18 acts that faded and ended when a member went solo

[smark21]

http://www.avclub.com/articles/its-t...18-solo,95856/

[Kamasu_Jr]

The Pips? The Pussycat Dolls, Public Announcement, Wham, Culture Club. I will probably think of some others.

[marv2]

Debarge right after El released his self titled solo album in 1986.

[Ngroove]

Could not care any less about pop, rap, or rock - although one exception, may be 10,000 Maniac's Natalie Merchant.

Michael did not officially left Jacksons for "Off The Wall". 1984's "Victory", then he departed, for "2300 Jackson St."s crumble.

- Supremes, not because of Diana Ross, but Mary Wilson.
- I would say, Sylvers, even though lingered barely on SOLAR, was already all but gone mass-commercial-wise when Edmund was trying on his own.
- Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, Martha, whom would record on her own later in the seventies
- Shalamar [[Howard Hewett left; otherwise we would not be blessed with "Say Amen"; but as for group themselves; not even LA and Babyface could save them for two more floundering albums, each more dismissed than the other).
- Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes [[c'mon, ironically despite the Harold Melvin header, they were most remembered under "featuring Theodore Pendergrass").
- The Deele. Until recently, I don't remember a Deele after 1987's "Eyes of A Stranger", between Babyface's "Lovers" and "Tender Lover"
- Midnight Star. Held on with one more mid-selling album, post-Calloway brothers.

And hey, Time gave us Morris Day, D-Train gave us James "D-Train" Williams, Labelle gave us Patti LaBelle, and Jones Girls gave us Shirley Jones.

Pointer Sisters; definitely won't apply this category; Bonnie's departure and June's solo albums; still pretty solid.

But New Edition would, in a way; not because of Bobby, they were already split the first time when Ralph and Johnny had solo hits; but because when on their later attempts at reconcillation, Bel-Biv-Devoe still wants to do their "own thing".

[Soul Sister]

Before LaBelle....The Bluebells.

The original Teenagers.

The Serenaders w. Timothy Wilson.

Parliment - Funkadelic w. George Clinton [[?).

The Crests w. Johnny Maestro.

The Young Rascals w. Felix Cavalier [[?).

The Intruders [[didn't last long after Little Sonny left and Bobby Starr came in, though no solo record).

The Four Season w. Frankie Valli.


S.S.
***

[JIVE FIVE Mary G.]

The biggest act of them all~~~The Beatles when John Lennon & Paul McCartney went solo one after the other. Followed by George Harrison & Ringo Starr.

~~Mary~~

[zebop]

LTD- Jeffrey Osborne leaving sealed their doom

The Tempations- With them, I think it was finally the cumulative effect of so many leads leaving. It all caught up to them by the early 2000s.

Spinners They still had lots of hits but they started to fail as soon as Philippe Wynne wanted to leave. It probably started in late 1976 or so. Thom Bell didn't know what to do with John Edwards, they stopped making good albums and selling albums.

[smark21]

A good alternate list would be group members who tried a solo career [[not just a side project solo album during a group hiatus) and retreated back to their groups.

[heikki]

Hi Zebop!

I must disagree some here:

The Spinners had two of their biggest hits with John, produced by Michael Zager, in 1979 and 1980: "Working My Way Back To You Girl" [[one of their seven gold singles) and "Cupid."
Also their "Dancin' and Lovin'" album in 1979 still reached # 11, a good achievement those days; not, of course, equal to their first Atlantic albums.

As a whole, I think John is way too underrated. His 70s solo recordings are magnificent. Also, when I was compiling my Spinners story, I sensed how most of the guys in the group were relieved that John stepped in and replaced that "troublemaker."
You're correct that Thom Bell didn't know how to produce John properly.

Best regards
Heikki

[zebop]

Hey Heikki, definitely John's underrated. Heh, that "troublemaker," I bet Philippe was "fun" during that last year or so.

[Ngroove]

The Tempations- With them, I think it was finally the cumulative effect of so many leads leaving. It all caught up to them by the early 2000s.

No, I believe they were carried on since the late nineties-on, by Terry Weeks.

The Temptations, was always a group who persevered, from David Ruffin, then Eddie Kendricks, then Dennis Edwards, then Ali-Ollie Woodson, then Theo Peoples.

However, although they still make new albums only once every two or three full moons now, it could be either that they hadn't made a notable one since Ear-Risistable / Awesome, because of:

A. leaving Motown again

B. Or that every act has their drought peroids or fading points after a while, even long whiles, including Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, as their last albums before passing were commercial failures; and when was the last time you've heard anything new on the radio from Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin or even Prince? At least, even though it has been years also now, Stevie Wonder still brings something new, even fresh, to the table every once-in-a-while.

[MIKEW-UK]

The Montclairs Phil Perry