History Music / Faces

[[caption-width-right:350:Faces in 1970. From left to right: Music/RodStewart, [[Music/TheWho Kenney Jones]], [[Music/TheRollingStones Ronnie Wood]], [[Music/TheSmallFaces Ian McLagan]], WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse and [[Music/TheSmallFaces Ronnie Lane]].]]

They recorded four very popular albums and released a few hit singles, before encountering some internal dissension, with accusations that Stewart was keeping all of the best new material for his own solo career. Lane, who'd been one of the original founders of The Small Faces, quit in 1973. Tetsu Yamauchi took over on bass, but Lane's songwriting and singing capabilities were missed, and their studio output with Yamauchi was limited to two non-album singles. After an abortive attempt to record a fifth album, the band finally split up for good in 1975, spurred on by Stewart's decision to move to California and Wood making guest appearances with Music/TheRollingStones (he'd become a full member in 1976). [=McLagan=] kept busy as a sideman, including a stint with the Stones, while Jones went on to have one of the most challenging cases of ToughActToFollow when Music/TheWho chose him to replace the late Keith Moon on drums.

Noted for their influence on PunkRock and {{Britpop}}, the group was inactive for over thirty years in spite of several near reunions that never quite got the whole line-up back together. They finally reformed in 2009 with bassist [[Music/SexPistols Glen Matlock]] replacing the late Ronnie Lane (and [[Music/TheRollingStones Bill Wyman]], who had been filling in for previous reunions) and lead vocals were handled by Simply Red lead singer Mick Hucknall. Ian [=McLagan=] sadly died from a massive stroke on 3 December 2014, but this did not stop a reunion with Rod Stewart from happening in 2015, to wide critical acclaim.

* '''''[[Music/TheRollingStones Ronnie Wood]]''''' - guitar, vocals, harmonica, bass (1969–76, 1986, 1993, 2009–present)

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent:
** Ronnie Lane's vocal and songwriting contributions tend to be acoustic, CountryMusic-influenced songs with reflective lyrics.
** What ended up as their farewell single, "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything", is much lighter, bouncier and poppier than the typical Faces number, with a slightly {{Disco}}-ish rhythm and even strings, sounding more like Rod Stewart's solo work.

** "Angel" by The Music/JimiHendrix Experience

-->--"Stay with Me"

** "I'd Rather Go Blind" by Etta James

** "The Stealer" by Music/FreeBand

* BritishRockstar: Alongside such contemporaries as Music/TheWho and Music/LedZeppelin, they helped to codify this stereotype, especially as it related to SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll (although, while they weren't strangers to other substances, their drug of choice by a wide margin was alcohol) and HotelHellion tendencies. They were one of the first bands to start renting out a separate party suite at their hotels.

* BritishRockstar: Alongside their contemporaries Music/TheWho and Music/LedZeppelin, they helped codify this stereotype, especially when it came to SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll (though, while not strangers to other substances, their drug of choice by a wide margin was alcohol) and HotelHellion tendencies. They were one of the first bands to start renting out a separate party suite at their hotels.

* AscendedFanboy: Matlock was first turned on to music listening to the Faces and even played "Three-Button Hand Me Down" in his audition for the Music/SexPistols.

** ''A Nod is as Good as a Wink... to a Blind Horse''.

** "Wicked Messenger" by Music/BobDylan

** "Jealous Guy" by Music/JohnLennon
** "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Music/PaulMcCartney

** "Gettin' Hungry" by Music/TheBeachBoys

* TokenMinority: Tetsu Yamauchi, who'd moved from Japan to England in the latter part of TheSixties and played bass around the London scene for awhile before joining Free, was the very unlikely replacement for Ronnie Lane after his 1973 departure.[[note]]The band was originally interested in Andy Fraser, Yamauchi's predecessor in Free, but Free drummer Simon Kirke touted Yamauchi instead, and, needing to hire someone quick before their next road dates, they chose Yamauchi without ever meeting him in person or even having him audition. They were shocked to find out that he didn't speak much English.[[/note]]

* TokenMinority: Tetsu Yamauchi, who'd moved from Japan to England in the latter part of TheSixties and played bass around the London scene for awhile before joining Free, was the very unlikely replacement for Ronnie Lane after his 1973 departure.[[note]]The band was originally interested in Andy Fraser, Yamauchi's predecessor in Free, but Free drummer Simon Kirke touted Yamauchi instead, and, needing to hire someone quick before their next road dates, chose Yamauchi without ever meeting him in person or even an audition. They were shocked to find that he didn't speak much English.[[/note]]

** CantHoldHisLiquor: Tetsu Yamauchi, clearly out of his element, repeatedly went on stage borderline catatonic during his short run with the group and needed guidance from Stewart to manage the lifestyle.

* PackagedAsOtherMedium: In its original UK release, ''Long Player'' was made up to look like it was an old 78 RPM record in a yellowing sleeve, with a center-cut hole to display the label and Art Deco lettering. Unfortunately, Creator/WarnerBrosRecords in America must not have understood or liked this, so they substituted a similar, but much less interesting, package, made to look like brown leather, with a small band photo and the members' names listed on the front. The band hated the American cover. American CD versions have tended to use the UK art, but for some reason the ''You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything'' box set in 2015 went with a weird hybrid version using the American "leather" cover but using the LP label in the center instead of the band photo (and it was an actual center-cut hole in the vinyl release).

!! Associated Tropes:

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/faces_3501.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Faces in 1970. From left to right: Music/RodStewart, [[Music/TheWho Kenney Jones]], [[Music/TheRollingStones Ronnie Wood]], [[Music/TheSmallFaces Ian McLagan]], WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse and [[Music/TheSmallFaces Ronnie Lane]].]]

* TheAlcoholic: Seemingly a requirement for membership - this was a bunch who hurried through nationally televised live sets in order to make it to last call, after all.

* AllDrummersAreAnimals: Kenney Jones.

* PackagedAsOtherMedium: In its original UK release, ''Long Player'' was made up to look like it was an old 78 RPM record in a yellowing sleeve, with a center-cut hole and Art Deco lettering. Unfortunately, Creator/WarnerBrosRecords in America must not have understood or liked this, so they substituted a similar, but much less interesting, package, made to look like simulated brown leather, with a small band photo and the members' names listed on the front. The band hated the American cover.

* PackagedAsOtherMedium: In its original UK release, ''Long Player'' was made up to look like it was an old 78 RPM record in a yellowing sleeve, with a center-cut hole and Art Deco lettering. Unfortunately, Music/WarnerBrosRecords in America must not have understood or liked this, so they substituted a similar, but much less interesting, package, made to look like simulated brown leather. The band hated the American cover.