Roger Daltrey recorded his first solo album in 1973, and, in subsequent years, the Who’s singer made several fine records – the McVicar soundtrack, Under a Raging Moon and Rocks in the Head.

But were audiences interested? Not really.

“I think people find it very

difficult to accept band members who have been in a band like the Who in a different capacity,”

Daltrey said in a telephone interview. “I think we all suffer from it. Pete (Townshend) suffers from it as well, to a certain extent. With us, it was like the Who or not at all.”

If anyone doubts Daltrey’s statement, check the bottom line. His current tour, a celebration of Who music called Daltrey

Sings Townshend, bombed in most markets when the tickets went on sale. In Indianapolis, Daltrey canceled his show – scheduled for tonight – after fewer than 500 tickets sold.

What Daltrey says is true, and we will call it Daltrey’s Rule: Once the public sees an artist in a certain way, it becomes extremely difficult to change that perception.

Over the years, only a handful of artists have left bands to become successful on their own. And when it comes to musicians who stay in bands and release solo albums, the ratio is worse.

The individual members of the Beatles all have or had successful solo careers, in large measure because they were Beatles. Neither John nor Paul nor George nor Ringo ever achieved the fame they had as part of the group. But that was a peak no one could reach.

How about the Rolling Stones? Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have released solid solo albums over the years – and Jagger’s Wandering Spirit disc from 1993 is better than anything he or the Stones have done since the 1970s. But fans have not embraced their individual efforts. Jagger’s most recent single, Sweet Thing, lasted only five weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, peaking at No 84.

Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia probably could fill 2,500 seat theaters if he embarked on another solo tour. Why should he? He and the Dead fill football stadiums.

Pink Floyd also sells out stadiums. But Roger Waters, the band’s principal songwriter, who left the band in 1984, has flopped as a solo act.

Part of the reason for this may be that while most bands have a die-hard following, the average fan doesn’t know the names of the individual band members.

Izzy Stradlin found this out when he left Guns N’ Roses in 1991. Although he made a terrific solo album, Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds, it barely dented the charts. He’s been quiet ever since. His replacement in GNR, Gilby Clarke, put out a solo album last week. The question still to be answered is whether anyone knows Clarke’s name or cares that he made his own record.

And then there’s the case of David Lee Roth, who committed career suicide when he quit Van Halen. It was the rock equivalent of Shelley Long leaving Cheers. Van Halen quickly replaced Roth with Sammy Hagar in 1985 and continues to roll on.

Meanwhile, Roth’s latest solo disc, Your Filthy Little Mouth, entered the charts at No. 78 the last week in March and fell to 144 the first week of April. In three weeks, the record disappeared entirely from the charts.

The list goes on. Vince Neil parachuted from Motley Crue and took not only his career but the band’s with him.

Country musician Radney Foster sold millions of records as part of Foster & Lloyd. His first solo album, Del Rio, Tx., 1959, didn’t come close to selling that well.

A hit for Brown

The hugely successful pop/R&B group New Edition splintered into four parts: Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant and Bell Biv DeVoe. Brown’s second solo album, Don’t Be Cruel, yielded a major hit, My Prerogative, and BBD’s Poison also was a monster, but that’s been about it.

See the accompanying story for even more examples.

Who’s been able to break the trend? Peter Gabriel, for one. The former singer of Genesis was nowhere – and neither was the band – when they parted ways in 1975. Gabriel realized his potential as a solo act. After a number of radio hits, he caught fire with Sledgehammer. Today, he makes the best music videos of anybody, fronts his own festival tour (WOMAD -the World of Music, Art and Dance) and is a leader in CD-ROM technology.

Meanwhile, Genesis also thrived. Phil Collins emerged from behind his drums to sing, and, within seven years, the band was consistently headlining arenas.

Speaking of Collins, he’s among the few acts who’s had a career in and out of his group. That may be because the highly stylized pop he does as a solo artist is significantly different from the kind of rock music Genesis plays. The same can be said for guitarist Mike Rutherford, whose solo band, Mike + the Mechanics, had several hits with a pop sound that’s nothing like that of Genesis.

Steve Winwood is another notable exception to Daltrey’s Rule.

Winwood did reasonably well singing for the Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith and Traffic. But Winwood scored his biggest hits – Higher Love, Roll With It, While You See a Chance – solo.

Faulty reasoning

“You certainly can’t play one off against the other,” Winwood says. “I don’t think you can say, `Well, loads of people bought Traffic albums, therefore loads of people will buy my solo albums.’ Or, `Loads of people went to see Traffic, so loads of people will come and see my solo stuff.’ “

But loads of people didn’t see Traffic or buy its albums. The band had a comfortable following before breaking up in 1974.

Winwood took seven years to score a hit, 12 years to reach No. 1. So persistence may be the key.

Rod Stewart did well with both the Jeff Beck Group and the Faces; better on his own. Ozzy Osbourne has done better on his own than he did with Black Sabbath. Paul Simon did extremely well in Simon & Garfunkel and solo. So did Sting, first with the Police and now alone.

But that’s not many successful solo careers.

So what have we learned here? Stay where you are. If you’re in a group, it’s possible to make it on your own. But it’s not likely.