The Traveling Wilburys are the ultimate supergroup, probably. I mean, come on ... Dylan, Harrison, Orbison, Petty and Lynne? ... the best thing was, they did it with a wink (as George might've put it, "We did it for a laugh!"). No hype necessary.
Big People Jeff Carlisi (38 Special), guitarist and keyboard player Pat Travers (Pat Travers Band), vocalist and rhythm guitarist Derek St. Holmes (Ted Nugent), Drummer Liberty DeVitto (Billy Joel) and Bassist Ben Orr (The Cars). They spent two seasons touring playing their respective songs with St. Holmes covering the vocals on Carlisi's 38 Special songs. Their plans to write and record new material for their their third touring season was abandoned after Orr's death in late 2000. There isn't much concert footage of the them from their time together, but what does exist shows a pretty tight group that may have had some success. I'm not entirely sure if Pat Travers didn't drop out after the first season but I can't remember who replaced him.
I'm not sure how Band Aid, USA for Africa and Northern Lights have not been called out yet. I can't imagine any of those being topped.
Miles Davis Second Quintet. Nothing comes close. Wayne Shorter and Ron Carter were out and about, Herbie and Tony were really young, their performances/compositions/solos before Miles were all 5 stars performances. And if you need proof, take Four and More as their debut. Want some reassurance, listen to Live at the plugged Nickel. And today! you have in Wayne and Herbie two of our best active living composers, the most recorded bass player and late Tony Williams who made a big impact in jazz rock once he left Miles.
Wax! (I posted them in forgotten bands of the 80s thread the other day). But seriously Rockpile - one band with three record contracts, that's pretty super.
But they sure made up for it, with a very productive reunion. As far as I know, no other super (duper) group ever reunited and delivered the goods, like Asia did. They gave their fans three more studio albums and some great live albums for good measure.
Asia is still releasing albums, deluxes sets, live ones, touring, and more, and have been doing so since they started. Yes, they've had lineup changes. But they are still going on even now. later -1
There are two different Asia line ups touring these days. But no John Wetton, so neither are really authentic. Zen was referring to the reformation of the original line up, which was a pleasant suprise and very productive.
