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I was talking to someone who's father hails from Cork and had visited Cork many times. He claims to be a rock fan and had never heard of Rory Gallagher ....
Incredible String Band?
Trembling Bells?
I was very into The Almighty for a while. Superb live. Never had the success they deserved I thought.
I also quite like The Primitives, The Darling Buds and Salad..in a poptastic retro kind of way.
Menswear were pretty good too.
The all-***in mighty! Weird career, just always that one step away from getting succesful, just always that slightly adjacent but not quite what's selling.
MSP
Full MemberThese are tracks that did pretty well on release, but I never hear any more other than my own playlists.
reef, place your hands
Reef are doing pretty well just now- saw them a few nights back at an absolutely rammed QMU in Glasgow with a rapturous crowd. New album I think comes out this week? Much swampier/rock and rollier than they were.
Also, unexpectedly Jack Bessant now looks like this- he's only just turned 50!
Underneath What - What is it. Rock goodness
Be Bop Deluxe - Ships in the Night
From the Sunburst Finish Album
Forgotten by lots but still gets a spin on my turntable now and again ( found a copy at a record sale a few years
Anyone remember Therapy?
I think I was at this. Got given a guest pass to Sonisphere and they were the best band I sort of remember seeing. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9tDzzkxnn5M
Bomb the Bass - Clear
Dag - Righteous
Malfunkshun - Return to Olympus
I brought them up on the “only known for one track” thread. The Wannadies. Such clever and funny songs. That scandi sense of irony, sometimes sharper than our own. And I nominate “Stars” or “Combat Honey” as the tracks to try if you’re sick of the bloody “You And Me Song.”
EDIT: ZoMfG, they’re touring in October!!!!!! @Northwind, I think maybe you’re a fan - they’re doing dates in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Wilt: My Medicine. Heard a track on a free Kerrang compilation CD and love it.
Gonna have a browse through this thread later as a lot of totally unknown stuff.
jamesoz
Full MemberAnyone remember Therapy?
I should do, I saw them live in Glasgow last night!
deadlydarcy
Free MemberI brought them up on the “only known for one track” thread. The Wannadies. Such clever and funny songs
Hit is miles better than You and Me Song! And thanks for the headsup about the gigs, I'd no idea!
Hit is miles better than You and Me Song! And thanks for the headsup about the gigs, I’d no idea!
Yeah, I went on a bit of a Spotify trip through their songs after posting. To be fair, I hadn’t listened properly in ages. So many good tracks just on Bagsy Me. Looks like there’s a new album due in June. I had no idea either. I thought they’d packed up for good. Something to look forward to later in the year anyway - they’re doing a date in Brizzle as well.
I saw the Cosmic Rough Riders supporting The Black Crowes at the Barras about 20 years ago
I saw the Cosmic Rough Riders a few times. Upstairs at the Varsity in Wolverhampton, Ronnie Scott’s in Brum and another venue I forget.
The Black Crowes I count as my first proper gig at the Aston Villa Leisure Centre in ‘92, supported by (The) Verve.
I was very into The Almighty for a while. Superb live. Never had the success they deserved I thought.
That image was painted about 4” tall on on of our 6th form common room walls.
I remember one of their albums (Maybe their debut…?) having a bonus live disc, that started with the memorable line to the audience: “Are you ****ing ready?”.
I wasn’t a fan, but there was a small group of people I knew, devoted to them at the time.
Becket! Got that on C90! Similar vein, Back Street Crawler. Leather face and Aaron Dull 11. Also Jeff Beck Truth with Rod Stewart on vocals. Cripes .Groundhogs Wishbone Ash and Taste.
Sorry, bit pissed .
All About Eve
My contribution is Live Wire - started off as a pub band in late 1970s and issued 3 albums before disbanding in early 1980s. They had a brilliant bassist,Jeremy Meek, who really stands out on tracks like Paid in Smiles from their album pick it up.
It’s strange how so many bands can be really talented but for who knows what reason they just never make it.
Electric Soft Parade - Holes in the wall.
I remember them getting quite a bit of recognition and a Mercury nomination for this debut album, the second album The American Adventure flopped commercially, but was actually really good.
Buffalo Tom - let me come on over. One of the more underrated American alternative rock bands.
JJ72 - JJ72. Had an interesting sound and vocal style, but only made two albums.
Silverchair - Diorama
They were massive in Australia, but I think seen as a teenage Nirvana tribute act over hear. All of their albums have a different sound and are favourites of mine.
Live - Throwing copper. This has been mentioned several times and is a fantastic alternative rock album. I enjoyed all their other albums to.
I’d forgotten how much I loved Swervedriver
I saw them play about three years ago, I’d forgotten how much I hated that dull drone
Ha! I love a dull drone, me. 😂
Electric Soft Parade – Holes in the wall
I remember playing that album non stop for quite a while. My gf at the time thought it was well depressing.
Yet more evidence that depressing music makes me happy 😀
Pale Fountains / Shack
Felt
Grant Lee Buffalo
Catherine Wheel
Gene
Lemon Jelly
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Inspiral Carpets
I don't know if they're forgotten because they're regularly on my playlist, but
Dinosaur Jr
St Etienne
the latter was on almost continual loop in my house in the 90's. And as it happens, I saw a van from this firm yesterday!
www.hobartpaving.co.uk
Some that I still listen to:
Faith no more - Angel Dust
Senseless things - First of too many
Sugar - Copper Blue
KLF
Leftfield
Anything by EMF
A recent one that I think was overlooked but is a truly brilliant album:
Editors - In Dream.
More forgotten than many of the above-mentioned records.
Is it allowed to like artists/music not that are not massively popular, or is that too ‘niche’ and therefore automatically ‘pretentious’?
TLDR
I wonder at at times like these what and why are the ‘rules’ of liking music? I like making music and learning about music. I love to listen to music and have since a young child (about 8 yrs old I had my first tape player), but most of all I only like music that I like.
I also played in bands for half of my adult life. Love music. Etc.
I like music that makes me feel good I like music that makes me want to dance I like music that speaks to me I like music that relaxes me I like music that is meticulously conducted, I like music that is exuberant and spontaneous and naive, I like music from this country or that country I like rock music electronic music I like classical music I like dance music I like fusion music I like pop music I like world music I like experimental music, ‘old’ music, ‘new’ music, music with lyrics music without lyrics, music with singers, music without singers, ambient music, etc etc it all depends on whether I like hearing this or that piece of music (or not)
This entirely open approach (not one I’ve chosen) has long made me think that I’m somewhere on the ‘spectrum’ because popularity of a musician or piece plays such a small part in whether or not I like listening to something. OTOH any notion that I should or should not like this or that music confuses me to the core. Music is far more complex to my taste than say, sprouts, yet nobody thinks I’m being pretentious because I like parsnips instead of sprouts (I actually like both but you get the point)
So in real life I learned not to discuss specific artists/music I like because I will most often be judged by strange subjective metrics which AFAICS bear no relation to why I like this music or that music.
Yet in threads such as these (and other forums) I read (and from listening to people) it seems that popularity/fame of an artist or popularity of a certain type of ‘brand’ of music holds a very big place in the hearts and esteem of many (most?) and popularity seems to some large degree to inform others as to whether music is listenable and/or likeable and/or socially acceptable?
If I do like something popular (ie played a lot and known by everyone) it’s usually just because its been made available to my ears and I like the tone, words, rhythm, meter, instrumentation, even ‘message’, and not because of any celebrity status of the artist - because essentially I’m listening to music - not listening to a product or brand.
back to the present - I just laughed out really loud because Kae Tempest is on the radio and I love this song but can hear Mrs P in the background shouting
“Cockney trollop”
and that she ‘only like the guest vocals’ which for some reason made me laugh so hard I can’t even drink my coffee.
Long live music. Even the 9/10ths of it which is ‘hidden’!
Oh yes, OP - my vote today is ‘Inbetweenies’ by Ian Dury And the Blockheads
Pale Fountains / Shack
Another vote for the above.
Turin Brakes.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - especially Howl.
Another vote for
Brian Jonestown Massacre too.
This is a great thread!
Gene - where are they now
Often ask myself that. Not of Gene, I know what happened to them, but of former 'friends'.
Where are they now is a great track, good call
My vote is The Cooper Temple Clause - See this through and leave (debut album). Late 90's noughties. Saw them live quite a few times, good rocky electro indie noise. Look up song 'who needs enemies'.
Others of note
The horrors - primary colours
Von bondies - lack of communication
The vines - highly evolved (check out their cover of outkasts ms jackson on one of their singles).
Pigface - Satellite
Skinny Puppy - Killing Game
Plug - Drum and bass For Papa.
Cat Rapes Dog - Moosehair Underwear!
Good shout re. Bomb The Bass's Clear album above. I was thinking of Empire as I was scrolling through.
Was going to say Grant Lee Buffalo (beaten to it)...so, Grand Drive had a few good songs out about 20 years ago but never heard since.
Some menories being dredged up here of so many long forgotten bands, great thread!
I'd like to add "Galashiels gift to the world" Dawn Of The Replicants debut album, One Head, Two Arms, Two legs. As for being forgotten, I'm not sure they were well known enough to even be forgotten about but that album is indeed a gem.
Grand Drive were a fantastic band, and Danny (Wilson) is still recording and touring. Saw them supporting the Jayhawks in Bristol many years ago and before the Jayhawks came on we realised that that Danny & Julian (Danny's brother) were standing next to us; had a good chat and they were clearly big Jayhawks fans.
Saw Danny a few years ago at our local arts centre. It's a small venue so at the end of gigs you can normally have a chat to the artists. My wife was a big fan so I embarrassed her by introducing her to Danny. She said how much she loved a particular Grand Drive track, at which point Danny disappears and returns with an acoustic guitar and proceeds to serenade my wife with her beloved track. Just brilliant.
Not completely obscure, but like joy division there’s an absence of duff tracks:
6music did a feature on this bloke a few years ago.
Worth exploring his solo work…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jody_Porter
In the middle of ripping my CD collection, so this thread is a dangerous place for me to be...
Everything by The Go! Team, but Thunder, Lightning, Strike if you only want one album (and its an obvious cut, but Ladyflash is the go to track).
Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant by Belle And Sebastian. The Model is an amazing thing.
Skunk Anansie. Twisted (Everyday Hurts).
McAlmont & Butler. Yes. Always in my top 5 pop singles ever. Stunning vocals.
Ride. Seagull. Best. Album. Opening. Track. Ever.
That Petrol Emotion. Sensitize. Brilliant, slightly skewed pop.
Purity. Bullets For Words.
I'll throw in the Blue Aeroplanes, the Bristol based band with the crazy Polish dancer Wotjec. Never quite hit the heights they deserved.
Well nobody appears to have mentioned The Only Ones, so I will.
The Quads - There must be thousands. Great one ‘hit’ wonder.
The Colours Out of Time - Rock Section. Still one of my go to blasts of noise. The closest anyone has got to channelling the spirit of Search and Destroy.
Good Lord - page 4 and no-one has mentioned the Long Ryders -
Gachet Free Member
Live – Throwing copper. This has been mentioned several times and is a fantastic alternative rock album. I enjoyed all their other albums to.
I discovered them through the massive amounts of radio play they got with their Throwing Copper singles. Saw them live in the 2000s, maybe touring Songs from Black Mountain, they were pretty good. At that point label pressure seemed to be affecting their albums a bit, their 2000s albums felt more mainstream and less interesting than their earlier offerings.
It all seemed to go weird for them at some point after I saw them, the singer seemed to go on an ego trip and the rest of the band fell out with him (despite them all having been mates since high school). There was a bunch of litigation, and the band went off to do another album under a different name with a different singer, then another Live album with a different singer, while the original singer had a bit of a solo career.
In the past few years the band and the singer appear to have buried the hatchet and reunited, but I don't know if they've done any new music since that happened.
Round at my folks helping them clear their loft of my old teenage junk and spotted a CD of the Llama Farmers. Still have a soft spot for them and Yellow is my favourite song.
JJ72 – JJ72. Had an interesting sound and vocal style, but only made two albums.
They made three. Record company buggering around with releasing the third precipitated their break up.
I wonder at at times like these what and why are the ‘rules’ of liking music? I like making music and learning about music. I love to listen to music and have since a young child (about 8 yrs old I had my first tape player), but most of all I only like music that I like.
There shouldn’t be any ‘rules’, only music you like, and music you don’t like, or possibly are completely indifferent to, which in my case is practically everything that gets played on Radio One and every British commercial radio station. I know whereof I speak, because now I’m in the workshop at work, I’m forced to listen to whatever happens to be on the radio, which is usually Radio One, and it’s sodding tedious, I genuinely cannot tell one artist from another, except they’ve been playing this exciting new bands latest single, ‘Chaise Lounge’, by Wet Leg - which 6Music was playing months ago!
I have a quote from Aldous Huxley tattooed on my arm, “After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music”, which sums up my attitude to music; there are loads of popular and highly regarded bands and artists who I just don’t like, mostly just because there’s a quality to a voice that just doesn’t appeal to me, it’s as simple as that. Having said that, there have been plenty who I didn’t like, but then grew to really appreciate, like Richard Thompson, and others, who I’m no longer enjoying, like Black Sabbath.
Anyway, as I’ve usually got my phone on shuffle, there’s always something that pops up that makes me think of this thread, as well as on the radio while I’m commuting and several recently in particular, like:
Black Mountain
Pretty Girls Make Graves
The Colorblind James Experience
The Watchmen
Miranda Sex Garden
The Civil Wars
Husker Dü
The Delgados
Mudhoney
The Dears
Sunny Day Sets Fire
This Mortal Coil
Gnidrolog
The Groundhogs
The Shirts
Black Moth
It’s too late to go digging around to try to find videos for all those, but if they stir up a spot of, “bloody hell, I’d forgotten them!”, then great.
Glad that someone not only remembered Beckett, but has a cassette! 😳
I’ll throw in the Blue Aeroplanes, the Bristol based band with the crazy Polish dancer Wotjec. Never quite hit the heights they deserved.
They still do the occasional gig, usually a Christmas one at The Fleece in Bristol, ‘cos they own it!
Yesterday I pulled out all my old records from storage and sorted them. Found a fair few from a band called Moose, uk 90's shoegaze stuff, so they are getting a spin today. Hadn't totally forgot about them, I think I have one track on a playlist somewhere, but I would appear to have bought an album and a number of 12" records bitd. Hidden gem category might be pushing it though.
I’ll throw in the Blue Aeroplanes, the Bristol based band with the crazy Polish dancer Wotjec. Never quite hit the heights they deserved.
They own The Fleece in Bristol! They do a gig there around Christmas every year.
@p7eaven - there’s nothing odd about how you approach and appreciate music, it’s exactly the same as me. I can’t understand people who find music they like in their teens and twenties, then just never move on! Discovering new music is almost obsessive with me, and I’m not restricted to any particular genre, although, having said that I’m not a fan of jazz, although I do like jazz-influenced music, like a lot of early Prog, and bands like Steely Dan and Pentangle. Not keen on most current pop, as played on Radio 1, Kiss, and other commercial radio, and Country and Western.
The early years of BBC 6Music introduced me to a lot of Canadian artists and bands that I never knew existed, all I knew of Canadian musicians was Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and one or two others, so discovering the likes of Stars, Metric, Broken Social Scene, Feist, The Postal Service, Arcade Fire, The Dears, The Stills, and very recently I’ve belatedly discovered The Most Serene Republic.
Then there’s Death Cab For Cutie, named after a Smiths song, and Pretty Girls Make Graves, also named after a Smiths song.
Other recent discoveries are Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band, Sinéad O Brien, and Pit Pony, and DakhaBrakha, a Ukrainian folk quartet.
Some more little known bands and artists I really like -
Little Green Cars
Dubstar
Amyl and The Sniffers
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Andrew Bird
Bellatrix
Black Moth
Blonde Readhead
The Cardigans
Found a fair few from a band called Moose, uk 90’s shoegaze stuff, so they are getting a spin today. Hadn’t totally forgot about them, I think I have one track on a playlist somewhere, but I would appear to have bought an album and a number of 12″ records bitd. Hidden gem category might be pushing it though.
Ha! I’ve seen Moose, not the band, but the bloke who gave the band their name. He’s now in a band called Piroshka, with his wife Miki Berenyi from Lush, Justin Welch, drummer with Elastica, (also with the reformed Lush in 2015), and Michael Conroy, bassist with Modern English. Seen them a couple of times, they’ve got a couple of albums out on Bella Union. Saw Lush three times back in the 90’s, and three times in 2015.
Had a browse through the cd's tonight and found a disc from a band called Top, seems they didn't do much after the album but I'll give it a whirl also. I don't think it will be in the hidden gem category either.
Sounds amazing if you enjoy taking a stroll around midnight:
U.S. of indie:
Television the twin guitar band to rule them all
Ozric Tentacles. Was at Glastonbury 1993 the only big music festival I ever went to. They weren't on my radar that much had them on cassette that only got played from time to time. This hot weather though makes me want to listen 🙂
The Darling Buds was one group I liked a lot. I also think that Reef and Feeder were very underrated and did some great stuff.
@jivehoneyjive Spin Doctors are a good shout, did you see the lockdown video they did?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPa0CiWeoOI
This thread inspired me to dig out some old cassettes. Some Holy Toledos take me back to Christchurch in the early 90's.
I came across David Holmes' Let's get Killed whilst thumbing through my record collection a few weeks ago. I'd forgotten how good it is.
This feeling - Puressence
Only Forever was a pretty damn good album
I dip in and out of this regularly
This popped up on my Stotfiy play list yesterday
That David Holmes album is an absolute gem…as is ‘XCNN’ by XCNN and I’d be massively surprised if more than one person has ever heard of them.
I can’t understand people who find music they like in their teens and twenties, then just never move on!
And then post on Facebook about how good music basically ended in 1990, and it's all crap these days.
That said I might have a listen to the Darling Buds in a minute, saw them a few times back in the day 🙂
c_g approves of Johnny Winter.
choppersquad - XCNN is a fantastic album. Also it was recorded at a studio I was working at in Huddersfield
^^^ Excellent!
Will be cranking up 'Young Stupid And White' at work tomorrow.
I’d be massively surprised if more than one person has ever heard of them.
Be surprised. I've still got the CNN singles and the XCNN album 🙂
^^ Me not heard of them. I find that odd considering I know of Tim Bricheno from All about Eve & the Sisters of Mercy (although I'd fallen out out love with the sisters by the time Tim joined).. I'll give them a listen.
[i]Tim Bricheno[/i]
Oh yeah, he's got a writing credit n most of the songs. Surprised cos I couldn't stand All About Eve. (Or the Sisters of Mercy.)
How about from a few years later, the lovely aggro of Earl Brutus. One of the best sleeves ever:
[img] https://tinyurl.com/mwt3stph [/img]
https://youtu.be/yi_mTvH4HMI
Ere you, you think you're something you!
while we're rockin
Ah shit.. just found out Cathal Coughlan died in May 🙁
Saw Fatima Mansions at the tiny Joiners. Blew me 'ead off. RIP
Death Cab For Cutie, named after a Smiths song
or even a Bonzo Dog song
Screaming trees. I completely forgot about them but on the revisit, absolutely awesome.
BR
JeZ
Random 90s dance:
Espiritu, Los Americanos
@The-Beard - just noticed your post about Sandy Dillon, who I’d never heard of. Downloaded The Electric Chair after a quick listen to the title track, and your comparison to Tom Waits is spot on. I may be downloading more of her stuff in the future, I’m a huge, long-time fan of Tom, since I was given a white label copy of Closing Time.
Taking advantage of my first of five days off, and lounging out in the garden under a big sunshade with my new headphones on and my phones music library on shuffle, one of this bands songs popped up, which reminded me of the first song of theirs I heard, on 6Music:
I noticed a mention of The Incredible String Band, who could be described as ‘quirky’, and that reminded me of String Driven Thing. They had a single out in 1973 which I loved to bits, it got a lot of radio play, but didn’t get anywhere. Then it became a chart hit covered by some teeny bopper band who wore baggy trousers with lots of tartan… 😖
Television the twin guitar band to rule them all
Damned right! I saw them in Bristol on the Marquee Moon tour, supported by Blondie and The Cortinas, a Bristol Band.
Seen them a couple of times since, once in London, and again in Bristol - they do seem to have very extended breaks between tours.
Or indeed albums! I believe they’re playing Cardiff at some point in the future. It would be nice if a new album surfaced sometime…
or even a Bonzo Dog song
Bugger, yes, you’re right, I keep forgetting that! A very unlikely band to get a band name from, especially from that part of North America. Apparently it just started as a solo project by Ben Gibbard, but proved successful enough to expand into a band. Something he’s got a habit of doing, see The Postal Srvice
A very unlikely band to get a band name from, especially from that part of North America.
they perform the song in the Beatles 'Magical Mystery Tour' film (McCartney was a fan and produced 'I'm the Urban Spaceman' under a pseudonym) so its a song you'd be likely to come across as a Beatles fan rather than a Bonzo one.
Earl Brutus…..now there’s an awesome band from the past.
Can I also add Scarfo to the list especially 'Cosmonaut No 7'.
The wait is over. Available now on cd for about £12, or £3.99 on iTunes: