Most rock bands have a guitarist or two, a bassist, a drummer, and maybe a keyboardist, but some bands recruit people for more unconventional jobs. These five bands have official members that play unusual instruments, or sometimes no instrument at all.
1. Pavement
On Pavement's earliest releases, including its debut album Slanted & Enchanted, the band's drummer was its producer Gary Young, an aging hippie who was at least 12 years older than the rest of the band. As Young proved to be a highly erratic personality who had difficulty keeping time during live performances, the band recruited Bob Nastanovich to serve as a back-up percussionist. When the more competent Steve West eventually replaced Young in 1993, Nastanovich stuck around and continued to play a miniature drum kit on stage, as well as serve as the band's back-up vocalist and hype man.
2. Happy Mondays
The most notorious band of the Madchester scene was Happy Mondays, who abused drugs at a rate that would make Mötley Crüe nervous. Perhaps because of his perpetually altered state, lead singer Shaun Ryder invited his friend Mark "Bez" Berry to join the band, though the only thing Bez ever did was dance and play maracas. Regardless, he's likely the band's second most famous member, after Ryder.
3. The 13th Floor Elevators
One of the first things I noticed when listening to the 13th Floor Elevators' debut album The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators was this bizarre bubbling noise that shows up in each of the songs. I couldn't quite identify what is was, and assumed it was some sort of keyboard or guitar effect, but later on I learned that it was actually the sound of an electric jug, played by Tommy Hall. Though this was the only instrument he played, Hall also wrote many of the band's lyrics.
4. Mission of Burma
Boston post-punk band Mission of Burma could have easily been a simple power trio and still be considered one of the most influential bands in American indie rock, but the band recruited a fourth member to supplement its art punk sound: Martin Swope, who was the band's sound engineer and provided avant-garde tape loops to the band's recordings and live performances. When Mission of Burma reformed in 2002, however, Swope did not join them, and was replaced by Shellac's Bob Weston.
5. King Crimson
Among King Crimson's founding members was Peter Sinfield, who stayed with the band for its first four albums, despite not actually performing any instruments. Sinfield was the band's lyricist and lighting designer, credited in album liner notes with "lyrics, illumination" or "words, sounds and visions." He also served as one of the primary producers on King Crimson's early albums.
© 2024 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
