Were quite handy

Trio?

:)

... < duck> you could always form Rush < /duck>

The Thompson Twins? ...only joking!

...it's The Big Three: the band The Beatles could have been (or who could have been the Beatles etc etc):

did some good stuff back in the day.

[sic]

Also, Eels as a three-piece certainly made a surprisingly mahoossive noise playing live. That's got to be a good sign (my musician friends called it 'tight' playing).

The first trio that came into my mind was this one:

When this photo was taken, Paul Motian still had more than 50 years of great jazz left to play. Scott LaFaro, sadly, only had a few months.

and this one really stands the test of time - great trio.

Anyone who doubts 80s music listen to this. Or let your kids and ask their verdict.

as endorsed by John Peel

None of them could sing, play or really do anything at the time but let's face it Wylie, McCulloch and Cope isn't a bad lineup. There's a brilliant Wikipedia entry about what happened after the Crucial Three split up after six weeks:

After the Crucial Three, Julian Cope and Pete Wylie formed The Nova Mob, a conceptual band named after a gang mentioned in William Burroughs' novel 'Nova Express'. Recruiting punk friend Griff and future Siouxsie and the Banshees's drummer Budgie, the Nova Mob were goaded into headlining at Liverpool's top punk club, Eric's. The show was a disaster according to observers and Budgie left to join Big in Japan, at which point the band split up. Julian Cope briefly formed an experimental group called The Hungry Types, and then formed Uh? with Ian McCulloch and McCulloch's school friend Dave Pickett. McCulloch left after the band's first and only gig. Cope and McCulloch formed their last band A Shallow Madness in early 1978, along with organist Paul Simpson and Dave Pickett, now on drums.

The Pete Frame Rock Family Tree on the late-seventies Liverpool scene is one of the best

Before he went solo were a formidable threesome.

The little known trio Elvis, Scotty and Bill also spring to mind.

I was listening to this out in the car, and here it is

.. wearin the same bass weejuns as they did at prep school probably .. Oooooooooh political!

Not in the traditional sense anyway. I give you:

Primus
Motorhead

And someone who can sing:

Crowded House (pre-Woodface)

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion:

And The Muffs (originally a quartet, but a trio here):

Cabaret Voltaire

Necks

Husker Du

Minutemen then Firehose

Galaxie 500

Dinosaur Jr

Low

And reggae is chockers with superb trios including -

Black Uhuru, Mighty Diamonds, Congos, Culture, Heptones, Techniques, Wailing Souls, Abyssinians, Mighty Threes, Merger.

ROBIN TROWER - Bridge Of Sighs (1974 UK TV Appearance)

and Placebo.

... Van der Graaf Generator!

or... the old look Soft Machine?

I'll nominate The Police. A seriously top band with some wonderful moments.

Edit: Oops just read the OP properly so I will second the nomination for The Police

De la Soul
Run DMC
Beastie Boys

Around the same time, G Love and Special Sauce were an interesting trio. As were Morphine. Twin saxes, drums and a two-stringed bass have to be unique as a set of instruments.

("Bright Yellow Gun")

Funboy Three

Dirty Three

Dudley Moore Trio

St Etienne