80s question: Which would you prefer?

[FunBobbyMucha]

Which of the following would you prefer to see:

1. REM re-unites with Bill Berry.
2. Natalie Merchant re-unites with 10,000 Maniacs
3. Morrissey reunites with the Smiths.
4. The Replacments reunite.
5. The Police reunite.

Or do you have a better one? Our hypothetical would be REAL reunion, with forthcoming new material, etc, not just a sad show for cash. Please try to keep it realistic, ie, no resurrected Joe Strummer back with the Clash, as much as I would've love it.

Sorry, I don't have polling power yet.

[PVnRT]

1. The Police, of course

n/t

[hippiechick]

2. 3. Morrissey reunites with the Smiths.

Yeah, Baby !


:hippie:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. Smith with The Police close behind

I use to call this tendency of misguidedly going solo "Sting-Morrisey Syndrome".

[MercutioATC]

4. Sting's fantastic solo, but the Police. Not even a question.

[blondeatlast]

5. The Replacements reunite, assumiing Bob returns from the other

side. Loved 'em, saw 'em live 3 times!

And you all thought I was a soccer mom!

:evilgrin:

[no name no slogan]

16. Saw the farewell tour here in Minneapolis

What an awesome show, although it was only Tommy and Paul left of the original group. They were hamming it up big-time in front of a hometown crowd, too, so it was quite an event. Paul went running across the stage and jumped into Tommy's arms near the end of the set-- priceless!

It would have been better if they had played First Avenue (where it all started), but it was too small for the sold-out show.

[XNASA]

6. I'd prefer that XTC would tour, before any of those.

At least XTC is still, after all of these years, a creative entity.

I've enjoyed watching VH-1 Reunited, especially the Flock of Seagulls episode. They were genuinely happy to be playing together again.

But generally, the whole reunited thing is a bit absurd.

[FunBobbyMucha]

7. Andy Partridge has severe stage fright

that's the reason they don't tour. Weird, eh?

[XNASA]

9. Not really true.

Andy doesn't have stage fright. He has "Touring Fright". He's frightened of being taken advantage of by his record company while on the road.

He doesn't relish being away from home for extended periods of time for no good reason and nothing to show for it.

XTC played a lot of small "unplugged" dates when promoting their records in the 90's.

If anything, Andy's a big ham and would love to perform, but only under his own conditions.

He's also afraid that if he were to come out of his self-imposed shell, that he wouldn't be able to use it an an excuse. The reality is, that an XTC Tour would be so incredibly successful, that Andy would have to say "Yes!" in the future.

Long live XTC. The only band that never gave in to anybody.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. Hey, There's A Surprise!

Gee, i'd never guess you'd say that!

Also, i'm a big fan of Bands Reunited too! That's a very cool show. I felt the same as you about Flock and also about Berlin.
The Professor

[no name no slogan]

19. Love that show!

Flock was cool, but damn Mike Score's voice has gone to hell in the last two decades. Berlin was awesome, and I even found myself gaining some respect for (gasp!) Kajagoogoo! IMO they sounded better than they did in the 80s-- Limahl's voice has matured quite well, and gained a lot of depth. Berlin was also very good, as was Romeo Void (minus original sax player, who has tinitus).

My favorites were the ones with the "reunions gone bad": Frankie's Holly Johnson reminded me of why I didn't like Frankie Goes to Hollywood back then, either-- what a pompous talentless arse! Extreme's was (and is) lame. But I was really disappointed that Squeeze wouldn't do it-- THAT would have been a cool show!

[ProfessorGAC]

23. I Agree On Squeeze

I understand Extreme, though. Nuno is tired of being a "shredder". I think he made his cash and now wants to be a musician, not a rock star. I wasn't surprised that he pulled the plug on that deal.

Since i liked Kajagoogoo back in the day, that was a fun show for me and i always thought they were underrated. Their performance didn't surprise me. But, i was happy they did well.

I was very disappointed the Squeeze thing didn't happen, as well.

We differ a little on Romeo Void. I expected them to be better than they were. They weren't bad, but not at all impressive. Can't agree on every little thing, i guess.
The Professor

[jimbo fett]

8. Men At Work - very underrated.

After their smash debut they had several really good albums. But unfortunately, they couldn't match the success of their first go-round and therefore were seen as failures by the freakin' record execs.

Colin Hay is still performing as a solo artist and is making some really good music still.

[GOPisEvil]

10. Oh wow...great question. My vote (narrowly) goes to The Replacements.

XTC would be a good one, too.

[OhioStateProgressive]

11. better one...Pink Floyd reunited again with Roger Waters(nt)

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Police

The others would be good, but getting the cops back together would be most excellent.
The Professor

[GOPisEvil]

14. If they ever do get back together, I want to see them INDOORS.

I saw them here in Austin, November 1983. A big-ass storm blew through, and I thought we were all going to die for sure. Wind, rain, the works. Ugh! Even Sting asked us to catch him if he blew off-stage.

Edit - UP40 opened, too. :boring:

[ProfessorGAC]

24. Ever Seen The Synchronicity Video?

It's live in Atlanta. The sound is outstanding on that tape. (Don't have the DVD for that one.) Sting's voice is hot and cold on it (sometimes terrific, other times strained), but the band is smokin' and the audio is near perfect.
The Professor

[Fenris]

15. I should say Morrissey with the Smiths BUT

I am a firm believer that only bad things can come from bands reuniting. There is too much of a risk that they would get back together and really suck. So, alas, they must remain apart.

So, goodbye
Please stay with your own kind
And I'll stay with mine

New meaning to those words..

[Screaming Lord Byron]

17. None. The past is the past, and reunions never ever work.

Unless you're the Pixies of course.

[mr blur]

18. Don't mind what any of the others do...

just so long as The Police NEVER infest our lives with their tedious whining ever again.

[beyurslf]

20. Gotta go with REM.

They were my BAND in the 80s :)

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

21. tough call - but my choice would be Talking Heads

of your options, i'd probably go with r.e.m., as they're my 2nd all-time favorite band. (u2 is first). i think the new stuff is good, but I have to admit that they did lose something with berry. bill did play a show with them recently, so it's possible

the replacements would be awesome. paul westerburg is every bit as great solo, though. but i'd still like to see it. it almost happened last year but axel rose wouldn't let stinson leave the fumbling GNR revival to do it

the smiths would be great, too-if for no other erason than to get morrisey out of seclusion and back into music

10,000 maniacs would have topped this, but with rob buck dead it wouldn't work.

the police i would have liked to have seen if you'df asked me about 5 years ago. but sting has become a joke with the puff daddy collaborations, disney songs, and car commercials. stewart copeland still has some dignity and shouldn't lower himself to help gordan make a buck

my addition would be for laurence tolhurst and robert smith to drop their feud and reunite the 80s lineup of the cure with porl thompson and simon gallup joining them

[ProfessorGAC]

25. My Wife & I Will Go With You!

Big, big, big fans of that band, are we!
The Professor

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

27. New March David Byrne cd on 15th, btw!

and the new talking heads box set that came out in october is awesome. it comes with a dvd of the storytelling giant video collection they put out in 1986, but it's updated with all the rest of the videos right up to 'sax and violins'

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

22. one requirement for any reunion : Make new material!

I hate when they reunite and just do a tour playing old stuff. if it's sincere and they try to write some new stuff, it's much better.

i personally though blondie's reunion in 1999 was probably a more solid album than any of their 70s stuff (except maybe plastic lewtters) and was highly underrated

the go-gos reunion was pretty good, too, but more or less ignored by clearchannel and the rest of radio

[tigerbeat]

26. Talking Heads re-unite

...but clearly from the daggers flying from their eyes at each other during the rock and roll hall of fame performance last year, THAT ain't never gonna happen.

in lieu of that, i have to second the XTC tour.

[Scottie72]

28. I definitely like to see

Alan Wilder reunite with Depeche Mode. DM just hasnt' been the same with out him around.

[noonwitch]

29. The Police, but Natalie Marchant+10,000 Maniacs would be good, too.

peace

[Kat45]

30. I'd love to see Guns'N'Roses, but it ain't gonna happen.

Too many bad feelings, Axl's way too f'd up. It's too bad, cause they had incredible talent and pretty much imploded while they were still on top. Man, I'm still pissed at myself for blowing off an early GNRs show in a club; I got myself on the guest list, but I was so burnt out that night that I didn't end up going. :-(