I’m a big fan of the superest of the Supergroups, the Traveling Wilburys. For those of you not in the know, the Traveling Wilburys were Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne (some dude from ELO. I don’t know. I’ve never heard of him either). They made exceptional music in which ever style they decided to grace with their attention. Plus, they had a great sense of humor: they released two albums, Traveling Wilburys Volume 1 and Traveling Wilburys Volume 3. There was no Volume 2. Doesn’t that drive you a little nuts? I love it.
I was recently listening to Under Pressure by David Bowie and Queen, and I thought “You know what, David Bowie and Freddie Mercury should have formed a Supergroup.” They would have been an excellent core. Here is who I think should have been in the group:
David Bowie
Freddie Mercury
Robert Plant
Meat Loaf
Bob Seger (because you need one guy no one cares about and his voice would work well in this mix)
This could have been a Supergroup to rival the Traveling Wilburys. They could have had street rumbles and nobody would know who would win.
Which just leaves one thing: they need a name. What is your idea?
Who would you take out? Who would you put in?
Tags: Bob Dylan, Bob Segar, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, George Harrison, Jeff Lynn, Meat Loaf, Robert Plant, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Traveling Wilburys
January 19, 2009 at 7:57 pm
That’s a whole lotta strong personalities for one group. I think part of why the Wilburys made it work was that there wasn’t much flamboyance there.
Then again, your hypothetical group would probably put on an amazingly theatrical live show.
January 20, 2009 at 1:19 pm
i agree with the above.
also (for the record) i like bob seger… i grew up with a father who thought bob seger was the perfect music for road-trip. that aside, c’mon his greatest hits album is pretty good.
but… if they had formed a supergroup… i could be that elitist fan who likes the least well-known member of the band. like those people who say “nebraska” was springsteen’s greatest album… or that “pinkerton” was weezer’s best album (although, it was pretty damn good, i gotta admit).
also, props for anything that includes freddie mercury… or even mentions the traveling willbury’s (they’re on my list of pending musical acquisitions).
yawn… i think i may have run out of interesting things to say… about a paragraph ago.
January 20, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Here’s sort of why I think they’d work well together (no idea why I didn’t put this in the initial post):
We already know Freddie Mercury and David Bowie can share the mic (with the classic Under Pressure as my evidence for this claim. We know Robert Plant can share the studio. Bob Segar will do anything for social acceptance (as you can hear in just about any of his songs. He’s such a loner longing to be accepted by others). Meat Loaf is the only one whose studio work leaves his ability to mesh in question, but if you look at his part in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, he’s very willing to be a part of an overwhelmingly talented ensemble cast.
Also, David Bowie, Robert Plant, and Meat Loaf have all shown a sincere dedication to sci-fi/fantasy. Freddie Mercury is a weirdo and as I said, Bob Seger will do anything for social acceptance (love him though I do). They would be the greatest, hardest, most badass Geek Rock group ever. With lyrics by They Might Be Giants.
January 21, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Clearly you’ve thought this through, Art. I stand corrected.
January 21, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Doesn’t your band need a few more instruments? Say like drums?!
January 22, 2009 at 2:32 pm
They’ll hire out some staff drummer like the Traveling Wilburys did. Or else they’ll have a machine do it.