Change is the only constant... Mark E Smith
Alexis Petridis's review of the new Fall album in today's paper got me thinking about whether anyone can match Mark E Smith's combo for lineup changes. According to their Wikipedia entry, the band has had a preposterous 47 different members since its 1976 inception, including one enigmatic chap known only as Dave/Steve (deceased).
I suspect trying to find bands to compete with this faintly obscene figure is a pointless exercise, but there are other groups who seem to lose members as often as the rest of us do house keys. Another outfit from the north-west, Orchestral Manouvres in the Dark, list 12 members past and present, with only the core of Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys surviving from the original 1979 lineup.
There's also Guns 'N' Roses, who have had 21 members since they formed in 1985. But since most of those joined or departed during the post-1993 period in which the band's most significant move was Axl Rose deciding it would be a really good idea to get dreadlocks, I'm not convinced the figure counts.
Then of course there are the numerous outfits who, while not losing an enormous number of members, have nevertheless changed their lineup so dramatically that they bear about as much resemblance to their original appearance as the modern day Michael Jackson does to that cool little kid with the sweet moves who sang lead vocals in the Jackson Five. Stand up Sugababes, the Yardbirds and the Lightning Seeds.
But getting back to my original question, can you think of any bands who have haemorrhaged members as often as the Fall? Or even any who have come close? If you can, please post them below.
