Ok, a few days ago I started a thread called "great lost bands of our time" and people started to write about bands that seemed to have disappeared after one great album or just jumped the shark very quickly (step forward Silverfish, Primitives, Drop 19s...the list is endless).
Now....thinking about bands that should've been fucking massive but just don't get the recognition that deserve. In a way, its great that these bands still remain playing in small venues 'cos it means we don't have to suffer stadium gigs (hurrah), although it probably ain't so great for the bands career.
My top 3: -
1) Sons and Daughters
2) Go Betweens (at least until the lead singer died)
3) dEUS
OK - lets have yours then!!! Think you can top that?
Sons and Daughters
are probably going to be
Sons and Daughters
are already playing a fairly big-ish venue in Glasgow in February (the ABC). It may be a bigger gig because its their home town gig, though...
just saying
i think they are gonna take off.
Fellow weegie 'ere btw :)
Awright??
LOL
haven't
they been on the verge of taking off for years now?
^
thats what i thought..
They're
as big as they'll ever be.
it breaks my heart...
that KAITO never got the attention they desereved... kings amongst fools and amazing to watch live.
MAGOO and FONDA 500 too are in that realm...
are you from Norwich?
love KaitO and Magoo.
defo kaito
abosultely devastating live and never really understood why they weren't huge, also see: kill kenada
Band Red
is a fantastic album
Magoo!
Crikey, are they still going?
ok
Most Talented underappreciated bands by the sad trendy up your own arse nme readers influenced by Kate & pete and anything else they are told to like !!
The nme now mentions take that all the time now and have really become the equivalent of the sun !!
Fields
The Crimea
The Wave Pictures
Those 3 bands have more talent that Pete fing doherty could ever wish for !!! Hes not fit to lick any of their boots !
Kate Price and Pete Andre?
The Crimea
were fucking awful.
1) China Drum (23 times as good as Green Day)
2) Strangelove
3) The Whipping Boy
Oh...........
Samiam and Jawbreaker too.
the
chameleons
Surely Jawbreaker
Were pretty big n influential an all.
They weren't big commercially....
their fame in underground indie rock/punk circles is out of all proportion to the comparatively paltry number of records they sold.
If you stopped and asked 1,000 people in the street whether they'd heard of them, I'll bet only 1 or 2 at best would know who they were.
Depends what street
:)
Alright, well we'll assume it isn't Gilman Street!
.
Or my street
No argument on Samiam though. Marvellous band and they used my drumkit once.
Strangelove?
:/
Agreed
On China Drum and Strangelove.
China Drum's
cover of Wuthering Heights is my all-time favourite cover.
DAMN RIGHT!
yeah!
i loved china drum!
oooooooo!
the whipping boy,
whatever happened there?
Huh
The Whipping Boy??
Yes, The Whipping Boy.
Have you not heard of them or something?
.
Listening to Whipping Boy now the production (especially on Heartworm) has dated really badly, but there are some great songs and the band are worth reappraisal.
Strangelove however were always terrible and achieved plenty more than they deserved. Largely through the partonage of that Suede guy.
My vote? The Bob Tilton.
I have heard of Whipping Boy
Not The Whipping Boy.Heartworm is a fine album indeed
^
This.
Oh yes!
I have to agree on Strangelove - that's one massive voice in a sweet and unusual band.
I'd like to add Dead! Dead! Dead! to the list too - what on earth are they doing scrabbling around small venues after they stormed Southampton Guildhall last year? They looked great on that stage and they need to be playing venues that size more!!!
I thought...
...they split up recently?
bill from china drum
was a guitar teacher at my old school, nice chap. they still going?
Electrasy.
I think.
.
"She's the only one of me and she's got everything I nee-ed - turn my back and run away"
I can still remember that immediately though I haven't heard it for years.
They had another ballad on their debut I thought would have been a massive hit if they released it but I've forgotten what it was called - "Angel" or something I think.
Indeed!!
Morning Afterglow should have sold bucket loads.
Chemical angels had huge potential too.
The Manic Street Preachers came on stage to Today's the Day when i saw them.
An album that could have easily made it into the halls of fame.
nah
that album was unbelievably schizophrenic...Couldn't work out what they wanted to be at all.
^ This
Apart from that song the rest of the album was a bit OTT. The last song went on for like 12 mins or something.
i don't think i've heard the song
but my ex loved it, so i know that line instantly too, as she sang it all the time
I bought the Electrasy album
on the strength of Morning Afterglow. It really sucked. Although I still remember Best Friend's Girl and Strawberry Sunrise with some fondness.
Belle & Sebastian should be way bigger than they are
They're pretty big already but some of their songs should have been proper 'pop' hits.
Hefner and Elliott Smith both should have reached a far, far wider audience than they did...
at least elliott reaches a much bigger audience
since his girlfriend killed him.
wow.
I can use my Lawyer skills to sue you for defamation.
if Elliott Smith's girlfriend is willing to hire me...
hmm
hefner definatly
belle and sebastian should have split before they released storytelling...
1) Life Without Buildings
2) The Count Five
3) The Unicorns
OOOH!
I forgot about Life without Buildings - that debut album was amazing *sighs*
haha
Life Without Buildings should have been huge? That's ridiculous. Good band, but honestly...
the unicorns
ftw
Are we talking about greater recognition
or mainstrem chart success?
Both!!
I think both are applicable.
Lift to experience.
Totally.
yep
one of the best albums EVER
don't know about maaaaaassive
but i think kubichek and dartz have been passed by/gone unnoticed when they could/should have caused more of a stir
Easy...
The Beta Band.
The albums didn't really live up to the promise of 3 EPs. Such a shame, The Beta Band were brilliant.
Everyone still thinks...
...about their 3 EPs rather than their albums when they think about the Beta Band. Great band live too.
Not sure about that Berksy
Hot Shots II is one of my all time fav albums.
The first 1 is shite though!
yeah!
betas were the best live band.. and their albums were good... hot shots ii especially.
Mclusky
Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
Yes to both of these!
also
"Kevin"
Eighties Matchbox were pretty big
they have 3 or 4 top 20 hits off the first LP didn't they ?
Hmmm....
....Snug - definately.
80s Matchbox as well.
Cable.
I loved Symposium.
I quite liked Annie Christian too.
Strangelove.
There's far too many bands to list!!!
i have seen sons and daughters at alexandra palace
kubichek and life without buildings for me. numerous others but i prefer it when i can see them in smaller venues with fans who actually care.
This Et Al
......Shouldnt necessarily be 'massive'. But they really deserve more attention than they've gotten in the past 5 years. Theres still time i guess.
This Et Al
Popped right into my head too.
They were never destined to be massive, but could easily have (and may well still) elevated to a higher podium than they are currently stuck on.
yeah, Snug!
but at least Ed Harcourt got famous.
Spearmint should have been bigger.
ed
went to school with my latin teacher
also Archie Bronson Outfit
Yes
to Annie Christian.
Although Twilight doesn't sound so good these days.
Motherfucking MARION!!!
'The Collector' has just been shuffled to the fore by my iPod...truly, truly, truly great song.
I went to school with Ed Groves of Snug fame...
I agree, they had the songs.
All of their singles were brilliant, they were support on some big tours, had the Evening Session/NME support behind them...I'm not sure why it didn't happen for them really.
From what I remember about Snug...
...they were kinda accidentally dropped by Warners at the end of the tax year before they released their debut album. When they finally finished the record Warners asked them if they could release it Snug promptly said no. They must've walked away with their hefty advance too - unless they'd spunked it all. The album had about 3 producers working on it so they probably spent the their last three quid on getting Melinda Messenger to appear in their 'Beatnik Girl' video.
Ed Harcourt's solo stuff was never as good as Snug.
^This
Utterly true. Still waiting on that comeback album, but that curse of Morrissey never lifts, does it?
And The Chameleons, as above. Immense Cure-esque guitar rock.
annie christian
could've been bigger had they not produced their album themselves, imho.
they had so much potential
...
SYMPOSIUM
yes, but then I love Hell is For Heroes, so I'm kinda glad they split.
Meet Me In St. Louis were going pretty great guns
I guess they still could, is certainly something diff.
completely
agree with 'this et al'.
truly underrated band.
Longpigs
I'm on a mid 90s nostalgia trip tonight.
Ultrasound
I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours could have made every human being happy. Unfortuanrely they released it with 4-tracks, so it didn;t get to number one as a result of not being chart-eligible. Right damn shame.
The Smoking Popes
.
Woah!
I heard them for the first time the other day - 'Need You Around'. I've been good with my money for so long, but got 'Born to Quit' straight away. It's great.
They're back together, aren't they?
Yeah, so I hear.
They played a festival in Florida a couple of months ago. Born to Quit is quite possibly one of my 10 favourite albums!
It's gorgeous!
Are three of them brothers, too?
Are any of the other albums worth getting? I love them the same kind of way I love Dinosaur Jr.
That's right, the Caterer brothers.
Some people reckon that their debut Get Fired was even better than Born to Quit, I'd disagree, but, it is still bloody good. After Born to Quit they released Destination Failure which is also essential listening.
There's also a covers album and a live album, but, I have yet to hear these.
I imagine
the lot are pretty good. They seem that kind of band.
Definite quality control at work.....
one of those bands who wouldn't release filler as a point of principle.
Hell yeah
The Smoking Popes were/are fucking awesome. They're 'back', you know...
ultrasound were massive
in a manner of speaking
Ultrasound were wonderful
The longpigs too. I thought they'd really get somewhere with Mobile home, but I am a terrible judge of such things.
Mobile Home
is an absolute lost classic, but it's always got terrible press from cloth eared journos. I think it was buried commercially, too.
Mini Kiss?
Always thought The Bolshoi could have been a successful band in the UK
but it was not to be