100 amazing rock/pop songs never mentioned anywhere

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
1. The Dark- The Masque

I found this on some bad goth comp and this song was worth it even if I threw out the other 3CD's worth. It's like the Damned at their most goth, sped up and played much tighter and more dynamic with bursts of guitar and thrashy drums instead of straight ahead fuzz, and a nice touch of a synth swell. The lyrics are cool for being so over the top with every frankenstein & vampire cliche rolled up together ("you put coins on your eyes when you go to bed/you wear black leather gloves to hide the holes in your hands"), and if it was just some usual plodding dirge song they wouldn't work, but the punk-ness makes it good. It stands out from everything else I have heard in that style. I searched for their CD comp. and there's a few other very standard but decently good punk songs on it but nothing else that crosses it with the frankenstein shit. So I guess it's one of those bands that has 1 moment of genius. I liked how the notes credited "spike-adelic guitar" and it was cool to learn it was a song carried over from Demon Preacher, Nik Fiend's original band (mentioned in passing here.) most underrated British punk band?

2. Moral Support- Strange Day for Dancing

It sounds a lot like "I feel love" and the production sounds really good compared to similar stuff from the 80's that sounds dated. I found a tape of their one long forgotten album at a garage sale by accident. Apparently it won a canadian Juno award so it was on some comp that's findable on slsk but nothing else is.

-rainbow bum- (-rainbow bum-), Monday, 15 May 2006 17:39 (nineteen years ago)

So it would be great if anyone can list more songs like this- those perfect songs that are just accidental discoveries, because for whatever reason the bands never made anything else good or remembered.

-rainbow bum- (-rainbow bum-), Monday, 15 May 2006 17:41 (nineteen years ago)

EAT - Mr and Mrs Smack

equinox, Monday, 15 May 2006 17:48 (nineteen years ago)

3. The Seers - Lightning Strikes

Released the same day as Pixies' Surfer Rosa (I wrote that on the 7" when I bought it in (1987?), don't know how true that is or where I got that info), briefly popular as it was also the time of the Hungerford shootings (lyrics about a Johnny who came home as the lightning struck, carrying his gun) - great track full of low-flying airplane guitars.

StanM (StanM), Monday, 15 May 2006 17:52 (nineteen years ago)

(xpost, ok, mine is 4 then)

StanM (StanM), Monday, 15 May 2006 17:53 (nineteen years ago)

4 & 5

The American Flag - We've Finally Found Me and Painted Grape (2000)
Better than anything that is blogger hyped these days, just amazing energy and chops

Glass, Monday, 15 May 2006 18:20 (nineteen years ago)

6. Merrymakers: Monument Of Me

Pure pop perfection from 1995, done better than most more famous powerpoppers were ever able to. Absolutely marvellous, and one of the best choruses ever!

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 15 May 2006 19:23 (nineteen years ago)

7. Acceleration - Poppy Factory

This trio were (very briefly) a great white hope c. 1990. They worked in that rarest of configurations, the "Blue Nile" (synth x 2 plus guitar-playing singer). This song was included on a cassette given away with a short-lived and long-forgotten British music magazine, Lime Lizard. As is the way of things, the tape was eventually eaten by a boombox, so I haven't actually heard Acceleration for over a decade. Nonetheless, I well remember being utterly smitten by the song's blend of New Order-esque melody and panoramic romanticism.

Palomino (Palomino), Monday, 15 May 2006 20:01 (nineteen years ago)

"I Almost Prayed" by the Weather Prophets (ok, not exactly obscure for ILMers, esp Brits, but one of my fave pop songs ever and the only WP song I've ever heard I think)

a regal trolley (aaron a), Monday, 15 May 2006 20:59 (nineteen years ago)

8. Maybelline Messiah -- "And the Dead Will Rise"

Truly pop goth. Even if its creators had a different intent.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 15 May 2006 21:00 (nineteen years ago)

the Underdogs - Love's Gone Bad

I see a rainbow, all black. Must be a sign that you ain't coming back

Maybe it's not that obscure, being included in the first Nuggets box. However, it's in my top 20 singles of all-time. A perfect 2 1/2 minutes.

from AMG:

The bands' hometown popularity piqued the interest of Motown Records who signed them to a deal. They had one single release on the VIP label, a tough-as-nails makeover of Holland-Dozier-Holland's "Love's Gone Bad" originally done by blue-eyed soul-singing Chris Clark; the Underdogs are reportedly the first white band signed by Motown, but that's debatable, with "band" being the key word. What should have been a hit didn't generate much chart action according to Motown's standards, reaching its zenith at number 122 pop in 1966. The flipside was a remake of Clarence Paul/Bunny Paul/Faye Hale's "MoJo Hanna" a popular Jobete copyright first recorded by Henry Lumpkin and redone by many including Marvin Gaye, the Ideals, Tammi Lynn, Esther Phillips, and the Neville Brothers. The single is a find, if you can locate a copy. They cut other unreleased sides at Motown including a smokin' "The Way You Do the Things You Do" that was shelved for years but can now be found on compilation albums such as Motown Sings Motown and others.

nicky lo-fi (nicky lo-fi), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 06:46 (nineteen years ago)

Everybody's Been Burned, by the Byrds. A haunting David Crosby composition built around a chromatic guitar figure, with mcguinn's 12-string soloing brilliance. Never gets compiled but is probably the best thing they ever did

dr x o'skeleton, Tuesday, 16 May 2006 09:06 (nineteen years ago)

Care - Flaming Sword
The Gist - Love at First Sight
Soup Dragons - On Overhead Walkways

Jez (Jez), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 10:01 (nineteen years ago)

House of Love - Shine On

bendy (bendy), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 10:52 (nineteen years ago)

bendy, i think that one's been mentioned a lot actually.

dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 11:57 (nineteen years ago)

Love: The Everlasting First

Everybody talks about Forever Changes, and with good reason. But this is clearly the most underheard Love song. Plus it has a killer guitar solo by Jimi Hendrix.

kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 12:38 (nineteen years ago)

The Four Horsemen by Aphrodite's Child.

steve r. (starlight kid), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 16:34 (nineteen years ago)

Riot of Colour - Skink

John Peel favorite of the mid 80's. Bodines-ish

smudger (smudger), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 21:54 (nineteen years ago)

I LOVE "the Four Horsemen"! And "Loud Loud Loud Loud" (or only 3 Louds?). Is that album out of print? They used to play those tunes on KSHE down in St. Louis.

I say David Meece, "The Water Is Fine." Eerie baptism story that turns into helicopter Vanelli synthpop. I may have mentioned it on another thread. what is that, #15?

dr. phil (josh langhoff), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 21:58 (nineteen years ago)

House of Love
I feared that, but it just made the search hang. So I'll offer this from the same era:

Ophelias - Apron Strings

bendy (bendy), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 23:23 (nineteen years ago)


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.