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Post by sepiatone on Jan 27, 2023 17:57:28 GMT
Yeah, not "has beens."
Every locale has local bands that are really good, but somehow never make it big. Some do, like The Beatles, who were once the darlings of a local bar called The Cavern Club but made good. Was like that probably for scores of big name rock bands. What I'm proposing is possibly posting a band or bands in your area that did record a single or album that although their following bought up, never made sales enough for them to go anywhere beyond the local clubs and pubs and art fairs in their area.
My initial offering is a band that often showed up at the place where my ex wife was once a barmaid in the mid '80's.. Called the Sidestreet Saloon because it was located on a residential sidestreet(one the locale of Shorty's Bar and Bowl, one side a bar and the other side a 12 lane boeling alley, after it closed some years later it was bought up, and the bar was left intact, but the bowling alley was gutted and tables moved in, a good space for dancing was sectioned off and a small riser type stage against the back wall for live bands to play.
One band that did have a huge local following and even released an LP(eponymously named) and that would still return occasionally to the Sidestreet was TOBY REDD. A post-punk new wave sort of band. They had a "signature" song that was favored by their crowd. The disappointment in the LP was that label suits probably insisted on censoring a profanity at the end of the song in order to "protect" kids(who probably used the same profanity much more that you probably ever heard in any rock LP) from hearing it.
The clip I offer is one recorded live in order to keep the song purely intact. And it features Toby Redd's original drummer, who left the band shortly after the release of the LP and was then replaced with Chad Smith, who, when Toby Redd disbanded went on to drum for the Red Hot chili Peppers. I give you
TOBY REDD!
Sepiatone
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Post by I Love Melvin on Jan 27, 2023 22:39:09 GMT
Back in about 1964 a local Cape Cod band called The Barbarians had a brief flirtation with fame, recording an album for Laurie Records which produced a minor hit, "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?" They performed all over the New England area and were pretty popular, especially the drummer "Moulty", who had his prosthetic left hand specially fitted for a drum stick. Their big claim to fame was their appearance on the T.A.M.I. Show. They never really made it on a national level but their biggest single was included in the Nuggets series.
Another popular New England band from the 60's, Barry and the Remains, played lots of small gigs and I saw them playing a number of dances when I was in college. They did an album for Epic Records and had a couple of singles which sold well locally. They never really took off, even after an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, but people my age still remember them fondly.
Here they are basically jamming on the Ed Sullivan Show, maybe not the smartest idea.
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Jan 28, 2023 7:07:36 GMT
Um, ok...I Love Melvin is WAY cheating already - beyond the local clubs and pubs and art fairs in their area!? But yes, we'll let it slide because we all appreciate power and coloring outside of the lines. I think this thread may apply to 95% 99% of Canadian bands so this could take me a while. I'll start with a really short but sweet one. I have never found any footage of them so that makes it EZ. Ladies and Gentleman, may I submit for your listening pleasure.... The Demics
 Originally formed in London, Ontario in 1977, the band consisted of vocalist Keith Whittaker, guitarist Rob Brent, bassist Iain Atkinson-Staines and drummer James Weatherstone. Through 1978, the band were rising stars in the Canadian punk scene. They recorded their debut EP in the fall of that year, and subsequently moved to Toronto to be closer to the centre of the punk scene. The EP's single, "New York City" released on Ready Records, was the band's breakthrough hit on CFNY in 1979. Brent left the band and went on to form the post punk/new wave band, "Mettle" as guitarist and synth player. Brent was replaced by Steve Koch in the Demics. The band released a self-titled full-length album in 1980, but subsequently broke up due to internal tensions. And that as they say folks, is history. But they left one great song that lives on in infamy. In 1996 "New York City" was named the greatest Canadian song of all time in a reader poll by the music magazine Chart. |
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Post by sepiatone on Jan 28, 2023 16:20:43 GMT
OK....... 1. Melvin, I do remember that Barbarians tune ("are You A Boy, Or Are You A Girl") and hearing it over here in Michigan. But not the others.. 2. Girrrl, your video was "unavailable". So I'll try entering a band from Canada that a local "underground" DJ here in Metro Detroit used to tout every now and then back in '68.  Don't really know if they ever made it big in Canada, but that one DJ on that one station(WABX-FM) thought they were worth a listen. Sepiatone |
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Jan 29, 2023 4:59:05 GMT
Why must I be forever in URL h*ll? Like Soviet era Russia up here. I've installed another Demics link but I shan't hold my breath. I'll try one more NRB before retiring to my knitting... Of course grrrl was too young and/or stupid to get in to see The Demics, but my first show ever was spawn of The Demics... Teenage Head. The punk band was formed in Hamilton, Ontario (aka "Canada's Only American City") in 1975, by Frankie Venom (Frank Kerr), Gord Lewis, Steve Mahon, and Nick Stipanitz. Their history is probably one of the worst ever which I won't detail. The music was great danceable fun but it just never happened. I'm not sure why my parents let me go to see a band with this name and a reputation for riots everywhere they played - Ontario Place, Bala, The Horseshoe - the sound was the (((( ( ( LOUDEST ) ) ))) I've ever experienced. I was deaf for days. It looks so tame now. June 2, 1980: Hamilton punk band Teenage Head causes riot at Ontario Place www.hamiltonnews.com/living-story/6868421-june-2-1980-hamilton-punk-band-teenage-head-causes-riot-at-ontario-place/ Teenage Head - New Music, Toronto TV Fall 1980 - Let's Shake Teenage Head: "Teen Beer Drinking Party", Toronto, 1980 |
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Jan 29, 2023 5:02:52 GMT
I'll try entering a band from Canada that a local "underground" DJ here in Metro Detroit used to tout every now and then back in '68. Don't really know if they ever made it big in Canada, but that one DJ on that one station(WABX-FM) thought they were worth a listen. Wow. I haven't thought about Domenic Troiano in a loooong time. I must check my iPoods and be sure I have this on one of them somewhere. I don't think I do. |
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Post by sepiatone on Jan 29, 2023 16:56:03 GMT
In 1969, shortly after the Woodstock festival promoters in Detroit tried a similar thing but on a smaller scale. They leased Detroit's Olympia stadium(where The Red Wings used to play their games and where The Beatles played on the Detroit wing of their U.S. tour) and had as many Detroit area and Michigan bands perform. They had Frost, Frigid Pink, Bob Seger, The Detroit Wheels and other bands that while largely popular in Detroit never made it out of the city fame-wise. Of those My favorite was a band called SAVAGE GRACE.....
Sepiatone
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Post by I Love Melvin on Jan 29, 2023 17:46:15 GMT
Um, ok...I Love Melvin is WAY cheating already - beyond the local clubs and pubs and art fairs in their area!? But yes, we'll let it slide because we all appreciate power and coloring outside of the lines. Both of the bands basically fit that description with the exception of one higher profile gig each, which their managers probably finagled against the odds in dealing with promoters who were always worried about missing out on "the next big thing". But local clubs and dance gigs basically defined their careers. And I understood that singles and albums were allowed if sales were mostly limited to the fan base. The scene in the mid-60's was different than a decade later. Even bands trying to establish their own identity had to have a pretty deep reserve of standard covers like "Money", "Walkin' the Dog", etc., because people were coming to dance, not to "attend a concert". |
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Jan 31, 2023 3:14:43 GMT
You know I am pulling your leg ILM. I was just shocked I knew one right off the bat. I don't know Savage Grace but I do like it and Savage Resurrection - one album wonder sadly. Randy's grandmother was native I believe and thus the name.  The Savage Resurrection was one of the youngest psychedelic rock bands in the the San Francisco Bay area, with their 16-year-old lead guitarist, Randy Hammon, who is the cousin of Blue Cheer drummer Paul Whaley. There was only one member of the band who was not a teenager, and that was Steve Lage, who was 21. Fox Is Sick |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Jan 31, 2023 13:17:23 GMT
You two are a tough crowd, so here's my final attempt at getting it right. I grew up year-round in the beachy neighborhood of a summer resort town and every year a group of older ladies who called themselves The Sand Hill-ettes would perform on a float in an annual neighborhood Labor Day parade to mark the end of summer. I have a snapshot of them in their phony grass skirts and ukeleles but I couldn't get it to post. They never recorded s*** and nobody outside of the neighborhood ever heard of them, so if you two don't give me some points for The Sand Hill-ettes then I'm crying foul and saying the fix is in.
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Post by sepiatone on Jan 31, 2023 22:28:42 GMT
OK Melvin. They're a "go". Big locally, but never went beyond the "tri-area-code" realm. Much like the band TOBY REDD I brought up. And I mentioned they were also part of an LP a local radio station recorded at a big bash of well known and loved bands in the Detroit area at Hart Plaza on the riverfront in Downtown Detroit. But my ex kept the LP when we split and when she passed in 2004 it likely got pitched with a lot of her other stuff by the kids. So I can't recall the other bands on the album. You know, 50 years ago Bob Seger could have been mentioned in a thread like this(had there been an internet back then) Since he was well known and loved locally even before his first big local "hit"("East Side Story") in 1966.(But was his 4th single, the first was recorded in '61) And stayed in obscurity nationally until the LP "Beautiful Loser" in '75 finally propelled him to national fame. That first "biggie"------- (and dig that "look"! Sepiatone |
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Feb 1, 2023 4:22:00 GMT
The Sand Hill-ettes!! You know I googled that one. Someone must have recorded them(selves) and Nuggets must be issued! I think you may now take the crown and wear it proudly. I hope you figure out a way to get that photo up because they sound right up my alley.
Reminds of the time I went to Busch Gardens as a kid, came across a lovely little band with steel drums and electric guitars and I stayed and watched them all day. Wish I knew their name or even had a photo.
Now from ukeleles to Bob Seger!?? I *guess* since you are running the thread we have to allow it, but where does this madness end? Can I post one of Strauss's pre-waltz period rustic peasant dances from when he was still an indie guy? <WINKIE WINKIE>
I will try another Canadian URL I don't think will work....
Blue Peter was a great Canadian new wave synthpop band that performed across Canada from 1979-1985. The Blade Runner inspired video for the perennial dance track "Don't Walk Past" was the first Canadian indie label video to appear on MTV in the US. <fingers crossed for no yellow flag for an MTV reference>
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Don't really know if they ever made it big in Canada, but that one DJ on that one station(WABX-FM) thought they were worth a listen.