Unceremonious Prog Dismissals

Yeah. I love Ikey, but it's even been said by multiple band members now that the day Theodore was fired spelt the end of the band (even though it took a while to eventuate)- not because the music they produced afterwards or the drummers they had afterwards were bad (though it wasn't as good), but because the original chemistry was broken, and after that things had to revolve around a scramble for personnel (the Amputechture tour had three legs with three different drummers) and clashing personalities.

This is my kind of thread and I haven't got anyone I can mention apart from...

Well I think Soft Machine has a lot more unceremonious Prog dismissals!

I've still never heard it in full from Mike Ratledge's side, but going from being one of the founder members to just seemingly give up and let Karl Jenkins take over. 

And of course the classical quartet augmented Soft Machine that recorded only for Top Gear.

Would have been a laugh to hide in the wardrobe the day they were called into the office to tell them they couldn't afford them!

I really ought to buy "Different Every Time" the book, but I'm sure it's already been stated that Robert doesn't talk a lot about Mike Ratledge.

 

However, you will notice on Number The Brave that all songs bar one were written and sung by either Andy Powell or Laurie Wisefield, neither of whom at that time had particularly strong voices. Odd because the reason they got rid of MT was because they wanted to bring in a stronger singer in an attempt to have commercial success.

 

So what went wrong? Wetton himself has said that he joined the band in the expectation that he would be contributing songs and singing lead vocal - he even offered a couple of songs that he later recorded with Asia (Here Comes The Feeling being one). He was told by the other band members that he was just to be the bass player. So after the album was finished he quit and Trevor Bolder joined for the tour and the next album.

 

The strong lead singer didn't materialise and the band went down a more "metal" route. They were dropped by MCA after Number The Brave. The third album after MT's departure, Raw To The Bone, did actually feature a stronger singer (bassist Mervyn Spence) but it was so far removed from the classic WA sound that it shocked many fans. After that album, Wisefield (and Spence) quit and the band was temporarily rescued when the original lineup was brought back together by original manager Miles Copeland. Until, that is, Martin Turner was sacked again, this time when Andy Powell phoned him on his birthday, not to wish him a happy birthday, but to tell him "his services were no longer required."

DT showman and fantastic drummer "Mike Portnoy" on the-other-hand was not so lucky which is a shame really