Underrated and Underplayed

[DLR Bridge]

A companion to Mushroom's thread.

I'm basing my selections on acts, dead or alive, that have had little or no air play during their careers and usually get a "who the fuck izzat?" when I bring them up in conversation.

For starters...

Big Star
Jeff Buckley
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Ours
Pete Yorn
Ben Harper
Tommy Bolin
Robin Trower
King's X
Ryan Adams

(Ok Kristy, light me up. :biggrin:)

[Mushroom]

Ben Harper is a true artist!

[Mushroom]

Tab Benoit :metalbang:

[FORD]

Phil Keaggy. One of the greatest guitarists on Earth who has been recording and touring since the early 70s and most people have never heard of him. As he's getting older, he probably does more solo acoustic shows than anything else now days, but still incredible. And he manages to use a couple of electronic toys on stage to make himself not sound so alone.... but it's still all him.

But first, here's one of his older classics with his first band, Glass Harp.....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nZqVWGB26U

[FORD]

And here's Phil playing around with the Moog Guitar a few years back at a NAMM conference when it was the hot new toy....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF2OwtdlTaM

[cadaverdog]

This guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yQcZ78jv38

[FORD]

And here he talks about some of the "tricks" he uses to not sound so alone in his acoustic shows.......


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvXF-DyLo7M

[FORD]

And I'll throw this one in so I can segue into the next underrated musician on my list, Mike Roe & the 77s.......


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2AUzaVGQ0I

[FORD]

OK, so as I was saying, the 77s are the best band you never heard of (unless you have read my prior posts about them in threads like this one, because I will ALWAYS mention them). Been around for over 30 years, have seen thousands of inferior bands come and go in that time, and most of them got record deals on far less talent.

Here's their first single. Sound-wise, influenced by Tom Petty. Video-wise, pure early 80s cheesy effects.....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjEha6n_cOo

[FORD]

So two years, a different drummer, and a distribution deal with A&M later, they finally get a video on MTV. Who might have actually played it once at about 4:00 in the morning......


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D4-Hpne4q8

The Stray Cats WISH they wrote this song........

[FORD]

But this being the mid 80s, even the best bands had to have their synth pop hit. Well, not so much a hit, though it SHOULD have been.....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCRCc3vAkC0

Sure as fuck is a better song than "I'll Wait", for fucks sake.

[cadaverdog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nZqVWGB26U
Where's the jews harp and the Rodger Daltrey vocals?

[FORD]

Even though the record didn't sell millions, it did attract the attention of Island Records, who signed the band and released their third album. Unfortunately the record shared a release date with a little record called "The Joshua Tree". Guess which one got the promotional budget.

People in the industry were taking notice though. When Mike wanted to make a song that sounded like The Byrds, he actually managed to get Chris Hillman to play bass on it and make it a little more authentic.....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBk3oPaq4IA

[cadaverdog]

Sure as fuck is a better song than "I'll Wait", for fucks sake.
You know what they say about opinions. A few more minutes and I'd have a migraine. I'm not totally closed minded to other styles of music. There's one song by The Cure that I don't mind. I'm sure it's one of their most popular songs but I have no idea what the title is.

[FORD]

Where's the jews harp and the Rodger Daltrey vocals?

Yeah.. the music does share some similarities with The Who of that era. Might have helped them get signed at Decca Records, for that matter. BTW, that album was recorded at Jimi's Electric Lady Land studio.

[cadaverdog]

I found it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS_ux2H473I

[FORD]

Anyway, back to the 77s.... sadly as great as the album was, Island's failure to promote it meant that it didnt "catapult them to stardom" (as the running joke went in the band's album liner notes) and when Island records imploded and was swallowed up by Polygram in the early 90s, the 77s were a casualty. But a few years later, they managed a resurrection, and recorded this song just so Kristy would get pissed off.....



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smSPzgv8iFs

None of those cheesy hairband Zeppelin wannabes in the late 80s ever got as close as the 77s did here to the Zeppelin sound.

[FORD]

OK, I could hog the thread with 77s videos forever, so one more and then I'm done. Just buy their albums ----- if you can find them.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAxgDX9ZrOA

[cadaverdog]

None of those cheesy hairband Zeppelin wannabes in the late 80s ever got as close as the 77s did here to the Zeppelin sound.
Two thumbs up. You're not tone deaf afterall. Excellent post.

[78/84 guy]

Rory Gallagher
Danny Gatton
Tommy Bolin
Roy Buchanan
Life Sex & Death
Thin Lizzy

[Mr. Vengeance]

Thin Lizzy is the most underrated rock band of all time. Hands down.

[Angel]

Long John Baldry.

[Jérôme Frenchise]

If I have just one name to mention, I'll say THE FLESHTONES. Pete Zaremba/Keith Streng

French TV in '93:



I recommend their masterpiece, "Laboratory of Sound" (1995).

http://www.qpratools.com/gallery/0004/fleshtones-laboratory_of_sound-front.jpg

[VetteLS5]

Long John Baldry.

That name makes me giggle.

[Angel]

http://youtu.be/WYB2gOy--xU
Fuck. Still haven't figured out how to embed on tapa...

[Fairwrning]

Here ya go Cadaver

[Green Manalishi]

Nazareth
UFO
Robin Trower
the late-great Rory Gallagher
Frank Marino And Mahogany Rush
April Wine
Love/Hate

all criminally and horribly under-rated .

[cadaverdog]

Nazareth
UFO
Robin Trower
the late-great Rory Gallagher
Frank Marino And Mahogany Rush
April Wine
Love/Hate

all criminally and horribly under-rated .
Good list but UFO wasn't under rated or under played in So Cal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ66UO-iKpc

[Green Manalishi]

Back in the day , UFO and every other band on my list got decent airplay on the local rock stations . Notice I wrote " stations " plural 'cause back then there was actually more than one . However , as time went by , these bands and most other hard rock bands started getting much less and even little to no airplay or mention none whatsoever unless they came into town , then and only then did the local stations buck up and briefly pay attention again . Unfortunately , stations dwindled down to one station . Time moved on and things changed but not necessarily for the better . Most of the time the only rock music found on the one station was the same ol' tired same ol' . Only occasionally did these bands get any airplay , sad but true . They were usually relegated to late nights and weekends . So , we got stuck with bland , homogenized , watered down , middle of the road corporate rock and the same old tediously tired classic rock drivel . Sad , sad , sad . Thank God for CD's and satellite radio .

I gotta admit , I am proud of one certain little concert highlight of my life . I went to a UFO / Saxon concert that was actually recorded live for the King Biscuit Flower Hour on Sun - 3 - 14 - 1982 at the old Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis . A good time was had by all !

[cadaverdog]

I saw UFO open for Rainbow in 82 at Alpine Meadows in Wisconsin. The crowd was still yelling for UFO through Rainbow's first song so they got pissed off and left the stage. The first band Duke Jupiter came back on stage to finish the show but they still kept yelling for UFO. I felt kind of bad for them because they were probably just doing what the promoter told them to do.

[Green Manalishi]

Ritchie Blackmore is a notorious diva . I saw Rainbow that same year at a show promoted as " SuperJam '82 " at the old Busch Stadium . In this order was the lineup : 707 , Rainbow , .38 Special , Loverboy , REO Speedwagon . Literally a week before the show I heard a radio interview with Ritchie Blackmore himself . He stated that without question , under any circumstances , if he felt the slightest bit disrespected , he would bolt . Just one of those circumstances that he mentioned was who else they were on the bill with and where they were on the bill itself . He specifically said that if he didn't " co-headline at the least , regardless of who the 'other' bands were " that he would either " not play " or " do whatever he felt like " . Well , I'll be damned . They played second on this basically sucky lineup and they played barely 30 minutes . Granted , he played his ass off and the crowd loved the shit out of him , but , he literally threw down his guitar after abusing it with a thrown Frisbee and left in a huff . No encore , no nothing . Gone . That's my Blackmore Diva story and I'm sticking to it .

[Kristy]

he literally threw down his guitar after abusing it with a thrown Frisbee...

That's illegal in most states.

[cadaverdog]

I'm pretty sure it was Blackmore who threw the hissy fit when they left the stage. Fuck em anyway. I saw them in late 81 anyway.

[Green Manalishi]

I saw UFO open for Rainbow in 82 at Alpine Meadows in Wisconsin. The crowd was still yelling for UFO through Rainbow's first song so they got pissed off and left the stage. The first band Duke Jupiter came back on stage to finish the show but they still kept yelling for UFO. I felt kind of bad for them because they were probably just doing what the promoter told them to do.

Nothing against Rainbow , I just can't see them following UFO . What an ass kicking that would have been .

[Green Manalishi]

That's illegal in most states.

Kristy , Kristy , Kristy . Too funny .

[cadaverdog]

Nothing against Rainbow , I just can't see them following UFO . What an ass kicking that would have been .
I liked Rainbow with Dio and Graham Bonnet but they weren't much better than Van Hagar during the Joe Lynn Turner years. Can't Happen Here was the only song they did with Joe I like very much. I prefered Bonnet over Dio but Man On The Silver Mountain is by far their best tune. Dio was a better singer but I like more Bonnet / Rainbow songs that Dio / Rainbow songs.

[FORD]

I liked Rainbow with Dio and Graham Bonnet but they weren't much better than Van Hagar during the Joe Lynn Turner years.

More like Foreigner, actually. I thought that damn song "Stone Cold" WAS Foreigner the first few times I heard it on the radio.

And of course, this was after Foreigner had gone wussy themselves, so that's not a compliment.

[cadaverdog]

How about this guy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR2oct3zeTM

[FORD]

I got burned out on that song by 1978, because KISW used to play the fucking thing every goddamned day. Considering it was the only US hit the guy had, it's amazing how overexposed it was (and this was before corporate consolidation ruined FM radio, no less)

[BiG_Troubles]

But this being the mid 80s, even the best bands had to have their synth pop hit. Well, not so much a hit, though it SHOULD have been.....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCRCc3vAkC0

Sure as fuck is a better song than "I'll Wait", for fucks sake.

easy there now.

[cadaverdog]

I got burned out on that song by 1978, because KISW used to play the fucking thing every goddamned day. Considering it was the only US hit the guy had, it's amazing how overexposed it was (and this was before corporate consolidation ruined FM radio, no less)
I've never heard the song on the radio. A friend of mine from Nebraska was a big Billy Thorpe fan and mentioned this song about 30 years ago. The first time I heard it was when I found it on Youtube a year or so ago.