Criminally commercially unsuccessful bands

[Bemo]

Kings X is a perfect example in my opinion. Gretchen Goes to Nebraska was f'ing brilliant. But, all the rest of their albums just don't hold up as well.

Did you listen to Dogman?




Out of the Silent Planet?



Granted later albums like Ear Candy and Black Like Sunday are weak spots in the repertoire, but the catalog is strong. Especially the first four albums

 

[JimK]

Mother's Finest...

 

[JimK]

The Dixie Dregs - Steve Morse, Rod Morgenstein, Andy West, and Steve Sloan

...that's Allen Sloan, M.D.


T. Lavitz (RIP) later enlisted.
Mark O'Connor later replaced Sloan. I had guitar buddies insist O'Connor was as good, if not better, than Morse. Ummm, yeah.

 

[MCF]

They never stood a chance because of their name. But they were a great band from Tennessee in the early nineties.

 

[tim gueguen]

Gotta disagree a bit about Brand X. For a '70s fusion band they did pretty good. Their second album, Moroccan Roll, actually reached #37 on the UK charts, and #125 in the US. Is There Anything About?, released in 1982, more than two years after they broke up, actually managed to reach #93 on the UK album charts.

 

[Richland123]

Fast Forward was a band that featured Ian Lloyd (former Stories), Bruce Fairbairn, and Jim Vallance along with some other musicians. The group released one album and fell apart with all the players moving on to bigger things.

 

[Kipp Harrington]

Saw these guys in a small club in So Cal. Awesome musicians! The last song they played was Elton John's "Funeral For A Friend", and they nailed it!

Toy Matinee

 

[MonetBass]

The Beta Band - they were innovative, original and I think they were fecking great, but they self-sabotaged their debut album, never sold records in great numbers and ended up £100,000 in debt to their record company before they split... their 3 E.P's still sounds fresh today...

If "High Fidelity" was not one of my favorite movies, I would have never heard of those guys.

Did you listen to Dogman?




Out of the Silent Planet?



Granted later albums like Ear Candy and Black Like Sunday are weak spots in the repertoire, but the catalog is strong. Especially the first four albums

Tape Head, the eponymous King's X and XV are excellent as well.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Happy The Man

Van Der Graaf Generator

Magazine

B People

What Is This

Sensational Alex Harvey Band

 

[DJ Bebop]

Wishbone Ash. Saw them twice in the early 70’s. Once at Melody Skate Land in Indy (yes it was a skating rink with seating on the floor) and then at the Hammond Civic Center. Still one of my favorites.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Happy The Man

Van Der Graaf Generator

Magazine

B People

What Is This

Sensational Alex Harvey Band

 

[aomu]

A lot of great bands mentioned. Here are a few already mentioned, and a few not.
Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush
Max Webster/Kim Mitchell
Pat Travers Band
Legs Diamond
Rory Gallagher
Gamma (Ronnie Montrose)
FM

 

[Richland123]

The Cruzados

 

[MCF]

For Wishone Ash lovers like me, the box set Vintage Years 1970 -1991 that was announced near the end of ‘17 is wonderful. I pre-ordered it when it was announced and it arrived a few months later. Very comprehensive with extra goodies. It ain’t cheap (costs more than some Squier basses), but it is still available on Amazon Prime.

 

[Iroquoisroadwarrior]

UFO

Thin Lizzy

 

[ChaZam]

Silkworm...
*******

 

[ChaZam]

Slobberbone...
******

 

[ChaZam]

Brave Combo...
******

 

[devnulljp]

Big Star
Diamond Head (British NWOBHM band from the 80s that should have been at least as huge as Iron Maiden)



IQ (British neo-Prog band from the 80s that are still going AFAIK; they must love what they do as they're not in it for the money and the chicks)

 

[Michedelic]

OK, switching gears to mid 70s brit art-pop, Be Bop Deluxe should've been bigger in the US...

View attachment 3339296 View attachment 3339297

Be Bop Deluxe certainly fit into the "criminally" unsuccessful category.

Yep
View attachment 3340804

I just want to say thanks to those on here who rekindled my love for Deluxe. They were in heavy rotation on my table from about ‘76 to ‘80. Not sure why I stopped listening to them. They really should have been huge on this side of the pond. Seventies clothes aside, I think the music holds up really well.

This just popped up recently, very fascinating, of course; "SB" was my favorite album by the band, followed by "Drastic Plastic". "Modern Music", which was the 'big push' album for the US, was kind of a letdown for me, much like how I was nuts over Roxy Music's "Country Life", but felt kinda 'meh' about "Siren". But I gotta tell ya, I think I aged a few years watching the interview...