What is the most famous musical artist you've never heard?

Friend (commenting on music at party): "What a loss."
Me: "Who is this?"
Friend: (look of disgust on face): "Tupac, man."

http://www.rockonthenet.com/artists-t/2pac_main.htm

tupac started as a digital underground dancer, no? my girlfriend, who was in high school at the time, distinctly remembers seeing "california love" (the song with dre/zapp yr talking about in the first post, chuck) on mtv around 95/96. i have vague recollections of seeing the video for "i get around" too, but i wasn't watching much mtv in those days.

Until a few days ago I'd never heard Flipper but Dave Q's constant reference induced me to check them out and I'm very glad I did.

Well, nevermind then.

Tupac was huge in Atlanta, and I know he had hits in Iceland and Italy before he died ("California Love" was still all over Italian radio when he died), so I'm pretty sure he had hits in America.

i have never heard toni braxton either (she was just being interviewed on the teevee.)

Also, you don't strike me as a particularly "guitar power pop" kinda guy (I wonder why?), but hey man Big Star's pretty dang good.

Same with Charley Patton. Except, yeah, he's not "guitar power pop."

Dat Nigga Daz probably doesn't really count as famous but I remember people saying at the time how he was the one who was 'really' behind the success of The Chronic, Doggystyle, etc., and so I always found it amusing that his record did absolutely nothing in terms of sales or airplay.

Toni Braxton is what Anita Baker would've sounded like if Babyface had gotten ahold of her.

given their ubiquity, i can't say that i've NEVER heard a backstreet boys or n'sync song, but if i did, no one sent me the memo and now that i've finally heard the vines i can die a happy man.

*gack*

Never really heard the Flying Burrito Brothers.

Chuck, unless you are 5 years old which you are not, 2Pac did too have a hit in your lifetime, California Love still gets airplay to this day never mind back in the day. It's also just about the greatest single of the '90s, so hope to it and go buy the greatest hits already, cowboy.

(see what I did there)

gong, king kong, clientele and playgroup are considered famous?

(and yes, old man on the bridge is effing great)

I've never heard Avril Lavergne.

anyway sabrina had usher on a few years ago which was like waaay better.

Serious, if Tony walked down 57th Street right now, no one would recognize him (except maybe me, assuming I was on the street right now and not in my office), whereas if Usher did...

Also, oneupmanship: I stayed at his house for a weekend!

Ned, you don't listen to the radio and you don't watch television. How is this a defense??????

A brilliant one! ;-) At the time I didn't get MTV at all, I will admit.

Tony Bennett
2Pac
Brian McKnight
that "Butterfly Kisses" guy
Dixie Chicks (NOT Shedaisy, surprisingly)
Andrea Bocelli
Charlotte Church
Insane Clown Posse
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Manheim Steamroller (phew!)
Garth Brooks (sorta)
Ted Nugent
Frank Sinatra (always the same damn bits, never the whole taco)
Jodeci
Mozart (!!! - at least, not knowingly)

Brought to you by Billboard.com (except for the last one).

I really wish I could include Toby Keith as well, but damn that piece of shit Ford commercial.

Matos -- I haven't really heard Roxy either, but surely you heard "More Than This" at some point (big '80s hit.) That used to play during MTV ads I think, but maybe before your time.

A sad day to hear that one has not heard "High Water Everywhere parts 1&2".

I've probably heard more than this but I am not aware of it. Also I don't think I've ever heard the Doors or Van Halen.

I heard "Love Is the Drug" (?) once maybe ten years ago. The DJ claimed it was by 'Roxy Music'. I have never heard anything else by this 'Roxy Music' and have no reason to believe in their existence, other than the word of the British and I can tell you how bloody well that served my people.

But really, how can someone go through the early 90s without accidentally hearing Pearl Jam and Toni Braxton?

I never really made that much effort to get into Roxy Music -- I like 'em and all, but every time I pick up one of their albums in a record store, I always end up putting it back. I know enough of their music to say that I've "heard" them, but I feel illiterate when surrounded by people going on about RM.

no anthony braxton!!! get on with the programme darlin' and purchase a copy of 'for alto' as soon as possible.

Of the UK top 20 of this week I have heard something by: #7 Sugababes, #8 Kylie Minogue, #10 Coldplay, #16 Santana, #18 Madonnna. That means I have never heard one song of 75% of all artists in the top 20. Not knowingly at least.

prior to ilm, had never heard *of* boards of canada or neutral milk hotel. have still never heard either, and have in fact never heard mention of either outside ilm and so am still not entirely convinced they actually exist.

and yeah, california love notwithstanding, i had no idea that 2 pac was a huge star before he died.

That makes me feel really inadequate. Guess I should maybe listen to the radio a little more. But then you have to put up with the inane DJs.

Seems like most of the stuff on this thread falls into 3 categories:
- pop stuff (if you're an rockist old fogey like me)
- obscure stuff that a lot of people here still like anyway (Anthony Braxton!)
- stuff that has genuinely and inexplicably slipped through the net (Roxy, Curtis)

Only on the radio about MMMMDCCLXXXII times.

My new answer is JAMES TAYLOR! I wanted to hear him after the heated debate on the thread about him but why break the habit of a lifetime?

I'd like to hear leonard cohen...one day.

I'm amazed you got through the nineties without hearing Goldie Jordan. Inner City Life was on every advert ever in 1994, either that or Alex Reece's 'Feel The Sunshine'.

(Actually, I don't know where you're posting from, and that only works if you were in the UK)

I've never heard any Yes either. Or early Genesis (i.e. Before Phil left the drums). Or Emmerson Lake and Palmer. I am prog rock backward.

I was 20 before I heard Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain'. It came on in a cafe somewhere and I recognised the lyrics from having read them so many times.

Does ANYBODY really know what time it is? Does ANYBODY really care?

Really? Surely you've heard " 4'33" " and just didn't realize you were listening to John Cage...

". . .If you see me walking by and the tears are in my eye, look away, baby, look away. . ."

Roxy Music, being a fictitious conspiracy and all, are clearly not the most famous artist I've never heard, who'd probably be someone like James Taylor or Barry Manilow.

(I've probably heard bits of the bands above, but never a whole song)

Also I've heard a few songs (like a rolling stone), but surprisingly little Bob Dylan.

And Julio, I will check that out (but only if you check out some Zorn!). Also I meant to say I hadn't heard any of Anthony Braxton's solo albums since I have him on Conference of the Birds.

I've heard one Sugababes song. I downloaded "Freak Like Me" cuz Tom loved it so damn much and it cleaned up on the Focus Group. I was underwhelmed - prefer the hip-hop cover of "Cars" thats out now much more, and it ain't that great either (unlike Da Real One's "U Like Pina Coladas" which will be receiving at least one write in vote in the current Focus Group, dozens if there's any justice in the world).

The Darkness
Kraftwerk (Okay, I've heard The Model but that's it)
Gang Of Four
Julian Cope
CCR
Yes
The Grateful Dead
The Circle Jerks
Garth Brooks
Taco

I have never heard of a large number of late 60's/70's rock bands like Mountain and Blue Cheer. I assume I've heard Hot Tuna but I couldn't tell you what they sounded like.

Oh, btw, 2Pac was all over the place in the early/mid 90's, and I live in the southern US!

"Oh, and Neu."

This was true of me until recently (same with Can). When I first heard them it was like, "Where have you been all my life?"

Also, I just really started listening to Brian Eno like last week. He's quite good you know.

- The Fall
- Japan / David Sylvian
- Grateful Dead (though I already have Live/Dead on my "to listen" pile)
- Iron Butterfly
- Caravan
- Brian Eno
- Pere Ubu
- Blue Cheer
- Van der Graaf Generator
- Julian Cope
- Ruins
- Young Gods
- Faust

and a lot of other stuff I must be forgetting.

Am I missing anything?

Kristine W. Apparently she's had 15 number one singles on the Dance chart, with 9 in a row. Would have had 16 straight but the tenth single only got to #2. Never heard a single one of her songs (to my knowledge).

if you don't recognise this melody you haven't been on a dancefloor between circa 94 and 00.

Looking at the Billboard top 30, I haven't heard:

Nicki Minaj
Bruno Mars
Ke$ha
Pitbull
Tinie Tempah
Lupe Fiasco
Christina Perri (who?)
Keri Wilson

xp
You're right. I didn't turn 18 until 2000, and didn't really pay any attention to dance music until about 2002.

I clicked on this thread to say Tupac, turns out about 100 people beat me to it.

Never hearing "California Love" is like never hearing "O.P.P." or something.

Big in Japan

I hear tupac talked about about 5x as often as I hear an actual tupac song

Matter of fact, Nicolo Paganini is probably the correct answer for most of us.

I mean, he was like the biggest musical artist of the entire 19th century and nobody who is alive today has ever heard him play.

Probably never heard him play because he's dead.

That was the point.

Never bothered with LCD Soundsystem or Yeah Yeah Yeahs or any of those early millenial bands. mostly b/c girlfriends i now despise were infatuated w/ them... sometimes i wonder how many professional critics carry the same league of bias.

of non-chart pop stuff, haven't heard:

Big Star
The Modern Lovers
Leonard Cohen
Tom Waits
Nick Cave
Vashti Bunyan
Arcade Fire
Fleet Foxes
Captain Beefheart
The Grateful Dead

pretty okay with not hearing these ever tbh

aw, vashti's great

"famous" is vague tho - the answer for me here would probably be someone involved in classical music or christian contemporary. or maybe country music

several of those are legitimately great

cohen - check it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG4ndbhOkpI

Grateful Dead is the only one of those I'd consider "essential" listening - mainly for being such a seminal band (whereas the others really aren't, imo). I've yet to figure where Arcade Fire or Tom Waits fit into history. But I mean, GD is the quintessential noodling/jam band/cult band...a lot of history is packed into their career.

from corey's list, cohen is maybe my least favorite! i could never warm up to that voice

oh, d'oh! whoa! so...

i'm a big fan of cohen (especially his first decade), but waits and also the first (only?) modern lovers, and i'm not that big of a fan of nick cave but several of my friends are so i'm assuming he's actually awesome

when those beautiful voices singing in french fade in (on the cohen song a few posts above) i'm not sure how it's possible to resist

I guess I just kind of hate lyrics

I can see how you like this though! The song writing is clever and evocative — songwriting is just not something I value in music for reasons that are totally irrational.

haha, i kinda hate lyrics too - i don't know a single line in that song! i just like how the whole thing feels

Only Cohen I've heard before this was "Everybody Knows" which is amazing. But as I've posted before, I can't hear it without thinking of Billy Mitchell from "The King of Kong."

Willie Dixon, Waylon Jennings, Sarah Vaughn, Donny Hathaway, Kool Keith, John Hiatt, Talk Talk, Slint, Throbbing Gristle, Animal Collective, Knife, Black Star

I try to cover the classics most of the time so I don't have many major blind spots. I heard some tracks by most of these artists too (The Ghetto, It's My Life, My Girls, Heartbeats...)

Matter of fact, Nicolo Paganini is probably the correct answer for most of us.

― Hongroe (Geir Hongro), Saturday, April 9, 2011 10:47 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Anybody who hears 24th Caprice will be like, "ohhhh THAT guy."

To my shame:

A Tribe Called Quest
Mike Oldfield
Gorecki
Unrest
The Church

I've only heard a single David Sylvian song (and it was awesome)
I've listened to only one thing by Husker Du and it is Land Speed Record

oh my sweet lord owen find a copy of the low end theory and enjoy the sunshine now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists

Got as far as Genesis but now I wonder if things I know as Phil Collins count, so...

Babs Streisand and Garth Brooks.

In crit world... The Weeknd?

Have only heard Górecki's famous 3rd and found it cloying.

Probably never heard him play because he's dead.

Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Edit Piaf, Billye Holiday and Buddy Holly all died before I was born, but I have still heard them.

Paganini, however, never had the chance to become recorded.

I imagine that the answer for me is a popular mainstream country artist, but since I can't match many songs I HAVE heard to the artist responsible, I'm at a loss to name anyone specifically.

Kristine W. Apparently she's had 15 number one singles on the Dance chart, with 9 in a row. Would have had 16 straight but the tenth single only got to #2. Never heard a single one of her songs (to my knowledge).

had no idea about this, only know her first couple of singles - 'Feel What You Want' is a gothbag classic

Who is buying the Kristine W records? 'Land of the living' is good. I've never knowingly heard a Jesus and the Mary Chain song.

Those country artists are not at all famous here, but I know they are huge in the Southern part of the US, so I guess they count as really bit stars anyway.

I believe I have heard only one or two tracks by Busta Rhymes, although I know he was one of the biggest rap stars for a while.

Also have hardly ever heard anything by Dave Matthews Band. I know they were all over the airwaves in the US for a while, but I guess they are too bad and hated to really cross over to European markets.

just remembered a few: Jayhawks, Tindersticks, American Music Club, Blasters, Los Lobos, Wilco and The Afghan Whigs.

heard some tracks by each. will probably get to Los Lobos first. good decision?

Arcade Fire

I know I have heard, even actively listend to Garth Brooks, but I can't recall a single hook or even what his voice sounded like. I remember his "Chris" rock alter-ego, and his SNL appearance in a skit, but not his music. Randy Travis, Dwight Yokum, Alan Jackson are all still lodged in the mind, hummable. Brooks has always stuck me as incredibly indistinct. He can't ever get past my midterm memory.

I've probably heard a Mariah Carey song before, but I couldn't say for sure.

Whoever the most famous hip-hop artist is right now, or the most famous of the last 10-15 years...that's my fallback answer.

don't think i've ever heard Tim McGraw or Phish

To my shame:

A Tribe Called Quest
Mike Oldfield
Gorecki
Unrest
The Church

Have you seen The Exorcist? Cos then you've heard some of Tubular Bells

I have, but I don't remember anything about the score (except that it was good?)
The weird thing about Unrest and Tribe Called Quest is that I have and enjoy albums by Air Miami, Mark Robinson and Q-Tip

insanity!

Not as insane as a person who's never bothered to listen to The Fall.

Have only heard Górecki's famous 3rd and found it cloying.

― corey, Sunday, April 10, 2011 7:33 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

i feel this but 'totus tuus' (written for JPII's 3rd visit to poland) is a must-hear imo - then again yr knowledge of this stuff outshines mine and you might think it sucks maybe but i think it's glorious

oh yknow los lobos would've been my answer to this thread if it'd been revived a week ago - i only just heard 'kiko'

xp I'd be interested in hearing his earlier pieces since I've read they're more spiky — I'll check if the library has Totus, thanks. :)

I've never heard anything by Lil Wayne, with the exclusion of his appearance on the second to last Weezer album

Also:

The Decemberists
Iron & Wine
The National
Skip Spence
The Triffids
Skinny Puppy
New Model Army
Then Jericho
Wishbone Ash
Uriah Heep
Cud
Pram
Babes In Toyland
Polvo
Cranes
Humble Pie
Asia
Juliana Hatfield
Sugar
Emperor Julian
The Damned (with the exception of New Rose)
Tad
The Bobs
Levitation
Stars
Toad The Wet Sprocket
Labradford
Prolapse
The Dead Weather
Ry Cooder

Possibly Moby Grape, as I think of it. I mean, probably also a billion top 40 artists who all sold a billion more copies of their album than Velvet Underground ever did. But, um, Moby Grape.

Cud
Pram

...

A lot of classic rock.

Sparks.

Fugazi + Pavement

I saw Yo La Tengo live once, but I've never heard a recording by them.

Probably a lot more in that US indie sort of vein

Dave Matthews Band
Miley Cyrus
the Ink Spots
Art Blakey
Charles Manson
Justin Bieber

Arcade Fire
The Fall

hang on, Cud are famous !?

Up to a week ago, when a colleague lent me their first two albums, Portishead.

Jethro Tull
Uriah Heep
Slayer
The Grateful Dead
Van Morrison
PJ Harvey
Can
Brian Eno (as a solo artist)
Public Image Limited
Paul McCartney (as a solo artist)
Ringo Starr (as a solo artist)
Hank Williams (+ lots of other famous country singers, probably, but I know only few country artists by name)
King Oliver
Bix Beiderbecke
Misfits
New York Dolls
Stone Temple Pilots
Any famous harcore punk band (though TBH I might've heard some of them, but I can't tell them apart)
The Zombies
The Jam
Elvis Costello
Oran "Juice" Jones
KMD

Last week I heard song from the radio, and my gf said it was Justin Bieber, otherwise I could've added him to the list. For some reason I thought he was some kind of an emo rock singer, but that tune at least sounded more like dance pop.

Not as insane as a person who's never bothered to listen to The Fall.

Owen - I wasn't exclaiming @ general fact that you've not heard Tribe or Unrest as much as I was @ the idea of owning the Air Miami record or a Q-Tip joint w/o knowing the sublime pleasures of Imperial f.f.r.r., Perfect Teeth, The Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders. In a way, I almost envy your virgin ears!

xp I thought La Roux's "Bulletproof" was Bieber. All cats are grey I guess.

Also have hardly ever heard anything by Dave Matthews Band. I know they were all over the airwaves in the US for a while, but I guess they are too bad and hated to really cross over to European markets.

:D

Dave Matthews Band are my answer I think, sold eighty gajillion albums and I've never knowingly heard a note

Obv. never heard them either

dit

I'm wondering how all the people who listed Garth Brooks managed to avoid hearing "Friends in Low Places."

me fako

Garth Brooks, and modern country in general, just doesn't get played much in the UK

Maybe not but it looks like he got an album to #2 on the UK charts.

I was going "give a shit" and looking in the other direction, that week.

Obv. there are country fans in the UK, it's just not covered in the mainstream media, I'm sure it's on the radio if you look for it, but it's not on TV or in newspapers

Sadly, I have heard a couple of songs by The Fall, but I wish I'd never have.

(xxxx-post)

I've never heard anything by the The Dave Matthews Band either, but I think they're famous only in the US (before joining ILX I'd never heard of them), so I didn't put them on my list.

I mean, I'm pretty sure there's some Chinese pop singer who's sold a 100 million albums, but me not having heard her wouldn't be a huge surprise.

Famous at least around here: Captain Beefheart.

Slayer

In a way, I almost envy your virgin ears!

There are some bands that I have heard in passing but deliberately not investigated, just cause I'd rather fall into them accidentally, not fully realizing what you're listening to.
And others, like Unrest, where I'm hesitating because my OCD tendency to listen to an entire catalogue and side projects would likely suspend other activities for a week

I've never fully bought into the idea that Not Listening to something could itself be an aesthetic choice
And while I'm not accusing anybody here of it, Nico wrote a little bit of cattiness about that tendency in January
Not exactly ILM-friendly tone but I thought it was good, anyway

I think last week must have just been a weird week for bad attitudes; something perhaps to do with the new astrological signs? I was waiting for Sibelius to “optimize staff spacing” and decided to investigate a suspicion I’ve long had that there’s a continuity error in Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty (too complicated and sodomy-specific to go into here) and came across somebody’s blog, the first line of which was, “I decided not to read this when it came out.” What. Why would you take the time to write that you, on purpose, didn’t read something? What a strange impulse, and a strange thing to admit to; maybe it’s something in my makeup but it seems only polite to listen to every goddamn thing and read everything and don’t stop listening and reading and looking until you keel over in a pile of Belgian schmattas and headphones, and until that time, feel terribly guilty about not having read, listened, seen. I have a page on my phone that is devoted to things I need to read, things people have recommended to me. The principle is to go into everything wanting to like it. I read those Dan Brown books! The only reason I could see not to would be to make a terrible autobiographical point, and reading things with hatred in the heart is the opposite of fun, so I found a way in that felt like making the best of an airport bistro. But I wish there were a way to convince people that bragging about Not Reading Jonathan Franzen is real dumb.

Not at all implying that anybody here feels this way!
Except on the "pointedly ignored because of" thread maybe

Nico wrote...

Muhly? That's funny — I've never willingly listened to his music.

You're missing out, esp. his choral and chamber stuff.

too complicated and sodomy-specific

ha!

I've never heard (or at least, could never recognize) Traffic, Blind Faith, or Moby Grape. Shockingly (to me) I think I've only heard maybe one Black Flag song, somehow.

Some of the above (mine included, probably) are clearly artists that I/you've never intentionally listened to, not heard, since there's no way someone in 2011 has literally never heard some of the aforementioned short of being shut-ins or deaf.

I don't think I've ever heard or listened to Fall Out Boy.

xxp No, I've heard some of his music live. It seemed to me (and I suspect you'll disagree) to have more to do with loop-based electronic music than any classical tradition — which is not in itself bad (I make loop-based electronic music myself), but I don't know what to do with things like that, that aren't one thing nor the other. When pop is mixed with classical it tends to be less sonically interesting than the former and less musically interesting than the latter. But my tastes tend towards heavier fare anyway — I don't like Poulenc either.

And Muhly is an intelligent guy, if a bit "knowing". I can imagine him posting several paragraph-long diatribes here in the middle of an 800-post clusterfuck thread and everyone going "Nico otm".

I know that's why I mentioned his first name only
Dude is google alerting to our location immediately, prepare yourself
(Hi Nico)

The only mentions on this thread that I'm like "really?!?!?!?!" are Tuomas':

Stone Temple Pilots
The Zombies
Elvis Costello

― Tuomas, Monday, April 11, 2011 5:31 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

It is physically impossible to not hear "Time Of The Season" at least once a month unless you work alone, in a coal mine

Mothertongue has as much to do with pop as Aaron Copland does.

xps haha okay, I'll get a mod to Ǥǭṑğƚȅṕṝờỡƒ

xposts...

first time i stumbled across nico...

http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=4974

For Tuomas (because of all the artists on your list, never having heard Hank Williams should really be rectified imo.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95aP0OWx4jY&feature=related

love this thread, but 90% of these dudes are excusable... i mean, what percent of the nation has listened to polvo? .4239?

Still can't believe that SFJ hadn't heard Pearl Jam (by 2002 at least.)

multi xxpost Never heard Stone Temple Pilots either, barely noticed in Europe. Never knowingly heard anything by the following:
Korn
Moby Grape
John Mayer
Garth Brooks

Looking at the Billboard top 40:
Wiz Khalifa
Kirk Franklin
Mary Mary
Mumford and Sons
Marsha Ambrosius
Jason Aldeane
Rascall Flatts
Lady Antebellum
Amon Amarth
Casting Crowns
Sara Ramirez
Sara Evans
E-40

My music loving workmate had never heard of Justin Bieber, nevermind anything by him.

have to take this excuse to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6Ip16i2MgY

Casting Crowns

Seriously? Counting Crows still exist and someone names their band this?

John Cage.

If you've heard of him, you've heard him.

John Cage did write actual music xp

uriah heep

UFO

I dunno, some of this might be more interesting in the context of which you haven't heard it. Like, I'm surprised that I've never heard a Blondie album, because I'm a total New Wave fiend and they have several LPs rated highly

Marillion
Montrose

Tuomas, if you've ever seen Trainspotting then you have heard Eno (solo):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJrWlHRT-18

Yeah, I've seen Trainspotting, but I didn't know that tune was by Eno. It's a good tune!

For Tuomas (because of all the artists on your list, never having heard Hank Williams should really be rectified imo.)

http://www.youtube.com/v/95aP0OWx4jY&feature=related&fs=1&hl=en

Thanks for the link, sounds nice! I've nothing against country, it's just that I've never actively looked into it, and living in Europe it's pretty easy not to come across it by chance.

I have also never heard Pearl Jam.

At first I thought I'd never heard Pearl Jam, but then I remembered you couldn't really escape "Jamie Had a Gun" (or whatever that song was called) back in the early 90s.

applause

Hmmm.... Tuomas... "Janie's Got a Gun" is by Aerosmith. But maybe you mean "Jeremy"?

Rebecca Black

I had to wrack my brain for this, but got a reminder at the store when I saw the cover of the new Cosmo:

Paramore

To my great, great shame:

Ray Charles

I've entirely avoid listening to any Spiritualized ever despite owning something like 75% of Spacemen 3's discography

honestly tho, this is just keeping it w/in the context of ILM. i wouldn't be surprised if only 8 people in a 5mile radius of me had ever listened to the band.

i wouldn't be surprised if only 8 people in a 5mile radius of me had ever listened to the band.

that just means you're not playing it loud enough.

interpreting this thread pretty broadly because of course i've heard SOMETHING by him (generally in a car commercial or a bad cover band), but i'm pretty much totally unfamiliar with the work of obscure 1960s musician

Jimi Hendrix

also thinking of picking up some allman brothers today

I passed a poster for a gig by him earlier and I got to thinking that I don't think I've ever knowingly heard a Mos Def song, and I was pretty into hip hop during his main era. I can't think of what he sounds like or a single song title or anything.

Drake

As far as I know I've never heard Kanye West, Bon Iver, Justin Bieber, Sufjan Stevens, Bright Eyes, the Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Drake, Queens of the Stone Age, or Elliott Smith. I have heard a band of 10-year-old girls cover "Umbrella" but I don't think I've heard the actual recording, or anything else by Rihanna. I had not heard Daft Punk until I just listened to their recent release.

OK, looking at my last.fm stats, it seems that I have in my life heard West, Smith, Stevens, Rihanna, and Muse, and I didn't check all of them. So maybe the point is that we all really have heard the most famous bands we think we haven't heard.

Owen, have you heard Mike Oldfield and Husker Du since then? The first Roxy Music is one of my faves by now.

Is urban radio a thing in non-Toronto Canadian cities? I'm not sure I've heard an entire song by Notorious B.I.G. I know I've heard "Dear Mama", though I don't remember much about it. Otherwise, I'm not sure I've heard Tupac.

Still, I find it hard to believe that North Americans over 25 who pay the slightest attention to rock music have never heard Jimi Hendrix or Pearl Jam.

I don't count stuff like Sufjan Stevens or Bright Eyes as famous. I'd be surprised if anyone in this office has heard them. I know that I did hear SS in the background at a coffee shop once. It was kind of folky iirc?

I had never heard the Feelies until yesterday. They're kind of ILX-famous, I guess.

I don't feel like I really know who's famous, so I was using number of last.fm plays as a proxy.

I'm really good at this game!

Taylor Swift
Garth Brooks
Drake

for starters

Ed Sheeran
Harry Styles

Love too flaunt my ignorance of poplar cultcha.

Tricia Romano told me this morning that she's never heard Husker Du.

Trying to imagine someone who has heard every musical artist more famous than Hüsker Dü.

I think I heard Fugazi when someone put it on when I was working the floor at Tower Records in the early 90s. That's about it.

The Killers
Justin Bieber
Harry Styles
Bruno Mars
Possibly Adele, although there's some song that seems to be playing in every charity shop in the UK that I think might be her

Having a teenager who takes control of the car radio at every opportunity means I have heard Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, and Drake plenty. But I can't name a song title.

cannot think of anyone who is famous to spring to mind, but not famous enough that I won't have checked them out at least briefly. I used to perfomatively avoid ever hearing Imagine Dragons, but now my kids are really into them so that doesn't work.

Drake. Well, I do know that one tiny bit of "Hotline Bling," but that is the only Drake song/title I know (out of apparently god knows how many hits), and even then I'm not sure I would recognize it beyond the part where he says the title. Now, tbh I know I *have* heard Drake before, probably once or twice on purpose, but it just will not nest in my brain, and functionally may as well be never.

tbf i have heard Aubrey Graham rapping as wheelchair Jimmy in Degrassi: The Next Generation but not as Drake.

All those moments will be lost in time.

artists i've never heard who are "indie famous" include Arcade Fire, Blonde Redhead and Death Cab for Cutie (always get the latter two mixed up)

We need a definitive ranked list of the most famous musical artists in 2022, so we can see where we each get eliminated.

Good idea. My first search result was this wikipedia page, which lists Bad Bunny as the most-streamed artist of both 2020 and 2021, so I'm eliminated right at #1.
I'm about to go rectify this right now.

i literally only heard bad bunny today after i got two requests for him last night. "moscow mule" isn't bad.

lol Bad what now? I'm out.

I think I've heard bad bunny. he was on the super bowl a couple of years ago wasn't he? with Shakira and JLo?

is Bad Bunny related to Greg the Bunny

nephew of Jive, iirc.

Eleven years later...

A Tribe Called Quest

I still haven't listened to The Low-End Theory

Mike Oldfield

I overheard him in a public place somewhere and thought "I think this might be Mike Oldfield", it was nice

Gorecki

I have listened to his third symphony several times now.

Unrest

No surprise, this is now one of my favouritest bands.

The Church

Still have never heard this band.

I've only heard a single David Sylvian song (and it was awesome)

I was driving to (or from) Hamilton late one night and Laurie Brown played a song and it was intensely gorgeous amazing stuff and it turned out to be a latter-day David Sylvian track and I was like "holy shit what am I doing" and I'm now a rabid fan. My first exposure to the guy was dating somebody who was a big Japan fan and I didn't enjoy Japan so it biased me away from the solo material

I've listened to only one thing by Husker Du and it is Land Speed Record

I have listened to New Day Rising, Candy Apple Grey, Zen Arcade and a couple of records by Sugar. They are not for me. I still really like Land Speed Record though.

Contemporarily, I realized today that I have never heard a single Ryan Adams song, which is convenient.

Pavement

We need a definitive ranked list of the most famous musical artists in 2022, so we can see where we each get eliminated.

― Halfway there but for you, Monday, June 6, 2022 1:34 PM (forty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Good idea. My first search result was this wikipedia page, which lists Bad Bunny as the most-streamed artist of both 2020 and 2021, so I'm eliminated right at #1.
I'm about to go rectify this right now.

― enochroot, Monday, June 6, 2022 1:49 PM (thirty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

idk if streams = fame tho, I think they're more an indication of what's trending and my initial triumvirate is going to be pretty hard to top unless there's an ilxor who has never heard Michael Jackson, Elvis or The Beatles

Where's Tuomas hiding these days?

Look, I'm playing to win and I saw Bad Bunny on TV once

i have never heard the Beatles

I've never heard of the Beatles

Is Bad Bunny a spinoff from Frightened Rabbit?

The Beatles have never heard of me.

Bad Bunny can see you guys

https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2020/03/02/gettyimages-1053203180-ce5907aa601552b064d4bfa5ef3ec732032894ce-s800-c85.webp

for me it's famous artists that I only know through Sesame Street. sometimes I hear these songs in the wild but I only know the Sesame Street version

the one that tricked me was Ed Sheeran. I could not believe *that* guy was actually famous. I thought it was just like, the sound guy having to get in front of the camera because the guest cancelled. you know, like Nickelodeon used to do all the time

Garth Brooks

see this is tricky, idk what country you live in but if you live in America it's almost inconceivable that a person has not heard Garth Brooks before. however, you may never know it was him, he's got such a nondescript and mediocre voice, there's no "okay THIS must be Garth!" moment the way there would be for like every other mega selling artist. I bought his vinyl boxset for $15 (with Free Shipping from Amazon, just to stick it to them really) and there was a lot of "oh it's THIS fucking song?"

highest ranked person on this list that i have heard legitimately zero songs by is james arthur. it would've been someone higher on the list if i didn't listen to reggaeton lol

https://chartmasters.org/most-streamed-artists-ever-on-spotify/

Following RYM's top albums (which have grown quite terrible), it seems to be The Microphones, Death Grips, Elliott Smith, Nine Inch Nails, Black Country, New Road, Sweet Trip, Unwound, Burial.
And I must have heard their music, but I wouldn't recognize it if the best songs of The Kinks or Iggy Pop came on the radio. Same for Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Strokes, Interpol or Electric Wizard.

If Electric Wizard comes on your radio, I'd advise you to run

I don't think I've ever heard One Direction, though I've certainly heard HS

Hunk of that most streamed list that I've just outright never heard of.

how do you all know you’ve never heard these artists? you probably have heard their music public without knowing it’s harry styles or whoever

in public

yeah same

"oh it's THIS fucking song?"

I think thread premise is implicitly "afaik" but sure, name one Garth Brooks tune that it's inconceivable I haven't heard and I shall sacrifice my virgin purity in the name of science.

xxp

Have headphones on as much as possible in public places.

Garth is not super ubiquitous if you live in certain places. I think the only songs I heard at the height of his fame were "Thunder Rolls" "Friends in Low Places" and "We'll All Be Free" or whatever.

I bet a bunch of people have never heard someone like Blake Shelton

realizing the answer for me is probably rupaul

"Friends in Low Places" would be the one I'd think most people would have heard. He's got some other tunes I'm sure most people have heard in passing and then immediately forgot about, this one at least has a hook that's funny & memorable. It's a good karaoke song.

Dumpy's Rusty Nuts

Sorry, Chuck, but I must report that this entire thread is based on a lie! (Not really--more like forgetfulness, or confusion over spelling.) Chuck (surprisingly) gave "California Love" a 7.0 in Radio On #8, when Tupac was still 2Pac.

And the thing with "Friends in Low Places" is that I didn't hear it when it was a hit but only in the early 00s at a karoke bar for the first time.

There were only 8 of the 20 on that streaming list where I could actually connect a specific song I've heard to a particular artist. I also can't identify any Billy Eilish or Adele songs.

I just listened to "Friends in low places" and def don't recognize the song or voice

the amount of country music i hear in the wild in NYC is remarkably small.

'middle aged nerd claims not to know any music by current pop megastar' isn't all that interesting or surprising, sorry to have taken that direction but curious to know where people's blank spots are more generally (and I have a lot of them!)

99.9% of all rap music released since "The Humpty Dance."

its hard to believe there are Garth-free zones out there but I suppose NYC might be one.

think is, *I* would never have guessed I knew any Garth Brooks songs either, but since I got that boxset I've noticed it out in the wild like once a month. his voice really is that nondescript but once you know you know I guess

I don't hear much hip-hop by even the biggest male rappers, unless they have a feature on a pop song - e.g., I had never heard a Kendrick track, until a checked out a few on his latest album b/c the guests interested me (I saw him perform on the Grammys, if that counts). I've heard Drake, fwiw.

“Tupac was never really famous during his lifetime” is a hell of a take. Guess Chuck never hung out with anyone younger than him? Tupac was inescapable to me in my “just out of college” milieu before he died.

(And I've never been entirely convinced that the two coasts had especially distinctive sounds, either.)

yeah idk

think is, *I* would never have guessed I knew any Garth Brooks songs either, but since I got that boxset I've noticed it out in the wild like once a month. his voice really is that nondescript but once you know you know I guess

no, I get it- for a long time I thought the only Foo Fighters song I knew was the one with the Mentos video. I honestly half expected to recognize the Garth Brooks song but didn't.

I know at least one song by most of the pop artists others have mentioned today, wondering if there are songs by Taylor Swift or Drake that I'd recognize. I've imagined that they're maybe just slightly too edgy to have achieved the same level of CVS playlist ubiquity as Bruno Mars.

Try "Shake It Off" by Taylor; you've very likely heard it

...and "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me", which have long been supermarket jams.

Ok thanks will do. Honestly kind of excited to finally hear Taylir Swift.

Husker Du is another one I also hadn't heard until a couple of years ago when I decided to stream a bit of 'Zen Arcade' because I'd never heard Husker Du. So now I've heard them the one time.

Ed Sheeran, happy to say.

"Shake it Off" - parts of this are familiar enough that I'm certain I must have heard it before today but it's a vague kind of familiarity

"Love Story" - nope, but it sounds supermarket-reay for sure

"You Belong With Me" - ok yeah, I know this song

Vampire Weekend
xxxtentacion
Drake

And like everyone else in this thread I have no idea who Bad Bunny is/are.

I saw Bad Bunny wrestle on TV once, don't know his music.

I've never heard BTS, despite them ruling the world or something.

There's a rapper named Jack Harlow now, which I can't wrap my head around. That's the name of an inexpensive British actor on a mid-tier streaming show.

In America anyway, "Butter" by BTS has been in few high-profile ad campaigns.

Came here to say I don’t think I’ve ever heard BTS.

Closer to home, a friend invited me to see Superchunk tonight and somehow I’ve never heard a song by them. Same thing happened with The National a few years ago. Blind spots.

i've almost certainly heard them out in the world but i wouldn't know for sure
Ed Sheeran
Harry Styles
Adele
Post Malone
Travis Scott
Billy Eilish
i guess Machine Gun Kelly seems p famous?
boatloads of currently massive country artists

Yeah I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Machine Gun Kelly song in my life.

Looking at the list of the best selling albums of all time… blind spots for me are Meat Loaf and Boston. I suppose there’s a Meat Loaf song I have listened to. Can’t recall any Boston song and looking at their most popular songs on spotify doesn’t ring a bell.

Weird thing is that I definitely remember seeing the album covers with that UFO.

Those two might be on the list of best selling albums of all time but I’ve never seen anyone ever mention them.

One Direction. I just don’t feel compelled, and boy bands are a guilty pleasure for me.

You guys are managing to make me feel like a poptimist.

Yeah, even I have heard fucking Bad Bunny you dorks

Probably not really "famous", but I have never listened to Diamanda Galás, nor do I know what her voice actually sounds like, other than being very infamous.

Anyways, I too have never knowingly listened to Bad Bunny. I also keep confusing him with the band, Beach Bunny.

Closer to home, a friend invited me to see Superchunk tonight and somehow I’ve never heard a song by them.

Yeah, I heard Superchunk for the first time a few months ago via a friend who is just getting into them.

I'm listening to Iron Maiden rn because I'd never heard Iron Maiden knowingly and it looks like I'm going to be listening exclusively to Iron Maiden in the foreseeable future.

^appropriate response to hearing Iron Maiden

I saw the Who at Madison Square Garden a couple weeks ago and there were ads all over for Harry Styles’ upcoming sold-out multi-night run there. I realized I hadn’t heard anything at all by him (but in a pinch I might be able to identify a One Direction song).

I’ve somehow, and unfortunately, heard Ed Sheeran to the degree that when a friend gave me a lift one day I was able to identify Sheeran as the music playing in their car. And because I appreciated the lift, I said nothing about their music choice.

I had never heard Styles until my sis told me to check out his last single (it was totally unremarkable)

I've listened to bits of Sheeran songs, just to see what they sound like (e.g., when they come up in infringement lawsuits), but I don't think I've ever heard a whole song or could identify one (tho I do know his voice from Taylor Swift duets).

There's a rapper named Jack Harlow now, which I can't wrap my head around. That's the name of an inexpensive British actor on a mid-tier streaming show. Goes w my impression of his songs.
Since 2002, Chuck has raised enough teenagers to get thoroughly Dad-schooled by the car radio.

Grateful Dead

Yeah, even I have heard fucking Bad Bunny you dorks

I'd never heard of Bad Bunny till this thread.

Weird thing is that I definitely remember seeing the album covers with that UFO.

― ✖✖✖ (Moka),

TS: Boston's UFO vs. ELO's UFO vs. Jefferson Starship's UFO vs. UFO.

Boston and Meatloaf is a fun and surprising answer!

Fugazi + Pavement

I saw Yo La Tengo live once, but I've never heard a recording by them.

Probably a lot more in that US indie sort of vein

― Tom D (Tom D.), Monday, April 11, 2011 4:42 AM (eleven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yeah this is a major blank spot on the map for me too. I know Pavement's catalog pretty well, but they're the exception.

i know a couple of Fugazi songs. YLT and GBV I've only approached in the way morrisp describes investigating bEd Sheeran. It surprises people because I was interested in things like neo-psych and post rock in the late 90's, I was even into cloying indie-pop very briefly but was never too curious about straight up indie rock. Most of the cornerstones of 90's American indie remain a mystery to me.

There's also a lot of straight punk rock I don't know that people expect me to know because I've been interested in post-punk and new wave.

90s Indie Rock, especially GBV, is playing whenever I go into a fast casual restaurant

Those two might be on the list of best selling albums of all time but I’ve never seen anyone ever mention them.

I just searched and found 12 ILM threads about the band Boston.

Best Thread Ever: Boston - Third Stage

xxpost pretty sure I have never heard GBV in a store or restaurant in my life.

Although 2010s-era indie was dominant whenever I was shopping for furniture a few years ago.

Fugazi
Roger Miller

Never even heard "King of the Road"? Impressive!

Fugazi ... they're one of my favorite bands of all time, but if you've made it this far and haven't heard them, I'm not even sure where I would tell you to start. Probably "13 Songs"/"Waiting Room"? I will say, if you like Sonic Youth, which you do, you might already be inclined to like a lot of Fugazi.

I've heard it, yeah, but that's it?

I'm not sure I've heard more than "King of the Road," either.

XP How have you missed Roger Miller on your chart deep dives? Only the biggest Country crossover artist of his time.

"England Swings", "Dang Me", "Chug-A-Lug"?

Roger Miller greatest hits is a jam

“You Can’t Roller Skate” etc.

I don't know any of those songs from the titles and am not sure if I even know "King of the Road".

So maybe that's my answer?

Roger Miller, Lefty Frizzell ... buncha early crossover country stuff I know I've heard but can't really recall much of.

I only know "Friends In Low Places" but the only place I've heard it ever is at karaoke. I have investigated Garth Brooks's albums and think he's fine and am a card-holding member of the "Chris Gaines was actually good" cult

I cannot go to a grocery store or drug store without hearing an Ed Sheeran song and a Taylor Swift song, it is impossible

Brooks albums through 1994-1995 are good to great.

Yeah, I heard "Friends in Low Places" (the actual recording) in 97 or 98 for the first time. I had a summer job in Jasper in 96 and heard a lot of pop-country stuff for the first time there since there was only one music station on the radio. I didn't get that much exposure to country growing up (unless you count stuff like the Eagles and Bon Jovi). I often hear the argument that people disdain country music because they associate it with a particular demographic but that wasn't even the case because I barely knew anyone at all who listened to it for a long time. I didn't associate it with anyone.xp

For being the biggest selling album artist in American pop history, his musical footprint is faint cuz he ain't on Spotify. I suspect he has a profile at all thanks to his appearances on Trish's cooking show.

When I saw someone do "Friends in Low Places" at karaoke the accompanying karaoke video featured a little person cowboy.

If Moka has seriously never heard Boston's debut or Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell I would legit enjoy a thread a la this one from Doctor Casino.

In Which Doctor Casino Listens to Classic Rock Classics for the First Time

I just searched and found 12 ILM threads about the band Boston.

― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r)

Sorry meant IRL. Of course there’s discussion of them on ILM.

Closest reference I had is that Kurt Cobain said that “smells like teen spirit” was him trying to do a song like “more than a feeling” iirc.

Hearing Boston for the first time. I like it… sounds like a bridge between power pop and hair metal. Kind of like Cheap Trick? I need to listen to more songs by them. I don’t know why I was expecting a yacht rock kind of sound.

Lol from the similar acts on spotify there’s a bunch of artists I recognize by name but don’t recall ever listening to them:

Styx, REO Speedwagon, Triumph, Eddie Money, Loverboy, Bachman Turner overdrive

I guess I’ve hitted my blind spot jackpot here

Well you ain't seen nothing yet!

Journey, Heart, Billy Squier and Foreginer I do know.

Lots of homework in here. Let’s move on to Meat Loaf.

Similar artists for Meat Loaf overlaps some by Boston, would explain why I had never heard of either.

Most popular song “paradise by the dashboard” I had definitely never heard before. I was expecting him to have a more heavy metal sound. This is weird as fuck, starts as a rock n roll parody song, goes into some stevie wonder interlude then into opera country rock thing and ends up sounding like the B52s. It’s also 8 minutes long? What the hell. Was this a hit?

:D

What the hell. Was this a hit?

New board description

I used to DJ a lot of weddings when "Paradise" was popular, and would would get requests for it which generally resulted in clearing the dance floor except for a bunch of drunk yahoos screaming along to every word.

Feel like someone should recut the end of Manhunter with Paradise by the Dashboard Light instead of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.

If you've ever seen Rocky Horror then you've seen Meatloaf singing

Styx? Is that a band? And Kansas. Billy Squier... LOL, I say famous but Bogshed are more famous in the UK than any of them.

Half Man Half Biscuit did a song about being seen at a Styx gig.

Or something like that; idk what any of their songs I've heard are about, really.

I have never seen Rocky Horror, please don’t hate me I know it has a huge cult following.

So his second most popular song is “I would do anything for love” which is a single edit which is 5 minutes long… original is 12 minutes long! And it was a hit! This is insanity.

Listening to the 5 minute version because it’s way too early in the morning for me to be listening to a 12 minute broadway rock thing. I’ll say this, I had never heard anything quite like this before and I’m very confused at how this sort of music is the 4th best selling album of all time.

I need to sit and meditate on this one.

sleep on it

Haha Sarah Brightman apparently did a version of "Dust in the Wind".

Afaik fwiw there is no body keeping objective statistics regarding worldwide album sales and these lists can vary widely between sources. Pre-Soundscan numbers are especially unreliable to the point that I look at these kinds of lists, especially if it's from something like Wikipedia, as close to speculative fiction.

Kind of makes sense why I’ve never heard his music on classic rock radio… these are long songs that don’t quite sound like other rock music and it feels like the sort of thing that has to be listened in its own terms.

which is to say it's highly possible that Bat Out of Hell is not the fourth best-selling album of all time - and NB that even on the Wikipedia list, if you look at "total certified copies" instead of "total claimed sales", BooH places much lower than fourth. xp

That said, you can definitely hear Meat Loaf on classic rock radio here. Also "I'd Do Anything" was unavoidable via pop/AC radio in the mid-90s.

Yeah, idk, I heard those earlier Loaf singles well into the early '00s on AOR.

Yeah I'm skeptical that Bat Out Of Hell has sold more than Sgt. Pepper. Still, it sold tons, and now this thread has me thinking about the how and why as well. And I'm stumped.

Boston almost certainly gets daily airplay on any given classic rock station in the US/Canada ime.

“More than a feeling” is extremely radio friendly when compared to “paradise by the dashboard light”.

The other Boston songs I heard didn’t sound familiar at all, “more than a feeling” did made me feel that I must have heard it somewhere else before.

Xpost: yeah Wikipedia data has to be skewed somehow. There’s no way BOOH has sold more than idk Dark Side of the Moon or Led Zep’s IV or Sgt Peppers or Metallica black album or Nevermind… those are bands and albums that people are still buying and discussing to death.

Even if it’s not really the 4th best selling album of all time. It’s still mindblowing to me how it got so immensely popular in the first place and why there’s little canonization about it.

It’s like the musical equivalent to the Avatar movie.

Seems fairly canonized to me, may vary geographically. Not less than Metallica's black album, certainly.

i feel like 7 of the 8 songs on Boston's s/t got fairly heavy classic rock radio airplay in the 90s. at least where i was.

Yeah, when I bought the record, I recognized seven of the songs from the radio and then heard the eighth shortly afterwards.

I just checked - "Peace of Mind" was played this morning on the local station.

I always knew Bat Out of Hell was massive but I didn't know until just now it's the best-selling album of all time in Australia and went 17x platinum in New Zealand too.

Yeah, I wonder if Boston or the Cars wins for most number of songs from their first album that get regular classic rock radio play. Probably the Cars. Six or seven from the first Cars album, maybe five from Boston?

I never hear Meatloaf anywhere, ever.

"i'd do anything" was in a commercial for dr. pepper or something for a while

I guess Loaf was also shrewd to call the comeback album "Bat Out of Hell II." Probably gave a lot of boomers a push to replace their old vinyl copies on CD, like it was an actual sequel or something.

6 of the 9 on Cars s/t i have distinct memories of hearing on crr, but i'm sure like "Doncha Stop" and "I'm in Touch With Your World" got some love too

I'm guessing a lot of songs from Appetite for Destruction get regular play

Hmm, I still hear all the big hits from that, but that's still only ... three? Sweet Child, Paradise City, Welcome to the Jungle? Maybe if Guns was from Boston there would be more.

At least five songs each from Led Zeppelin I and Are You Experienced? (US version) got pretty consistent airplay on “classic rock” stations.

Hysteria racked em up too

Zeppelin is almost a different animal. They didn't even bother releasing singles after the third album, right? Lots of "Dark Side of the Moon" gets airplay, not so much the others. Maybe "Wish You Were Here," but that's like three or four songs long.

"Hysteria," I regularly hear ... six?

The Wall has at least like 3 or 4 classic rock radio staples.

You know, I remember buying a cassette of Led Zeppelin IV specifically to have the opportunity to hear Stairway to Heaven (wasn't aware of classic rock radio yet), which I'd read volumes about. None of which prepared me to be serenaded by the minstrel from the renaissance fair with a slowed down Om Kalthoum cassette for a vocalist? For 8 goddamn minutes!! And this endurance test is supposed to be the greatest rock song?

Bat out of Hell is like red meat compared to that.

Haha that description would make me want to listen to it if I didn't know it.

You may have heard Meatloaf on the theme song to the 1987 Special Olympics (feat. Brian May from Queen).

https://mindlessthefirst.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/img612.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ud0tLwcfG4

Haha, I remember that comic ad

Until today I'd never listened to a Blue Oyster Cult album. I knew 2 or 3 songs from radio or elsewhere. I maybe should have started with the debut, or perhaps Agents of Fortune, but I opted for Tyranny and Mutation because I liked the title. Holy crap, this is great weirdo garage rock psych prog metal. Gonna move on to others.

Tyranny and Mutation is my favorite BOC album and they're probably my favorite rock band.

Well, they were. I only listen to Iron Maiden now.

Zeppelin is almost a different animal. They didn't even bother releasing singles after the third album, right?

Wrong!

MEAT LOAF WAS THE VOICE OF HORNY, INSECURE TEEN BOYS EVERYWHERE
The late superstar’s ‘Bat Out of Hell’ remains a ridiculous, incredibly honest portrait of what it’s like to be young and full of hormones you can’t understand or control

https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/meat-loaf-rip

I didn't read all of this but LOL

idk I always found his performance a bit "how do you do fellow kids"

The album is pretty stupid because teenage boys are pretty stupid, but it’s also kind of beautiful because teenage boys — at least the good ones — possess an awkward beauty buried underneath all that pimply awkwardness.

I still hear all the big hits from that, but that's still only ... three? Sweet Child, Paradise City, Welcome to the Jungle?

Mr. Brownstone, It's So Easy and Night train get play too

TIL that Easy/ Brownstone were released as a double A side in the UK before any singles were put out in the US

It's So Easy, really? Do they bleep it? I don't hear those songs at all here.

Re: Zep, hmm, there's something hinky going on with their singles. I think they only officially released ten, maybe? Maybe promo only? Maybe no singles released in the UK? Something like that.

Zep and Metallica are the classic rock radio bands for whom charts and singles are irrelevent

Yep. Yet "Fool in the Rain" got as high as #21 in 1980.

Josh: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin_discography#Singles

OK, so maybe 10 officially released, about one per album, and the rest promo? In the US at least. How about the UK? Maybe that's where they never officially released any singles?

Isn't "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" from the pov of a near-suicidal older man trapped in a marriage with someone he hates, looking back wistfully? I never thought of it as a hormonal adolescent rush at all.

I was expecting him to have a more heavy metal sound

I never thought of it as a hormonal adolescent rush at all.

lol it literally has a sports announcer giving play-by-play of backseat sex

It just seems very wry and distanced from the experience to me, compared to something like "Whole Lotta Love". It makes sense that it's an older guy reflecting on it. Totally a subjective impression.

oh yeah, it's more in the Springsteen vein of "Here's this crazy night I had hanging out with people who are now all dead or working shit jobs."

otm

Pink Floyd are the AOR staple band who it's often said released no singles between Point Me at the Sky in 1968 and Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 in 1979 (but that's totally untrue)

growing up in Boston, you can bet that I heard both Boston and The Cars on classic rock radio constantly in the 90s. my favorite Boston cuts are "Rock & Roll Band" and "Smokin'".

Zep and Metallica are the classic rock radio bands for whom charts and singles are irrelevent

As Dave Marsh pointed out in his 1001 Singles book, it doesn’t matter that “Stairway” or “Brain Damage/Eclipse” weren’t released as 45s — radio treated those songs as singles anyway. And the airplay of these non-single “singles” directly resulted in those albums scaling the irrelevant charts. (And Metallica had six top-40 singles in the US.)

(xxp) I don't think they did in the UK? Ditto LZ.

always dug Foreplay/ Longtime and partic this one from s/t:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV3pR87L-T8

can't believe it's been 15 years(!!) since Delp passed :-/
what a talent

Trivia: An alternate version called "Foreplay/Fiveplay/Long Time" was released on a 1976 promotional album called It's A Knockout. It was a little longer than the original version and contained some alternate lyrics.

I had this, don't know if I still do. Never realized there was any difference in the recordings.

I've heard rock stations do those daily "Get the Led Out" blocks or "Metallica Monday" where they played a bunch of non-singles.

xp to Tom D. that might be right, actually. They def released a bunch of singles in Europe and America during that time, but the only UK one I know of is a radio promo of Money.

oof my rock station offered Get the Led Out blocks for yeeearrrs

Yeah I've heard my local classic rock station play Led Zeppelin II in its entirety on more than one occasion

Feel like my classic rock station never played Heartbreaker without immediately following w Living Loving Maid and Immigrant Song always followed by Hey hey what Can I do iirc

Isn't "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" from the pov of a near-suicidal older man trapped in a marriage with someone he hates, looking back wistfully? I never thought of it as a hormonal adolescent rush at all.

You may be describing Bob Seger's "Night Moves".

Re Metallica, the pre- and post-Black Album bifurcation of their career kinda fascinates me. Like, there are millions and millions of people for whom Load and/or ReLoad were their introduction to the band.

And there are those, like me, who have heard almost nothing they released post-Black Album

Some FM stations used to play whole albums in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, but that lasted maybe 3-4 years tops. There’s definitely Get The Led Out (my personal favorite is RockIt To ZepTune), but during most of the day — and when these albums were new — FM or “classic rock” radio programming in the US was/is no less “singles” oriented than top 40. It’s just that some of the “singles” weren’t physical singles.

Interestingly, possibly the first LP regularly played in full on the radio didn’t have any single songs extracted from it, for either radio or jukebox purposes: James Brown’s Live At The Apollo.

xpost That reminds me of that podcast about They Might Be Giants where the hosts didn't really like anything before John Henry.

that podcast about They Might Be Giants where the hosts didn't really like anything before John Henry.

This is so bizarre I think I need a link

I don't think I've ever heard Drake

No way

I've definitely never heard Drake, except for whatever songs he appeared on on the Weeknd's trilogy of early albums.

how do you know?

Because I don't get exposed to music involuntarily that often. I don't listen to the radio; when I'm out in public, I'm wearing headphones; the only exception to that is the grocery store I shop at, which plays mostly 80s New Wave and/or "classic rock".

Probably some kind of '70s prog - maybe Yes? I know the name Rick Wakeman but I'm pretty sure I've never actually heard them.

from the 80s but "Owner of a Lonely Heart"?

That's Yes?! Well shit.

Some FM stations used to play whole albums in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, but that lasted maybe 3-4 years tops.

When I was listening to the classic rock station in Austin during the late 90s-early 2000s they ran the "Seventh Day Six-Pack" every Sunday night: starting at 9 or 10 they'd play six full albums into the night. I specifically remember them playing Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Goes alongside Rush where the only song I know I've heard is "Tom Sawyer."

didn't get that much exposure to country growing up (unless you count stuff like the Eagles and Bon Jovi). I often hear the argument that people disdain country music because they associate it with a particular demographic but that wasn't even the case because I barely knew anyone at all who listened to it for a long time. I didn't associate it with anyone.xp

Tbf I guess my parents sometimes watched stuff like Dolly Parton and Crystal Gayle on TV.