Last night we all watched as Governor Rick Perry blanked on the third department he would do away with if he was elected president. It was one of those moments - a la Scanners - when we all tensely waited for his head to explode, figuratively. Of course we love the guy and he's too precious to lose, with his dimpled smile and hair, omuhguh the hair.
Which got us to thinking last evening, what other things can people not name the third part of? Most folks can tell you the plot lines of the first two Back To The Future films, but most would be hard-pressed to say much about the third BTTF flick beyond that it was set in the Wild West and featured ZZ Top. We all know that ZZ Top is Dusty Hill, Billy "Fucking" Gibbons, and Frank Beard right? Just checking.
Rock history is filled with trios which have a third member who somehow gets slighted in the annals of memory. It's not their fault, and it doesn't say anything about their contribution to the puzzle that made the music at all. Maybe they were the quiet one for the duration of the band's heyday and never quite jumped out in front of the camera.
Even if you can't spell his name correctly, you know that Nirvana's bassist was Krist Novoselic.
The Police
Sting, Stewart Copeland and...Andy Summers. Duh. Dude, he was in the Animals and the Soft Machine too.
Cream
We all know Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker. But Jack Bruce played bass too, the rumble that helped Clapton make all those great singles and albums.
Husker Du
This is bound to piss people off. Quick! Husker Du is Bob Mould...the guy with the moustache, and...Grant Hart! That's right, the Du was Mould, Grant Hart, and Greg Norton. Nice try, but "Moustache Man" isn't on Norton's driver's license.
The Stray Cats
There's Brian Setzer, who we all know from 1998, Slim Jim Phantom who plays in Lemmy's The Head Cat project and...Lee Rocker, who played upright bass in the Cats. It's cool if you had to use Wikipedia.
Rush
We love Rush, but some people -- read: non-nerds -- who cannot tell you who was in the band besides Geddy Lee and Neil Peart. Um, guitarist Alex Lifeson is a person too, guys.
The Fugees
Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and the guy who did the "Ghetto Superstar" song from Bulworth, Pras Michel of course. We doubt Pras has a hard time in public anyhow.
Dinosaur Jr.
This seminal grungers were made up of J. Mascis, Lou Barlow, and drummer Murph, but you probably just wanted to say "that bald dude," which we get.
The Minutemen
Don't cheat. George Hurley drummed behind the late D. Boon and bassist Mike Watt for five years is all. While it's on our minds, be sure to check out We Jam Econo, an excellent documentary on the band.
Westside Connection
WC was in rap super-group Westside Connection with Ice Cube and Mack 10. We needed to check Wiki for that one ourselves, which is shameful.
Public Enemy
Contrary to pop-culture belief, Chuck D and Flava Flav aren't in fact the only members of Public Enemy. Professor Griff is there somewhere too. We think.
The Three Tenors
Oh, you know who Luciano Pavarotti is -- was -- and if you grew up in a cultured home, you know that Plácido Domingo was there too. But José Carreras ripped up shit with TTT too. Check out this Seinfeld episode so you don't feel so alone in your dumbness.
