The Rock & Roll Musical Obscurity Thread

[Kurt]

YouTube - Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me...

[KimW]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

In the spring of 1971, a vocal duo by the name of Brewer and Shipley came
out with a song that, depending on where you lived, may have been banned
by your radio station. I know it was where I lived and was quickly yanked
off the playlist. Today, I don't know anybody who plays this one anymore.

The song..."One Toke Over The Line"

Great vocal harmonies on this one.

YouTube - Brewer & Shipley - One Toke Over The Line

I don't know if I would say this song and others like it were banned from the airwaves as much as I would say banned from the AM airwaves. This was the time when rock and roll changed from AM to FM, which up to that time had mainly been classical music stations.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by KimW

I don't know if I would say this song and others like it were banned from the airwaves as much as I would say banned from the AM airwaves. This was the time when rock and roll changed from AM to FM, which up to that time had mainly been classical music stations.

Yes, this was the start of the rise of FM radio, and ultimately the demise
of AM radio within the next 15 years or so at least as far as music stations.

Stereo had a lot to do with it as AM was mono. We suddenly started hearing
songs like we'd never heard them before. Bell records, which had mostly
put out mono recordings, finally around 1973 started making stereo records.

It was an exciting time for music lovers. Suddenly, instead of 40 song
playlists, we were listening to stations that played hundreds of songs.

Today, most FM stations worth their salt in my area have playlists of
over 1,000 songs.

Of course today, there isn't as much great stuff to play unless you're
digging into the archives.

I wonder what WABC would have been like in 1971 had it been an FM
station and played all those "underground" records.

Maybe they wouldn't be playing Rush Limbaugh today.

[Steven Wagenheim]

In the spring of 1973, 3 songs were all released around the same time. They
were all among the greatest tunes that these artists had put out, all of
whom had many career hits.

But these songs all tanked on the charts.

The 3 songs were:

Only In Your Heart - America
I Like You - Donovan
California Sago - Beach Boys

I was only able to find original recordings for the last 2, which is too bad
because Only In Your Heart was my favorite of the 3.

These songs are never played anymore, not that they were played all
that much back then...especially the last two.

Anyway, here are "I Like You" and "California Saga"

YouTube - Donovan - I Like You........For my good...

YouTube - california saga,the beach boys

[Patrician]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Yes, this was the start of the rise of FM radio, and ultimately the demise
of AM radio within the next 15 years or so at least as far as music stations.

Stereo had a lot to do with it as AM was mono. We suddenly started hearing
songs like we'd never heard them before. Bell records, which had mostly
put out mono recordings, finally around 1973 started making stereo records.

It was an exciting time for music lovers. Suddenly, instead of 40 song
playlists, we were listening to stations that played hundreds of songs.

Today, most FM stations worth their salt in my area have playlists of
over 1,000 songs.

Of course today, there isn't as much great stuff to play unless you're
digging into the archives.

I wonder what WABC would have been like in 1971 had it been an FM
station and played all those "underground" records.

Maybe they wouldn't be playing Rush Limbaugh today.

Just want to note the Satellite Radio Phenomena now - commercial free -

I don't know what I would have to do if I had to listen to radio where some loud mouth makes unfunny remarks cutting in after every song.

I think that XM - now Sirrius XM has like over 125 stations. Each station is a specific genre - so I have like 5 is 1950s, 6 is 1960s, 7 is 1970s on up - then they also go with different rock designations, etc, jazz, classical - sports, etc.

*very hurt that they discontinued the one station I liked the most, other than 50's and 60's -- it was 'Fungus' and it was hard core punk. To add insult to injury they replaced it with the 'AC/DC' station.

It is totally cool in my car and I can log on with my computer at home. I am on a special now where it is only $3.95 a month - it was as high as $12.95 a few years ago, but I guess it hasn't gone over as well as they thought it would. Sometimes bad is good.

I think the college radio stations became the epitomy of the FM underground and they played several songs in a row without interruption. I have never gotten good reception on the radio here though so I am happy about the satellite alternative-

end jabber

[Michael Oksa]

Thanks Patrician for the Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow clip. Funny, I just recently disovered it via Pandora and gave it an entusiastic thumb's up.

All this talk about music from years past makes me wish I was a little older. I still love the music, but there is a part of it that I can only experience vicariously.

Oh well, I guess I'm old enough. 41 is right around the corner.



Rock on!
Michael

[Michael Oksa]

Here's a local band from Milwaukee. They go way back, but this album was played a lot at home when I was growing up.

YouTube - BOP-A-LENA - VINTAGE VINYL GEM BY THE...

Rock on!
Michael

[Bjarne Eldhuset]

Norway's first Music Video/35mm production from 1975 Part 1 recorded by the Norwegian prog rock band Popol Vuh (Popol Ace), written by Arne Schulze:

YouTube - Queen of All Queens - Popol Vuh -...

The lead singer of the band was asked to audition to become the singer in Genesis, but refused, as he felt the band he had been part of building up was on the edge of becoming a huge success. Sadly, it never really took of internationally.

[Frank Donovan]

Yes, I think this thread is getting nicely obscure

In fact, i believe it's now ready for a touch of mr Arthur Brown. Altogether now - "...and from that day came a new recreation, the Great Spontaneous Apple Creation!"

YouTube - the crazy world of arthur brown -...

Frank

[Steven Wagenheim]

In 1973, the US got its first taste of a group by the name of 10 CC. And
while they eventually did go on to have a couple big songs in the US ("I'm
Not In Love" and "The Things We Do For Love") their first single, while
number 1 in the UK, didn't make a dent in the US charts, got very little
airplay, and today, you have to hunt for underground college stations to
find anybody who even plays it anymore.

The guitar solo in this song was the result of some very clever overdubbing
that I won't get into here, thus the very unusual sound. They really worked
very hard to achieve it.

The song..."Rubber Bullets"

YouTube - 10cc- Rubber Bullets

[badfun]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

This one is by April Wine, a group that gained fame as part of K-Tel's
collection of obscure tunes. This one is from 1972.

The song..."You Could Have Been A Lady"

Actually steve this was a hit and still gets a ton of airplay. the band is still around too. They had quite a few other great songs.
brent

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by badfun

Actually steve this was a hit and still gets a ton of airplay. the band is still around too. They had quite a few other great songs.
brent

In Toronto...maybe.

Here...Not if you listened to every radio station in the area 24/7 for the
next 100 years.

** EDIT **

Did some checking, as I figured.

In Canada, the song hit # 5.

In the US, # 32, which means it just barely broke the top 40 for a week
or so. Songs that just break the top 40 usually don't get played much
after they're gone.

Hell, back when it was a "hit" here, you were lucky to hear it once in
a while.

Guess I should have lived in Canada.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Carly Simon had a lot of big hits, but one of her best songs barely got
any airplay at all.

From No Secrets..."Embrace Me You Child"

YouTube - EMBRACE ME, YOU CHILD - Carly Simon

[Steven Wagenheim]

In 1974, Bob Dylan came out with, arguably, his best album ever...Blood On
The Tracks.

The album was a huge success and many of the songs got played to death.
In fact, Rolling Stone Magazine recently named this, according to critics, the
number 1 rock album of all time.

But after the album fell off the charts, the bloom fell off the rose and you
couldn't hear these songs if your life depended on it.

Stations that still played Bob Dylan tunes played the standard stuff:

Blowin In The Wind
Like A Rolling Stone
Positively 4th Street
Rainy Day Women # 12 and # 35
Just Like A Woman
Lay Lady Lay
Knockin On Heaven's Door

Most of it before 1970.

This album...not a peep.

So here, after over 30 years of not hearing this music, are the 3 most
played songs from that album when it was the in thing to play them.

Lilly Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts
Idiot Wind
Tangled Up In Blue

We'll never have those days back again.

YouTube - Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts

YouTube - Bob Dylan - Idiot Wind

YouTube - Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue

[Patrician]

wow. steven - i have loved Bob Dylan since I was a teenager and he still absolutely thrills me. Still is one of the foremost geniuses of our time...

That is indeed (Blood on the Tracks) one of the few albums of his I don't have. I do have 'World Gone Wrong' - that is a pretty obscure album too, yes?

In the last 5 years I bought 'No Direction Home' which is a 'bootleg' double disk with a little book - From the movie by Martin Scorsese on Dylan history - has 28 tracks - a lot of live performances and alternate versions/singles from various albums - and not one from Blood on the Tracks. Found it of all places at Starbucks -

Well I know what to buy next...

... and these 3 are so bookmarked.

[Steven Wagenheim]

In 1973, the New York radio stations were kind enough to give us our first
taste of this group. They were a big hit in England but never really made it
here.

Today, you'd be hard pressed to hear any of their songs on any station
anywhere.

There were three songs from this album that were absolutely phenomenal.

I was only able to find one of the studio recordings online.

So here it is, from Bursting At The Seams

"Part Of The Union"

YouTube - The Strawbs Part Of The Union

[Patrician]

p.s. some real good news today that the miserly Warner Music Group has agreed with Youtube to release back all the stuff they locked.

I just couldnl't believe they did that to so many songs - it is not like we are pirating downloads -

Really irked me - right after Odessa died they yanked her hauntingly beautiful song, 'Cottonfields' - I can't wait to bookmark that again...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/bu...ia/30tube.html

[Steven Wagenheim]

In 1970, a gentleman hit the scene who sounded very much like Paul
McCartney.

Unfortunately, he didn't have his success and hearing any of his songs, then
or now, was a rarity.

Shame...he had real talent.

His name...Emitt Rhodes.

Here are a few from his debut album.

YouTube - Emitt Rhodes - Fresh as a Daisy - 45 rpm

YouTube - Emitt Rhodes - Somebody Made For Me

YouTube - Emitt Rhodes - She's Such A Beauty

[Michael Oksa]

The stations around have always played Tangled Up In Blue. It's my favorite Dylan song, though there are several others that are close.

All of these discussions about "they don't play", "it was a hit", "it wasn't", "made it here", etc. go to show how different regional hits are vs. national ones.

Viva la difference!

Rock on!
Michael

[Ron Kerr]

The Bonzo's had one of the great group names.

YouTube - Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Urban Spaceman

[KimW]

Dammit Ron, I was going to post that! (I actually thought about it last night, got distracted and it went poof,right out of my brain!)

I Love that song.
Heres a bit more by them:

YouTube - Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - Canyons Of...

YouTube - BONZO DOG (DOO-DAH) BAND - 'The Intro...

[Bjarne Eldhuset]

In my opinion, the future has never sounded as cool as in 1962:

YouTube - The Tornados - Telstar (1962)

Telstar is the name of various communications satellites, including the first ever such satellite able to relay television signals.

The first two Telstar satellites were "Telstar 1", launched July 10, 1962 and operational until February 21, 1963, and "Telstar 2", launched May 7, 1963 and operational until May 16, 1965.

They were experimental, and nearly identical. Telstar 1 relayed the first television pictures, telephone calls and fax images through space and provided the first live transatlantic television feed.

Joe Meek of The Tornados composed a popular instrumental recording, named Telstar after the satellite; it was originally performed by The Tornados and covered by The Ventures among many others.

According to wikipedia, the sound effects on the record, intended to symbolize radio signals, were produced by Meek running a pen around the rim of an ashtray, and then playing the tape of it in reverse.

[Bjarne Eldhuset]

I don't know how obscure they are considered, but The Zombies are one of my favourite bands of all time.

I pretty much love every tune they made, playd or covered. Here are some of them:

YouTube - The Zombies - Time Of The Season (1968)

YouTube - the zombies - woman

YouTube - The Zombies - Summertime (Shindig, 1965)

YouTube - The Zombies - Beechwood Park

YouTube - the zombies a butcher's tale

YouTube - The Zombies - This Will Be Our Year...

YouTube - The Zombies - Whenever You're Ready

If you like this, I highly recommend that you check out the 42 track double cd called "The Singles A's & B's":

Amazon.com: The Singles A's & B's: The Zombies:...
(non affiliate link, I just want more people to check out The Zombies)

[Patrician]

This is the one they were famous for here. Just to keep it with the set.

I LOVE ZOMBIES (at least these zombies)

YouTube - The Zombies - She's Not There

[KimW]

ok, not sure where it went,but I couldda swore I posted this.
Rod Argent was the keyboardist for the Zombies.he went on to have his own group called,surprisingly enough,Argent. They had a hit with this song:

YouTube - Hold Your Head Up-Argent-1972-(Long...

[Bjarne Eldhuset]

I guess Norway is pretty obscure to a lot of people, so here are 10 tunes from norwegian bands I like:

YouTube - Kåre and the cavemen - Filadelfia

YouTube - Madrugada - What's on your mind?

YouTube - Real Ones - Every Dog Has Its Day

YouTube - MOVING OOS - Minister Of Love

YouTube - Motorpsycho - the other fool (music...

YouTube - Big Bang - One of a Kind

YouTube - BigBang - To The Mountains

YouTube - Grand Island - Us Annexed

YouTube - Ricochets - The Ghost Of Our Love

YouTube - Don´t let em bring you down

[Kevin Flask]

I honestly don't know how obscure this band is, but I have never heard any more of their songs since these two came out back in the late 70's early 80's.

The band's name is Zebra. I remembering hearing an intro on a radio station that they sound a lot like Zepplin.

I have an eclectic taste in music I guess, not much of a hard rock/metal fan, but I really liked this band when they came out.

Here are their two hits that I remember:

"Tell Me What You Want"

YouTube - Zebra-Tell Me What You Want

and

"Who's Behind the Door"

YouTube - ZEBRA - Who's behind the door

[Steven Wagenheim]

Wow...so much great stuff posted since I last visited this thread. No way
can I comment on everything but thanks for some wonderful memories.

Kim, Robin Mac had just the one hit as far as I knew and is rarely played
these days unless you can find an oldies station.

Kevin, when I first heard Zebra I thought they were a Zep spinoff. Those
two songs were two of my favorites in the years they came out. Alternative
stations will occasionally play these, but rarely.

As for the Zombies, at least around my neck of the woods, their stuff
is still being played...thank goodness. But they never really got the
attention they deserved and Hold Your Head Up by Rod Argent and his
band was a moderate hit at best.

Anyway, I'll see what else I can dig up today.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

The stations around have always played Tangled Up In Blue. It's my favorite Dylan song, though there are several others that are close.

All of these discussions about "they don't play", "it was a hit", "it wasn't", "made it here", etc. go to show how different regional hits are vs. national ones.

Viva la difference!

Rock on!
Michael

Michael, living in Wisconsin, maybe you were able to pick up CKLW from
Detroit back in the 70s. They played so much music that never made it
to the east coast. I used to listen to them at night when you could pick
up just about anything.

Back then, every region had its own thing. My favorite stations were from
Atlanta and some little hick town in Maine. Many of the records I ended
up having to hunt for came from those stations.

I'm not sure how true that is today, but 30 plus years ago, it was very
common to hear different songs depending on where you went.

[Bjarne Eldhuset]

Spent a bit too much time in this thread to day!

But I just had to dig up some videos of swedish group "The Spotnicks". Their stage appearance was quite far out for the early sixties:

YouTube - The Spotnicks My Bonnie

YouTube - THE SPOTNICKS ROCKET MAN

YouTube - The Spotnicks Spanish Gypsy Dance(live...

YouTube - The Spotnicks Theme

YouTube - The Spotnicks - Johnny Guitar (1962)

[Michael Oksa]

OMG!!!!

The Spotnicks are clearly an influence on Devo!

Same oufits, same moves, odd material.

I say OMG, because it is truly rare for me to have such a musical epiphany.

Thank you from the bottom of my rock and roll heart.

Rock on!
Michael

[KimW]

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

OMG!!!!

The Spotnicks are clearly an influence on Devo!

Same oufits, same moves, odd material.

I say OMG, because it is truly rare for me to have such a musical epiphany.

Thank you from the bottom of my rock and roll heart.

Rock on!
Michael

I thought the same thing when I saw these clips...... in some ways awesome, in other ways disheartening to see what you thought was original came from somewhere else.......

[Bjarne Eldhuset]

Thanks for the Devo tip, had never heard of them before.

I can see what you mean with the influences. Then again, The Spotnicks were influenced by NASA

Or maybe they all were influenced by other stuff, like this 107 year old film:

YouTube - A trip to the moon - Part 1

YouTube - A trip to the moon - Part 2

[Michael Oksa]

I've seen A Trip To The Moon on the bog screen, and it's definitely a classic.

Keep an open mind when looking into Devo. Hope you enjoy them.

@Kim - Not let down at all. I think Devo's philosophy fits right in. They are about the foolishness of conformity, and it could certainly be the case with the Spotnicks. They have mentioned other influences, but have never heard them mention these spacey rockers.

Rock on!
Michael

[Bjarne Eldhuset]

Another band that had their own "visual theme" during the sixties were The Monks.

They were five American GI's who met when they were stationed in Germany in the mid-sixties. They came out with an album called Black Monk Time in 1966 (I love that album title!).

Though they didn't have a "space theme", they definately display some of their crazier sides.

Here are some videos of them playing on german tv in 1965:

YouTube - The Monks Live in Germany - I Can't Get...

YouTube - the monks - boys are boys

YouTube - The Monks Live in Germany - Complication

YouTube - The Monks Live in Germany - Monk Chant

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Bjarne Eldhuset

Another band that had their own "visual theme" during the sixties were The Monks.

They were five American GI's who met when they were stationed in Germany in the mid-sixties. They came out with an album called Black Monk Time in 1966 (I love that album title!).

Though they didn't have a "space theme", they definately display some of their crazier sides.

Here are some videos of them playing on german tv in 1965:

YouTube - The Monks Live in Germany - I Can't Get Over You

YouTube - the monks - boys are boys

YouTube - The Monks Live in Germany - Complication

YouTube - The Monks Live in Germany - Monk Chant

Bjarne, this just goes to show you how many musical acts from Europe
never made it to the states.

It's like another world over there.

[John Rogers]

Originally Posted by Kurt

Here's a nice sing-along:

I love to torture my wife with that. "Hey, baby, how 'bout some heavy metal yodeling?"

Here's a live version. Watching the yodeling is much better than just listening.

YouTube - Focus- Hocus Pocus (live '73)

John

[John Rogers]

Originally Posted by KimW

Sorry Kurt, I think you may have been experimenting back in the day! All kidding aside,I never heard of that song,and can find no refence to it anywhere.
I must admit, I did learn something new while looking though...
Lou Reed married Laurie Anderson.
Some of you that are as strange as I am may have heard this before

Lou Reed married Laurie Anderson? Wow.

I couldn't get enough Laurie Anderson back in the mid 80's. I'm still waiting for Home of the Brave to come out on DVD (a real one, not a bootleg copied from VHS).

John

[John Rogers]

Kurt posted a Fine Young Cannibals video. Fine Young Cannibals formed after ska band The Beat (known as The English Beat in the US) broke up. The other half of The Beat became General Public.

YouTube - The Beat. Tears Of A Clown

[Michael Oksa]

Thanks for the video John. Haven't seen that one before. You're right, it really takes the performance to another level.

If anything, I would think the yodeling and whistling would be the hardest things to dupluicate live, but it was the guitarists who were a little off at first. Not being critical, just an observation.

I thought Lou and Laurie were going steady, didn't know they were married.

This is the one I always liked...

YouTube - LAURIE ANDERSON - SHARKEY'S DAY

Rock on!
Michael

[Michael Oksa]

To be fair, here's my favorite solo Lou Reed song.

YouTube - Lou Reed Real Good Time Together

And, Laurie Anderson made me think of this one. (May contain questionable material for some)

YouTube - Patti Smith Gloria

Rock on!
Michael

[John Rogers]

Video jukeboxes were big in Europe when I was there in the mid 80's. This song and video got a lot of play there. I don't think it got much notice in the states even though the song was in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

YouTube - Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Love Missile...

John

[Michael Oksa]

Always like Sigue Sigue Sputnik, too. I grew up in a small Wisconsin town of about 4,000 people. I had a friend that would get imports, and some harder to find records.

However Love Missile F1-11 was in minor MTV rotation for a while, and I watched it non-stop whenever my stepdad wasn't home.

Totally unrelated genre, but here's a performance of Bon Scott before he would go on to join AC/DC...

YouTube - VALENTINES Aussie bubblegum Bon Scott...

Now that's groovy.

Rock on!
Michael

[John Rogers]

Bauhaus is one of my favorite 80's bands. If you've seen the film The Hunger (David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, Catherine Deneuve), Bauhaus is the band playing in the club in the opening scene.

When Bauhaus split up Peter Murphy went solo, and the rest of the band formed Love and Rockets.

YouTube - Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead [Music...

John

[John Rogers]

Billy Gibbons. Pre-ZZ Top.

YouTube - The Moving Sidewalks - 99th Floor

John

[John Rogers]

Psychobilly band, The Meteors. I got all of their vinyl when I was in Europe, but sadly I lost everything in a house fire in 1994.

YouTube - The Meteors Teenagers from Outer Space

John

[Michael Oksa]

It happens to the best of us.

I made a mistake, and don't want to misinform anyone when it comes to rock and roll.

While Bon Scott was IN the Valentines, it looks he's NOT the one singing on the above track.

I saw the missing teeth and assumed it was him, but according to the text on the screen, it's not.

This one DOES have Bon Scott on lead vocal...

YouTube - The Valentines - Bon Scott...

Oops! and Rock on!
Michael

[Steven Wagenheim]

Kraftwerk...I could write a book about this group, but here is the biggest
irony of all.

Much bigger in Europe (especially Germany) than anywhere else, especially
in the states, this song charted ONLY in the US. I'd post Autobahn, but at
30 minutes long, it ain't gonna happen.

Oh, the song that only charted in the US?

One that was later adapted into several dance mixes at many clubs.

Yes, this was the one that started it all

Trans Europe Express.

YouTube - kraftwerk - trans europe express

[John Rogers]

Here's a UK one hit wonder that actually broke the top 40 in the US (barely).

YouTube - The Vapors - Turning Japanese

John

[Michael Oksa]

The flip side of Turning Japanese was Talk Talk, it was the first song I ever purchased from iTunes.

Tran-Europe-Ex-Press. Kraftwerk is good. I think they charted with a single edit of Autobahn. I thought it was 24 minutes, regardless, at either length it wasn't going to do well. (I'll update shortly, I gotta go grab one of my rock and roll reference books).

In the meantime...

Here's Bon Scott in Fraternity. He has a beard, and plays woodwind in addition to singing on this slighty prog/Traffic sounding song.

YouTube - Fraternity - Seasons of Change

Rock on!
Michael