performs them in a respectable level, the casual fan isn't likely to care too much.