[arvinjoar]

This is so true. My father took on a nightclub all by himself. It was a stupid move, he lost a lot of money doing that. What he was missing was a partner. Not only to lessen his work load, but also to keep him motivated.

This is the reason you see musicians take 5 year breaks, or even quitting music. They are lacking in motivation. Look at the band Queen, They are still making music and touring, but half the band has quit. Freddie Mercury died and John Deacon quit music altogether. What did John Deacon lose? His motivation. Brian May and Roger Taylor both had a lot of say in the bands creative process, and that process motivated them to continue, even after Freddie had passed away. Now, Deacon, he wasn't as involved in that process, and he was the one who quit.

[known]

"Not only to lessen his work load, but also to keep him motivated."

Advantages of doing http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?PairProgramming

[dustingetz]

yep, whole > sum

[wyclif]

Actually, John Deacon wrote one of Queen's biggest hits, "You're My Best Friend."

[thwarted]

Not sure what that has to do with anything, "You're my best friend" was released 21 years before Deacon retired.

[jacquesm]

It contradicts that he didn't have a say in the creative direction.

That may not have been true at the time the gp indicates though.

[arvinjoar]

John Deacon did write songs, so he was not completely out of the loop. But just look at their discography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_discography

John Deacon had a very small part in their total creative output, and so, his contributions to their creative development wasn't comparable to that of the other members.

[thwarted]

It doesn't contridict that Deacon didn't have a say in the creative direction: having written one song that was popular is not the same as having influence on much of the band's output. I don't know enough about Queen's history to say that Deacon did or did not have creative influence, but citing one song isn't support.