Artists/bands that were once quite popular, yet nowadays are mostly ignored in canonical history books

Suzanne Vega maybe?

Does anyone care about The KLF anymore?

George Michael will soon be an answer to this.

Outhere Brothers, a textbook example here.

Alabama

Moody Blues

everything Felix Pappalardi was involved in

someone mentioned Steve Winwood: Traffic

Dunno that they are ignored. His solo stuff is.

Alfred OTM on Alabama: I have their For The Record: 41 Number One Hits 2-cd set, and if that's right, that's a staggeringly successful run (the Judds had something like 13 straight number ones for comparison). Yet they don't come up much these days.

Lionel Richie also comes to mind here.

Gary Lewis and the Playboys. 17 top 40 hits!

If you listened to the radio, you would think BOC had at most three songs in their catalog, when in reality those songs are not representative of how great they were. So I nominate them.

barbara mandrell

also i think garth brooks has a suprisingly low profile even today considering that he was the most dominant commercial artist of the 1990s...didn't he break some beatles records? but even now it seems like dudes like alan jackson have more cred in country circles.

I think Alan Jackson's continuing productivity gives him more visibility right now than Garth, who mostly keeps putting out greatest hits collections. But still, yeah, Garth is a good pick. Although as we dig into the country crates, we're starting to run up against the fact that the canonical history books we're (sorta) talking about are pretty rock-focused. Because straight-up country canons give Garth a big place still.

The Wonder Stuff

didn't he break some beatles records?

Yes, but only because sales of a box set are counted as the individual CDs in the box. So if his box had 5 discs in it, each disc counted as an individual sale, which artificially raised his sales totals (as was his and his managers' intention, or so I've heard).

Kenny Rogers

Roy Harper doesn't get spoken of a lot these days - less than Nick Drake or John Martyn, f'rinstance

He had a big piece on him in Mojo a couple of months ago.

The Wonder Stuff is the right answer. Same with the Waterboys, Hothouse Flowers, James - it's like an entire genre written out of history.

Garth is the C&W Wonder Stuff. Give 'em time.

The Wonder Stuff is the right answer

Not in the USA. They were totally obscure even in their heyday.

the Stuffies weren't that obscure in the States...Spin magazine loved 'em...

Paul Revere and the Raiders

i remember hearing about ozric tentacles a lot. how big were they in the UK?

Level 42

Modern Talking aka the best selling disco act in the world

the Dave Clark Five are probably the best example. Anyone under 50 will probably think you're talking about the techno guy but apparently they sold almost 200 million records!

the Dave Clark Five are probably the best example.

Having your records being out of print for much of the past 20 or 30 years certainly can cut down your chances of being reappraised.

I've said this before, but, in the UK, Showaddywaddy. Have you heard of them? They had more hits than The Clash!

Position Artist Title Format Date Details
2 Showaddywaddy Hey Rock And Roll Single May 1974
15 Showaddywaddy Rock 'N' Roll Lady Single Aug 1974
13 Showaddywaddy Hey Mister Christmas Single Nov 1974
9 Showaddywaddy Showaddywaddy Album Dec 1974
14 Showaddywaddy Sweet Music Single Feb 1975
2 Showaddywaddy Three Steps To Heaven Single May 1975
7 Showaddywaddy Step Two Album Jul 1975
7 Showaddywaddy Heartbeat Single Sep 1975
34 Showaddywaddy Heavenly Single Nov 1975
32 Showaddywaddy Trocadero Single May 1976
1 Showaddywaddy Under The Moon Of Love Single Nov 1976
4 Showaddywaddy Greatest Hits Album Dec 1976
3 Showaddywaddy When Single Mar 1977
2 Showaddywaddy You Got What It Takes Single Jul 1977
4 Showaddywaddy Dancin' Party Single Nov 1977
20 Showaddywaddy Red Star Album Dec 1977
2 Showaddywaddy I Wonder Why Single Mar 1978
5 Showaddywaddy A Little Bit Of Soap Single Jun 1978
5 Showaddywaddy Pretty Little Angel Eyes Single Nov 1978
1 Showaddywaddy Greatest Hits (1976-1978) Album Dec 1978
17 Showaddywaddy Remember Then Single Mar 1979
15 Showaddywaddy Sweet Little Rock 'N' Roller Single Jul 1979
39 Showaddywaddy A Night At Daddy Gee's Single Nov 1979
8 Showaddywaddy Crepes And Drapes Album Nov 1979
22 Showaddywaddy Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts Single Sep 1980
32 Showaddywaddy Blue Moon Single Nov 1980 Notes
33 Showaddywaddy Bright Lights Album Dec 1980
39 Showaddywaddy Multiplication Single Jun 1981
33 Showaddywaddy The Very Best Of Showaddywaddy Album Nov 1981
31 Showaddywaddy Footsteps Single Nov 1981
37 Showaddywaddy Who Put The Bomp (In The Bomp-A-Bomp-A-Bomp) Single Aug 1982

(Stealing argument from Elijah Wood in Escaping the Delta):

Leroy Carr

Having your records being out of print for much of the past 20 or 30 years certainly can cut down your chances of being reappraised.

Surely it's the other way round - them not being (re)appraised is the reason why they're out of print.

There was a nineties TV series which had lots of (at the time) rare 60s footage and was supposed to be the definitive take on the decade. It appeared to have the agenda of elevating the Dave Clark Five to the canon. The running order of every show would go something like this: Beatles on Ed Sullivan - Dave Clark Five - Rolling Stones - The Who - Dave Clark Five - The Hollies - Dave Clark Five - Hendrix - Dave Clark Five. End credits: Dave Clark Five. I watched it with my mum and she was scathing, as it had been obvious even to a thirteen-year-old that they were rubbish.

The show was produced by Dave Clark.

Wings. They were huge in the seventies. Who talks about them now?

Both Nik Kershaw and Howard Jones were huge in the 80s and no one even retro-likes them nowdays, which is a bit of a shame.

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band was relatively successful at one point, right?

That TV series mentioned above was "Ready Steady Go", the rights to which had been bought by DaveClarke. There was indeed too much 'DC5' inserted, but hey you can tell the bobbins from the gold.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich.

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band was relatively successful at one point, right?

Not ignored by any means.

Melissa Etheridge

George Michael will soon be an answer to this.

Yeah, wouldn't it be more interesting to predict which big contemporary bands will have been written out of history in 20 years, i.e. Muse?

U2, hopefully

Stone Temple Pilots weren't liked, but they were popular, but Scott Weiland's antics effectively made the band obscure.

Barclay James Harvest were actually rather critically acclaimed around 1970-71 at the start of their career.

Both Nik Kershaw and Howard Jones were huge in the 80s and no one even retro-likes them nowdays, which is a bit of a shame.

I loved Howard Jones at the time, and still consider several Kershaw songs brilliant. And as for Jones, his first three singles will always remain classic. "Hide & Seek" in particular.

U2 won't be written out of history - Simple Minds were instead.

Are there other examples of this? Two bands with similar popularity, fanbase and reputation in a fight to the death, the loser slinking off into oblivion. Human League/ABC maybe. Sisters of Mercy/the Mission (both in oblivion, but at least people remember Sisters occasionally).

Hootie and the Blowfish.

The biggest band in America for a year or two. It's a testament to how forgotten they are that it's taken this long for them to get mentioned.

Dave Matthews Band : Name Your Reasons Why They Are So Bad & Hated.
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Having your records being out of print for much of the past 20 or 30 years certainly can cut down your chances of being reappraised.

Surely it's the other way round - them not being (re)appraised is the reason why they're out of print.

No, I thought it was legal problems, like they're simultaneously owned by Allen Klein, Phil Spector and Shel Talmy or something.

Bush.

Two bands with similar popularity, fanbase and reputation in a fight to the death, the loser slinking off into oblivion.

Madonna/Cyndi Lauper

jessie matthews