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Obscure bands/one hit wonders


UTCzech III

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MaxHorn, hulla and others were great on the other board about highlighting those bands on the fringes, stuff you picked up for one reason or another, maybe you loved the band but they just never made it.  Thought this could be a catch-all for your favorite memories.  For me, I lived out in the country between Sealy and Columbus, not a record store in miles.  In the back of Rolling Stone, you could order these mail-order catalogs featuring all kinds of import/independent records you couldn't find anywhere else.  I would order stuff just based on the descriptions, they were usually pretty cheap and worth the gamble.  I remember in the summer just waiting for the mailman to show up, we lived on a dirt road (the only house) and you could see the mailman coming half a mile away from the dust cloud.  Hoping today was going to be the day my records showed up.  Then running to the mailbox to pick them up (I remember, if it was an LP too big to fit inside, the mailman would attach it to the outside of the mailbox with a rubberband...).  Just a great time.

Anyway, first up, this band was pretty big in Australia but never did anything here in the States.  This was a cool 4-song EP on Stiff Records, great pop band (I still have all of these BTW, some of my most treasured records just base on the memories..)

The Sports:
(EP cover)

Image result for the sports who listens to the radio ep

 

Edited by UTCzech III
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Next up, Wreckless Eric.  I played the hell out of this one, just great Brit Pop in the Nick Lowe vein (Lowe may have produced this, can't remember).  12-inch single on orange vinyl, just a wall of chiming guitars and thick harmonies:

(the 12-inch is pictured on the video, different labels and color scheme on each side)

251151461876-500x500_grande.jpg?v=135618

 

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Finally, Martha and the Muffins.  A Canadian band, they later shortened their name to "M+M" and had a hit with "Black Stations/White Stations".  This one is not so great, just your standard pop song, but I did dig the green vinyl and the nod to the Who at the end:

MARTHA-AND-THE-MUFFINS-About-Insomnia-GR

 

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Wow, I've never heard of The Sports.  That tune is great.  Reminds me of a slightly garage-y Joe Jackson.

I used to go see these guys as an undergrad in Missouri.  The started out as Steve, Bob and Rich, but became The Rainmakers after signing a major label deal.  Very much in the same vein as what you posted, not too far off the Georgia Satellites, either:

 

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3 hours ago, UTCzech III said:

Next up, Wreckless Eric.  I played the hell out of this one, just great Brit Pop in the Nick Lowe vein (Lowe may have produced this, can't remember).  12-inch single on orange vinyl, just a wall of chiming guitars and thick harmonies:

(the 12-inch is pictured on the video, different labels and color scheme on each side)

251151461876-500x500_grande.jpg?v=135618

 

That's not even his One Hit!

He's great. 

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He is, but still never got much play in the US, a little on college/community stations, but never enough.  This could also be a college/indie rock thread, Sparks is fairly well known but still never got more than underground love...  Had this album many years ago, got ruined in a flood...

 

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I never had this one except on a cassette I taped off of KPFT in Houston late one night.  Took me forever to find it, eventually tracked down a CD re-issue of their first two albums, classic early 80's Los Angeles quirky pop.

 

Edited by UTCzech III
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Hot damn, that's awesome, thanks for that!  Love that roadhouse rock-n-roll. Reminds me of a guy that came out in the early 90's, Webb Wilder.  One of those journeyman rockers who got a little airplay then disappeared.  This is the only song of his I ever remember hearing on the radio, but I still dig it, just rocks. Kind of Georgia Satellites meets Dave Edmunds.

 

Edited by UTCzech III
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Hot damn, that's awesome, thanks for that!  Love that roadhouse rock-n-roll. Reminds me of a guy that came out in the early 90's, Webb Wilder.  One of those journeyman rockers who got a little airplay then disappeared.  This is the only song of his I ever remember hearing on the radio, but I still dig it, just rocks. Kind of Georgia Satellites meets Dave Edmunds.
 


Last of the Full Grown Men.

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Saw him in Dallas in the early 90s. One of the loudest shows ever.


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48 minutes ago, Hate said:

Here is one I always liked.  The only time I ever heard it was on some local Austin channel that I can't remember that would show videos from time to time. 

 

Look, I'm not trying to be a dick here, but Spoon has put out 9 studio records, sold in excess of a million records, toured the world and can hardly be considered obscure or "one-hit"

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40 minutes ago, irishtexan said:

Look, I'm not trying to be a dick here, but Spoon has put out 9 studio records, sold in excess of a million records, toured the world and can hardly be considered obscure or "one-hit"

I'm not trying to be obtuse here, but this is the only song of theirs I've ever heard so to me it fit the criteria.  Sorry to ruin your one hit wonder party and I will refrain from postin any further multi-hit artists.

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13 minutes ago, Hate said:

I'm not trying to be obtuse here, but this is the only song of theirs I've ever heard so to me it fit the criteria.  Sorry to ruin your one hit wonder party and I will refrain from postin any further multi-hit artists.

Again, I said I'm not trying to be a dick. Sorry you don't understand the thread topic or know anything about the artist that you posted. 

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I agree Spoon is definitely well-known, but they've always escaped me, outside the odd video I've seen posted here or there.  What I've heard I like, I'm just too old to put much money or time into digging deep into "unknown" bands anymore.  I've got enough music to last 5 lifetimes, I'm happy with it.  Back to Spoon, no worries, I'll allow it.  Nirvana?  That's just fucking trolling...

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On 4/1/2019 at 10:57 AM, UTCzech III said:

Finally, Martha and the Muffins.  A Canadian band, they later shortened their name to "M+M" and had a hit with "Black Stations/White Stations".  This one is not so great, just your standard pop song, but I did dig the green vinyl and the nod to the Who at the end:

MARTHA-AND-THE-MUFFINS-About-Insomnia-GR

 

Martha and the Muffins were in pretty heavy rotation on KSPC here in socal (college radio at The Claremont Colleges).   Good stuff. 

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On 4/1/2019 at 4:40 PM, UTCzech III said:

I never had this one except on a cassette I taped off of KPFT in Houston late one night.  Took me forever to find it, eventually tracked down a CD re-issue of their first two albums, classic early 80's Los Angeles quirky pop.

That's Ron Flynt on bass, he runs a studio here in Austin and has done a little music here and there.

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This is fun.

The answer to the trivia question, "Who replaced Sinead O'Connor on SNL in 1990 when she canceled on short notice in protest of the fact that Andrew Dice Clay would be hosting the show?"  Spanic Boys.

RIP Tom Spanic.

 

I love the guitar solo on this one -- it matches the loping beat of the song perfectly.

 

I first heard this next one when I clicked on a video link on the Spanic Boys website several years ago.  The video was a delight -- just the song being played over excerpts of home movies from the 50's and 60's taken when Tom Spanic was a boy.  The home movies gave the song a sense of poignancy.  Now the video is no longer on the website, and it's not on Youtube, either.  The only version I can find is this one.  But the song is still a fine one -- the harmonies between Tom Spanic and his cousin, Butch Westphal, are terrific.

 

EDIT:

Found the actual video on Vimeo.

 

Edited by Carl Spackler
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Very cool.  I didn't post any Joy Division since they are obviously not obscure, but they were one of those bands I discovered through the import catalogs, still have my original 12-inch singles of She's Lost Control and Love Will Tear Us Apart.  Also had an original UK pressing of Unknown Pleasures that I sold off back in college when I was broke, still kicking myself in the ass over that one.  I remember seeing the Durutti Column listed a lot in those catalogs.  Good stuff, I will dive deeper into their music.

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34 minutes ago, UTCzech III said:

Very cool.  I didn't post any Joy Division since they are obviously not obscure, but they were one of those bands I discovered through the import catalogs, still have my original 12-inch singles of She's Lost Control and Love Will Tear Us Apart.  Also had an original UK pressing of Unknown Pleasures that I sold off back in college when I was broke, still kicking myself in the ass over that one.  I remember seeing the Durutti Column listed a lot in those catalogs.  Good stuff, I will dive deeper into their music.

I wasn't familiar with them until I heard this with the Otis Redding samples on "24 Hour Party People". It was mesmerizing.

 

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