Flying solo, and loving it

Which brings us to David Lee Roth. He quit the ultimate party band Van Halen to do what?! Lounge-lizard versions of “Just a Gigolo” and Beach Boy hits? Oh, David.

Coincidentally, Roth’s departure led to Red Rocker Sammy Hagar quitting his solo career to join Van Halen. Big egos put an end to that collaboration as well — not to mention the terminated double-solo tour Roth and Hagar attempted in 2002.

Rap groups seem to splinter less often then rock groups. The end of N.W.A. resulted in great careers for Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, and an OK career for Easy E before his death. But mostly in hip-hop you get lots of guest spots and rap collectives, such as the Wu-Tang Clan. The Wu has like, a jillion members who make occasional appearances on the albums. The only real constant of the Wu Tang is Rza.

When it comes to classic rock, solo tours can be a boon to fans too young to have seen the original product. Lots of folks paid to see Robert Plant in concert not because they were fans of his sappy project, the Honeydrippers, but because there was a good chance Plant would sing some old Led Zeppelin chestnuts. Plant generally came through in the encore.

Sometimes former band mates get past their old differences and solo projects and try it again. Fans were thrilled last year when the Pixies rejoined to do a tour and some recording. An unexpected reunion, given leader Frank Black’s legendary self-importance and bassist Kim Deal’s other great band, the Breeders.

Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards tried solo careers, but soon realized it was more financially prudent to stick it out together and rake in those sweet mortgage-company sponsorships. Tickets for the Stone’s current Ameriquest-sponsored tour run more than $100.

And let’s not forget the Eagles. Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh all had relatively successful solo careers producing mediocre music for the masses. They also put aside their beefs so that they too could sell concert tickets for unconscionable prices. Unfortunately, there’s no scientific tool to calculate whether these guys did more damage to pop music together or apart.

That puts in mind an old Mojo Nixon song that bemoans the meteoric solo career of one Eagle in particular. “Don Henley must die” is the name of the cult classic, which also warns of a band reunion through its rhyming lyric “don’t let him get back together with Glenn Frey.”

Helen A.S. Popkin is the former chapter president of the New York Eagles fan club (OK, not really) and is a regular contributor to MSNBC.com.

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