Dream Bands

I like dreams. They help me believe that one day I might find a giant bag of money and that, upon finding it, I'll levitate away to safety.

I got an email from monkey-keeper and all-around good egg, Bohmann, who forwarded an email he got from his friend Jeff, who, in addition to being the drummer in local band All Things Lucid, is a bit of an audiophile.

Jeff posited the following delightful question:

If you were going to build a dream band, who would be in it? The only requirements are they have to still be alive and you can't use the another person in the same band. The first band has to consist of musicians from the last 20 years. [I took this to mean bands whose first album was released in or after 1990] The second band can consist musicians from anytime before that.

Jeff's choices were as follows (so as not to assume anyone's knowledge is greater than it might be, I'm including band names behind everyone):

First Band
Vocals/Guitar – Noel Gallagher (Oasis)
Vocals/Guitar – Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys)
Bass – Carlos D (Interpol)
Drums – Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters)
Keyboards – Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane)

Second Band
Vocals/Guitar – David Byrne (Talking Heads)
Vocals/Drums – Levon Helm (The Band)
Keyboards – Ray Manzerek (The Doors)
Bass – Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order)
Guitar – Steve Cropper (Booker T. & The MGs)

All of his choices are excellent. Here would be my choices. Note that I prefer twin lead guitars, and, like Jeff, I am Beatlesque in my willingness to let multiple band members tackle vocal duties.

First Band
Lead Guitar/Vocals – Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, Dead Weather)
Lead Guitar/Vocals – Justin Hawkins (The Darkness)
Rhythm Guitar/Vocals – Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Them Crooked Vultures)
Bass – Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam)
Drums – Patrick Carney (The Black Keys)
Keyboards – Franz Nicolay (The Hold Steady (formerly, now))

They would be called The Tori Conundrum.

Second Band (this one was tougher)
Vocals (and sometimes bass or keyboards, as needed) – Paul McCartney (The Beatles, The Quarrymen, Wings)
Vocals/Rhythm Guitar – Bruce Springsteen
Lead Guitar – Slash (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver)
Lead Guitar – Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds, The Firm, Them Crooked Vultures)
Bass – Steve Harris (Iron Maiden)
Keyboards – Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & The MGs)
Drums – Ginger Baker (Cream, Blind Faith)

They would be called Lust Monkey.

Of course, I will take it one step further and do a third band consisting of dead musicians:
Vocals – Janis Joplin, Freddie Mercury, and Otis Redding (because I can)
Lead Guitar/Vocals – Jimi Hendrix (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)
Lead Guitar - Steve Clark (Def Leppard)
Rhythm Guitar/Vocals – John Lennon (The Beatles, The Quarrymen, The Plastic Ono Band)
Bass/Vocals – Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy)
Drums – John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)

They would be called Amniotic Tsunami.

If you're so inclined, I'd love to hear your choices.