What was the worst career move made by any artist?

[Groovy Man]

I agree with Lord Grendel and That 70s Guy about Van Halen and Kiss.

 

[runtfan]

Elton John firing his original classic 70's band. I've read several times that he was listening to some bad advice and he has since regretted it but Elton has never quite reached the quality of music (I feel) of his those first six years of his career.

Elton firing his rhythm section of Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson wasn't permanent though ( and guitarist Davey Johnstone never left). Looking at the credits on my "Greatest Hits 1976-1986" CD, of the 13 songs on that CD Dee Murray played on 7 of the songs and Nigel Olsson played on 6 of them and as recently as 2002 Nigel Olsson was still playing with him ( Dee Murray died several years ago). So the parting of the ways was only temporary and looking at the other musicians who played on the late 70's/early 80's hits ( for instance drummers Jeff Porcaro, Roger Pope, and Dave Mattacks ; bass players Kenny Passarelli and Motown bassist Bob Babbitt) Elton wasn't exactly slumming...so it could certainly be debated that there was a fall off in the quality of EJ's output but I don't think changing rhythm sections had anything to do with it. I can say for certain that on the Blue Moves album from 1976 ( the first album without Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson) there was no deficiencies in the rhythm section (Kenny Passarelli and Roger Pope) - maybe even better in that respect.

( a bit of trivia - on the Blue Moves album Roger Pope joined on drums and Caleb Quaye joined on guitar...Pope and Quaye had been bandmates of Davey Johnstone's before Elton drafted Johnstone away from them).

 

[annie]

Thnaks everybody, I am learning a lot. I have one question about Richie Blackmore and Deep Purple...which one's career was damaged by Richie's leaving?

 

[Odysseus]

I agree with Lord Grendel and That 70s Guy about Van Halen and Kiss.

x2. Van Hagar had it's moments but it lost it's flavor without the Dave show.

Thanks for fillin' in the blanks with Elton background Runtfan. Lost quality is a poor choice of words on my part. His music or band has always been top shelf and I like a few of his later tunes and I have a lot of respect for him. I'll have to investigate those other songs you mentioned. I do prefer the Captain Fantastic and before period of his though.

Kenny Passarelli was bassist in Joe Walsh's band from Barnstorm through the So What period.

 

[runtfan]

Thanks for fillin' in the blanks with Elton background Runtfan. Lost quality is a poor choice of words on my part. His music or band has always been top shelf and I like a few of his later tunes and I have a lot of respect for him. I'll have to investigate those other songs you mentioned. I do prefer the Captain Fantastic and before period of his though.

Kenny Passarelli was bassist in Joe Walsh's band from Barnstorm through the So What period.

Yeah, I kinda lost interest in EJ after Captain Fantastic too, except for Blue Moves, which I got as a Christmas present that year. I would never have bought it but I'm sure glad I got it as a gift - it's really a great album. I also was surprised when I bought that Greatest Hits 1976-1986 CD about a year ago - I didn't remember liking that much of his post-1976 material but it's really an excellent CD.

 

[METALPRIEST]

I like Xanadu...feel good film...not great but good times. Good music too.

For me I'll have to say Eddie bringing back David Lee Roth knwing how long fans have waited for a VH reunion and kicks out Michael Anthony over something as trivial as hot sauce and working with Sammy on his off time.

Oh well....sad to say who the bigger act is in 2010 right now.

 

[TheFeldster]

I'm one of the biggest Cream fans around, would of loved to see another album, but it was time to move on, I guess?

Eric Clapton moved on to other projects, then a successful solo career. Clapton's had a great solo career. He's still popular and a big draw. He must of been doing something right, because he's still packing them in. Is he topping the charts?- who cares, look what's on the charts nowadays, it's youth oriented music. And if a ''classic rocker'' does chart nowadays? - it's just for a week or two, usually. It's safe to say, the day of the classic rockers ruling the charts are long gone.

I'm not alone as a Clapton fan, who was satisfied with his career after Cream and Derek & The Dominos, but the ones who weren't satisfied, seem to be more vocal about it. Worldwide, Eric Clapton is still one of the biggest rock stars from the classic rock era, even after only three and a half studio albums with Cream and one studio album as Derek and the Dominos. In the end, Clapton turned out to be bigger than Cream.

Don't mind me, just rambling on about one of my favorite guitarists, if not my favorite guitarist.

Well said, good sir.

For George Harrison, producing and writing the soundtrack of this film proved misguided:



He even got a Golden Raspberry nomination for his efforts

 

[annie]

Well said, good sir.

For George Harrison, producing and writing the soundtrack of this film proved misguided:



He even got a Golden Raspberry nomination for his efforts

But was his career ruined forever? That is the question. Most ELO fans will tell you that Jeff Lynne lost his credibility after Xanadu and never recovered. (not with me, I got into ELO through Xanadu)

What about George? Did he lost his reputation forever? I don't think so. The next year he released Cloud Nine his successful 1987 comeback album with the smash hit "Got My Mind Set on You". Cloud Nine re-established Harrison as a critically-acclaimed and commercially-significant recording artist.

 

[annie]

And now Xanadu is a big play.Who would have guessed that?

It is big because it is a spoof of the original.

 

[TheFeldster]

But was his career ruined forever? That is the question. Most ELO fans will tell you that Jeff Lynne lost his credibility after Xanadu and never recovered. (not with me, I got into ELO through Xanadu)

What about George? Did he lost his reputation forever? I doubt it.

It took "Cloud Nine" to get him back in the good books, from all reports. And even then, many so-called fans don't like his work from Cloud Nine and Brainwashed (the latter of which is my favourite George studio album). It certainly killed it more than anything else he did.