Great unheralded music from the 70's
October 20, 2009 12:21 PM Subscribe
What are the 'best' bands/artists no one has heard of....from the 70's?
For some reason I here a lot of this when talking about the decades of the 80's & 90's (even the 60's to some extent), but never the 70's. So, what is some music from that era that never got it's due? Any genre will do. Thanks.
For some reason I here a lot of this when talking about the decades of the 80's & 90's (even the 60's to some extent), but never the 70's. So, what is some music from that era that never got it's due? Any genre will do. Thanks.
I am a big fan of the Atlanta Rhythm Section Not Sure if they got their due or not.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:28 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:28 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Aztec Two-Step. I like their second album "Second Step" Natch.
Mountain
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:32 PM on October 20, 2009
Mountain
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:32 PM on October 20, 2009
Also, Dixie Dregs. THis is fun going through my albums again.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:34 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:34 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Well, I'm still amazed when people don't know who Nick Drake is/was.
posted by lpsguy at 12:35 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by lpsguy at 12:35 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
One more.
NRBQ. Especially the album "At Yankee Stadium" I consider then one of the greatest bar bands ever. Lots of fun at their shows. I think they still play.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:36 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
NRBQ. Especially the album "At Yankee Stadium" I consider then one of the greatest bar bands ever. Lots of fun at their shows. I think they still play.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:36 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
As Captain Lou ALbano of wrestling fame just died this past week, this NRBQ album is great too. Lou and the Q (w/"Captain" Lou Albano) (Rounder/Red Rooster) 1986
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:39 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:39 PM on October 20, 2009
Ellen McIlwaine. Effing amazing slide guitarist and vocalist. Check out "We the People."
posted by ottereroticist at 12:45 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by ottereroticist at 12:45 PM on October 20, 2009
There was a lot of good stuff on this compilation: New Wave Of British Heavy Metal '79 Revisited.
posted by ignignokt at 12:48 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by ignignokt at 12:48 PM on October 20, 2009
FM were a prog rock band that didn't get enough attention (or enough breaks.)
posted by Hardcore Poser at 12:49 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Hardcore Poser at 12:49 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Are you familiar with German music from the 70s? Many people don't know how much unmitigated awesome was packed into a handful of bands: Can, Faust, Cluster, NEU!, Harmonia, Amon Duul II, etc. If you don't know German music from the 70s, then these bands are awesome. If you do know about German music from the 70s, then you know these bands are awesome.
posted by milarepa at 12:50 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by milarepa at 12:50 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Pulp
Really? From the 70's? 10 million records sold throughout the 80-90's. Not really what I am after, but thanks for the attempt.
posted by repoman at 12:52 PM on October 20, 2009
Really? From the 70's? 10 million records sold throughout the 80-90's. Not really what I am after, but thanks for the attempt.
posted by repoman at 12:52 PM on October 20, 2009
Can. They formed in the late 60s but their best work is from the 70s.
posted by trigger at 1:02 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by trigger at 1:02 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
They obviously had huge hits, but the original Alice Cooper group never gets it's due as a band as opposed to a backing group. Those records are great and weird and ambitious and sound like nothing else going on at the time, or since, really.
posted by anazgnos at 1:04 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by anazgnos at 1:04 PM on October 20, 2009
I can't tell if I should assume you've heard Big Star or not, but just in case you haven't: they're arguably the greatest band of the '70s that were totally unheralded at the time. They went on to become insanely influential to a generation (and now going on two generations) of musicians, but I've found that even so, it still tends to be serious music fans who've heard of them. (Which I guess is a way of saying that the Big Star cult is big for a cult, but it's still a cult.)
posted by scody at 1:04 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by scody at 1:04 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
Television
posted by Salvatorparadise at 1:08 PM on October 20, 2009 [7 favorites]
posted by Salvatorparadise at 1:08 PM on October 20, 2009 [7 favorites]
Tim Buckley (Weird and amazing)
Love (60's-early 70's--criminally overlooked)
Laura Nyro (Esp. early albums)
Ann Peebles
Terry Callier
Fontella Bass
Captain Beefheart
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
Robert Palmer (Some of his 70's blue eyed soul is excellent)
posted by applemeat at 1:12 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
Love (60's-early 70's--criminally overlooked)
Laura Nyro (Esp. early albums)
Ann Peebles
Terry Callier
Fontella Bass
Captain Beefheart
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
Robert Palmer (Some of his 70's blue eyed soul is excellent)
posted by applemeat at 1:12 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Just wanted to pop in and say thanks. Most of these are (I think) just what I am after. There seems to be a wide array of genres represented and I can't wait to get started. Keep them coming : )
posted by repoman at 1:16 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by repoman at 1:16 PM on October 20, 2009
Roy Wood and Wizzard
Sparks
Captain Beefheart
Henry Cow
This Heat
Pere Ubu, and other Cleveland scene acts such as Mirrors, Electric Eels, 15-60-75 (aka the Numbers Band and actually from Akron, but still)
The Nerves
The Modern Lovers
posted by anazgnos at 1:18 PM on October 20, 2009 [4 favorites]
Sparks
Captain Beefheart
Henry Cow
This Heat
Pere Ubu, and other Cleveland scene acts such as Mirrors, Electric Eels, 15-60-75 (aka the Numbers Band and actually from Akron, but still)
The Nerves
The Modern Lovers
posted by anazgnos at 1:18 PM on October 20, 2009 [4 favorites]
British glam rock was huge "over there" but pretty much ignored "over here." I am totally obsessed with this videotape I bought at the Wax Trax retail store in 1991, and suggest it heartily.
posted by JoanArkham at 1:22 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by JoanArkham at 1:22 PM on October 20, 2009
To continue Johnny Gunn's southern theme, I have always been a big fan of Eric Quincy Tate; if you want something more prog-rockish, Crack the Sky are a good band; very tight. Both had a good deal of regional popularity but never made it nationally. Captain Beyond is another band with a devoted following.
posted by TedW at 1:26 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by TedW at 1:26 PM on October 20, 2009
KATE BUSH
posted by qsysopr at 1:30 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by qsysopr at 1:30 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Hm. Guess it might depend on where you were or what you were into as to whether they're "unknown" or not, but Wire's Pink Flag (1977) is pretty great.
posted by maxwelton at 1:31 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by maxwelton at 1:31 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
I'm glad Laura Nyro was mentioned above. The other day I was thinking about buying MP3 versions of all of her albums that I have on vinyl, and came across these two great guides on Amazon.com: Part I and Part II. Part II is especially fun because it speculates on how she may have influenced many other female artists (almost all of whom are also favorites of mine).
posted by matildaben at 1:36 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by matildaben at 1:36 PM on October 20, 2009
If you're including disco in your research, then Voyage.
posted by newmoistness at 1:37 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by newmoistness at 1:37 PM on October 20, 2009
Trúbrot: Icelandic rock supergroup, made up of members of Hljómar (known to Nuggets aficionados as Thor's Hammer) and Flowers. Lifun was their masterpiece, a concept album about the human lifespan that is unusually short for a prog rock concept album. Lifun routinely tops Icelandic rock album best-of lists. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's an amazing album which, and this is a plus for many, is sung in English (and only a couple of the lyrics are really weird, but mostly it's for the content, not the syntax, "Looking in a mirror of my destination/See myself reflected in a masturbation/Out in the sea of doubt and insecurity" is the most memorable example).
posted by Kattullus at 1:41 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by Kattullus at 1:41 PM on October 20, 2009
Oh, another British group that was big "over there" in the '70s but may have easily escaped your attention in the U.S.: Faces (who evolved from the Small Faces, who incidentally happen to be probably the hands-down greatest British group of the '60s that's virtually unknown on this side of the pond). Three-fifths of the Faces, of course, went on to global fame (Rod Stewart on his own, Ron Wood with the Stones, and Kenney Jones with the Who), but Ian McLagan and the late, great Ronnie Lane never quite attained that level of stardom. (Lane's post-Faces work in the '70s is also worth checking out, esp. Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance and his collaboration with Pete Townshend, Rough Mix.)
Humble Pie is another branch of the same family tree, having been formed when Steve Marriott left the Small Faces to team up with Peter Frampton. They were considered one of the first supergroups of the era and had some huge hits in both the U.S. and UK, but I find that they seem to be off the radar these days in the states for anyone other than music fans into British rock of a certain era.
posted by scody at 1:50 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Humble Pie is another branch of the same family tree, having been formed when Steve Marriott left the Small Faces to team up with Peter Frampton. They were considered one of the first supergroups of the era and had some huge hits in both the U.S. and UK, but I find that they seem to be off the radar these days in the states for anyone other than music fans into British rock of a certain era.
posted by scody at 1:50 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Echoing Wire and the Only Ones. Not sure if Gram Parsons and Big Star are unknown enough, but they are definitely great.
Again, not sure if everyone would consider these acts unknown, but they're not exactly household names:
Magazine - English postpunk.
Stiff Little Fingers - Irish punk (maybe not "great" but they were pretty good and still influential through the 90s without being widely known).
The Undertones - Irish new wave
Toy Love - New Zealand punk band. Singer Chris Knox got a bit of recognition as a low-fi artist in the 80s and 90s. Like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah? Their vocal style is very similar to his.
The Clean, absolutely. New Zealand new wave, bands like Pavement are big fans, but no-one's really heard of them.
posted by Infinite Jest at 1:53 PM on October 20, 2009 [3 favorites]
Again, not sure if everyone would consider these acts unknown, but they're not exactly household names:
Magazine - English postpunk.
Stiff Little Fingers - Irish punk (maybe not "great" but they were pretty good and still influential through the 90s without being widely known).
The Undertones - Irish new wave
Toy Love - New Zealand punk band. Singer Chris Knox got a bit of recognition as a low-fi artist in the 80s and 90s. Like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah? Their vocal style is very similar to his.
The Clean, absolutely. New Zealand new wave, bands like Pavement are big fans, but no-one's really heard of them.
posted by Infinite Jest at 1:53 PM on October 20, 2009 [3 favorites]
Seconding Death.
posted by The Michael The at 2:02 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by The Michael The at 2:02 PM on October 20, 2009
Critics weren't too kind to them, but I've always considered Starz to be quite under-appreciated.
posted by davebush at 2:18 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by davebush at 2:18 PM on October 20, 2009
The Soft Boys, Robyn Hitchcock's first group. Find 1976-1981 (apparently sadly out of print), and you'll see lots of fun 1970's influences (including prog, which you wouldn't really expect from Hitchcock) thrown in a blender. Really exciting stuff.
posted by dfan at 2:54 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by dfan at 2:54 PM on October 20, 2009 [2 favorites]
The Numero Group label specializes in finding unknown gems, mainly from the 70's. Two of my favourite records ever are their Cult Cargo series, namely Grand Bahama Goombay and Belize City Boil-Up. Soul Messages from Dimona ("Between 1975-1981, a group of American ex-pats took their native sounds of Detroit and Chicago and intermingled them with the messages of the Black Hebrew culture") and Home Schooled ("unknown side of the early 70s kid soul revolution") are pretty great as well. And they have almost 30 "Eccentric Soul" compilations focusing on various tiny record labels, again mainly from the 70's, that never made it big.
posted by Gortuk at 2:54 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Gortuk at 2:54 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Oh, and maybe just on the verge of the 70's, but The Third Unheard: Connecticut Hip Hop 1979-1983 on Stone's Throw is awesome. And I should mention that all of the above is available on nice heavy vinyl with gatefold packaging, which is the way to go if you have a record player.
And to throw out some 70's punk bands that are relatively unheard and deserve a listen: Protex, The Saints, and The Vibrators.
posted by Gortuk at 2:59 PM on October 20, 2009
And to throw out some 70's punk bands that are relatively unheard and deserve a listen: Protex, The Saints, and The Vibrators.
posted by Gortuk at 2:59 PM on October 20, 2009
The New York Dolls. Not exactly unknown, but a lot of people have heard the name and not the music.
posted by sbrollins at 3:18 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by sbrollins at 3:18 PM on October 20, 2009
The Raspberries (warning: music starts when you open the site).
Second warning: lead singer is Eric Carmen of "All by Myself" fame; if you don't like falsetto male singers, you might not want to go here. But "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" is one of my favorite songs of all time.
posted by vickyverky at 3:19 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Second warning: lead singer is Eric Carmen of "All by Myself" fame; if you don't like falsetto male singers, you might not want to go here. But "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" is one of my favorite songs of all time.
posted by vickyverky at 3:19 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
King crimson - fathers of prog.rock - although a lot of people know about them, they still deserve more recognition than they have received.
East- Psychedelic Rock, more of the late 60s, sounds like.
Focus more psychedelic rock
foghat from what i read again, they were popular back in the 70s, but I haven't heard much mention of them now.
quicksilver messenger services
There's also a lot of compilations out there [recently redone] that would be appropriate because there were: a lot of good music [and crappy music too] that was only released/distributed regionally and since this is a broad question, introduce to more of their stuff.
Jazzman Records - funk, soul; compilations including "Florida Funk - Funk 45s From The Alligator State 1968 - 1975" [this looks interesting].
soul jazz records More funk, soul, jazz.
Michigan garage rock.
Check out some stuff from West Africa that has been reissued in the past 10 years or so in the us
A lot of these exist just as compilations, here's some ones to check out:
Ghana Soundz: AfroBeat, Funk, and Fusion in 70s Ghana
Nigeria 70: Lagos jump
posted by fizzix at 3:27 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
East- Psychedelic Rock, more of the late 60s, sounds like.
Focus more psychedelic rock
foghat from what i read again, they were popular back in the 70s, but I haven't heard much mention of them now.
quicksilver messenger services
There's also a lot of compilations out there [recently redone] that would be appropriate because there were: a lot of good music [and crappy music too] that was only released/distributed regionally and since this is a broad question, introduce to more of their stuff.
Jazzman Records - funk, soul; compilations including "Florida Funk - Funk 45s From The Alligator State 1968 - 1975" [this looks interesting].
soul jazz records More funk, soul, jazz.
Michigan garage rock.
Check out some stuff from West Africa that has been reissued in the past 10 years or so in the us
A lot of these exist just as compilations, here's some ones to check out:
Ghana Soundz: AfroBeat, Funk, and Fusion in 70s Ghana
Nigeria 70: Lagos jump
posted by fizzix at 3:27 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Pulp
Really? From the 70's? 10 million records sold throughout the 80-90's. Not really what I am after, but thanks for the attempt.
Yeah, really. I had never heard of them before last year and I am old enough to have heard of them in the 70s!
posted by goml at 3:29 PM on October 20, 2009
Really? From the 70's? 10 million records sold throughout the 80-90's. Not really what I am after, but thanks for the attempt.
Yeah, really. I had never heard of them before last year and I am old enough to have heard of them in the 70s!
posted by goml at 3:29 PM on October 20, 2009
Jimmie Spheeris. Karla Bonoff. Unknown supergroup Cactus. The Flying Burrito Brothers. Pablo Cruise. Mott The Hoople. Ten Years After. Pacific Gas & Electric.
posted by paulsc at 3:30 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by paulsc at 3:30 PM on October 20, 2009
There was a lot of pre-punk and power pop going on in the early 70's. Tons of band names there.
Also:
Brinsley Schwarz, UK pub rock.
Earth Quake, SF hard-pop rock
posted by artdrectr at 3:33 PM on October 20, 2009
Also:
Brinsley Schwarz, UK pub rock.
Earth Quake, SF hard-pop rock
posted by artdrectr at 3:33 PM on October 20, 2009
Yeah, really. I had never heard of them before last year and I am old enough to have heard of them in the 70s!
I think the point is that it is beyond stretching to consider them an "obscure 70's band". They are, more accurately, a "moderately successful 80s indie band turned widely popular 90s band".
posted by anazgnos at 3:46 PM on October 20, 2009
Richard Hell & the Voidoids
Be-Bop Deluxe (started in late '60s)
Hot Tuna
posted by jet_silver at 3:52 PM on October 20, 2009
Be-Bop Deluxe (started in late '60s)
Hot Tuna
posted by jet_silver at 3:52 PM on October 20, 2009
Little Feat esp "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" with the 10 minute Cold Cold Cold/Tripe Face Boogie.
posted by andreap at 3:57 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by andreap at 3:57 PM on October 20, 2009
I forgot Pentangle. Brian Auger and the Oblivion Express. Short lived super group Blind Faith (maybe too well known as a "project" group for inclusion here). The Marshall Tucker Band. Gino Vanelli (Gino!). James Gang. Firefall. Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
posted by paulsc at 4:02 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by paulsc at 4:02 PM on October 20, 2009
I don't know if Brian Eno's solo stuff from the seventies is obscure enough to mention, but some of that is really great. Joni Mitchell was famous back then, but I feel she's under-appreciated these days (like Rickie Lee Jones).
posted by Red Loop at 4:15 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by Red Loop at 4:15 PM on October 20, 2009
re-iterate:
Sparks
Wire
Magazine
Television
Brian Eno (those 4 art-pop albums: Warm Jets, Tiger Mountain, Green World, Before & After Science)
add:
early Split Enz, the album Mental Notes.
posted by ovvl at 4:54 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Sparks
Wire
Magazine
Television
Brian Eno (those 4 art-pop albums: Warm Jets, Tiger Mountain, Green World, Before & After Science)
add:
early Split Enz, the album Mental Notes.
posted by ovvl at 4:54 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
anazgnos mentioned Pere Ubu, but Rocket from the Tombs really used to be the number one unheard and unheralded band of the 70's, at least in my neck of the woods... unheard mainly because they never released anything. Then Smog Veil ruined everything by releasing the absolutely amazing "The Day the Earth Met the Rocket from the Tombs" and Rocket from the Tombs weren't that obscure anymore. Bastards! :)
Seconding the German bands mentioned above. If you feel like investigating a couple of post-punk bands that were active late 70's early 80's, check out The Raincoats, The Slits, Kleenex/LiLiPUT and The Mo-dettes. Not obscure at all if you're into the scene (as could be expected), but GREAT bands well worth investigating.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 4:57 PM on October 20, 2009
Seconding the German bands mentioned above. If you feel like investigating a couple of post-punk bands that were active late 70's early 80's, check out The Raincoats, The Slits, Kleenex/LiLiPUT and The Mo-dettes. Not obscure at all if you're into the scene (as could be expected), but GREAT bands well worth investigating.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 4:57 PM on October 20, 2009
anazgnos mentioned Pere Ubu, but Rocket from the Tombs really used to be the number one unheard and unheralded band of the 70's
An oversight...I totally meant to put them in there.
There's some great Swedish psych/prog from the era as well...Algernas Tradgard, International Harvester and their offshoot Trad Gras Och Stenar (as well as their 60s-era predecessor, Parson Sound). Mecki Mark Men too (and their 60s precursor Baby Grandmothers).
posted by anazgnos at 5:09 PM on October 20, 2009
An oversight...I totally meant to put them in there.
There's some great Swedish psych/prog from the era as well...Algernas Tradgard, International Harvester and their offshoot Trad Gras Och Stenar (as well as their 60s-era predecessor, Parson Sound). Mecki Mark Men too (and their 60s precursor Baby Grandmothers).
posted by anazgnos at 5:09 PM on October 20, 2009
There's some great Swedish psych/prog from the era as well...
True that double true! And if I may once again add to your mighty fine contributions: Bo Hansson's "Sagan om Ringen" ("The Lord of The Rings"). One of the best concept albums of all time, IMHO.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 5:18 PM on October 20, 2009
True that double true! And if I may once again add to your mighty fine contributions: Bo Hansson's "Sagan om Ringen" ("The Lord of The Rings"). One of the best concept albums of all time, IMHO.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 5:18 PM on October 20, 2009
Time Has Told Me and ChrisGoes's blog Drop Out Boogie are great resources for 70's rock that somehow fell by the wayside.
posted by Demogorgon at 5:33 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by Demogorgon at 5:33 PM on October 20, 2009
Death is exactly the "who the fuck are these guys" thing you are looking for. I highly second this. The surviving members have reunited (and I'm seeing them in November, woo!) I also second The Clean, The Undertones, the Soft Boys, Love and Big Star. There was a documentary made a few years ago called Heavenly Hits about Flying Nun records, the label of the The Clean, and I think The Undertones, too.
I'd like to add:
Half Japanese (kind of weird they went into the 80s, too)
The Homosexuals (punk/post-punk)
Mission of Burma (post-punk, they also went into the 80s)
Joy Division (proto-post-punk ?, may be too well known)
Lafayette Afro Rock Band (Afro-funk)
MC5 (hard classic-style rock 60s/70s, kind of well known)
Paulo Bagunça e a Tropa Maldita (a Brazilian band that is kind of Stonesy--you can probably find their album online or in an independent record store, that's where I got it)
The Rezillos (punk)
Os Mutantes/Rita Lee (Brazilian psych/their lead singer's solo work)
Scott Walker (weird/hard to explain, 60s/70s/still makes music)
Slade (glam rock famous in the UK, a little bit in the US)
Stiff Little Fingers (punk)
Wire (post-punk)
posted by ishotjr at 6:14 PM on October 20, 2009
I'd like to add:
Half Japanese (kind of weird they went into the 80s, too)
The Homosexuals (punk/post-punk)
Mission of Burma (post-punk, they also went into the 80s)
Joy Division (proto-post-punk ?, may be too well known)
Lafayette Afro Rock Band (Afro-funk)
MC5 (hard classic-style rock 60s/70s, kind of well known)
Paulo Bagunça e a Tropa Maldita (a Brazilian band that is kind of Stonesy--you can probably find their album online or in an independent record store, that's where I got it)
The Rezillos (punk)
Os Mutantes/Rita Lee (Brazilian psych/their lead singer's solo work)
Scott Walker (weird/hard to explain, 60s/70s/still makes music)
Slade (glam rock famous in the UK, a little bit in the US)
Stiff Little Fingers (punk)
Wire (post-punk)
posted by ishotjr at 6:14 PM on October 20, 2009
...looking through my older brother's records and coming across Robin Trower and Head East and thinking 'Who the fuck are these guys?' and not wanting to take the time to hear if they were any good.
Well, Head East maybe not so much, but mid 70s Robin Trower rocked. Helluva guitarist, check out Bridge of Sighs, for instance, or Too Rolling Stoned. And prior to going solo, he was with Procol Harum, a band that was much more than A Whiter Shade of Pale.
Others have mentioned Roxy Music, Small Faces and Mott the Hoople, all amazing bands with huge catalogs of great music that pretty much went unheard in the States. (Do any of us ever, ever need to hear Love is the Drug again??)
My offering for great, unheralded 70s music, though, would be the proto-alt-country of Lee Clayton:
I Ride Alone
Silver Stallion
Back Home in Tennesse
If You Can Touch Her at All
10,000 Years/Sexual Moon
(Also, Pitchfork has a pretty good list of 70s albums, both obscure and not so much)
posted by Bron at 7:33 PM on October 20, 2009
Well, Head East maybe not so much, but mid 70s Robin Trower rocked. Helluva guitarist, check out Bridge of Sighs, for instance, or Too Rolling Stoned. And prior to going solo, he was with Procol Harum, a band that was much more than A Whiter Shade of Pale.
Others have mentioned Roxy Music, Small Faces and Mott the Hoople, all amazing bands with huge catalogs of great music that pretty much went unheard in the States. (Do any of us ever, ever need to hear Love is the Drug again??)
My offering for great, unheralded 70s music, though, would be the proto-alt-country of Lee Clayton:
I Ride Alone
Silver Stallion
Back Home in Tennesse
If You Can Touch Her at All
10,000 Years/Sexual Moon
(Also, Pitchfork has a pretty good list of 70s albums, both obscure and not so much)
posted by Bron at 7:33 PM on October 20, 2009
Wishbone Ash
Badger
Sensational Alex Harvey Band
posted by yqxnflld at 9:37 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Badger
Sensational Alex Harvey Band
posted by yqxnflld at 9:37 PM on October 20, 2009 [1 favorite]
Colin Blunstone of the Zombies had a great solo album, One Year
John Cale, of the Velvet Underground, had some great albums. Paris 1919 is a favorite of mine; here's recent performance. Vintage Violence is also great. Church of Anthrax is a trippy collaboration with minimalist composer Terry Riley.
One of my favorite hippy-commune, soccer-obsessed, samba-rock* groups from Brazil is Novos Baianos. Acabou Chorare might just well be their best.
*pronounced "SAM-ba HAU-kee"
This thead has me thinking you might like the book Lost in the Grooves: Scram's Capricious Guide to Music You Missed." It's basically a bunch of music critics and zine writers (remember zines?) writing short essays about forgotten albums that they have odd obsessions about. I'd say over a quarter of the 200+ records are from the 70s. I read it before youtube existed, and I think I'm going to have to read it again now.
posted by hydrophonic at 10:03 PM on October 20, 2009
John Cale, of the Velvet Underground, had some great albums. Paris 1919 is a favorite of mine; here's recent performance. Vintage Violence is also great. Church of Anthrax is a trippy collaboration with minimalist composer Terry Riley.
One of my favorite hippy-commune, soccer-obsessed, samba-rock* groups from Brazil is Novos Baianos. Acabou Chorare might just well be their best.
*pronounced "SAM-ba HAU-kee"
This thead has me thinking you might like the book Lost in the Grooves: Scram's Capricious Guide to Music You Missed." It's basically a bunch of music critics and zine writers (remember zines?) writing short essays about forgotten albums that they have odd obsessions about. I'd say over a quarter of the 200+ records are from the 70s. I read it before youtube existed, and I think I'm going to have to read it again now.
posted by hydrophonic at 10:03 PM on October 20, 2009
Lots of good stuff mentioned above. Admittedly, I was going to mention Sparks, The Raspberries ('Go All The Way' can only be described as exquisite), and the Rezillos. My meager contribution comes in at the tail-end of the 70s: Bram Tchaikovsky.
posted by Mael Oui at 10:03 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by Mael Oui at 10:03 PM on October 20, 2009
I thought I was pretty well versed in late-60s rock, but a friend introduced me to Poco a few years back with the song Keep On Tryin'. I heard them on Mountain Stage the other day.
posted by knile at 10:38 PM on October 20, 2009
posted by knile at 10:38 PM on October 20, 2009
There was a documentary made a few years ago called Heavenly Hits about Flying Nun records, the label of the The Clean, and I think The Undertones, too
Good suggestion. I think it was called Heavenly Pop Hits (from Heavenly Pop Hit, a song by the Chills, the most successful Flying Nun band, who I'd also recommend except that they started in 1980). There's a lot of good stuff on Flying Nun.
Great thread everybody; lots of stuff I've never heard of and will have to check out.
posted by Infinite Jest at 12:15 AM on October 21, 2009
Good suggestion. I think it was called Heavenly Pop Hits (from Heavenly Pop Hit, a song by the Chills, the most successful Flying Nun band, who I'd also recommend except that they started in 1980). There's a lot of good stuff on Flying Nun.
Great thread everybody; lots of stuff I've never heard of and will have to check out.
posted by Infinite Jest at 12:15 AM on October 21, 2009
Wendy Waldman
Gentle Giant
Pentangle
Nick Drake - though he has picked up steam lately, some of us knew him when....
posted by IndigoJones at 6:06 AM on October 21, 2009
Gentle Giant
Pentangle
Nick Drake - though he has picked up steam lately, some of us knew him when....
posted by IndigoJones at 6:06 AM on October 21, 2009
The '70s were a good time for pioneering experimental electronic music, and occasionally decent prog as well as the first rumblings of awesome arty punk.
posted by ifjuly at 1:39 PM on October 21, 2009
- Proggy giallo-soundtrack synth-band Goblin (the soundtrack they did for Dario Argento's Suspiria happened in the '70s, aaand they're proggy while still being awesome). Also check them out under the name Libra. I even like these dudes well into the '80s (though eventually they did become very very cheesy), which is saying something.
- Cabaret Voltaire (their "easy to find" stuff is from the '80s and nowhere near as awesome as the late '70s stuff)
- Throbbing Gristle
- the electric eels
- Yes, Can! And fellow krautrockers Faust and Neu! and Amon Duul, Popol Vuh too...
- Ash Ra Tempel
- Cluster (who rule). Moebius and Roedelius ended up doing stuff with Eno; I strongly suggest checking out that CD as a side note--"The Belldog" might be my favorite thing Brian Eno has ever done, no foolin'.
- Television. If I could pick one quintessential "feels so 70s" rock band that is criminally underrated (every dedicated guitarist worships them it seems, but passing listeners never seem to bother to give 'em a listen) it'd be Television.
- I don't know that you could really call Wire underrated, but it does kind of kill me Pink Flag isn't the go-to standard art punk album Americans think of first when they think of that genre, it seems...
- Bill Withers. Sure people know of him, but they don't go apeshit for him the way they should considering the heaps of praise they place on, say, Marvin Gaye.
- I think someone mentioned Fela Kuti upthread. Yes! All of my favorite of his albums were done in the '70s. And Sun Ra; to me when I think Sun Ra, I think Space is the Place first, and it came out in the early '70s (and the movie feels very '70s!)
- Lots of the dub I actually like is from the 70s. King Tubby "made it big" in Jamaica then, if I understand correctly. I love him. Ditto Lee "Scratch" Perry and Augustus Pablo.
- Magma
- King Crimson
- Red Krayola
- Definitely not underrated, but Big Star!
- Captain Beefheart
- Michael Hurley
- Pearls Before Swine...though I think they did most of their stuff in the 60s, some was in the early 70s...
- Scott Walker, England's Neil Diamond turned literate subversive. His '70s output wasn't great and showed him in musical limbo before his major transformation though, oops.
- Plastic Ono Band, whee
- THIS HEAT. Best band EVER, that sadly nobody casual seems to have heard of. The first time I heard "The Fall of Saigon" I almost wet myself. It's that amazing and refreshingly different too. "24 Track Loop" and "Horizontal Hold" are also amazing and way way WAY ahead of their time.
- The Slits
- Suicide
- Metal Urbain. Awesome electro-punk; I don't know of any other records where I can dance and rock out in my bedroom to French lyrics about overthrowing the government '68-style. Fantastic.
- The Fall
- The Go Betweens
- The Raincoats
- Scritti Politti
- Crass
- early the Damned
- the Specials
- Devo is a lot more than just "Whip It" which most internet nerds know, but just in case...
- The Jam
- the Stranglers
- the Cramps
- X-ray Spex
- Talking Heads sure ain't overlooked, but their early art school nerd stuff is, in my opinion, their best, and almost never gets talked about.
- Madness
- The Mekons
- Half Japanese
- the Modern Lovers
- Richard Hell and the Voidoids
- Raspberries, if you're into that sort of thing
- Roxy Music
- Kraftwerk
- early Bad Brains, my husband's favorite era of theirs
- Theoretical Girls, Glenn Branca's early band
- People seem to know Lydia Lunch more for her solo stuff than for Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. Speaking of, DNA, Mars, all that No New York stuff etc.
- A lot of people don't care for early (as in 70s-era) Tom Waits. I'm not one of them.
posted by ifjuly at 1:39 PM on October 21, 2009
Warning: The following is a big list of obscure(ish) 70s prog(ish) bands I like, in alphabetical order. A few have been mentioned already. For samples, just punch their names into Last.fm or Allmusic.com
Algarnas Tradgard
Alphataurus
Alusa Fallax
Aphrodite's Child
Area
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
Biglietto per l'Inferno
Campo di Marte
Caravan
Comus
Daevid Allen
David Axelrod
Gentle Giant
Gong
Happy the Man
Henry Cow
Il Balletto di Bronzo
Le Orme
Magma
McDonald and Giles
Metamorfosi
Museo Rosenbach
National Health
Nuovo Idea
Osanna
Premiata Forneria Marconi
Quella Vecchia Locanda
The Soft Machine
Van der Graf Generator
Yezda Urfa
Also: Sparks, Jobriath
posted by Sys Rq at 2:11 PM on October 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
Algarnas Tradgard
Alphataurus
Alusa Fallax
Aphrodite's Child
Area
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
Biglietto per l'Inferno
Campo di Marte
Caravan
Comus
Daevid Allen
David Axelrod
Gentle Giant
Gong
Happy the Man
Henry Cow
Il Balletto di Bronzo
Le Orme
Magma
McDonald and Giles
Metamorfosi
Museo Rosenbach
National Health
Nuovo Idea
Osanna
Premiata Forneria Marconi
Quella Vecchia Locanda
The Soft Machine
Van der Graf Generator
Yezda Urfa
Also: Sparks, Jobriath
posted by Sys Rq at 2:11 PM on October 22, 2009 [2 favorites]
Also: Bruce Cockburn. His 80s stuff is fairly well-known here in Canada, but his (vastly superior, IMO) quiet early 70's material is criminally overlooked, particularly his first two albums.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:18 PM on October 22, 2009
posted by Sys Rq at 2:18 PM on October 22, 2009
One more band that had some big hits in the early '70s, but who may have nevertheless escaped your attention: Badfinger. I was just listening to them tonight. Jesus, what a great and tragic band.
posted by scody at 1:38 AM on October 25, 2009
posted by scody at 1:38 AM on October 25, 2009
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posted by repoman at 12:26 PM on October 20, 2009