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

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

Obviously people who were around in the early '90s still remember East 17, but I wonder what's their current status in the boy band canon? At the time they were the biggest rivals of Take That, and while not as successful still sold tons of records, but it feels like people nowadays mention only Take That when talking about the era.

Apparently East 17 reunited over 10 year ago, and they still technically exist as a group, but both Brian Harvey and Tim Mortimer have since left it. None of this made the news here in Finland, unlike Take That's much more succesful reunion.

Nobody knew who the other guys in E17 were, so a reunion without them is pointless. 'Stay' is still a staple Christmas radio hit in the UK. I guess Take That had more of a Radio 2 factor and regularly get featured on mum and dad stations, whereas E17 were more faddy and bad-boy so maybe haven't aged as gracefully

Nobody knew who the other guys in E17 were, so a reunion without them is pointless.

Yeah, but apparently Harvey, undoubtedly the main face of the group, was in the reformed group from 2006 to 2010, yet that didn't seem to translate to any kind of success comparable to Take That's reunion.

George Michael will soon be an answer to this.

― Joseph McCombs, Tuesday, May 13, 2008

This has turned out completely opposite.

The US equivalent of East 17 is 98 Degrees, I guess - huge at the time, signed to motown, nick lachey was one half of a stupidly popular reality show marriage, but people only seem to remember NSYNC and BSB now. Does "I do" still get played at weddings?

There are so many of these from the first half of the 20th century, acts who were the biggest in the world at the time.

Like this guy, the Elvis of his day, and the singer of the first song to mention jazz.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0e/ArthurCollins.jpg

Who is he?

Tuomas otm.

Arthur Collins

Ok, dunno if I could name any other ragtime singers either, tho. Is he ignored in histories of early 1900s popular music in the US?

There aren't really many of those, they understandably tend to focus on jazz. Only singers you may have heard of from the era are Enrico Caruso, Bert Williams and Al Jolson, who was around from 1910 or so.