What's your favorite group who no one's ever heard of?

[bif]

I have several. I'll tell you when you tell me yours.

[inanna]

1. Canadian band called The Tea Party

....and they were around long before the political movement of the same name - going back to the early 90's.

[arcane1]

2. Two: Skyclad, and Mistle Thrush

[bif]

3. I have a bunch...

I'll start with "Beef Terminal" "Lemon Jelly" and my favorite "Bark Psychosis".

[In_The_Wind]

4. Pearls Before Swine

[shenmue]

5. Hessian

[Number9Dream]

6. Here's a couple: Bubble Puppy; Sky

I'm sure there are a few people out there who've heard of these bands, but they're obscure.

Bubble Puppy (1969):

Sky (1970):

[think]

7. Joe West & The Sinners - This one's called "Trailer Park Liberal"

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

21. I just heard listened to this CD this week.

It is quite good. I think he only did one album.

[think]

23. Small world. Joe has done solo albums since but it's the only one he did with

The Sinners. It's a real shame as they were amazingly good and fun. They had more material thought they'd do 2nd album but the band broke up and not sure what they did with the new stuff.

Joe is out in Santa Fe and does get back together with the Sinners once in awhile.

Glad to hear you liked his album!

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

24. It's being added to the library

at the local public radio station where I volunteer. Try streaming www.kser.org and see what you think............

[think]

25. Will check it out. Thanks!

[Tom Ripley]

8. Charlie Pickett and the Eggs

[mike in raleigh]

9. Happy the Man

American progressive rock band from the 70's with great instrumental chops. Comparable to ELP or the Dixie Dregs with a little bit of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis thrown in for good measure.

[zappaman]

11. I grew up in the Baltimore/washington area where they were kinda big.

Saw them a couple times.
Great band.

[Trajan]

13. Loved Happy the Man ...

Rather Genesis-like ... Loved them both ...

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

10. Trapeze

[Fumesucker]

18. That's the one I thought of

[U4ikLefty]

12. dada & Meshuggah...totally dfferent bands.

Check them out.

[Trajan]

14. Captain Beyond ...

One of the early metal bands ... The first album is classic ...

Another is Cotton Mather, who's Beatlesque vocal harmonies on the album Kontiki make it sound like a lost Beatles recording ... I can only find songs . My favorite

[Fumesucker]

19. I had that Captain Beyond album..

Dancing Madly Backwards....

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

20. Raging River Of Fear

was a favorite, as was Mesmerization Eclipse.

[NuttyFluffers]

15. Galaxy Express (South Korean)

and this is one of their earlier performances. when i saw them in 2008 they were even more dynamic. they were the headlining act of a 4 band set that is easily in my pantheon of 5 best live shows -- and i've seen a lot of onstage magic, like Billy Corgan playing guitar for New Order, Traci Lords one-time show for Lords of Acid, etc. (and that's one hell of a venue, btw. moshing there is a blast.)

i have buckets of other stuff to recommend, a lot from elsewhere around the world, too.

[The Polack MSgt]

16. I listen to a lot of music that isn't popular

But there always seems to be a crowd at the shows, so, none?
Trampled Under Foot out of KC was great, but broke up last year. The Daniel Nicole Band is one spin off that's on the road right now and will be releasing an album in October.
Royal Southern Brotherhood is pretty well known on the jam circuit but I always get blank looks from friends and coworkers when I talk about them.
Same with David Lindley who is an amazing guitarist. El Rayo X was his solo project after he left Jackson Browne, he tours as just David Lindley now

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

22. David Lindley is the master of all things with strings

Saw him live and he sounds just like his recordings.........

[Lizzie Poppet]

17. A handful:

DOLL$BOXX - something of a (possibly one-off) concept side project of the instrumental members of Gurchian Spin and the singer from Lightbringer. You start off expecting typical manufactured J-Pop/J-Rock empty-headed fun...until they start to play. Ridiculous musicianship, including one of the best slap bass players on the planet. Here's a live example (turn up the bass!):

Schandmaul - Long-running neo-folk rock band from Germany (and the "no one's ever heard of" thing only applies to over here in the States with them...Euro folk probably know them pretty well). This track is a nice raised middle finger to the neo-Nazi idiots that try to commandeer the neo-folk movement. "Bundt und nicht braun" is "colorful, not brown," with the latter referring to brownshirts. Awesome precision w/ fiddle and recorder, too...

A two-fer! Merge, with a remix by synthpop masters Iris. Hugely different from the original (which is also wonderful).

Supaman - Native American rapper who mixes in a lot of traditional music. Hugely positive guy, too