Weekend RR Q&A: What artists are you surprised that you didn't get into earlier?

[Rae]

Do you ever stumble across a group or artist that's so in line with what you like to listen to and well-known enough that it's inexplicable that you didn't discover them earlier? I'm feeling this way recently about Superchunk. By all rights I should've been obsessively listening to this group fifteen years ago, but they were always a total blind spot in my indie rock knowledge. I'd even brushed across a few of their songs on soundtracks or samplers ("Shallow End" from The Jerky Boys soundtrack is one example that comes to mind-- I used the L7 and Helmet songs on that CD as mixtape staples when I was 14) but nothing ever stuck. I finally got curious about them after a friend included a couple of Portastatic songs on a comp a few years ago, and the rest, as they say, is history. I'm slowly amassing their back catalog and may even end up a Superchunk completist. Still, I can't help but feel like I really missed out by not getting into them when they were really in their prime, despite loving many of their contemporaries.

Who are some of the bands that you've had this experience with and how did you finally get into them?

~Rae

[Swish]

Do you ever stumble across a group or artist that's so in line with what you like to listen to and well-known enough that it's inexplicable that you didn't discover them earlier? I'm feeling this way recently about Superchunk. By all rights I should've been obsessively listening to this group fifteen years ago, but they were always a total blind spot in my indie rock knowledge. I'd even brushed across a few of their songs on soundtracks or samplers ("Shallow End" from The Jerky Boys soundtrack is one example that comes to mind-- I used the L7 and Helmet songs on that CD as mixtape staples when I was 14) but nothing ever stuck. I finally got curious about them after a friend included a couple of Portastatic songs on a comp a few years ago, and the rest, as they say, is history. I'm slowly amassing their back catalog and may even end up a Superchunk completist. Still, I can't help but feel like I really missed out by not getting into them when they were really in their prime, despite loving many of their contemporaries.

Who are some of the bands that you've had this experience with and how did you finally get into them?

~Rae

You were only like 11 years old back then, weren't you? At that age you were prolly listening to the Spice Girls and such. Or were you just exaggerating? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Rae]

You were only like 11 years old back then, weren't you? At that age you were prolly listening to the Spice Girls and such. Or were you just exaggerating? Inquiring minds want to know.

Heheh... 15 years ago I was 14, as I mentioned elsewhere in the post. And I was more likely to be listening to Material Issue or Weezer than the Spice Girls (who I don't think came along until a little bit later, anyway).

~Rae

[Swish]

Heheh... 15 years ago I was 14, as I mentioned elsewhere in the post. And I was more likely to be listening to Material Issue or Weezer than the Spice Girls (who I don't think came along until a little bit later, anyway).

~Rae

I simply glance at them, take things totally out of context, then write an entirely inappropriate response. That's just how I roll.

[3LB]

I simply glance at them, take things totally out of context, then write an entirely inappropriate response. That's just how I roll.

you left out the part where you continue to fail to respond to the original post.

[3LB]

I'm going to have to say Yes. I had the Classic Yes album a year after it came out, then the tape, then the CD, but never explored their full catalog until about 7 or 8 years ago. Now I own all the album propers (I got rid of Tormato) and two DVDs.

For whatever reason, I never explored 10cc beyond their two Top40 hits, but have purchased two CDs recently.

Similarly, I was put off by the first time I heard Dream Theater, even though I was into metal, and never gave them another chance until after Train Of Thought came out in '03. I then went on a DT binge buying up older CDs (that fascination has since waned however after their last two CDs).

And years ago, a friend of mine played me his copy of Return To Forever's Romantic Warrior and it did nothing for me. Then, about a year and a half ago, I gave my neighbor's vinyl copy a spin, and loved it. I now own 3 CDs of theirs.

Most of the music I am 'into' these days stem from my finding it through websites like this one. Having grown-up in Tennessee, the radio was no roadmap and much of the older stuff I stood little to no chance of ever hearing without the internet.

[Swish]

you left out the part where you continue to fail to respond to the original post.

You people bore the piss out of me.

[Finch Platte]

You people bore the piss out of me.

That would explain the wet spot on the front of your shorts.

[Stone]

Who are some of the bands that you've had this experience with and how did you finally get into them?

~Rae

The Bats.

These guys from New Zealand completely missed my radar until about two years ago. I decided to see what other NZ bands were out there and were/are similar to The Clean and The Chills, and found a ton of bands like the Verlaines, The Stones, etc., which are good, but The Bats really hit a sweet spot with me.

I don't think they ever got a lot of recognition here in the U.S. (although it certainly isn't like they were completely unknown) and now it isn't helping anything that most of their output is OOP (and demanding huge $$). If you're interested, I recommend starting with the compilation Compiletely Bats, which, as the name implies, is a compilation of some of their work, in particular The Bats' first three EPs.

[Swish]

That would explain the wet spot on the front of your shorts.

Nah. That's just a leaky faucet.

[Stone]

Nah. That's just a leaky faucet.

Are you tired of the steady drip, drip, drip of gonorrhea?
Then PETER ROOTER's for you.

[Hyfi]

Morglbl

[Jim Clark]

I don't think I can go back as far as some of you guys but I was pretty late to the Iron & Wine thing. All the cool people were digging it and I didn't come around until "Shepard's Dog", which totally rules by the way. Honestly, short of The National, I listen to Iron & Wine more than any other band over the past year.

Honorable mention would go to the Shins. Swish, Midfi, and other geniuses around here knew it straight away but it took a couple of years for me to see the light. The Shins on vinyl is a special treat.

jc

[GMichael]

I never liked Genesis back in the 70’s & 80’s. I thought they were too soft compared to the Rush & Black Sabbath I spent most of my time listening to. It wasn’t until the last 5 or 6 years that I’ve gotten into their music.

Swish: What’s that stain from? Is that so you can tell the front from the back?

[rakeford]

Do you ever stumble across a group or artist that's so in line with what you like to listen to and well-known enough that it's inexplicable that you didn't discover them earlier? ...
Who are some of the bands that you've had this experience with and how did you finally get into them?

~Rae

The Doors: I bought the whole shabang in a box set.

ZZ Top: I'm now filling in the set with the lesser albums.

Santana: How'd I miss this one? I started with Supernatural and now have a nearly complete set.

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac circa 1967-1970: totally different than Buckingham Nicks Fleetwod Mac. I heard about the Blue label CD re-release of the original master tapes.

One might say I progressed from WIMP rock to full core rock. Some of the stuff I hated in the 70's (e.g. Led Zepplin) is now my main course.

[Demetrio]

Hi, everybody, sorry for not posting here for a quite long time.

Answering the question, I can't understand why it took me so long to discover these great bands from the 80's:


=> ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK

=> DREAM ACADEMY

=> DEACON BLUE

=> ICEHOUSE

=> FOUNTAINHEAD

=> CROWDED HOUSE


Cheers,
Demetrio.

[ForeverAutumn]

Hi, everybody, sorry for not posting here for a quite long time.

Fantastic to hear from you Demetrio! I hope that all is well. You're missed around here. Welcome back.

[Hyfi]

Hi, everybody, sorry for not posting here for a quite long time.

Answering the question, I can't understand why it took me so long to discover these great bands from the 80's:


=> ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK

=> DREAM ACADEMY

=> DEACON BLUE

=> ICEHOUSE

=> FOUNTAINHEAD

=> CROWDED HOUSE


Cheers,
Demetrio.

Hey D, welcome back. Nice to see you around!

[Swish]

IHonorable mention would go to the Shins. Swish, Midfi, and other geniuses around here knew it straight away but it took a couple of years for me to see the light. The Shins on vinyl is a special treat.

jc

...at least from what I recall. He was big on the debut but I think he, like me, preferred Chutes Too Narrow. Perhaps Davey too, but he's been MIA so he can big the big one.

[Rae]

...at least from what I recall. He was big on the debut but I think he, like me, preferred Chutes Too Narrow. Perhaps Davey too, but he's been MIA so he can big the big one.

I'm going to hop in here and say that credit for "breaking" The Shins on RR pretty definitively belongs to Stone, who included a track or two on his Slow Summer Sampler way back in summer 2001.

~Rae

[Troy]

Ween. I know several peeps here put Ween songs on comps back 5 years ago when they were arriving in the mail every other day. I never warmed to any of it. And then someone gave me a copy of the Mollusk album and that totally kicked ass for me. I still much prefer the later stuff to the early stuff and I don't like everything, but I am a big fan of the Mollusk, Quebec, White Pepper and Chocolate and Cheese albums.

[jonnyhambone]

Joy Division
I know, right? I picked up Closer recently reissued and then Unknown Pleasures...I felt like I'd know some of it from just hearing it and 'cause it's so seminal and so much music I've loved forever came out of what they did - fact is, it all sounde brand new to me. I knew Love Will Tear... & Transmission. The rest fell on virgin ears. They've gotten quite a few spins over the past year as I've made up for lost time. Closer - esp. side II - is my clear fave.

[Jack in Wilmington]

This is a very thought provoking question. There were groups that I went to see in the 70's that were the third billed group at a concert, like Steely Dan that I wasn't into then. I didn't get them until "Two Against Nature" and now I would love to see them. Also a lot of my friends were into Frank Zappa and they finally talked me into seeing him in concert. I didn't tell them but I went to see the other opening acts. I didn't get into Zappa until the 90's when I went to work for a company and there was one of my old friends from the Zappa concert working there and he lent me some of his CD's. Also I didn't get into Rush until "Test for Echo" and a guy I worked with lent me "Chronicles" and told me this is the good Rush stuff. He wasn't kidding.

[thekid]

Too many to list....... spent most of the 70's listening to music on a clock radio so it limited me a bit. Making up for lost time and the nice thing about scoring vinyl at a $1 a pop or cassettes at 50 cents a piece is that I can pick something up based on the recommendation of others and give it a chance.