It's tough being in love. It's tougher working with the one you love. Don't mix business and pleasure, folks. And mixing music and marriage? That's an even more volatile cocktail. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova of The Swell Season (and the hit indie film "Once") are hitting the road behind a new album. It will be their first full outing as friends. The two have now joined the ranks of former musical lovers like Whitney and Bobby. It's also a blow for Irish/Czech relations. The indie nobodies-turned-Oscar-somebodies found out that making music in front of an audience is a lot easier than making a relationship work in private.
In honor of the new Swell Season album ("Strict Joy" due October 27), I want to pay tribute to my favorite romantic music couples ever. Most of them beat the odds. A few have not. Some make me wonder, "What's he doing with her, anyway?"
Country's royal couple beat all the odds. Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash stayed together through Johnny's drug abuse, infidelity, and sickness. Plus, they survived some seriously cheesy '70s Christmas shows: "The Johnny Cash Christmas" specials. Any couple who can stay together through a "Frosty the Snow Man" sing-a-long with Roy Clark is all right with me.
Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson began recording together in 1964 as "Valerie & Nick." Throughout the '60s, Ashford & Simpson wrote and/or produced scores of Motown hits, including all but one of Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's duets. Along the way, they got married. They still perform and record together, proving that music-making can be good for a marriage.
While not as soulful as some other musical couples, Captain & Tennille have lasted longer than most. They had six gold singles between 1975 and 1979, including the uber-sexy "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Muskrat Love"; try playing those on your next date night! They also had a hit '70s TV variety show. Throughout it all, the Captain never took off the shades or the hat. I suppose that's what keeps them together. Kinda kinky.
Sonny Bono was a 27-year-old Phil Spector protege and Cher was a 16-year-old high school dropout when they met in 1962. By 1967 Sonny & Cher ruled the top of the charts with "I Got You Babe." Like every good musical couple, they had their own cheesy '70s TV variety program, but by 1975 Sonny & Cher's show, recording career, and marriage were all canceled. They made a public reconciliation on "The Late Show With David Letterman," singing their '67 hit (what they could remember of it, anyway).
For Springsteen fans, this is a problematic relationship. Sure, everyone was glad when the Boss broke up with that model he married in the '80s. But Patti crashed the all-boys E Street party and gets a little too much centerstage time at Springsteen shows (is anyone paying money to see her belt out "Rumble Doll?"). Still, they look better together at the mic than Bruce and Little Steve. Silvio's a little tough on the eyes.
Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon are godparents to a generation of alt-rockers who wish they could stay musically and romantically viable for half as long. The secret to their success has to be their thrashing onstage nightly. Any couple who can get their angst out at work must have a pretty mellow home life.
George Jones and Tammy Wynette were country music's first couple during their 1969-1975 marriage. They also lived a volatile lifestyle that rivaled most rock stars'. Drugs and booze were rampant, and Tammy spent many mornings chasing down George on his lawn mower, which he rode to the neighborhood bar the night before. Now, that's love.
John and Yoko are the gold standard for musical couples, except for the thousands of folks who blame her for breaking up the Beatles. Their codependence was legendary, and their body of shared work (including "Two Virgins" and "Double Fantasy") rivals that of any other singing spouses. Wisely, they actually sang very little together. With all due respect, Yoko is probably not the most accommodating of duet partners. It's gotta be easier singing with Paul.
This musical romance began in high school where Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were members of the Fritz Rabyne Memorial Band. They both dropped out of San Jose State, and Stevie waited tables and cleaned houses to support them. They probably have the most creatively successful breakup record in all of music. Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album, "Rumours," very publicly chronicled the demise of Buckingham and Nicks' relationship (as well as that of everyone else in the band).