Which band that just never clicked with the general public, do you wish could get a do-over?

[The Polack MSgt]

Ok, before we start, a quick confession.

I never understood the whole "Popular bands suck" or "If one of my favorite bands gets popular, I quit listening" frame of mind.

That attitude is bizarre to me... I always want my favorites to get popular make millions and sell out every show.

Anyway, I'm noodling around DUMA and see an old Stones vid, and there is Bill Wyman standing still playing the bass.

Immediately the line "She stood just like Bill Wyman - Now I'm her biggest fan" hit my frontal lobes and I felt compelled to pour a rye on the rocks and take deep dive into the Smithereens' Discography

[The Polack MSgt]

1. Clever song writing and loud guitars

I'd like to say I'm sorry but - I WON'T

[The Polack MSgt]

2. Gritty New Jersey rockers who could write pop meolodies like no one's business

Should've been Top of the Pops

[The Polack MSgt]

3. It was long ago.

Feels like yesterday...

[The Polack MSgt]

4. You told me I was late but I was miles from nowhere...

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. Crack The Sky were superb, but never got the deserved attention

[The Polack MSgt]

9. Crack the Sky put on a great show when I saw them

You are absolutely correct - Should've made a bigger mark. And I have a soft spot because the lead guitarist is a Hillbilly Cave Polack from coal country Appalachia and I can relate..

This is a fantastic song and I kinda like the video too.

[NRaleighLiberal]

12. My favorite Crack the Sky Song!

check this out

[The Polack MSgt]

17. +++

[blm]

48. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

.

[The Polack MSgt]

6. Now I have to learn the game

Where no one wins or takes the blame, but it's

[Anon-C]

56. I will forever associate this song with the Smithereens!

[blm]

7. Two. American Music Club, Mother's Finest

.

[The Polack MSgt]

10. LOVE LOVE LOVE MOther's Finest.

Did you hear their "comeback" Album back in the 90s? "Black Radio Won't Play This Record" turned out neither would white radio

It sank like a stone

[blm]

43. They spent their entire careers not giving a fuck. Heh. They dug their music

and you were welcome to dig it, too, or.....bye.

[ms liberty]

39. Loved, loved, love Mothers Finest. Saw them

Every time they came thru Tampa between about 77 to 82.

[blm]

8. Two more. Calexico, Crooked Fingers

.

[The Polack MSgt]

11. I don't know these bands

Got any tips which songs I should start off with?

[IcyPeas]

30. Calexico have been getting airplay recently with this...

Under the Wheels

[blm]

46. Wow. That's different. But then, the world is in scary times now

more than ever for this country.

[The Polack MSgt]

47. I dig the mariachi trumpet

working in the back ground and the Ska rhythm is cool.

I'll chase 'em around the tubes for sure - Thanks

[blm]

44. Crooked Fingers is Eric Bachmann's current band.

Here’s a tune.

https://m.

&list=PLunxhFXK4yPTJLKW9CCx_jvZI61WvZkkp&index=23&t=0s

[blm]

51. Eric Bachmann Man o War - the SOFTness of the guitar is soul wrecking

https://m.

[blm]

45. Early Calexico - Crystal Frontier

https://m.

[Cartoonist]

13. Rare Bird

Not to be confused with Rare Earth.

[The Polack MSgt]

15. Thank you, I never heard these folks

Kinda reminds me of Selling England By the Pound mixed with some Uriah Heep grooves on the keyboards - That singer can really fill the room when he get's going as well

[gelsdorf]

41. Epic Forest

is a top 5 all time album on my list
Great band

[LuvLoogie]

14. Gotta be Budgie...

although I can't say they need a do-over. Fuckin' A...

[The Polack MSgt]

16. Seems that we are bonding over our shared admiration for Budgie

Great Band - They may never be top 40 style popular - but the guys who shaped metal in the 90s were listening to 'em - So Budgie is one of the most influential heavy bands of the 70s

I am a complete sucker for this drum intro. Then the guitar riff kicks in and crushes all in its path

[NRaleighLiberal]

18. Another of my favorites - Red House Painters

River, from the amazing album Old Ramon

and one more upbeat

Kozalek's band Sun Kil Moon has some amazing releases as well

[The Polack MSgt]

24. I will for sure listen to these again - but it's my bed time

Well past my bed time really.

Thanks for the music

[California_Republic]

19. Big Star

[The Polack MSgt]

70. Absolutely - Should have been a breakout 70 rock band

Mr. Lebowski details some of the why and how they got left behind a bit further down thread

[LakeArenal]

20. This is a blast from my past

https://m.

https://isthmus.com/music/vinyl-cave/vinyl-cave-the-album-soup-by-soup/

[The Polack MSgt]

23. A true classic -I just wish I could get an actual physical copy

Last edited Sun Mar 10, 2019, 02:37 PM - Edit history (2)

This band is a digital only entity for me.

It may have been you, but for sure it was somebody in DUMA that turned me on to them

[Heartstrings]

80. I just recently bought a vinyl of this album on ebay

It's a promotional copy and although the cover is worn, the album itself is in primo condition....I suggest checking eBay....

[pnwest]

21. Crash Test Dummies

[The Polack MSgt]

22. I've only heard the MMMM MMMM song - and I got sick of that song pretty fast

I never heard anything else from them - were there other songs on that album or other albums worth checking?

I assume there must be, so give us the scoop cousin...

[pnwest]

25. Two other songs on that album are really

great: “God Shuffled His Feet” and “Afternoons & Coffee Spoons”. I dig his voice and their quirky lyrics. They were more successful in Canada than here in the US.

[LakeArenal]

26. My favorite album of this time.

Afternoons & Coffeespoons ❣️❣️❣️

In the Days of the Caveman...

Superman Song...

Love Love Love God Shuffled His Feet.

[LakeArenal]

27. Good 80's rock on Decades CNN now.

[catbyte]

28. The BusBoys

They achieved some success with "The Boys Are Back in Town" from the movie "48 Hrs." but they should've been more famous. I guess the world wasn't ready for an all-black rock 'n roll band. i saw them live and they absolutely killed. They were so damned tight.

[ms liberty]

40. This! I worked in a record store when Minimum Wage R&R came out

We played the hell out of that album in the store. Like two or three times a shift, lol. I have that same promo lp now in my collection. I have it on my Ipod and listen to it regularly.

[shenmue]

29. Red House Painters

"New Jersey" and "Bubble" are amazing.

[Mopar151]

31. Steve Marriot should get a shot!

30 days in the hole. "Black Lebanese, weak in the knees''"

[Glamrock]

32. You're probably not surprised by this

Jellyfish and Big Star.

Both bands should have been huge.

[The Polack MSgt]

59. I never understood how Big Star missed

They had the chops and the hype and they just disappeared

[Glamrock]

65. I know

And Jellyfish won their record contract at a battle of the bands so the label put no money into them. Shame. Such great songs.

[mr_lebowski]

69. They were on a small label with small budget, I think there was some kinda buy-out

reorganization thing going on at the time there, too ... I think only like 10K copies of #1 Record got pressed and the company lacked distribution deals, so basically nobody could buy the damn album, it simply didn't make it to record stores. And things didn't get any better by the time they made Radio City.

[mr_lebowski]

61. +1

At least Big Star ended up getting their due in their later years, before they all passed away ... so there's that ...

[TEB]

33. Son volt

[mr_lebowski]

62. Aww yeah ... loved them since Trace ... and I bought that cause I loved Uncle Tupelo

I've seen both SV and Jay solo ... SV on the Trace tour in fact, opening for Mellencamp. They're kinda boring live I gotta admit ... I mean the music is great, but honestly Jay has the charisma of a turnip. Still love him though

Jay solo, doing one of my SV favorites ...

[TEB]

68. That's funny

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

34. I loved Jo Jo Gunne

They opened for a lot of bands at concerts in Jacksonville in the 70’s and sometimes I truly preferred them over the headliner.

https://m.

[livetohike]

35. Me too. Saw them play in my college gym. Lost my

hearing for a week! They were good 👍🏻.

[Eyeball_Kid]

78. They were a Spirit spinoff.

Jay Furgeson was Spirit’s lead singer. I believe that the Andes brothers also came from Spirit and played with JoJo Gunn. Spirit made some absolutely great music. Their best album, IMO, was “Twelve Dreams of Doctor Sardonicus”. That album will never sound outdated.

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

82. I had the 12 Dreams album

Nature’s Way wasagreat song.

[livetohike]

36. Savoy Brown. They are still touring and Kim Simmonds

is still not nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

[The Polack MSgt]

50. The new record is pretty badass too

- Did you ever hear Kings of Boogie?- Hidden damn master piece of Rock and Roll

[Sedona]

37. KingsX

They're still touring, catering to their hard core fans. Still making new music, 16 albums later. They all (sadly) have to keep day jobs. Even Rolling Stone thinks they should have had a better shot at the big time.

Saw them in a North Georgia dive bar last month. They deserve better.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/kings-x-book-oral-history-greg-prato-799843/

[The Polack MSgt]

49. dUg Pinnick is my hero.Good choice Sedona

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10349151

[stevil]

87. Amazing band!

[argyl]

38. These guys. Wishbone Ash.

[The Polack MSgt]

53. I knew you had taste - These guys shoulda been YUUUGE

The way Turner and Howell feed off each other is amazing - For Rock Guitar fans like me, these guys are required listening...

[argyl]

63. Yep, their guitar interplay was brilliant.

As an aside, I was actually at the concert where this shooting took place. It was at a nighttime outdoors venue on the northern outskirts of Austin. Around 1971.

There was a lot of commotion when the shooting occurred but I didn't really pay it much mind. Having way too good of a time and just blew it off. Heard about it from word of mouth street talk and there was a story about it in the American-Statesman.

And a couple of years later they put out
Rock and Roll Widow. And I thought " maybe this tune's about what happened in Austin."

And a couple of years later I read an interview and they mentioned that the song was written about that night in Austin.

So that's my Forrest Gump moment about Wishbone Ash and an event that they wrote a song about.

[Heartstrings]

79. I agree about Wishbone Ash.....

Saw them at a Melody Makers Awards Concert in London, Sept. of '72....immediately bought a vinyl and brought it back to the states when I came home. No one had ever heard of them. Emerson, Lake and Palmer were the headliners, Wishbone Ash came on 2nd, followed by this band, Focus....

And the band I don't even remember I saw was last....Genesis, with Peter Gabriel.

There might have been a little wacky weed to impede my memory. Still have a poster of that concert....

[blm]

74. 👍🏼

[lostnfound]

42. Florida band called The Headlights..

I particularly remember a wonderful song called “Earthbound”

https://musictoeat.com/2011/09/27/of-headlights-and-ditchflowers/

[Hoyt]

64. Saw them backing Roger McGuinn (from Byrds) around 1991. Quite good.

[janterry]

52. NRBQ

[The Polack MSgt]

55. I'd guess that the New Rythm and Blues Quartet are the most famous unknowns of all time

Last edited Sun Mar 10, 2019, 02:31 PM - Edit history (1)

They should write a book with Crack the Sky called -"Oh, you're big in Baltimore? Bummer" since both bands are huge in coastal Maryland.

Here they are being introduced by Carlene Carter doing a cover of one of Carlene's step dad's tunes

[OneBlueDotBama]

54. Heads Hands & Feet, Tracks

Song and Dance

&list=PLaJ_Ir8Wi3vxlQJEBmv-yCL1Q1ri7LyMX

[The Polack MSgt]

57. This hits all my buttons - I'm pissed I never knew them before now.

Thank you.

[OneBlueDotBama]

60. Albert Lee the lead player

Moved to Nashville and can be heard playing on many, many tracks, from Emmylou, to Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. Way, way back in the day, myself & my player friends would debate who was the fastest Lee, Alvin & Albert. Managed to find a pristine copy of Tracks a few years ago, original copy was used hard.

[d_r]

58. Smithereens rocked, had their cassette

my pick would be Jupiter Coyote-

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jupiter+coyote

[The Polack MSgt]

83. These guys are really damn good

Thank you - I completely missed them.

[IADEMO2004]

66. Bookmarked. Much gold here. Thank you all.

[IADEMO2004]

67. K&R

[calguy]

71. Two of my favorite bands from the 70's who never made it big

Cold Blood and Zephr. I could think of many others as well. Those two were the first ones that came up in my memory bank.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

72. Joe West and the Sinners

Never seemed to get much notice but they are very good.

[cemaphonic]

73. Sky Cries Mary

They were HUGE in Seattle in the 90's, but they weren't grunge, so the major labels weren't interested. Eventually, Warner gave them a shot, but with pretty halfhearted promotion, and by then popular attention had moved onto pop, boy bands and bling rap. But they were a tight band that melded a lot of different genres (70s rock, Madchester, ambient/industrial) and put on legendary shows with (low budget, but very elaborate) light shows, video, costumes, etc.

Sky Cries Mary - Shipwrecked

[The Polack MSgt]

75. Pretty sure I heard this song

But couldn't swear I did... But the 1st 30 seconds sure does sound familiar.

Unless the riff was sampled.

Cool tune tho

[LiberalLovinLug]

85. Very cool

[saidsimplesimon]

76. Thanks for mentioning

that a lot of great music never achieves fame or fortune, due to the luck of the draw.

[underpants]

77. Soul Asylum. Buffalo Tom. Grant Lee Buffalo.

Soul Asylum - Their album "And the horse they rode in on" is a masterpiece. Pirner rips apart American culture with power chords and melodies. Just phenomenal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Asylum
Yes they had a big hit following that with "Runaway Train" but I hated it. This was probably the end of my BIG IS BAD phase but I've learned to re-embrace it.
The albums before Horse were really good too.


Buffalo Tom
Pure power chords. The last musical act on Jon Stewart's MTV Show. He later mentioned them on TDS as his top 4 bands along with Springsteen. I had my driver play "Tails lights Fade" as I left my Army barracks in 1993.

Grant Lee Buffalo
Okay this would have been a stretch of mainstream but the first time I heard "Lone Star Song" at a party I literally said "Who the fuck is THIS?" Much like the first time I heard REM.

Yes I get the power chord Buffalo theme. Hey!

On EDIT - Game Theory. Scott Miller. "Lolita Nation" should be (and often is) listed amongst the top ten albums of all time. Up there with anything Brian Wilson or Lennon-McCartney ever did.

[The Polack MSgt]

84. Thanks for the recomendations

Sorry for the late reply. Like this one quite a bit.

?list=PLWdfRLo1tQrihcU8iaLPx-Ln9es7y2OXj

[Heartstrings]

81. Matthews Southern Comfort

Although Ian Matthews gained notoriety on his own, this band rocked.....

[LiberalLovinLug]

86. Tunng - Bullets

They were popular in England 10 years ago, but never really caught on here. I just discovered them last year. They describe themselves as Sci Fi folk electronic. I hear a heavy Beatles influence.