I think we all have a few bands that we feel we found and bugged our friends and anyone else who'd listen to hear them. My next article will be on one of the bands that never made it, the Galactic Cowboys, but this is about the ones that did and the excitement of feeling you changed someones listening life.
My first "Discovery" was Bon Jovi. Now I know everyone know them as a cheesy hair band/adult contemporary band, but before that they were a hard working rock band from New Jersey. I first heard them on a late night video show on local PBS when I saw "Runaway" and the hook was so strong that it just had to be a hit... It wasn't. Sure, it's well known for them now, but at the time, not so much. Then they released the much better "7800 degrees Fahrenheit" which may have actually done worse. I was telling everyone about these guys and playing them constantly getting one of my best friends to become a big fan (which he still is). Then came the big record "Slippery When Wet" and they were everywhere! They followed up with 2 more huge records but then made the darker "These Days" record (their best by the way) and all of a sudden I found myself trying to tell people about this band again as everyone seemed to have lost interest. It took a few solo albums and changes of music styles, but the band has been back for years, but I was one of the first...
My second band I found before all my friends (and a lot of the world) was Guns n Roses. I was one of the few that saw the one airing on Mtv of the video of "Welcome To The Jungle" and went out that day and bought the cassette. That guitar riff still sends chills up my spine! I listened to it over and over (which was not a great idea in the cassette age, lol) and then playing that for anyone in any situation where I had the chance to hit "play" on the boombox. But the song that I told people that was going to be huge was "Sweet Child O' Mine" before it was even a single. It wasn't even my favorite song on the album (Rocket Queen, Jungle or Paradise City fought it out for fave) but I knew it was catchy as hell and had another unique guitar sound. Within a month and a half or so everyone was talking GnR and within a year they were the biggest band on the planet, but I was one of the first...
My third time was Extreme. I remember seeing TV ads for the movie "Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure" and hearing this crazy guitar going on underneath it all, but never could hear the singer and the band wasn't credited. One day I just happened to hear on one of our no defunct rock radio stations in Detroit the song and the DJ actually saying the name of the band and the song (I miss those days) as Extreme and the song was "Play With Me" and once again, off to Harmony House I go! What a great album! Full of great guitar playing and unusual lyrics for a "hair metal" band and I couldn't wait for the second record. I had a lot of friends listening, but not buying the first Extreme, but "Pornograffitti changed that... Especially "More Than Words". The album was big and the song was bigger, in fact it held a record for most returned album for some time because some people (mostly of an older variety, haha) would buy it for "More Than Words" and find a very hard rocking rest of the disc that had a lot of adult themes. They followed that up with the great "III Sides To Every Story" which had a couple minor hits, then they went in a dark different direction with "Waiting For The Punchline" which didn't do well at all. Then out of the blue Gary Cherone (singer) is signed on to sing with Van Halen and Nuno Bettencourt (guitar) is doing side projects. They broke up, but in 2008 they reunited with "Saudades De Rock". I never saw them get bigger then theater tours, in fact we saw them at the beginning of the "Pornograffitti" tour at a tiny club in Detroit called "The Ritz with Alice In Chains Opening, but I won't take credit for exposing my friends to them as they were there and we didn't even notice the band til later that year, "Man In The Box" was big and that's when we noticed we saw them and no one even knew, lol.
What bands have you found and forced upon your friends til they finally saw the light? Let me know... I'd love to check them out!
Good post, Greg! I also really miss the days of hearing something new on the radio and running to the Harmony House to buy it immediately.
ReplyDeleteAs it turns out, my "discovery" was John Mayer.
I first heard 'St. Patrick's Day' - which never made it as a commercially successful single - on an early Sunday morning radio show in Detroit (don't remember which station). I was just pulling into Jerry's Coney to meet my parents for breakfast and the song came on. As soon as I heard his voice I was hooked. Luckily, when the song was over the DJ told me who it was and after breakfast I drove directly to Best Buy and sat in the parking lot listening to the entire album. THEN went back into Best Buy and bought the "Inside Wants Out" EP.
Turned most of my female friends on to his tunes pretty quickly, and not surprisingly, had to convince the men that he REALLY was very talented.
-Shelly
Freakin' excellent subject Greg! Well played.
ReplyDeleteThis is a hard subject for me to get into as I often confuse it with "underrated bands". For instance, today I was just listening to Kissing To Be Clever and thinking "How in the hell is this band known for one hit?!". The other day, I was listening to Modern Day Cowboy thinking the same thing about them.
To be honest, I really don't think I've ever "discovered" anything well before anyone else. I've seen plenty of opening acts and knew they were gonna be big. I've heard plenty of first albums and knew they were gonna be big. But obviously someone knew that well before me, because it wouldn't have been presented to me otherwise.
I know this is kinda late in the game for their career but the closest thing I can think of is Nirvana. My brother and I were driving down M-59 and he all of a sudden remembered he had to stop at Harmony House to grab a CD a buddy had told him about. He came back out with a disc that had a naked baby and some bums on the back. He said only "Mike says these guys are the shit" before putting the CD, lighting a smoke and letting the volume fly.
I'd never heard word one about these cats but from the very first kick of the drum I was like "Oh shit, this is HUGE" And I waited and waited and waited for In Bloom to be a single off of that record then it finally happened.
The Nirvana thing is funny. I was listening to them before everyone, but I knew they had another record before that (Bleach) which took some time to find since it had to be re released and reprinted.
ReplyDeleteOf course after Nirvana blew up then everyone supposedly had knew them from Bleach. Yeah right... You heard a very limited pressing from Sub Pop in Seattle all the way hear in Michigan even though you never leave the county and you are under 20... That's believable, lol
Oh I know. I could write a book on the whole "I like their old stuff" comment that comes up in every music discussion. And yeah, it happens every single time with Nirvana.
ReplyDeleteLike I said, I openly admit to not hearing them until after Nevermind was out. But I do distinctly remember my brother hearing about them well before the record blowing up. That first time I heard the drums kick in on Teen Spirit, I was like "Whoa, this is gonna be big" and of course it was ginormous.
Ever since Kurt uttered the words "This is off our first record, most people don't own it" everyone and their brother ran out to buy Bleach and go on about how THEY had it before everyone else. Whatever. lol.
My god, I forgot about Galactic Cowboys. Now I need to try seeking them out again, just for a refresher.
ReplyDeleteObviously, for me, it was Anthrax, though they still haven't hit it big like the bands you've referenced. They are known well in the metal community, but not much beyond that. I've introduced them to several friends, who have since become fans, but I still doubt I'll ever hear a track on the radio.
Hell Dan... You introduced them to me... And that don't happen often, lol
ReplyDelete@Russ...I did get Bleach soon after Nevermind and looong before About A Girl got radio play. But you know me... I'm a completeist, lol
Oh hell, if we're gonna get into bands that should STILL be bigger than they are, I've got a list.
ReplyDeleteHow about:
Tesla
Extreme
Emerson Drive
Jamie Johnson
The Black Crowes
Kenny Wayne Sheppard
Shooter Jennings
Portishead
Elbow
M.I.A.
Plan B
Cheap Thrillz ;)
Ooooooooh Plan B! Of course! Man that guy is great.
ReplyDeleteTo add my two cents though, I've tried for YEARS to get anyone to listen to my favorite band, Bayside, and it's not worked. They're a pop-punk band out of Long Island, and they've changed my life. No other musician truly speaks to me the way this band does. The lyrics, the beats, the feeling these guys put into every song - nothing compares.
I have friends who are into them now, but I don't think I credit it to my persistence. I'm not pushing this down people's throats because while I want them to succeed and make it BIG, I quite enjoy seeing them in small theatres with a few hundred other people and truly getting to feel what they want me to feel.