A group should always have their lead singer when they are on tour. Band members can be replaced but the lead singer or singers can never be replaced. Can you imagine The Time without Morris Day, Klymaxx without Bernadette Cooper, The Gap Band without Charlie Wilson, Con Funk Shun without Michael Cooper, The Barkays without Larry Dodson, Cameo without Larry Blackman? And I don't know why the hell Zapp is touring around without Roger. When the lead singer dies, that's the official end of the group.

Temptations lead singer Dennis Edwards runs his own group which he calls The Temptations Revue, while other original member Otis Williams tours with The Temptations.
Fred Wesley tours as Fred Wesley and his J.B.'s, but there are no original J.B.'s in the group but himself.
Funk group Mandrill currently feature only two original members, Ric and Lou Wilson. Only they tour as Mandrill, but without other key members, one could argue that this group is just a shadow of what originally was Mandrill.

Bottom line, you'll hardly find any 60s and 70s Soul and Funk groups with a majority of original members, because they are either dead, retired or at war with each other.

To me, it doesn't matter, because the shows of most of the old groups suck anyway these days.

this isn't about Prince?

vainandy said:

We saw The Time without Jimmy Jam,Terry Lewis and Monte Moir, but Paul Peterson Mark Cardenas and Gerry Hubbard took them to another level and it still worked 'cause at least Jellybean and Jesse were still around. A few years later we couldn't imagine them without Jesse but Tori Ruffin was just as sick of a guitarist in his own right.

Marrk said:

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Shut the fuck up. Prince is prince nobody gives a rat's ass about the revolution.

I saw Queen and Paul Rogers last year. They were excellent despite being two members short of the original Queen line-up. Freddie had a fairly decent excuse mind you.

But on topic, just take a look at the 80's revival concerts and shows that have been going on in the UK for the last two to three years (longer if you include Butlins weekenders). Bananarama, XTC and the like only ever consist of a small number of original artists.

Marrk said:

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Shut the fuck up. Prince is prince nobody gives a rat's ass about the revolution.

LoveIsTheMessage said:

Now this is the Lionel i grew up with.
This also sounds more like the commodores i knew.
Hopefully William King and Sweet Clyde will come on
board and have that long overdue Commodores reunion.

vainandy said:

We saw The Time without Jimmy Jam,Terry Lewis and Monte Moir, but Paul Peterson Mark Cardenas and Gerry Hubbard took them to another level and it still worked 'cause at least Jellybean and Jesse were still around. A few years later we couldn't imagine them without Jesse but Tori Ruffin was just as sick of a guitarist in his own right.

laurarichardson said:

nobody = laura richardson. I personally could care less, but you forget how many people bought Purple Rain and saw that tour and would KILL for that reunion. Not me , but lots of other folks for sure. (non "Prince fams""

The Time were always bullshit without Jimmy, Terry, and Monte to me.

When did Roger die? I didn't know about this until just now.

Oddly enough,the other "original" Mary Jane Girls are touring....but without JoJo They recruited Val Young (another Rick James protege) to be the lead singer,while JoJo tours with two anonymous girls who were never part of the group.So,just like with WAR and the Stylistics,there are two different touring units singing Mary Jane Girl songs.

Before you go to one of these shows,be sure you know who you're actually gonna see.It's absurd!

SoulAlive said:

Let me take some time to pass on some knowledge and truth. Val Young is touring illegally and the matter is in litigation. She had no right to use the name from the estate. She has alleged that Ty James gave her permission but, Ty James does
not have the authority to grant permission. Also the other girls never sang it was JoJo and session singers the Water Sisters who sang on all the projects. The band sang for the others on tour and tape was used for television shows. Val Young has lied to the public claiming she was JoJo or JoJo was sick and couldn't make it. These are the true facts