Six degrees of Golden Smog? Now here’s a cool Web site for rock-music nerds, www.bandtoband.com. I played this very game as a teen, trying to draw lines from one rock group to another by the musicians they’ve shared. It’s the musical equivalent of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.”
Until I alerted the fellows who run this Web site, they had overlooked the connections from Sonic Youth to Loose Fur to Wilco, and hence to many alt-country artists and Chicago underground bands, not to mention Big Star. It’s fun to see the convoluted chains that connect some groups. It’s 16 steps from the Allman Brothers Band to Wilco, with Guns N Roses as one of the stops along the way. Thank goodness for “super groups.”
Many, many more bands are waiting to be added to this fabulous site. Contact these guys yourself if you have any suggestions, but make sure you read their stringent rules. They were very receptive to my submission.