Alex Chilton RIP

loomisjohnson---Your mention of Game Theory is the first on Audiogon by someone other than me. Nice!

loomisj---I agree. Ironic that Scott's ego prevented him from stepping back and letting someone else sing the songs, which would have given them a much greater chance at commercial success,

Loomisj: Ego can take many forms. His was not the kind that would prevent other band members from writing and singing songs that appeared on his records. But I do think he maintained a certain sense of ownership over his own songs that prevented his even considering that someone else might sing them in his band.

I agree that it's not easy for his songs to sound good in other people's voices. For example, Aimee Mann's cover of Inverness (on youtube) completely lacks Scott's passion, and fails for that reason. (I've seen her live and up close in a small venue, and it could be argued that all of her own songs ultimately fail for the same reason.)

But it's not too hard to imagine someone as neurotic and imaginative as Scott who nonetheless has a big beautiful voice. John Lennon would have done wonders with GT's songs. (Sometimes I think Scott wrote the songs with Lennon's voice in his mind.)

Of course, there was only one of him, but I don't think Scott ever thought of finding someone else with an equally strong personality to sing the songs. I bet the band would have had a very different outcome if he had.

Can't speak to all those bands, but there was certainly no reason to see GT live: Performances did not come close to having the effect of the recordings.