Criminally commercially unsuccessful bands

[Kevorargh]

Let's see:

Most of the '80's Minneapolis scene - Husker Du, The Replacements, Soul Asylum (although Dave Pirner really just caved to stardom after Grave Dancer's Union)

Drivin N Cryin - a really good hard rockin band out of Athens, GA - saw them open for REM . Their album Fly Me Courageous was fantastic.

Eleventh Dream Day
Uncle Tupelo
The Beat Farmers
Masters of Reality (Sunrise on the Sufferbus with Ginger Baker on drums is a superb album and a masterclass in concise songwriting and playing)
Voivod
King's X
Fishbone

and on and on and on....

 

[slapshot]

Anybody mention King Diamond?

King Diamond has done well, outside the US.

 

[EriktheRed]

The Indians

 

[The Mogpipe]

Ahh Pepe and his brothers absolutely agree. My friends and I followed them around from the early times back in 1976 we started to sneak into clubs to see them back in the day Lenny on bass was killer later replaced by Bruce Kulick and then of course Schuyler "Shady" Deale. I played in a place back in the mid 2000 that The Good Rats were playing at little time later we lost Pepe. They did get to play some big areas though but never became a household name. RIP Pepe Rubber rats and Baseball bats

When I was in college back in the 90's my roommate Rat introduced me to the Good Rats. Cool stuff!
"Hiding in coffin, biting on a kids face,
Good Rats! "

 

[Cousin Iggy]

I was really pleased to see UK and Caravan mentioned already...

Won't stop me from mentioning them again...


And in a completely different vein: The Screaming Blue Messiahs

 

[Jigmay]

XTC, where do I start?

^^^^^^^^

This. Great songwriting, so many ideas, tight playing and great basslines.

 

[K-man]

Max Webster
Kim Mitchell

 

[rtslinger]

When I was in college back in the 90's my roommate Rat introduced me to the Good Rats. Cool stuff!
"Hiding in coffin, biting on a kids face,
Good Rats! "

We had a man named crazy Ott
He overplayed his bass a lot
We hadda kick him in the pants
His fingers moved like vitus dance
Tasty

 

[jerry]

The Indians

View attachment 3339914

In the early 90's I was in a band that covered Bed Of Roses for no more of a reason that we dug that band. I still have that CD in my stacks.

 

[Marc61]

The dBs and Let’s Active both out of Winston Salem NC and The Bongos out of Hoboken NJ.pop masterpieces from all three.

 

[Maxime1980]

Fishbone, they have a great documentary about how they "almost" made it.

I saw Fishbone on the Warped Tour with Deftones,Civ and a zillion punk bands that sounded pretty much all the same all the way back in 1996. Fishbones were great and the frontman was super energetic!

 

[ThumpsAlot]

For me it's Fates Warning with one of the most underrated drummers ever Mark Zonder (who is no longer with them). Going to see them with Queensryche this Sunday in Fort Lauderdale FL. Can't wait.

 

[Keger Jupit]

King's X-FTW
Dada-another trio with killer vocals
XTC-Skylarking is STELLAR
Blue Murder-Sykes, Appice, & Franklin...oh my
Badlands-Greg Chaisson was a monster early influence
Jonatha Brooke-not a band, but check out her first 2 albums; 10 cent wings & Steady Pull
Crash Test Dummies-Canadian & sublime

Dada-I know I already put them in here, but they are ridiculously good. Don't judge them just by the song Dizz Knee Land (or by the horrible title). While still catchy, that was the worst song on the album; they just kept getting better. El Subliminoso & their self-titled album are my 2 favorites, but they are all great.

 

[mrjim123]

Rockpile (Dave Edmonds and Nick Lowe) Late 70s early 80s.

Fantastic pop/rock!

This album is actually a "must have".

An anti-obesity song.



View attachment 3339735
View attachment 3339736

+1 Dave Edmunds / Rockpile / Nick Lowe!

 

[Edmang]

Saga

 

[gtlover]

Some of my underrated favorites:

Eleven
Inflatable Soule
Goodness
The Smithereens
Elliott Smith
Nick Drake
Rodriguez
Elbow

I'm also a pretty big They Might Be Giants fan, and while they're not exactly huge, they've still done pretty well for themselves - 2 Grammys and sales of over 4 million records ain't bad. They still pack venues around the world.

 

[Turbo Sparky]

Prong shows were a lot of fun, back in the day.

Yep. Saw them open for Body Count!

 

[BrickBatMansion]

Mind Bomb

 

[Pedullist]

Let me not forget Saigon Kick. Very AIC influenced band.

I suggest you check out what Jason is doing now

 

[Kickass]

Here's a few UK based bands.

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (Brother of Les Harvey, Stone The Crows)


Greenslade (the track "Gangsters" was used for a BBC TV series of the same name)


Deaf School (Clive Langer, who would produce Madness and Dexys Midnight Runners, amongst others, sand co-write "Shipbuilding" with Elvis Costello)


Cafe Jacques (Edinburgh based band)


Wally


Caravan (from Canterbury, associated with Soft Machine)