atlantamoi

There are countless bands out there who make it big and leave me scratching my head in disgust. I could list many bands I don't like who are on the radio all the time. Having said that, I want to turn this around. Can you think of musicians you LOVE who became popular and it really surprised you?

In 1983 I certainly never thought REM would be so big. It's easy to think of them as being this huge band now, but back then they were just a popular college band. Hmmm, but I did see them open for the Police that year in D.C. Maybe these kinds of shows helped. Didn't seem to help the Pixies when they opened for U2!

I think the biggest surprise for me was when Midnight Oil became popular in 1988 out of nowhere. "Diesel and Dust" just blew up big from the moment it was released. I was very surprised because their songs have very little to do with America and their previous albums navigated some off-kilter territory, especially at that time.

Can you think of others?

Alyoshka

I was surprised that Sixpence made it. Then they sort of just rode the fame and that was upsetting, but I really like their other stuff.

atlantamoi

What do you mean by "they just rode the fame"? I love Sixpence and you are right.
It was a huge surprise to see them become popular all over. What's kind of funny is that "Kiss Me" is very different from the rest of their last album. I feel for these guys since they have finished their new album more than a year ago and record company problems are shafting them again. WHEN is that pup going to be released? I hope all this time out of the public eye doesn't hurt them when they finally put that album out.

El Scorcho

I was surprised Dave Matthews caught on as big as he has with the college-aged kids.

woofman

Not to diss him (much) but I will never understand why SO many people have given Kid Rock even the time of day. If you enjoy it that's cool, I'm just blown away cause -well, it's Kid Rock....

GuessWho

Because he's fun, a showman... he's not trying to deliver a message, just entertain. With the outfits, the antics (onstage and off) he's like a David Lee Roth for a new generation

El Scorcho

You probably won't find your answer on here. Most Kid Rock fans live in trailers, and people that live in trailers tend not to use the internet.

Btw, I said "most" everyone, so don't get your panties in a bunch.

Alyoshka

By rode the fame: I mean doing the things like covering Dancing Queen as their next single instead of trying to put out music that is more indicitive of their sound.

From what I've heard Squint Entertainment went down the hole money wise and the investors pulled out. Steve Taylor, the singer and owner of Squint, is trying to find the money by himself to restart Squint. This is basically a facimily of what happened with REX when they screwed over Sixpence. I saw in an interview, Matt Slocum speaking, that Sixpence might go ahead and split ways this time. I'm not sure if this is true or not though.

atlantamoi

Hey Alyoshka, despite the fact that I am 15 years older than you we have much in common.
Musically speaking and in other ways. I just checked out your website and we like some similar music. I don't know if you know all these bands, but my faves are 16 Horsepower, Christine Glass, Common Children, The Choir, 77's, Sixpence, Cloud 2 Ground, Starflyer 59, Paloma, Pierce Pettis and Poor Old Lu to name just a few. Man, there are SO many good bands in this field. Have you heard Christine Glass' CD "Love and Poverty"? One of the best unknown CD's I've ever heard.

Alyoshka

Hey, sorry about the lack of substance on my website. I used to deejay at a christian rock station though. I love anything with Gene Eugene, have one cd by 16hp, have the first cd by Christine Glass, have heard a couple songs by Cloud 2 Ground (raindown?), LOVE SF59 and POL, but I haven't heard of the others. Also, I haven't heard that song by Christine Glass. Speaking of this music being good, I just overheard Smalltown Poets in Dawson's Creek.

atlantamoi

You know, I alway wonder how these bands get on these TV shows. I think Switchfoot was on a show recently. That's sad about Gene dying. I really liked the Lost Dogs quite a bit and it seems he produced many CD's I dig. I STRONGLY suggest you check out the whole CD "Love and Poverty" by C. Glass. It's WAY better than her first recording. There are some songs on there that are simply amazing. The last 2 Choir CD's are good and Glass was produced by their leader. She is dating the singer from Common Children and Common Children's "Delicate Fade" was also a CD light years better than their debut disc (they have helped each other out on recent recordings). All 3 of these bands share a similar sound, but it all came together for "Love and Poverty". This CD was about as ignored as can possibly be and I'm sure you could get it off of Ebay for just a few bucks.

Anyway, when I see your posts in the future I'll know where you are coming from! Good to know.... I was also a college DJ at Auburn in the mid-80's and learned so much back then. Today I like a huge mix of stuff, but I have the most fun finding Christian bands that are BETTER than a lot secular stuff I hear. I think people would be shocked by how good some of this stuff is if they were open minded to it. That band Paloma I think has one guy that was in Poor Old Lu. They do this cool tune called "Untitled" that was influenced by the Pixies "Wave of Mutilation" It's a great disc.

Penny Lane

Oh, I love Smalltown Poets! I only have one of their cds, though. How many have they put out?

atlantamoi

Penny, Smalltown Poets have 3 Cd's on Forefront Records. I think their latest Cd "Third Verse" is their best. Smalltown, Third Day and The Waiting all live here in Atlanta.... I like the Waiting the most (very clever lyrics).

Jason

The New Radicals. I had never even heard of them, and have no idea how popular they actually were, but when they broke up, it was everywhere.

Penny Lane

What are the names of the band member of the Waiting? I might know them, too. I think the only Smalltown Poets cd I have is their first one; I can see the actual cd in my mind, but I cannot remember the album name. I knew they lived in Atlanta; they were pretty close to some friends of mine who lived in Gwinett (sp?) County a few years ago.

Alyoshka

The Waiting is one of Christian music's best rock bands: musically accomplished (Todd Olsen's guitar and Brad Olsen's increasingly-commanding voice stand out), lyrically sharp, fully able to match an interesting thematic idea to terrific hard-pop-rock. The Olsen brothers, born in New York, moved to Atlanta in their early years, eventually attending college there. Their father convinced them to record their first demos, which eventually turned into 1991's Tillbury Town. Having met Clark Leake (bass) and Brandon Thomspon (drums), the group quickly improved and were eventually signed to R.E.X.for 1995's Blue Belly Sky, a masterpiece of rock and worship music.Singles like "Mercy Seat" did well on Christian radio, drawing the attention of Sparrow, who signed them for their third album, The Waiting (1997). The album spawned three #1 Christian radio singles, Grammy and Dove nominations (including one for the remarkable "Hands in the Air."), and Sparrow re-released Blue Belly Sky with additional tracks to fill the gap between product. The group, having done some serious woodshedding, culled Unfazed (1998) from as many as forty songs written with outside writers; the sonically-rich CD spent six weeks at #1 on the Christian charts, and a single ("Speak") was released to regular rock radio to little effect. Still, the CD garnered great reviews even in Billboard magazine, and the group had grown into one of the sharpest, tightest units around. — Doug Dwyer

AtlDVD

The New Radicals was basically a one guy studio project with some hired guns so he could tour-

very good CD by the way

dek

They completely ruined There She Goes. Never should have touched that song.

AndyCapps

You're the exception, right?

atlantamoi

Sixpence ruined "There She Goes"? I disagree with that. I bought the La's disc when it came out and even saw them in concert before they imploded. That La's Cd is incredible from start to finish and I don't hear at all how Sixpence ruined that song. Sounds excellent to me!

dek

Yeah well when I first heard it on the radio I almost crashed the car. It didn't need to be remade. I guess I'm just a big fan of the original song and this to me is crap.

Static Cling

Hopefully this isn't a total thread hijack, but since you were talking a little bit about good Christian music, I just wanted to give a nod to Sandra McCracken, who I first saw opening for Caedmon's Call (who is probably my favorite band). If I were to compare her to a secular artist, I'd have to say Sheryl Crow. Solid female singer-songwriter stuff... you can get her music off http://www.grassrootsmusic.com/ (a great site for buying CDs of lesser-known Christian artists, by the way). The Normals were another opening band for Caedmon's that day, and they're also great... I'd compare them to U2.

Fire bad!

Alyoshka

I second Sarah being awesome. Also, the songs with her and Derek (from Caedmon's Call) singing together are wonderful.

DaveNinja

When i saw Green Day open for Sam I Am in the UCSC-porter college quad, i never thought they'd be big. I never thought the Offspring would be big, they'd always play Gilman street and i never went and saw they because i thought their name was lame. I never htought the Muffs would have a song on a fruitopia commercial. I never thought !!! would be mentioned on NPR. I never htought the Lil Bunnies would be mentioned in Rolling Stone. I never thought THey Might Be Giants would have a tv theme song.

daveninja.com

pantala

Before Nirvana got big, they played at my middle school (7th, 8th grade). Who would have thought some garage band would get so big?