Artists who missed a chance for a solo career

I guess solo careers have been hit and miss for most band members but anyone who didn't go for it that surprised you? I suspect for the two I'm thinking of it was a case of leaving it too late but with such great voices and proven track record I'm shocked that Denise Pearson ( Five Star ) and Easther Bennett ( Eternal ) never produced a solo record.

 

Mine are all 80s! I look back and wonder why Wendy Smith from Prefab Sprout never put out a solo album. She has a lovely voice and was often in the shadow of Paddy, limelight-wise. Also, Jay Aston, from Bucks Fizz. Her desire to go solo was hampered by the fact she broke contract when leaving the band and was in litigation for about 4 years with her former managers, which left her penniless and without a deal. And Vicki Perks from Fuzzbox, who left the band specifically to go solo, as Smash Hits reported, and then... didn't. She gigs about in these truly awful pub rock bands these days and there's a sense of "what might've been".

 

Denise was very loyal to her family and as such, that probably hampered her chances of a solo career. That and the fact that Five Star's career was so dead in the water she wouldn't have probably had much success. And all the rmours surrounding Easther's supposed 'bullying' probably scuppered her chances of a solo career.

 

As far as going solo, the only way to do it is reinventing yourself musically. If people cannot tell the difference between the band you came from and your solo material, that is a bad sign. The first solo album will always do well but the follow-ups might be tricky. The only exception to this rule is Phil Collins.

 

Jay Aston is my obvious choice but as detailed above she had years of contractual problems. She had loads of star quality, looks and a good voice... I always thought she could have been a British Madonna with the right material (an ASDA price one though, having said that).

 

An Easther Bennett solo album would've been AWESOME. Did Kelle's solo album ever leak?

 

Claire Richards. She has the talent, I think she just lacks the motivation.

 

Lady Miss Kier Kirby.

This makes me sad constantly.

 

THIS^^^

She should have owned the 90's.

 

YES, she's too lazy. Shame though.

 

A bit further back, but of all the lead singers of mega 80s pop bands, Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran) never did anything without at least one of the other band-members involved. Not even a guest vocal somewhere. That must be quite unusual. Even when Duran's stock was at a real low in the late 90s, and it was almost down to just him and Nick Rhodes, he never branched out alone.

 

I've always thought that Jay and Cheryl would have been great solo stars if they both possessed something the other had.

Jay totally had the attitude, the style, the sex... she was just a total popstar. However physically she was pretty plain. Don't get me wrong she was extremely good looking but her real attractiveness and sexyness came from her attutide. She was beautiful but really quite anonymous looking I suppose. As such while in the context of Bucks Fizz she stood out when she left she kinda did get lost amongst all the other chicks with big hair, pouts and sexy poses gracing the pages of the Sun.

Cheryl on the other hand was incredibly naturally pretty with striking looks. It was a beauty that stood out from the pack and was very recognisable. However as a popstar she was pretty awkward. It's no wonder she did become the solo success of the group because she did have the 'face' however it was never gonna be as a popstar.

 

I was listening to World Clique last night and she's soooooo good.

 

Shirley Manson. But at least it led to a new Garbage record.

 

Natasha Hamilton from Atomic Kitten. She was the one that actually sung and I could have seen her being not huge, but a consistent solo artist. It's insane Sarah Harding never released a balls-to-the-wall electro house style album. Would have been brilliant! JC Chavez should have been a much bigger solo star, instead of being the 'Nadine' to Justins 'Cheryl'

 

Mine has to be, probably the best voice of the 90's Plavka!



She's been one of my all time favourite singers and I never understood why she didn't pursue a proper solo career.
She was huge throughout the 90's and featured on numerous tracks during that time. She first found fame in The Shamen and featured on the track Hyppereal wich was a hit back in late 1990, they planned to make her the focal point of the band but just before they hit the big time she left them.

In the following years she produced a lot with Caspar Pound DJ and owner of record label Rising High Records (specializing in rave, techno and ambient chillout music). In 1993 she got her breakthrough with the German trance act Jam & Spoon and their song Right In The Night. The song hit the top ten in several countries and became the band's and also Plavka's biggest hit in their career to date.

After that she became the group's fulltime vocalist and released a couple of other notable songs with them, as well as continuing to work with them for the next 10 years.
When one member of Jam & Spoon died at the beginning of 2006, the release of any further music was stopped. Since then it got really quiet around her, she's still going and doing music but mostly for or with underground artists.

An album was planned to be released sometime in 2007/08 entitled Plavkalicious on an independent label called Wheat Recording but this unfortunately never happend !

Here are some of the grat great tracks she featured on..

The Shamen - Hyperreal (1990)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwTfF3JjE9U&feature=BFa&list=PL2E739876EB55D658

The Shamen - LSI/Love, Sex, Intelligence (1990)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN3IMMFU80M

Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka - Right In The Night (1993)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5QUATezgDY

Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka - Find Me (1994)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUCXVmux8ak

Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka - Angel (1995)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMebLA5VOZs

Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka - Kaleidoscope Skies (1997)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-cMrGkQuPk&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL979011B4EF88AFFA

 

True! Going back to a redhead a decade or so before her I'm surprised Carol Decker from T'Pau didn't put together a solo record. She was working on one but I think most of it ended up on another T'Pau record 'Red'.

 

I think Shirley Manson certainly started a solo project, but it never came to anything. I've got a demo called 'Pretty Horses' and another called 'In The Snow', both of which are good. Not sure what happened, if it was record company politics or she just decided to do the Terminator tv thing instead.

My nomination : Louise Wener. Although, she essentially was Sleeper anyway, so maybe that counts as a solo career.

 

Aren't her novels her real solo career?

 

Well, yes. But you can't do the legendary off-time Wener dancing to her novels.