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  1. #1
    Forum Regular nobody's Avatar
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    Who are your personal ignored/underrated favorites?

    We all have our personal favorites that maybe didn't get the critical accolades, or didn't sell that many records, or both. So, go ahead and list a couple groups or artists that you think deserved to get more attention from somebody. Here's a couple of mine...

    Duane Eddy
    Duane's "twangy" guitar was behind a string of hits, including Rebel Rouser, Ramrod and more, but somehow it seems like his name seldom comes up. He was making great instrumental, guitar based records in the 50s, and his 1958 debut LP was full of hits and near misses and free of much of the filler that often populated LPs of the day. Maybe his reputation suffers as he never really did much to add variety to his sound, outside of adding more commercial backgrounds, but sometimes something that just plain sounds good is good, and Duane's guitar always sounded damn good, finding a mellow groove mixed with rockabilly style.

    Well, I was gonna list a couple more, but my phone's ringing...maybe I'll be back later...

    You guys go ahead...

  2. #2
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    a few

    Monster Magnet - these guys just flat out rock yet don't get a whole lot of credit or recognition. Space Lord was basically their 15 minutes of fame.

    Clutch - another band that rocks. granted, they have a dedicated following, but will probably play the same, smaller sized venues the rest of their careers. they are a great live band.

    Fu Manchu - anybody ever heard of them? great stoner rock/california rock/skate rock, whatever you want to call it. I think they are known more on the West Coast.


    I'll probably have a few more later

  3. #3
    Forum Regular BarryL's Avatar
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    here's a few

    Quote Originally Posted by nobody
    We all have our personal favorites that maybe didn't get the critical accolades, or didn't sell that many records, or both. So, go ahead and list a couple groups or artists that you think deserved to get more attention from somebody.

    David Mead. I love this singer/songwriter. He's got a voice that falls between Paul McCartney and David Gates, and writes great four minute pop tunes that are a bit on the sappy side.

    The late great Harry Chapin, dead now for 23 years!

    A great unusual voice is Mary Fahl of The October Project. Her latest solo effort is pretty good, but you should check out The October Project.

    On the jazz side, I can't get enough of Claire Martin. She put out two CDs in 2004 on Linn Records out of the U.K. Well worth the mail-order. Both are SACD.

  4. #4
    Dubgazer -Jar-'s Avatar
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    That's crazy, I've seen Clutch open for Monster Magnet,

    I've seen Fu Manchu open for Clutch..

    but I'm pretty sure I've not seen Monster Magnet and Fu Manchu together. But I feel like I have.

    I even saw Clutch open for Voivod once.. this was back on Voivod's OUTER LIMITS tour. Imagine that. I think the first band was Damn the Machine. Man did they suck. Clutch rocked, but back then they were more of a Helmet-influenced hardcore band. Then Neil started letting his hair grow and he wrote "Space Grass".... I think I saw Cluch open for Korn. No, maybe it was just that they played the CLUTCH album on the PA before Korn's set. It was pretty amazing how all the kids were singing along with EVERY WORD. But they weren't destined for nu-rock stardom.

    Another great band from that era is Nebula. Basically 2/3rds of Fu Manchu left to form their own band, which is Nebula. They're a bit more psychedelic than Fu Manchu, but just as rocking.

    -jar
    If being afraid is a crime we'll hang side-by-side,
    at the swingin' party down the line..


    The Replacements

  5. #5
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    Guadalcanal Diary. Their first two albums evoke a time and a place for me like no one else. They typified that hard jangle-pop sound of the 80s, blending an REM-like sense of melody with solid songcraft, witty lyrics and wickedly dark humor. "Watusi Rodeo" might just be my favorite single, ever.
    Mr. MidFi
    Master of the Obvious

  6. #6
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    nice Jar!!!

    I'm very familiar with Nebula, glad to see someone else is as well!!!

    sounds like you have seen some nice shows. I saw all of the bands you mentioned, just not together.

    Speaking of Helmet, they could make this thread....

  7. #7
    very clever with maracas Davey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr MidFi
    Guadalcanal Diary. Their first two albums evoke a time and a place for me like no one else. They typified that hard jangle-pop sound of the 80s, blending an REM-like sense of melody with solid songcraft, witty lyrics and wickedly dark humor. "Watusi Rodeo" might just be my favorite single, ever.
    Did you ever report around here on the Rhino reissues? Just curious how good a job they did.

  8. #8
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    Split Enz.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Davey
    Did you ever report around here on the Rhino reissues? Just curious how good a job they did.
    Before the Rhino reissues came out, some indie label put out Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man and Jamboree on a single disc. That was the first time Jamboree was ever offered on ceedee, so I had to snap it up. Since then, Rhino put out major reissue packages of WITSOTBM and 2X4, but... a) they're expensive, and b) I still don't think they've done anything with Jamboree.

    Anyway, I can't tell you anything about the Rhino discs. The two-albums-on-one-disc release is not a sonic improvement over anything...certainly not compared to my recollections of long-lost vinyl...but it's a terrific collection of songs and well worth checking out. "Why Do the Heathen Rage?", "Michael Rockefeller" and "Dead Eyes" alone are worth the $15 price tag.
    Mr. MidFi
    Master of the Obvious

  10. #10
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    Ignored and underrated? For me the answer would be Toy Matinee. Pop/rock sound to it, with shades of Toto, Steely Dan, and even Pink Floyd (on the title song). They released one cd around 1990, excellent musicianship, great hooks, and intelligent and at times biting lyrics make this a regular in my rotation. How did this not top the charts? Highly recommended.

  11. #11
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    several

    Wild Swans: Bringing Home the Ashes,
    This out-of-print CD fetches $70+ all the time on eBay. ......Reason: it's worth it!
    Take the political awareness of the Smiths (minus the cynical side), add a touch of REM's melodies and consider such influences as Joy Division, Chemeleons and U2 and you have one of my Top 10 favorite CD's of the (late) 80's..

    Far East Family Band: Nipponjin
    Anyone who likes Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and Animals should have this CD. Simply stunning Japanese band (mostly sung in English) with instruments that easily rival anything PF ever did...

  12. #12
    Can a crooner get a gig? dean_martin's Avatar
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    For me it would have to be Young American Primitive's self-titled debut and apparently only release. I've heard of a second album getting pulled immediatley after release, but have not confirmed this.

    YAP is from a genre that I know next to nothing about. It's on the trance side of electronica, but it's one of those albums I can put in late at night or especially during a long night drive and it takes me somewhere from start to finish. I've come across a couple of DJ compilations like Sasha & Digweed's Northern Exposure Vol. 1 that have cuts from YAP, but it's really an album that needs to be listened to all the way through. I've also run across covers of a couple of tracks by a duo called something like Dorfmeister and somebody - like I said, I'm not a big fan of the genre as a whole, just the YAP album.

    Anyhow, it's worth looking for online or in used bins. I don't think it's still in print.

  13. #13
    Indifferentist Slosh's Avatar
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    Even by indie standards Richard Davies is known by few and it's a damn shame because Telegraph is such an amazing album. Frodus is another one that seems to have flew under the IHE radar. And We Washed Our Weapons In The Sea is every bit as good as, say, Red Medicine or Autolux's debute (which is now getting some well-deserved attention, at least in my area).
    Originally Posted by Troy: She has that same kind of cleft-pallet, slightly retarded way of singing that so many other people find endearing.


  14. #14
    BooBs are elitist jerks shokhead's Avatar
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    Talking

    Grand Funk
    Kansas
    Look & Listen

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by shokhead
    Grand Funk
    Kansas
    Ignored, underrated? Those were two of the more popular bands of their day.

  16. #16
    BooBs are elitist jerks shokhead's Avatar
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    Nobody talks about them now i they are some of my personnal fav's. LOL
    I might add in there time they were headliners but not "The Group"
    Look & Listen

  17. #17
    Forum Regular Ex Lion Tamer's Avatar
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    Edith Frost - both albums I have are great but I never hear her mentioned in the same breath with the likes of Neko Case etc...
    Flaming Stars - As per usual Davey was right on the button with these guys again I have 2 albums, both are great. Where's the love?
    The Glands - OK only one album released, but what an album.
    The Members - British punk-pub rockers circa 1977, pretty typical for the time. They say that they were among the first to fuse reggae w/punk. Not sure if that's true or not, but it makes a nice story. Either way, "at the Chelsea Nightclub" is a fine album, that few know about.
    Last edited by Ex Lion Tamer; 04-15-2005 at 03:58 AM. Reason: forgot one
    "I don't know. A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof, and when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven." The Right Honourable JC.

  18. #18
    Stainmaster Finch Platte's Avatar
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    Waaaa????

    Quote Originally Posted by unleasHell
    Wild Swans: Bringing Home the Ashes,
    This out-of-print CD fetches $70+ all the time on eBay. ......Reason: it's worth it!
    Take the political awareness of the Smiths (minus the cynical side), add a touch of REM's melodies and consider such influences as Joy Division, Chemeleons and U2 and you have one of my Top 10 favorite CD's of the (late) 80's..
    You're kidding, right? I just checked, and I still have my copy.

    $70? In a heartbeat.

    fp

  19. #19
    very clever with maracas Davey's Avatar
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    Yeah, we all got a million of them. The ones you can't figure why they never made it big. Seems better than most bands and albums that did make it. The year was something like 1975 for this one, and the band was Dr. Feelgood, and the album was Malpractice, and the verdict was guilty...of making a damn fucking good ass kicking collection of working class rock and roll. Love this album. Their first in the US and my introduction, and I bought a bunch of LPs after that, but none as good as this. The real deal. Right up there with the best of Graham Parker and Brinsley Schwarz and al the rest of the English pub rockers. Very cool stuff and pretty nice sound too on the wax. Real dynamic and ballsy. Don't know what the CD sounds like, although I do vaguely recall a track from it making it onto one of those Uncut Magazine samplers a couple years ago, so it must've been remastered and punched up to make it sound like a modern piece of dog shit. My opinion? They don't crank these kind of albums out anymore, so......you shouldn't call the Doctor (if you can't afford the bills).

    BTW, some pretty fine albums mentioned in this thread. Some of you got some damn fine taste

  20. #20
    Crackhead Extraordinaire Dusty Chalk's Avatar
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    Matt Elliott. This guy should be huge. There's just something that totally draws me in. He ventures from post-rock to drum-n-bass to ... I don't even know what to call it. His last album is called Drinking Songs, and that's pretty much what it is (except for the last track)...and yet, that totally underdescribes what it's all about. You can get mp3's of most of his old stuff off of the thirdeyefoundation.com website.
    Eschew fascism.
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    you guys are crackheads.
    I remain,
    Peter aka Dusty Chalk

  21. #21
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    Here's a few that spring to mind

    Steve Khan, unfortunately he often gets put with the 'smooth jazz' crowd but he's a master guitarist who has covered lots of styles. One of my favourites is from the early 80s called Eyewitness fortunately I managed to pick up a copy on CD years ago and I've never seen it available since. It's a great recording with a fantastic dynamic range and features just 3 musicians in a sort of free but structured jam session.

    Another from the 80's is Helen Watson, Blue Slipper an unknown who managed to get members of the Little Feat to record an album with her and then get Glynn Johns to produce it.

    Somebody mentioned The Glands self titled album and I have to agree it's a damm fine album, it's a shame they haven't done anything else.

    ps Dr Feelgood the original 70s pub rockers, my favourite album was Down By The Jetty I can still see Wilko struttting round the stage with his moptop haircut.

    Cheers
    Mike

  22. #22
    Toon Robber tentoze's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slosh
    Even by indie standards Richard Davies is known by few and it's a damn shame because Telegraph is such an amazing album.
    I picked that up for $5 a couple of weeks ago, listened to it once (distractedly), and put it on the go-away stack. I guess I should give it another shot.
    ----Never Off Topic, Never Rude-----

  23. #23
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    Steve Kahn/ Was(Not Was)

    I'm a huge Steve Khan fan and his Eyewitness CD with Badrena/Jorden/Jackson is a classic. Another Khan great is Public Access with the same band but substitute Dave
    Weckl (who usually annoys me) on drums. Khan has had an interesting career...being the son of a famous singer is probably what got him into music...then being Billy Joels guitarist and then being in the original David Letterman Band show the guy had a pretty diverse career.

    Back to underrateds...Was (Not Was) in the 80's. "Tell me that I'm dreaming" is one of the best dance tracks ever. And the "Born to Laugh at Tornados" album is a classic with cameos from everyone from Frank Zappa to Branford Marsalis to Mel Torme!

    If you like R&B, there's a group called Mint Condition that was awesome in the 90's.
    They recieved little airplay or widespread attention because they had no "angle" or
    gimmick. They were just outstanding musicians who wrote, played and arranged
    all their own music. They were the Earth, Wind and Fire that no one ever heard of.

  24. #24
    Indifferentist Slosh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tentoze
    I picked that up for $5 a couple of weeks ago, listened to it once (distractedly), and put it on the go-away stack. I guess I should give it another shot.
    You should give it several more shots, unless you think Sweet Baby James fused with Beggars Banquet is a bad combo and may make you wretch
    Originally Posted by Troy: She has that same kind of cleft-pallet, slightly retarded way of singing that so many other people find endearing.


  25. #25
    Forum Regular BinFrog's Avatar
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    The now defunct grunge-era band Pond deserves WAY more recognition than they got. Their first 2 albums are incredible, and they fell apart after their 3rd album which was a little lackluster. If you like that kind of music (anything from Nirvana to Modest Mouse to Sonic Youth to The Pixies), do yourself a favor and get either "Pond" or "The Practice Of Joy Before Death". You'll thank me.

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