Jul 122021
Rock & roll is littered with lots of bands featuring brothers.
How many are there? Let’s find out with a Last Man Standing. Let’s not be exclusionary though. Sisters, brother & sister, parent and child are all allowed. That’s as far as we stretch though. No cousins twice removed or anything.
Oh, and they don’t have to have a love-hate relationship.
Bonus points for twins. I can only think of one of those [Ed – Oh, I think you’ll be sorry for your obvious oversight!] so I’ll put that out there to start the show and since they are twins I’ll show two videos (because I couldn’t decide on a favorite).
Thanks to Craig & Charlie Reid, I am the last man standing!
As always, don’t Bogart this thread. Please limit yourself to ONE ENTRY PER POST.
Oasis, as well as the Black Crowes.
Two brother groupings that both had legendary onstage fights. I think that the Black Crowes had one where one of them walked off stage mid concert and spent the rest of the gig heckling the band from the front row.
I also wanted to mention this one to flex that I’m going to see the Black Crowes in September.
Oh crap I accidentally submitted two in my eagerness to post. Sorry about that. I can’t figure out how to delete that but if anyone knows please let me know.
[garlic salt is forgiven for this first-time offense. If it happens again, he’ll get a 2-minute minor in the penalty box. – Mod]
Let’s get the low-hanging fruit out of the way. Jackson 5.
In honor of the Wilson’s Choice, I submit Heart.
Allman Bros.
The Ramones.
The Kinks.
The Cowsills. 7 siblings and the mom. If this was a Battle Royale, I’d be walking away with the belt right now
The Isley Brothers.
Jack and Meg White. jk!
Steve and Muff Winwood from the Spencer Davis Group
SO MANY
I’ll start with the elder Finn Brothers, Tim and Neil of Split Enz and Crowded House.
Wilson Phillips
Dire Straits
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Younger Finn brothers, Elroy and Liam, now members of Crowded House.
Everly Bros.
The Osmonds
I thought i had a winner in the Battle Royale category with The Shaggs – 4 sisters, a brother, and a nephew. Alas that’s only 6 – 5 without the illegal for these purposes nephew – and not all at the same time anyway.
Still, I am LMS!
The Bee Gees, including a set of TWINS!
LMS!
Kings of Leon are three brothers and a cousin.
Five Stairsteps
Carl Perkins’ band featured his brother Jay.
As Marshall Crenshaw’s band had his brother Robert on drums.
The was an excess of Farriss brothers in INXS.
I just read that the oldest INXS brother Tim Farriss lost a finger and badly cut other fingers in a boating accident a few years ago. He can’t play guitar any more due to the damage.
The Magic Numbers are two brother/sister pairs.
That was so sad about Tim Farriss, I hate stories like that.
Mr Mod I can honestly say that I didn’t realize the Bee Gees had twin brothers in there. They were fraternal though…
Beach Boys
I’ll select Fanny. One of the first successful all-female rock outfits, they were led by June Millington and her sister Jean.
Two of the vocalists in The Plastic Ono Band were married to each other.
The Wilson sisters in Heart.
EPG and BigSteve: One at a time. Don’t bogart that thread.
Cher: Trigmogigmo beat you to the punch with Heart early on.
Guided By Voices – Bob and Jim Pollard
Oh dang I missed that. Ok, the Pocaro brothers in Toto.
DeBarge. At one point or another, all 7 DeBarge siblings had been members at different times.
The Kemp brothers of Spandau Ballet, a band everyone loves! What’s your favorite song by Spandau Ballet? Mine is, “True.”
The Neville Brothers.
The Chambers Brothers
T. Rex
The Clean
The Del Rubio Triplets
The Del Fuegos – Dan and Warren Zanes (Full disclosure: I knew they were brothers but I had to look up Warren’s first name.)
The Deal sisters in the Breeders.
The Bellamy Brothers
Ty Caldwell and his bass playing brother from the Marshall Tucker Band.
Howzabout Simon Townshend joining his more accomplished sibling in the more orchestral incarnations of the Who?
Oh yeah, I was gonna say the delRubio triplets but i never heard of them…
Two bands with brothers named Butler. First is the Psychedelic Furs’ Richard and Tim.
The Doors
I was thinking the rules only prohibited more than one entry in a single post. Oh well … the Bangles.
2nd band of Butlers is Arcade Fire, brothers Win and William.
BigSteve, those are the rules. We need Al to get in here and police this, as well as shake his head disappointedly at EPG.
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Steve and Cassie Gaines
Alright you newcomers and veterans – one entry per post. And also no sequential posts. If you are the Last Man Standing you. can’t post another entry until someone else has posted.
As far as Gergs goes, when he is funny, he is funny and the T. Rex and Doors entries were funny!
Problem is, he is most often irritating. 😉
Can’t believe no one mentioned Nelson!! However my vote for all-time greatest sibling band would have to go to either The Kinks or the Everlys. Or maybe the Brothers Gibb. Too many great ones, especially those crazy close harmonies.
Two pair of brothers in:
D E V O
And two Bobs, #1 and #2.
ACDC!
Greta van Fleet
The Incredible Kidda Band – the singer and keyboard guy are brothers. I once put a whole power pop show together just so I could play this song live: https://youtu.be/3liY2LH58dU
Hanson, of course.
Sparks.
Haim are three sisters.
The Louvin Brothers
The Dukes of Stratosphear was really XTC, including Dave Gregory, but adding his brother Ian on drums.
The Bacon Brothers. Is it true they give out free bacon and egg sandwiches just to get people in the door to their shows?
I need a ruling from Al. Does Spirit count? The drummer was Randy California’s step father.
Dynagroove
Dismissing EPG for three reasons (there is a band named DynaGroove apparently but with no relatives in it; spelled it wrong; he’s Gergeley), I rule that cdm is LMS because I will accept Spirit. Actually had them in mind when crafting the thread as an odder entry.
Bricklin
Eric and Gwen Stefani from No Doubt.
Hey hey!
Happy Mondays- the “singer” and at least one other guy.
T
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I can’t believe no one has mentioned the Undertones.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned The Staples Singers. Until now.
LMS!
cher — That was quite a card to play so late in the game!
cdm — Sparks! Looking forward to checking out The Sparks Brothers movie.
How can we forget?!
Van Halen
LMS!
The Stooges had the Asheton brothers.
I’ve heard good things about the Sparks movie and I’m tempted to go see them on their upcoming tour but not sure because I like their full band stuff more than their electro stuff. If they’re using a drum machine, I’d pass. But maybe….
Anyway…. William and Jim Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain.
I’ve never heard anything by Sparks that I like but I would totally watch that documentary. They are fascinating in a Scott Walker kind of way.
Anywho, the Cowboy Junkies featuring Margo and Michael Timmis (sic).
I was pretty sure that I did not like Sparks, being mostly exposed to them during their 80’s phase. I remember somewhat enjoying, “I Predict” but feeling it was a little jokey. “Cool Places With You” was the other, and I didn’t care for that at all. So when a music friend I respect went off one day about how great they are, he said I had to listen to the earlier stuff – and he was right – I really like that early string of albums: Indiscreet, Kimono My House and Propaganda. Those are the three for me. I like some of the other records ok, but they don’t really compel me. Maybe “Balls” is my favorite of the next era of Sparks.
I’ll go with one-time Philly (really Lancaster) favorites, Suddenly Tammy! which included the Sorrentino siblings Beth and Jay. I remember that group fondly, used to run into Beth a bit when she lived in NYC.
That Petrol Emotion had the same O’Neill brothers as the Undertones.
I’ll look up some of their early albums on Spotify. Truth be told, my main connection with them was their appearance in the cheesy 1976 disaster movie Rollercoaster when they played Big Boy at an amusement park. Much like when I first saw DEVO on SNL, I couldn’t tell if it was a real band or a goof.
Doug and Billy Yule from the Velvet Underground Live at Max’s Kansas City.
Steve Jansen and David Sylvian of Japan used stage names, but they are brothers.
Soupy Sales kids in Tin Machine, etc.
I went to see a free concert in Haddon Township last night and, lo and behold, two brothers, Luther and Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars, along with Lamaar and Jessie Williams, who Luther introduced as brothers. I think he may have been kidding since they appeared to be different races.
the Pointer Sisters
The Blasters with Dave & Phil Alvin!
Tina and Laura Weymouth in the Tom Tom Club.
Maybe we should do a LMS of band members who are not related but share a last name. That would be much more difficult!
In reviewing their Wiki page to verify that the Brothers Johnson did indeed include brothers, (It did. LMS!) I also discovered that that’s where Alex Weir, more commonly known on RTH as “the OJ looking guy in the Talking Heads Stop Making Sense line-up,” was also a member and a cousin of the namesake brothers.
Radiohead – The bassist and the guitar player who doesn’t kind of look like Charlie Sexton if you squint.
A little under the radar, but the duo called Smoosh are sisters. They changed their name to Chaos Chaos. (Radiohead is a much better entry.)
Ha, I know Smoosh from when they played Pajama Party Time on Yo Gabba Gabba. Great call.
A Triple-Sis Threat: The Roches.
Aston and Carlton Barrett from Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers
The [Dixie} Chicks
Waitaminit!
How in the world did we get to almost 100 posts without Sly and the Family Stone?
The Carpenters
The Avett Brothers.
Loved Yo Gabba Gabba! Trippy stuff. Boo Bah was even weirder.
I can’t decide whether to post the Cocteau Twins or the Righteous Brothers, so I’ll just point out that the original Attractions had Pete Thomas and Bruce Thomas.
On a similar note, why were there three Thompson Twins?
Nancy Sinatra and her father.
Twins:
Tegan and Sara
If you can get past the “walk ten thousand miles,” song, that Proclaimers album is pretty fun. They sort of come off as wholesome because they’re brothers and there’s a certain innocence to their sound, but it’s kind of “drinking in the pub” kind of album. I saw them only once, at Penn’s Landing. They were on a bill but only played three or four songs, when everyone else played full sets. It seemed very odd and stingy.
Anyway, Kevin Haskins and David J of Bauhaus are brothers. J is actually David’s middle initial.
I can’t tell you how much I want to edit the sloppy writing in that post. ^^^
Went to see Summer Of Soul last night. Highly recommended both from a music and sociological point of view.
And from the point of view of LMS.
One of the acts was Gladys Knight & the Pips. Those original Pips included Gladys’ brother Bubba sister Brenda and cousins Eleanor Guest and WIlliam Guest. Brenda and Eleanor left after a few years, replaced by Edward Patten (another cousin) and the unrelated Langston George.
All of which makes me the Last Man Standing
Bloody UB bloody 40
Ricky and Cindy Wilson of the B52s. Hey hey!
The Weiss sisters in the Shangri Las
Pernice Brothers
Bros
Nigerian group The Lijadu Sisters were twins. I can’t wait to spend my bonus points on fabulous prizes.
Paddy and Martin Mcaloon of Prefab Sprout. Here’s the band in more of a “rock mode” with their b-side called “Tin can pot.”
https://youtu.be/BwxU0Mv7uCU
Geo’s note about Alex “The OJ-Looking Guy From Stop Making Sense”) Weir is worth the price of admission in this thread!
I need to catch up, but I don’t think anyone has yet mentioned Philly punk legends Electric Love Muffin, with Brian and Frank Campbell.
LMS.
Nor have Matt and Craig Mungan of Scram been mentioned, if we’re talking Philly bands. I saw ELM and Scram (and Serial Killers) on many bills together.
If we’re going THAT local, then the honky-tonk The Wallace Brothers Band from Philly sport identical twin brothers. I don’t even try to tell them apart until they are behind their instruments. They are ringers.
https://www.wallacebrothersband.com/
Somebody has to say Jonas Brothers. Done.
Pat and Lolly Vegas of Redbone.
Paul and Barry Ryan
How about Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donnelly of Throwing Muses, they are step-sisters.
Since we’re talking ’80’s Philly Hardcore, let’s not forget Damon and Glenn Wallis, Ruin’s guitar section.
You know who lived in Philly for a while, oddly, was Mike Score of A Flock of Seagulls. This was a few years after his brother, Ali, left the band.
LMS!
The Valentinos (It’s All Over Now & Looking for a Love) consisted of many Womacks.
Chip and Tony Kinman of the Dils and then Rank and File.
LMS!
Chris and Curt Kirkwood of The Meat Puppets.
Those McDonald brothers from Redd Kross.
Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Three Fataar brothers in The Flames/The Flame.
The Haden Triplets.
I knew there were brothers in the bands Dawes, but I did have to look up their names, Griffin and Taylor Goldsmith.
The Cannonball Adderley Quintet included his brother Nat Adderley.
Beau and John Charles of the Knickerbockers.
Petra and Rachel Haden also rocked out in That Dog.
Another band with two sets of brothers is the National – the Dessner and Devendorf brothers.
Todays Aquarium Drunkard email has the following:
On the sophomore album from their collaborative project Always You, the debonair duo of twin brothers Anton and Christoph Hochheim lean into their predilections for sophisti-pop. Prefab Sprout fans longing for their return will swoon for the elegant songcraft of Bloom Off The Rose.
This remind me of the Lemon Twigs. Those two are brothers.
I used to really like Chicago’s Aluminum Group, but they haven’t had a release in a while, so they may be over. That was two brothers, John and Frank Navin.
A. Savage and Max Savage of Parquet Courts.
The Lounge Lizards had both John Lurie and Evan Lurie,
Barbara Keith and John Tibbles of the Stone Coyotes are stepmother and stepson.
Speaking of stones, Stone Temple Pilots, Dan and Robert DeLeo.
For all the RTH jazz-fusion heads — The Brecker Brothers.
The Murphy brothers in the band Shoes.
Why do I know this dumb stuff?
Sister Sledge thinks We Are Family should have been the name of this thread.
Everyone knows of Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire, and also perhaps his bass playing brother, Verdine. He seems like a character.
The Handley brothers were proof if any were needed that the Fall in their prime were rather more than Mark E and Granny Smith on bongos.
William and Wilbert Hart of The Delfonics
Trip Shakespeare is a band I’ve never been successful at selling to other people. Matt Wilson recruited his older brother Dan to join the band, they made two indie records, two major label records, and then exited on an EP of covers. I was in a band that opened for them at JC Dobbs, so it could be that seeing them live as first exposure made a big difference. It seemed to me that fans of power-pop and melodic guitar bands would dig Trip Shakespeare, but the only person I ever really sold on the band was a stoner Deadhead guy I knew in college. Both brothers are still active, though Dan is the famous one. Matt has been really active lately, which is great, and I particularly like the 2nd record (Black Beauty) he made with his recent-ish group, Twilight Hours.
Cher…
I also like Trip Shakespeare. I think the most common problem with them is the weirdly juvenile nerdy Dungeons and Dragons vibe. But I think they make it into something. Matt Wilson did a solo album, “Burnt, White and Blue” in the late ’90’s and played, if memory serves, Upstairs at Nick’s and was very good. While Dan is clearly talented and clever, love it or hate it, “Closing Time” is undeniably a hit record, but Matt Wilson had an otherwordliness that clicked. He also had a nice subtle scratchiness in his voice that added character. Munson was a great player and could really sell that absurd baritone harmony singing, although that might haver been another drawback to people’s appreciation.
Oh, and Thomas Hughes and Sam Hughes from the Spinto Band were brothers. LMS!
I saw Matt Wilson on that tour, at the Mercury Lounge. That album I still find to be odd. He reissued it recently and removed my favorite song from the album (“Raking Service”) so go figure. There is something about those brothers that fascinates me, because Matt definitely seems like the “art” and Dan seems like the “commerce.” But also, there are odd themes and lines in Matt’s lyrics that do seem juvenile, I agree – not just in Trip but in his more recent songs too. It’s like he is still fixated on the aspirations of a 20-something. The original name for the band was Kirk Shakespeare, because he loves Star Trek and Shakespeare, but I think Matt was coerced into changing Kirk to Trip.
Anyway, Tracy and Melissa (Lastnames something) of Voice of the Beehive are sisters. If anyone knows Voice of the Beehive…
Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose
The main two guys in Gene Loves Jezebel are (were?) identical twins.
“Giles , Giles” of “and Fripp.”
Arkansas musicians The Cate Brothers (Earl and Earnie) had their own band, and they also joined The Band when they reformed without Robbie Robertson in the 80s.
Lieutenant Pigeon, with Rob Woodward and his mother, Hilda on piano.
She was one of the oldest performers to appear on a British number one single in the early seventies, and I remember everyone thinking what a game and very elderly lady she was. I just checked with Mr Google and found out she was 58. That’s, like, my age.
I think it improbable it was a hit over thar, so, for your delectation and delight here it is https://youtu.be/O465enGz03w
I still rather like it.
The Buchanan Brothers
As the originator of this awful game, which in my view is a blight upon otherwise erudite rockular conversation, I reserve the right to spam LMS threads with really stupid answers. And so, in that spirit, I offer my one and only contribution to this thread: Jake and Elwood Blues.
Peter and Chris Coyne of The Godfathers.
Last Man not sleeping with the fishes.
The bassist and drummer of Fishbone are brothers, and what a sick rhythm section they make!
SRC (Detroit band, late sixties-early seventies, with two albums on Capitol, I think) — Gary and Glen Quackenbush
The funny thing is that I keep thinking I’m out of entries, then somebody’s post reminds me of another one. Like Elwood Blues reminded me of Elwood Fisher of Fishbone. This time, SRC reminds of of ESG, a band which contained the Scroggins sisters.
LMS!
Adam and Noah Levy in the Honeydogs.
Nickel Creek, a trio which includes the siblings Adam and Sarah Watkins.
Link Wray’s backing band, the Ray Men, included two of his brothers.
Everyone’s favorite band, Barenaked Ladies, had a pair of brothers – the Creegans.
LMS!
Just twigged that the original lineup of Sparks included Earl and Jim Mankey, a second set of brothers. CDM, did you intend for these to be included in your original post? If not, LMS!
Happiness, I did not. Well played.
Bootsy and Catfish Collins of Funkadelic.
The Corrs, which is a “family band.”
I can’t believe this thread made it this far without anyone mentioning the Mothersbaugh AND Casale brothers in DEVO. Cdm mentioned DEVO in passing with no mention of this, so I AM the LMS!
Another popular family band is Clannad. (But Devo is a much better answer.)
I once had to seriously restrain myself from getting into it with an old co-worker’s fiance who insisted that The Ramones were brothers. Which brings me around to Sibling Rivalry, Joey & his brother Mickey Leigh’s band.
Back in the 80s the Gatlin Brothers (Larry, Steve, & Rudy) were big on the country charts.
The Hawkins brothers believe in a thing called love, in their band, “the Darkness.”
The Gibson Brothers, who were, apparently, the Francfort brothers
Pub trivia is my jam, and games resumed a month or so ago. I’m part of a group that runs a music-only trivia game every Monday night, and this past week was my first chance to host and write the questions. Thanks to this thread on RTH I had a pool of information to write two categories, and I thought I’d share the questions.
Brothers
1. Which band was named after three brothers – Barry, Maurice, and Robin? (The Bee Gees)
2. I would walk 500 miles to avoid Craig & Charlie Reid. (The Proclaimers)
3. Which band has three brothers and a cousin, all surnamed Followill? (Kings of Leon)
4. Liam & Noel Gallagher (Oasis)
5. Name the group built around brothers Josh, Jake, and Sam Kiszka. (Greta van Fleet)
6. Which boy band had brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight? (New Kids on the Block)
7. Eddie on guitar and Alex on drums. (Van Halen)
8. Isaac on guitar, Taylor on keyboards, Zac on drums, and all of them on vocals. (Hanson)
9. BONUS Name all members of the Jackson 5, not including Randy. (Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael)
10. BONUS Name all five Osmonds, not including Jimmy. (Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny)
Sisters
1. Which vocal group had two sisters who were the daughters of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys? Wilson-Philips.
2. Ann and Nancy Wilson. (Heart)
3. Name the two sisters in the Bangles. (Debbi and Vicki Peterson)
4. June, Bonnie, and Anita. (The {Pointer Sisters)
5. Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer are sisters who use their married names in the band they founded in 1989.
6. Contemporary indie pop duo Tegan and Sara are twins. What is their last name? (Quin)
7. Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy are the sisters in this R&B/disco vocal group. (Sister Sledge)
8. BONUS June Millington and her sister Jean led one of the first successful all-female rock outfits. (Fanny)
9. BONUS Name the three sisters in Haim. (Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim)
Btw Bonus questions are intended to be harder, because the team that chooses to answer a Bonus question gets double points.
BTW Nobody mentioned the three Shulman brothers in Gentle Giant.
Or Ed and Bill Henderson of Chilliwack.
Or the Gould brothers of Level 42
Or the DeFreitas sisters in the Heart Throbs. A musical family, there are also two brothers, one played bass in the Woodentops, the other, Pete (RIP), was the drummer in Echo and the Bunnymen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzMWJRuLdp8
Jedward
… with bonus points for twins!
How about Nick and Stephen Duffy, of the Lilac Time.
Alan and Derek Longmuir of the Bay City Rollers
Nino Tempo and April Stevens
Self was a difficult to web-search band, mostly an outlet for Matt Mahaffey, but also included his brother Mike (RIP).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M94isQ370Sw&ab_channel=WhackaWhacka
Johnny and Dorsey Burnette of the Rock and Roll Trio
Remember when Johnny Spampinato joined NRBQ, to play alongside his brother Joey? Who doesn’t enjoy a moon pie and an RC Cola with family?
Can we make it to 200 on this thread?
I’ll help with 191, which I am almost embarrassed to be posting this late in the game as I am that I missed the Spampinatos.
Stuart and Philip Moxham made up half of the Young Marble Giants. Alison Statton and a metronome, unrelated, made up the other half.
The Carter Family
Zapp included brothers Roger Troutman, Larry Troutman, Lester Troutman, and Terry Troutman. More Bounce to the Ounce.
David and Peter Brewis are the main two members of “Field Music,” a band that has never clicked with me, despite trying.
Suzi Quatro’s first band, the Pleasure Seekers included Patti and Arlene, her sisters.
Lucy and Carly Simon released three albums before splitting, then Carly went solo.
Four more, come on gang!
Bu the way, while Maggie and Terre Roche made a record, what did the other one do instead?
The Chipmunks (triplets)
Suzzy and Maggie also made music without Terre, here’s a sad one:
https://youtu.be/qPeC5dmh-A0
Which reminded me, Kate and Anna McGarrigle. 300 anyone?
Point of order, Geo, the McGarrigles already did their turn some time ago.
HS,
I searched the page and didn’t match McGarrigle, so I must’ve made a typo in the search. Oh well.
By the way, last night I stumbled on the current ongoing mother/daughter act, Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche.
So now we’re really at 200.
If you haven’t stumbled across the de Zuryk girls, otherwise known as the Cackle Sisters, known in their day for charming folk songs interspersed with yodelling and farmyard noises, I recommend you spend a minute and a half in their company here https://youtu.be/jJhFP3z4rX4
AJR — Adam, Jack, and Ryan Met
Chris and Eddie Amoo of the Real Thing
The Springfields featured Mary O’Brien and her older brother Dion O’Brien, before Mary became Dusty Springfield.
I’m dropping a bomb on you all; The Gap Band featured brothers Charlie, Ronnie, & Robert Wilson
Seemed like, despite the initial post, we were only listing sibling bands. But if parents are involved, I’ll say the Spanic Boys. They made an appearance on Letterman, which I wish I could find. At the end of the song, one of the “boys” ripped all the strings off his guitar, and the astounded look on the face of the guitarist in Letterman’s band was priceless!
The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver