Adding Lindsey and Stevie

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

If "star power," "looks," and "commercial appeal" were important to the band's decision in adding personnel, Bob Welch would never have gotten through the front door of Benifolds!

Ahhh, that made me laugh quite a little bit. But seriously, I think by the time Lindsey and Stevie joined, Mick and Co. were interested in busting through the American market which means they would have to adopt some kind of commercial appeal if they were going to reach a mass audience. What you say still holds, bit I think it was more like Mick thought he wanted Lindsey before laying eyes on him but the deal wasn't cinched yet. I think after Mick met Linds and Stevie, aside from the cheap factor, he saw that their appearance would certainly help the band become popular...I mean, those two were striking. Mick knew that two attractive front people (especially Stevie) would be one of the ways to amass a larger, and more diverse (because they brought in the American, SoCal sound too) crowd of fans. I mean, even Jimmy Page admitted that when they signed on Robert Plant as singer they knew that they could use his good looks to their advantage in helping to bring in the throngs (and this was in the early days before people knew how badass Led Zep was).