2MCE FM Alt.Eighties: With or Without You
October 18, 2023
Recently Irish supergroup U2 opened a 25 show residency at the extraordinary new Las Vegas venue The Sphere. The extraordinary nature of this astonishing venue is somewhat overshadowed by the fact that one element of the band’s grandiose venture is missing… Larry Mullins Jr. The band’s drummer and originator is recuperating from decades of slogging the U2 drum kit at countless venues around the world. But did his absence from the shows so far actually make a difference? Stand in drummer Bram Van Den Berg has not missed a beat.
This got me thinking, how much impact have departed members of bands or new additions to a line-up made on their sound? What did The Human League sound like without founding members Martin Ware and Ian Craig-Marsh… Did Ian Curtis’ death really change the direction of Joy Division…would synth pop stars Ultravox have reached their chart topping heights if John Foxx had remained in the band…did Ed Kuepper’s departure from The Saints open a door or close a door?
In this episode of Alt.Eighties we take a listen to bands that did change their creative trajectory ‘with or without’ the presence of key members.
