Obviously people who were around in the early '90s still remember East 17
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 28 October 2019 12:24 (four years ago) link
Are the names Billy Murray, Eddie Morton, Ada Jones, Billy Williams or Harry Lauder familiar?
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 28 October 2019 12:25 (four years ago) link
Sorry, should've qualified that as "Europeans". I don't think East 17 made any impression on the other side of the pond?
― Tuomas, Monday, 28 October 2019 12:27 (four years ago) link
Xpost
I feel like genres/scenes that have fallen into obscurity as a whole is a somewhat different phenomenon than individual bands becoming forgotten, even if others in the same genre are still remembered.
― Tuomas, Monday, 28 October 2019 12:32 (four years ago) link
yeah, maybe that's right. But I feel this is already the not-too-far-off fate of most jazz too. I went to see the new Miles Davis documentary at the cinema last week, think I may have been the only person under 60 there.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 28 October 2019 12:42 (four years ago) link
Big & Rich
― Maresn3st, Monday, 28 October 2019 12:52 (four years ago) link
Wings and Stone Temple Pilots seem like interesting answers upthread. I still hear both regularly on rock radio but idk if they get written about much in canonical history books. Neither is obscure, certainly.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 28 October 2019 12:57 (four years ago) link
Arrested Development? Midnight Oil (in North America)?
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 28 October 2019 13:03 (four years ago) link
Tbh, canonical histories were never meant to reflect contemporary popularity. Selectivity is the whole point of canonization (unless you are asking about history books that are themselves canonical). My answers are more like "artists who were popular and critically feted and are now comparatively ignored in both popular and critical outlets".
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 28 October 2019 13:14 (four years ago) link
Bruce Hornsby once seemed like a pretty big deal.
― o. nate, Monday, 28 October 2019 13:16 (four years ago) link
i just googled Ben Folds because i couldn't remember what he was called
― Xia Nu del Vague (Noodle Vague), Monday, 28 October 2019 13:18 (four years ago) link
unless you are asking about history books that are themselves canonical
Basically what I meant are history books that are supposed to be fairly comprehensive histories of a certain era/scene, yet they ignore certain artists despite them being popular in that scene/era. I'm not talking about "rock canon" or "jazz canon" type of books, which of course are already quite selective in who they choose to celebrate.
― Tuomas, Monday, 28 October 2019 13:28 (four years ago) link
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/bruce-hornsby-absolute-zero/
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Monday, 28 October 2019 13:29 (four years ago) link
And yeah, Arrested Development is a good pick. Midnight Oil I've never even heard of.
(xpost)
― Tuomas, Monday, 28 October 2019 13:29 (four years ago) link
When that Woodstock anniversary hit earlier this year a lot of people poited out what a big (and now mostly forgotten) act Canned Heat was at the time
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Monday, 28 October 2019 13:31 (four years ago) link
went to see Violent Femmes open up for Ben Folds (was trying to be open minded and stay for him but then third song was a new comedy song called "Moscow Mitch" and I was like peace out) but anyway he still draws a surprisingly big crowd
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 28 October 2019 13:33 (four years ago) link
tbf me forgetting stuff is no evidence of absence from the public consciousness :D
― Xia Nu del Vague (Noodle Vague), Monday, 28 October 2019 13:37 (four years ago) link
A housemate had a canned heat best-of cd around the year 2000, it sounded not bad, have realised since that many of their songs are almost note-for-note remakes of old blues records though.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 28 October 2019 13:38 (four years ago) link
Folds hasn't disappeared at all: https://www.kennedy-center.org/Artist/A56261
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 28 October 2019 13:43 (four years ago) link
I guess the entire once-popular sub-genre of late 60s blues rock has been ground down to a few remembered artists/songs over the decades
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Monday, 28 October 2019 13:48 (four years ago) link
I'm pretty sure I still hear "Beds are burning" by Midnight Oil from time to time. I guess they have become a one hit wonder retrospectively (as far as I can remember they were a pretty big deal at the time, though their popularity was before I started paying attention to music).
― silverfish, Monday, 28 October 2019 13:56 (four years ago) link
A very faithful cover of Going up the Country by Canned Heat was used for this UK tv ad a couple of years ago:
http://adturds.co.uk/2018/05/21/robinsons-refreshd-advert-straw-donkeys/robinsons-robinsons-added-a-cover-video-fbdown-net/
― Ward Fowler, Monday, 28 October 2019 14:03 (four years ago) link
Yeah, that was #1 in Canada and is among the first popular songs I can remember being aware of just because it was ubiquitous. "Blue Sky Mine" was top 10 too and I might prefer it. I can't recall hearing either without putting them on myself in a long time but I could be wrong. xp
Canned Heat's "On the Road Again" got regular classic rock play on our local station when I was growing up but not sure about now.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 28 October 2019 14:05 (four years ago) link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=sYy716zmXcM
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 28 October 2019 14:06 (four years ago) link
Billy Squier had some great arena rock songs in the early 80s that still get tons of airplay on classic rock stations. But now he is more well known for the Rock Me Tonight video, widely regarded as the worst music video ever made.
― kornrulez6969, Monday, 28 October 2019 14:12 (four years ago) link
Surely "The Stroke" is better known?
Samantha Fox?
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 28 October 2019 14:14 (four years ago) link
surely "Fix Up Look Sharp" is better known?
― Xia Nu del Vague (Noodle Vague), Monday, 28 October 2019 14:25 (four years ago) link
Someone mentioned the Waterboys 11 years ago--I just saw a CW show with teens dancing to "This is the Sea"
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Monday, 28 October 2019 14:26 (four years ago) link
This is not well-known in North America. "99 Problems" otoh
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 28 October 2019 14:30 (four years ago) link
The The - quite popular + VERY critically acclaimed - nowadays i'm not sure many people listen and the press certainly aren't interested.
― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Monday, 28 October 2019 14:32 (four years ago) link
same for Lloyd Cole? but maybe thats uk specific
When The The played at Heartland festival last year there was a full crowd, and people travelled from far away. I think they're a cult act, but the cult seems aware.
― Frederik B, Monday, 28 October 2019 14:44 (four years ago) link
"Beaten Generation" is the only The The song I saw on MTV
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Monday, 28 October 2019 14:48 (four years ago) link
Same (well, MuchMusic but). Scanning Wikipedia, it seems like they were a lot bigger in other countries.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 28 October 2019 14:51 (four years ago) link
Still regularly hear This Is The Day
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 28 October 2019 14:51 (four years ago) link
Paul Revere & the Raiders
― dracula et son fils (morrisp), Monday, 28 October 2019 14:54 (four years ago) link
Do the Fat Boys get much coverage in history books?
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 28 October 2019 14:55 (four years ago) link
they feature heavily in Piskor's Hop Hop Family Tree
― Οὖτις, Monday, 28 October 2019 14:58 (four years ago) link
I always think of Cream when these conversations come up. Sure, every boomer still loves Clapton, but it's weird to look back on how huge they were and what a footnote they seem like now.
They're still a classic rock staple, surely? "Sunshine of Your Love" still a guitar lesson favourite ime. I don't know how you could tell the history of heavy rock without touching on them in any case.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 28 October 2019 15:01 (four years ago) link
What about Grand Funk Railroad. They must have been the hugest rock band in America 1970-1975, but it seems when they're spoken of at all these days it's in relation to their successful approach to marketing, or they're identified as the band with which the proles reclaimed rock from the intellectuals, but you never really hear about how their music fits in.
― Josefa, Monday, 28 October 2019 15:04 (four years ago) link
weren't they always considered to be a bit of a gimmick?
― frogbs, Monday, 28 October 2019 15:11 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXKmsvRXE4A
― MarkoP, Monday, 28 October 2019 15:12 (four years ago) link
It seems there are quite a few bands who still get played on radio, but critics have little to say about them these days
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Monday, 28 October 2019 15:15 (four years ago) link
Maybe. Going by their chart history at Billboard, the Fat Boys had five top 100 albums in the US, including Crushin', which peaked at #8 and stayed on the Hot 200 for 49 weeks; two top 40 singles; and 14 songs that made the hip-hop/R&B chart.
2xp
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 28 October 2019 15:16 (four years ago) link
Pretty much everybody involved in the entire genre of early-to-mid-80s R&B that wasn’t Prince or MJ. We’re talking pre-rap era here. This would be your D-Train, The Jets, The Whispers, Dazz Band, DeBarge, Billy Ocean, Atlantic Starr, Alexander O’Neal, LeVert. Hell I bet even Rick James would’ve faded into obscurity if he hadn’t gotten lucky and had “Super Freak” sampled by MC Hammer.
― Mr. Snrub, Monday, 28 October 2019 15:18 (four years ago) link
I feel like Kid Creole and the Coconuts are way way underrated by history. Perhaps they're seen more as a novelty act?
― doorstep jetski (dog latin), Monday, 28 October 2019 15:18 (four years ago) link
oh wow had no idea. i'd always been under the impression that both the Fat Boys & Kurtis Blow had both peaked early and then gotten increasingly desperate
that said you pretty much never hear Fat Boys anywhere, idk what their most recognizable tune would be nowadays
― frogbs, Monday, 28 October 2019 15:19 (four years ago) link