Skip to main content

MUSIC PROVES ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION

By August 7, 2018Music

There is proof that on rare occasions, an individual part can produce something equal to and sometimes even greater than the whole group, as it were. Here are 20 cases in point of addition by subtraction:

  • Without The Drifters, Ben E. King made great music, including “Stand By Me”; same as how:
  • Without The Beatles, John Lennon made “Imagine”
  • Without The Beatles, Paul McCartney made “Maybe I’m Amazed”
  • Without the Beatles, George Harrison made “Beware of Darkness”
  • Without Crosby, Stills and Nash, Neil Young made “Heart of Gold”
  • Without Crosby, Nash and Young, Stephen Stills made “Love the One You’re With”
  • Without The Supremes, Diana Ross made “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”
  • Without Gomez, Ben Ottewell made “Shapes & Shadows”
  • Without the Eurythmics, Annie Lennox made “Why”
  • Without Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams made “Nuclear”
  • Without Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks made “Leather and Lace”
  • Without the Beta Band, Steve Mason made “Am I Just a Man”
  • Without Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant made “Rainbow”
  • Without Garfunkel, Paul Simon made “Mother and Child Reunion”
  • Without The Strokes, Julian Casablancas made “Ludlow Street”
  • Without Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler made “Storybook Love”
  • Without NSYNC, Justin Timberlake made “Say Something”
  • Without Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé made “All Night”
  • Without the Jackson Five, Michael Jackson made “Man in the Mirror”
  • Without 10,000 Maniacs, Natalie Merchant made “Carnival”

On the flip side, for others going solo didn’t quite add up. Who can recall the hits of Ringo Starr or Art Garfunkel or even David Lee Roth with Van Halen or Steve Perry without Journey?

4 Comments

  • Sally Michael says:

    As I was reading, I thought: “Poor Ringo…”

  • Gary says:

    You could do the same for people who left successful TV shows and flopped.

  • Ed says:

    Yeah when was the last time the Williams sisters celebrated a doubles grand slam?

  • Steven Vanderville says:

    Without KITT, David Hasselhoff made “Looking For Freedom,” which went triple platinum in Europe. That robot car was great but true greatness came from within The Hoff himself.

Leave a Reply