The Singer Switcheroo
Bands Who Successfully Changed Vocalists
Hunter S. Thompson is quoted as saying “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.” This is perhaps a cynical take, but Thompson’s spin is not far off. If you’ve ever been in a band, you know that it’s challenging enough to keep a band together, juggling everyone’s schedules and personalities, without having to make your way down that long plastic hallway, aka the industry side of music. And if, by chance, you happen to lose your lead singer along the way, that’s a change in sound, image, and band chemistry that is often too much for an ensemble to survive. So it’s a pretty big deal if you can pull it off.
Let’s look at two examples of bands who successfully survived - and even thrived - through the Singer Switcheroo.
1. Genesis: Peter & Phil
From Oz to Applause
Peter Gabriel was a founding member of Genesis, and he took on the role of lead vocalist/front man from 1967 to 1975. Phil Collins joined the band as the drummer in 1970 and took over lead vocal duties from 1975 until he went solo in 1996. With that backgrounder in place, let’s now explore the immense stylistic differences between these two.
Peter Gabriel is an entertainer, plain and simple (minus the plain and minus the simple). Watching Genesis in the early years was like watching The Wizard of Oz, if Charlie Chaplin were Dorothy. And by that I mean if Peter was playing Chaplin playing Dorothy. Clear as face paint? To help illustrate this point, may I invite you to check out this six-minute YouTube video of Gabriel-fronted Genesis performing “I Know What I Like” in 1973.
Now let’s talk about Phil-Fronted Genesis. The 1975 band transformation amounted to this: The new lead singer, Phil Collins - while a sufficiently animated performer himself - was like vanilla ice cream (not to be confused with Vanilla Ice) compared to the Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked that was Peter Gabriel.
Collins said in a 2021 Absolute Radio interview, “The first show I sang at was in London Ontario. That was a big change for me, because you get used to hearing the band from behind the drums. Suddenly you come out front and you feel naked and the band sounds different. That was a big hurdle to cross. I got better at it as time went on.”
What also happened in this new incarnation of the band is that by the mid-1980s it became a well-oiled, marketable, radio-friendly pop rock machine under its new leader. Despite the fact that there is, justifiably, a strong-willed camp of Gabriel-era Genesis die-hards, Peter Gabriel himself admits in a 2014 interview, “The band was much more successful after I left than it was when I was in it.” Having watched the first video, now compare it with this 1992 Phil-Fronted Genesis performing their smash hit “Invisible Touch.”
It really doesn’t even look or sound like the same band, now does it?
And to be fair, these performances are also two decades apart.
BFF (Bonus Fun Fact):
Genesis bassist/guitarist (and founding member) Mike Rutherford also enjoyed solo / front man success, with Mike & The Mechanics, whose hits “All I Need is a Miracle” (1985) and “The Living Years” (1988) earned his band five Grammy Nominations (four of those for “The Living Years”).
2. Journey: Steve & Steve & Arnel
Out of the Mist of a Marathon YouTube Binge
Journey formed in 1973, with Gregg Jolie as the lead vocalist.
In 1977, after limited success, the band met Steve Perry in Chicago and hired him to take over lead vocal duties. And that proved to be the magic formula, and the sound we have come to know today as Journey, at least in terms of the classic studio recordings. Journey enjoyed some success over the course of their first six albums, but it was album number seven, Escape, that catapulted them into the stratosphere of international fame and Top 40 radio. The record featured three huge hits - “Open Arms,” “Who’s Crying Now,” and the timeless sing-along anthem “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
1981 to 1983 was the peak of Journey’s success and popularity, and though they were still selling out stadiums in the mid-1980s, tension between band members and the stress of touring and fame had taken their toll. Steve Perry told the band, “I can’t do this anymore.”
The band went on hiatus for several years, before reuniting with Perry in 1995, but this time it lasted less than three years. Journey returned to action in 1998 with a new singer, Steve Augeri. Augeri’s tenure was significant, lasting until 2006 when he was forced to quit due to an acute throat infection.
Jeff Scott Soto was a placeholder singer for about five minutes in 2006, and then…
Here’s where the story becomes a little unconventional, as far as traditional rock ‘n’ roll protocol goes.
Journey founder and guitarist Neal Schon decided to take a deep dive into the bottomless pit of YouTube videos, to see if he could find a lead singer with pipes comparable to Steve Perry’s (and Steve Augeri’s). Schon’s mission turned into nothing short of a marathon video binge. And after two full days of searching, he was about to call it quits when he stumbled on a cover band singer in the Philippines named Arnel Pineda. Here’s a piece People did in 2008, right after Pineda joined the band:
Meet Journey’s New Singer - Arnel Pineda
And the rest is history. 16 years later, Arnel holds the longest tenure for a Journey lead vocalist, even when you add both Steve Perry stints together. This is, of course not to take anything away from the significance of Perry as the O-G. Pineda said it himself in the 2012 documentary film Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey (which I highly recommend, if you haven’t already seen it). When a fan shouted out to Pineda “You’re better than Steve Perry!” he responded with class and humility, “No. Without Steve Perry, I’m not here.” Sounds like they picked the right guy.
Other Singer Switcheroo Stories We’ll Tackle Another Time:
Motley Crue: Vince & John
Joy Division / New Order: Ian & Bernard
AC/DC: Bon & Brian
Black Sabbath: Ozzy & Dio
Van Halen: Dave & Sammy
Pink Floyd: Syd, Roger, and David
Canned Heat: Alan & Bob
Survivor: Dave & Jimi
INXS: Michael & J.D.
Which ones would you like to read about most?
Tune in. Turn Up. Savor the Songs.
-Jamesy The True, MONO Music
http://jamesythetrue.com