Famous for not being famous

EVERYONE�knows who Pete Best is, even if they wouldn't recognise him quite as easily as the man who replaced him. Pete Best was the drummer in The Beatles, until Brian Epstein eased him out to allow the band's favoured Ringo Starr to sit down on his drum stool.

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Who knows Tony Chapman, apart from his family and close friends There you are. Rock mega-stars The Rolling Stones will know of Mr Chapman, if their memories stretch that far back. He was their drummer before he was similarly shifted to make way for one Charlie Watts who was seen as the preferred option.

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Genesis have had no fewer than three 'Pete Bests' in their history, and by spooky coincidence, they were drummers as well. Chris Stewart lasted just one album with the band, but his parents decided school was more important, and Chris was persuaded to agree,�the wisdom of such a career move is something he has had a long time to consider.

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Likewise John Mayhew who was around for the early 'Foxtrot' years, but denied a multi-million pound band/solo career, that particular reward was picked up by former child actor Phil Collins, who was in the proverbial right place at the right time.

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Drummers do seem to figure among the more expendable members of bands past and present. Billy O'Connor may well think he could have put a better beat behind Debbie Harry's vocals in Blondie's distinguished catalogue of pop gems, but Clem Burke seems to have had other ideas.

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Tony Kenning was convinced that pop metal super-stardom was his for the taking. It was for the band, but when Def Leppard became multi-platinum radio-friendly millionaires, Tony was no longer on the payroll.

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The list goes on. Bob Brunning is happy to have been a teacher, and even wrote a biography of the band for whom he played bass in the early days. Whether or not he harbours any resentment towards John McVie, the 'Mac' in Fleetwood Mac who replaced him, remains a discreet item of pop history divulged only to family and friends.

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On the opposite side of the musical spectrum, Wally Nightingale may have had a fine voice, and bags of charisma, but he wasn't anti-everything enough for Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren who shifted him out of the limelight to make way for the more de rigueur personality of Johnny Rotten.

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The Jam was originally a four piece, but guitarist Steve Brookes left the band just before they signed to Polydor and began life as pop innovators par excellence.