Supergroupland

I love music. I like bands, but sometimes I only like certain members.  Let me explain.

I think, for example, that Dave Grohl is a great. And I only kind of liked the Foo Fighters, because I never thought Nate Mendel was very good on bass. I also liked John Paul Jones but didn’t like Robert Plant. And I always thought Josh Homme, of Queens of the Stone Age, was really being held back by guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen. You can imagine my excitement when my favorite members from those bands decided to get together to form Them Crooked Vultures! And no Troy Van Leeuwen in sight, that hack.

Joe Satriani was always a great solo guitarist, but I always thought he’d sound better if he was backed up by Van Halen’s Michael Anthony. And you know who I thought would also sound great with those two? Sammy Hagar — his refreshing blend of bad-boy attitude and hard-rock balladeering has made him a staple of the airwaves. If I could have picked one more person to round out that group, it would have been Tesla drummer Troy Lucketta, but I was just as happy to see Satriani, Anthony and Hagar team with Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith for Chickenfoot — it was almost just like my dream! Almost. 

I also am a big fan of Monsters of Folk, because it gets Jim James away from those no-goodniks in My Morning Jacket, and also gives Connor Oberst some socializing time, which he needs because he always seems so lonely.

I always liked the White Stripes, but I always would think to myself “Jack White must meet a lot of interesting people. He should start a band with every person he meets.” And he did! Rock and roll music is the best. I love Dead Weather, The Raconteurs, the movie It Might Get Loud and his countless other group projects. 

Radiohead is a fantastic band, but I think Thom Yorke is depressed. I’ve always thought that maybe his “band friends” were bringing him down. I hope his new group of producer Nigel Godrich, Flea, Beck drummer Joey Waronker and percussionist Mauro Refosco have lots of great jokes to tell him on the tour bus to keep him in stitches. I would call this band AwesomeTown! What? They don’t have a name? That’s fine too. But think it over, Thom.

It’s great when things I love all come together. I have recently combined my passion for not wearing a shirt and eating pineapple chunks with my love for getting out on a sunny day and mowing the yard. And I love bacon, M&Ms, fruit roll-ups and butter, too. (I hope you’re listening, candy companies!) 

If only TV would follow the lead — can you imagine how great it would be for that one hot doctor lady from House and paramedic John Stamos from ER  to work with the sexy cast of Grey’s Anatomy? They could call that show Good-Looking Medical Center, am I right? Or if Kevin James, Ray Romano and Jim Belushi all lived together in the same house? Talk about a trio of buffoonish husbands. I think I’d laugh my face off — and maybe have to be rushed to Good-Looking Medical Center! Yowsers!

For now, however, I’ll keep listening to all my favorite new bands made from people of other bands — and keeping my fingers crossed for that ultimate collaboration: the bass player from Four Non-Blondes, one of those guys from Vertical Horizon, the keyboard player from Was (Not Was) and Taylor Dane. I’ll be right there on the front row — in my dreams.