Favorite bands that went nowhere, dept.

[jwhitcomb3]

I've got 5 Dada albums and they range from good to excellent.

I've got to revisit the Judybats...the same guy who turned me onto the Cavedogs recommended them but I don't remember ever buying any of their CDs. Is there a good place to start with them?

-Jonathan

[Halowords]

Two bands that went nowhere that are two of my all-time favorites:

1) Jawbreaker. This band is the reason I wanted a Les Paul. They get classified as punk rock, precursors of Emo, post-punk, I do not know what else. Great band that is too sophisticated to be what most people call punk, not whiny like Emo, this is my go-to band. Bivouac is my favorite album by them; both noisy and melodic. Most people love the albums 24 Hour Revenge Therapy the best followed by Unfun. I love them all.

Bivouac (the song, not the whole album); note the way the song just changes/explodes around the 4:45 mark.

Kiss the Bottle: Great song!

2) Dismemberment Plan. Kind of artsy, jazzy, edgy, chilling, and beautiful. Kind of a progressive jazzy-rock band, the kind that is hard to classify. Hauntingly beautiful music, they were anti-pop at its best (for me at least. There are rumors of a reunion at some point that I would really love to see come together.

Time Bomb: Maybe one of their more accessible songs, but they do some cool things with the timing where you think it will be a predictable chorus and they change it up. I love this song, and the album it is off of.

You Are Invited: Who doesn't love a song with a narrative?

2B) The Shins. Except they are quasi-famous at this point and still around.

-Cheers

[Jones]

The Refreshments

Drivin N Cryin

The Poorboys

Jason and the Scorchers

Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers

[robbie]

Jones, You forgot to say Gear Daddies.

+1 on Drivin' and Cryin'

[Feynman]

The Cavedogs. Boston's late 80's power trio with the Beatle's hooks, the Who's power and some snotty punk attitude thrown in for fun. Everybody wrote songs and sang and they put on a killer live show. Their first album "Joy Rides For Shut-Ins" was eventually picked up by Capitol but they got swept under by the grunge wave and just missed the boat. Their second album "Soul Martini" wasn't promoted and they just fizzled.

Got em' both...cool band. The Judybats was another band I liked, same thing, got steamrollered by the whole Nirvana thing...

Judybats! A name I haven't heard in awhile...as a young dude at the University of Tennessee, I saw and hung out with them a few times, as they were a local small club band. Good memories.

[Brooks]

T-Ride

The guitar player was one of Satch's students. The drummer went on to be some uber-producer.

i've seen t-ride live, as well as dada, both were impressive shows.

here's part of an obsessed documentary that examines their style

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COgbSmzbtoM

[Camstone]

I hate to say they didn't go anywhere but they never really "made" it. The Raisins. Now known as the Psychodots. Great mix of writing/ humor/ musical ablility/ and sound but just never made it with a label. Lots of fans all over but didn't hit it "big".

I saw the Psychodots open up for Adrian Belew at the Backstage in Ballard (Seattle) maybe fourteen years ago. Their set was just smokin, I bought all of their CD's (still have 'em) then Belew came out and the 'Dots were Belew's band! Killer show.

Another band here in the NW that came to mind that was great and never got signed was The Tiny Hat Orchestra. They were a ska band with a big horn section and a lead singer that looked like he was having a breakdown on every song. Just putting his whole existence into every note. I saw them a few times and was blown away every show.

[Guest pirateflynn]

My two favorite bands that didn't go very far are The Babys and Jellyfish.

[Willie G. Moseley]

Potliquor, from Louisiana. Two late '60s albums of swamp rock at its finest.

Ultravox didn't go very far in the U.S.

The Guild, out of the Champaign-Urbana club scene, ca. 1970.

[Guest Meshuggah]

The People!

Who can forget that haunting ballad "I Love You" or their striking original tune "Nothing can Stop the Elephants". I have them on vinyl.

Here's a link that will probably take you to the wrong Wiki article. Simply add the excamation mark to the URL if you get People vice People!

Interesting history. Seems they gave Pete the idea for Tommy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People!

[Jeff R]

Potliquor, from Louisiana. Two late '60s albums of swamp rock at its finest.

You'd be surprised, Willie, how many times I still hear locals refer to and reflect on Potliquor in conversations about live music and gigging down this way.

[Jones]

Jones, You forgot to say Gear Daddies.

+1 on Drivin' and Cryin'

I didn't forget them - they get played during every hockey game in the country! That's HUGE, right?!?

Plus they are playing RibFest - that's also HUGE!

[DaveL]

I have that Life Sex and Death album, there's one song called

"some fuckin shit-ass". If I have a rough day at the office I will

sometimes hum that tune to myself.

My Faves...

zodiac mindwarp, D-Generation. Circus of Power

Rose Tattoo/Angel City... I liked em, their albums would always have

a couple clunkers but at the same time they'd have 2 or 3 kickass tunes

too... good to see GNR pay homage by covering "nice boys"...

UFO/Thin Lizzy should have been bigger in US no idea why

Kix... one of the best live bands ever, there's a book 100 greatest

metal albums of all time and Kix had something like 5 albums in the

top 50.

Jason and the Scorchers... If I had a band, it would have Marshall's

and we'd sound like Jason.

[serial]

Dada, Jason and the Scorchers for sure. BroChris came up this weekend and dropped some of the new Dada on me. Good stuff-amazing Strat sounds on all of their stuff that would make Mark Knopfler hang up his guitar.

Another Jason has two of the best power pop bands that never did anything. Jason Karaban of Dragstrip Courage and also of Grand. Some absolutely amazing stuff.

THE best band out there now as far as I'm concerned seems similarly fated to languish unknown to all but the intelligents who pick up their stuff-The Shazam .

[alpep]

since dada was taken

check out The Brian Jonestown Massacre

great tunes great hooks lunatic lead singer

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lSptPm1C1nM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9admQrK9Bzs&amp...ted&search=

check out the movie DIG

[darc]

My two favorite bands that didn't go very far are The Babys and Jellyfish.

Bellybutton is an incredible album.

[Buster]

Cool for August...they had a huge hit with "Walk Away"...then faded away...

[Luke]

East of Eden

Ultra Blue (they appeared on Star Search)

[Dumo]

the obsessed, spirit caravan, place of skulls, hidden hand.

imho, mainman of all of these bands, scott "wino" weinrich,

shoots himself in the foot because everytime he switches out

his rhythm section he changes the name of the band,

even though they all sound similar and he does the vast majority

of lead vocals/lead guitar/songwriting (although place of skulls

did have a 2nd singer/leadguitarist/songwriter). i think if he

would have just kept 'em all called the obsessed he wouldn't have

lost so much momentum. his sound is very sabbath inspired,

dark heavy sludgy riffs with distinctivly sung (not screamed) vocals.

hidden hand is still touring and recording, but my fave tunes by wino are from the obsessed & spirit caravan.

edit for vid linkage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG_GLT_0KZk

Wino immediately came to mind. This guy is like Iommi and Lemmy put together. i can't think of anybody who has a better back catalog and nobody knows who he is. Not even most metalheads. He's always about the new project which has been career suicide for him. I have respect for that but it's entertainment/art. Nothing wrong with catering to the masses a little. It's only Rock N' Roll. When's the Saint Vitus reunion?

[alantigold]

+1 on both Off Broadway and Headpins.

A couple local bands that should have been much bigger: Billy Price & The Keystone Rhythm band. Awesome blues band with a handful of records. Lacked a big-time soloist until they picked up a guitar player named Glenn Pavone, but they still didn't break big. BP is still playing around Pittsburgh and such, but the last I'd heard had moved away somewhat from the R&B style. Two interesting tidbits - BP sang on a couple of Roy Buchanan LPs in the 70s, and his day job is working at the CERT labs, last I heard.

Another is the Cyclones, led by the very same Glenn Pavone. Pavone is an awesome guitarist, but for some reason has never broken beyond the local scene. The Cyclones changed drummers about five-six years ago, and it took a lot of the spark out of the band, IMO. My buddy said he saw him playing in a bar, and while Pavone was ripping out these awesome solos, his head was tilted back and he was staring up into the rafters, and every so often his lips would move. They couldn't figure out why, so someone got up and walked around to the side of the stage. There was a TV monitor playing Jeopardy - he was answering the questions.

Yet another local band, a tad more to the alternative side, is Squonk Opera. Very off-mainstream. Saw them first do a live performance along to "Night Of The Living Dead" (the classic original). The vocalist at the time, Kate Aaronson, has an ethereal voice that just fit the music perfectly. Since she left the band, the vocals have just never seemed to cut through the same way. The main musical driving force, Jackie Dempsey & Steve O'Hearn are still there, and the music is awesome, but to me, a bit of the magic was lost.

Nationally, Jill Sobule (who had a big hit with "I Kissed A Girl") and Mike Keneally (ex-stunt guitarist for Zappa, ex-guitar/keys for Steve Vai) are both tragically underexposed. MK is an awesome guitarist who can play virtually anything. Seriously. In his 1988 Zappa tour diaries, he talks several times about how they wanted to add songs to the set, and they'd all go to his room because he could remember how the songs went. If you've never heard him play "Inca Roads" acoustically, you're missing out - and that doesn't even get into his own stuff. JS is just a wonderfully emotional singer - I still get chills when I listen to "Vrbana Bridge".

Wow, that was way too long.

Alan

[HamerHokie]

Southern Culture On The Skids. Saw 'em once in a bar in Blacksburg, late 80s timeframe, saw them every now and then on TV. Never broke it big or moderately big.

[serial]

A couple local bands that should have been much bigger: Billy Price & The Keystone Rhythm band. Awesome blues band with a handful of records. Lacked a big-time soloist until they picked up a guitar player named Glenn Pavone, but they still didn't break big. BP is still playing around Pittsburgh and such, but the last I'd heard had moved away somewhat from the R&B style. Two interesting tidbits - BP sang on a couple of Roy Buchanan LPs in the 70s, and his day job is working at the CERT labs, last I heard.

Billy Price has been around FOREVER. I waited on him and the band a couple of times in '85 or so at the Beach.

[cmatthes]

One fave of mine is a band called dada. Great poppy tunes with awsome melodies and harmonies.

http://www.dadatheband.com/news/

Ditto for Dada!

I'll be catching them at the State Theater in August. Best Strat tones ever.

Jellyfish, Fuzzbubble (tell me THAT isn't fooked!), and the Jellybricks. Also, pretty much anything with Mitch Easter, Game Theory, TPOH, Dillon Fence, The Connells and of course, The Shazam.

[Boogie1]

Saraya.............

[tomteriffic]

Fever Tree. Did three albums on a label that went bust (third one was a contractual obligaton jobbie) and sank without a trace. Dennis Keller was a fine songwriter as were the producers (somebody and somebody Holzman, IIRC). These guys were out of the Texas psychedelic thing in the late sixties, early seventies. A couple of others from that time that were heralded as innovators but were pretty far under the radar were 50 Foot Hose and Red Crayola.

+1 for SCOTS. They were under my radar too until one of my all-time fave guitarists, Will Kimbrough, began occasionally touring and sharing the bill with them.