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Great local music that never "made" it big.

blhagstrom

blhagstrom

Mad Scientist, fixer.
Subscriber
Always wondered about great local stuff that never got "big".

I love Rock, Heavy Metal, R&B. SO, do you know of any great music that may have been recored but never widely famous? Things that may have gone un-noticed? I'm talking way back before WWW.

I'll start.

Early to mid 90s. Band called Zwarte. Songs "Easy Street" and "Lucy" were excellent. They started recording. first 2 CDs were OK, third seems to go south. Lost track after that.

Your turn....

(It would be nice if we could keep it to things we can find on the net so we can try a little).

MODERATOR: My intent is not to promote anything for profit. I just want to locate good music that flew under the radar.
 
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Spirit of St Louis.

I transferred some studio masters from them, but no one seems to remember if they were ever cut to vinyl.
 
when a teen/high school guy, a "local" band to New Orleans, Lousiana's LeRoux, had a minor radio hit with their song New Orleans Ladies, don't know if they had much else beyond that or how far they went beyond the region.

there was Zebra as well, I think they got a bit more exposure than LeRoux as I see Zebra LP's in my local GW bin from time to time.
 
The Iris Bell Adventure. Look them up - you might still be able to snag their LP somewhere. Great music.
 
living near a big city I have heard countless good bands that never went anywhere. Gotta be the right sound for the time, and have youth appeal.
if you can't market it it won't fly.
 
Ya, it's a crap shoot. Some other band gets a better roll at the time. The Shadows of Knight had a hit Gloria, but the other tunes are some of my favorites. Dixon's I Just Want to Make Love to You, for example.
 
Yeah Bogframe! I knew you would be all over this. I saw the Good Rats at least a dozen times dating back to '77 at Great Gildersleeves over on the Bowery. I've got Tasty, Rat City in Blue & From Rats to Riches on cd and just ordered the Live at Last cd, recorded at My Father's Place.
I'll second Bogframe's recommendation of The Good Rats, especially their first couple of LPs. Good songwriting, the above mentioned 2 Les Paul guitar attack and a solid rhythm section led to some fun, straight ahead rock and roll. Toured with some big name bands and played major halls but never broke out of the regional appeal.
Some of their better songs were, Tasty, Fireball Express, Injun Joe, Songwriter, Coo Coo Coo Blues, Rat City in Blue. :thmbsp:
 
For newer bands, the best advice I can give you is to volunteer at NXNW. Be real nice and you'll probably score heaps of demo's. Then you can pick bands you like. I know SXSW had almost 2000 bands this year. That has to cover a good chunk of metal, R&R up and comers.
 
what about a band like Moe?

My only real exposure is from a concert I saw on Palladia, but does being on Palladia mean you've made it big? Anyway, they are a touring band with albums and such but do they ever get airplay or are they just a "near big" kind of success. I'm sure they do well enough to keep the show on the road and such so real benefits of stardom might be almost in reach but yes still too much to really grasp?
 
How about Will and the Bushmen? From Mobile, they became regionally famous in the 80s, had a brief (very brief) run on MTV, then disbanded. Will Kimbrough has gone on to a very successful career as a guitar player for "Americana" performers like Rodney Crowell, Aimee Mann, and Todd Snider, plus has put out many excellent solo albums. Jimmy Buffett recently recorded one of his songs, and Will plays on the album.
 
Seeing as how most bands don't make it big, this could potentially be a HUGE list.

In Kansas City, there was a local band called The Leopards. They sound very much like The Kinks. They had an album called "Kansas City Slickers" which was pretty good. I've been playing that one more in the last couple years.

In San Jose, the list of good local bands is large. Drug plays a more complex level of rock, almost to the prog level. Can't recall the name of the CD I got at one of their shows. Sharkbait had a great live show, I picked up a cassette of "Blowtorch Face-lift." 187 Calm had a great heavy industrial sound, but their CD didn't capture it well enough. One of the most fun live show bands was the Diesel Queens. They had minor radio success with their "OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware)" song and a song about NAMBLA. A friend of mine has promised to post a song of two of theirs on YouTube sometime. Search for it.
 
spok said:
there was Zebra as well, I think they got a bit more exposure than LeRoux as I see Zebra LP's in my local GW bin from time to time.
Click to expand...

I played that Zebra album for a friend of mine last Saturday night. We were talking about bands we really liked that never made it or just faded away.
 
Back in the early to mid 70's in Buffalo, there was a 3-man band called Talas. They were the cream of the crop when it came to local bar bands and even cut a couple of LPs. The band never made it to the national stage but their bass player was none other than Billy Sheen who went on to fame and fortune with UFO and Mr. Big.
 
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One of my favorites that many outside of my tri-state area have probably never heard of : Donnie Iris and the Cruisers
 
There was (is?) a band from the Chapel Hill area called The Connells. REALLY good rock and roll. A little Tom Petty-ish with the hook and 3-4 minute tracks. But good stuff.

Fun and Games and Boylin Heights should be in everyone's collection.
 
really?

kpaxfaq said:
One of my favorites that many outside of my tri-state area have probably never heard of : Donnie Iris and the Cruisers
Click to expand...

Huuh? I had Donnie Iris. LOVE Ah Leah. Man what is it 25 years now? I picked up on it in ND and I hear it in air play here in Seattle Classic Rock or JAQ-FM. The video is on YouTube.

ANYWAY, I do hope this is a HUGE list and I (we) can locate some of the music. There is some excellent singles out there that didn't get the attention they deserve. Even some of the known groups had stuff that slid by.

HEY, IF we can get a rough time zone it could be useful. Location helps too.
I THINK Zwarte was from Minn. I caught them in ND and I see they hit Strugis in SD.

And thanks so far, great info....keep it rolling
 
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