RECORD STORE TALES Mk II: Getting More Tale
#357: “Dream Bands” (1990 version)
I’m sure you and your friends have made these lists many times: put together a lineup of your dream band! Any living players can qualify.
I had deep, long conversations about this with my friends in highschool. One of them simply listed the four members of Led Zeppelin (Jason subbing in for John) as his dream band. You could certainly make an argument for that. My highschool dream band (1990-91 year) was instead made up of the players that I thought were the absolute best in their fields. Can you guess who I was listening to that year? Lineup:
- Lead vocals – Rob Halford
- Lead guitar – Steve Vai
- Rhythm guitar – Malcolm Young
- Bass – Billy Sheehan
- Drums – Scott Travis
- Keyboards – Jon Lord
As a joke, I also added a seventh bonus member, Walter Ostanek on accordion! That was for my buddy Andy, who also played accordion. Upon submitting my official list for consideration, I removed Ostanek. But I figured that Walter could show up for a guest appearance on a track or two, because everyone loves accordion.
An interesting band lineup to be sure, but as my highschool friends pointed out, they would probably implode after only one rehearsal. Steve Vai and Malcolm Young in the same band? I can’t see how that would work. Sorry, LeBrain circa 1990. Fail! I’m glad I kept this stuff though, because it’s so funny to look back on it now. 25 freakin’ years ago!
Who would you place in your “dream band” lineup today? One stipulation: the artist must be alive and able to play. For example I couldn’t put Malcolm on my list today, nor could I put Phil Collins on drums, since he can no longer play them due to injury.
Have at it! Let’s see your lists!
mikeladano.com 