Sunday, August 1, 2010

The term ‘Supergroup’ has long been eyed with suspicion by music fans, traditionally bringing with it the baggage of super-inflated egos and individual agendas.

Think of the traumas and infighting that have blighted the legendary ‘Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’, and more recently squabbling rockers ‘Velvet Revolver’ and you’d assume both band members and music fans would know a whole lot better by now.

Obviously not.

Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, former members of Van Halen, have teamed up with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and guitarist Joe Satriani to form the bizarrely named Chickenfoot.

The ageing rockers may not quite be on the cutting edge, but their debut album, also going by the name Chickenfoot, appeared to catch the imagination of the US music-loving public.

It went straight in at No.4 in the US pop charts on its release in June and also rocketed to the top of the independent music chart.

Around 180,000 copies were sold in the first three weeks, and with a quarter of them coming digitally, it’s clearly not just old-time rockers who are tuning in.

Are fans chasing something new, or more of the same from their old favourites?

Between them, the members of the group have sold tens of millions of records in the past. But if anyone is expecting to hear Hagar’s Van Halen classic ‘Why Can’t This Be Love’ or the Chilis’ ‘Under The Bridge’, they are in for some disappointment, according to drummer Smith.

 “We’re a new band and when you’re a new band you start and play clubs and you play to your fans,” he said. “We’re not playing stuff from Van Halen or Joe, or Chili Peppers, we’re just playing Chickenfoot. We’re appealing to truly a broad audience.”

Hagar and Anthony both left turbulent American rockers Van Halen years ago, a band known as much for their infighting as for their output.

But they still loved their music, and after jamming together at singer Hagar’s club in Mexico they then called in drummer Smith. Guitar virtuoso Satriani was invited as the final piece in the jigsaw, and Hagar explained: “I really wasn’t looking to have a real band, but when I got involved with these guys, only a fool would say: ‘No, I’m not going to do this’. The minute we started jamming it was obvious: ‘This is something that needs heard’.”

A tour is on the cards, and while that is hunky dory for Hagar, Anthony and Satriani, what of drummer Smith? Is he going to give up the day job?
Not by the sound of things.

“I am in this other group called the Red Hot Chili Peppers, great band, play some good music. I’m going to go back and do that.”


SUPERGROUP OR SUPERBAD?

Our ultimate supergroup, the Traveling Wilburys, banded together Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison as Lucky, Nelson, Charlie T Jr, Otis and Lefty. The track ‘Handle With Care’ in 1988 alone merits the idea behind the band.

The Good, The Bad & The Queen, put together by Blur’s Damon Albarn, featuring Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong and drummer Tony Allen, produced a scorching one-off in 2007.

Electronic featured New Order’s Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr of the Smiths. The duo, with the occasional help of Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant, managed one great album, Electronic, and fantastic single ‘Get the Message’.

Have we missed any? And do you agree with our Jackson song picks, made below? letters@7days.ae

Down Load

What’s rocking the 7DAYS staff this week

Like him or loathe him, there’s no escaping the late ‘King of Pop’ on the airwaves and TV channels. Regardless of the tarnished reputation, Michael Jackson undoubtedly released some killer tunes. But was every one a Thriller, or was some of it truly Bad?

Certainly the likes of I WANT YOU BACK and ABC still stand the test of time despite being released in 1970, when Michael was just a nipper in THE JACKSON 5.  

Jacko released four solo albums around the early 70s but in truth it wasn’t until the epic OFF THE WALL that the world really started to take note. And it’s little wonder really. The Quincy Jones-produced album was forward-thinking in 1979, but singles like ROCK WITH YOU, DON’T STOP TIL YOU GET ENOUGH and the title track still do the trick in the 21st century.

It was next release THRILLER that really caught the public imagination, however, and with over 65 million in sales, the biggest-selling album of all time doesn’t really need much introduction. BILLIE JEAN’s the obvious pick of the bunch from our point of view, although the cheesy video for BEAT IT still works, albeit for novelty value.

BAD had the awesome SMOOTH CRIMINAL but follow-up DANGEROUS, with the, ahem, thought-provoking BLACK OR WHITE, is hardly the work of a ‘King of Pop’. Things had dried up suitably that HISTORY was part new-release and part greatest hits. But the album did contain arguably the finest song of Jacko’s later career, the outstanding STRANGER IN MOSCOW which catches the star vulnerable and at his lowest ebb in the face of some disturbing allegations.

He had a huge influence on pop, and one of the best tributes of ‘recent’ times is the JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, left, single ROCK YOUR BODY. Originally written for a comeback album for Jackson, production team THE NEPTUNES ended up collaborating with ‘the Trousersnake’ instead, and it’s an utter classic. With echoes of OFF THE WALL, Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and Justin did a great job of updating the Jackson-Jones sound.

But at least one old boy in the 7DAYS editorial team wants to remind you it wasn’t all about Jackson. Remember he had a rival of sorts in the mid 1980s? That’s right, don’t forget the maestro from Minneapolis on the other side of the fence, Prince.

If quantity doesn’t float your boat - with a colossal 30 albums since 1978 - maybe revisiting such quality as PURPLE RAIN, including that anthemic epic, LOVESEXY (ALPHABET STREET, GLAM SLAM), 1999 (LITTLE RED CORVETTE) or possibly his magnum opus, SIGN O’ THE TIMES, will be more up
your street.