Question of the Week: What’s the best album by an obscure, little-known artist in your collection?

Local Spins’ Question of the Week (Aug. 25, 2022)

What’s the best album by an obscure, little-known artist in your collection?

The winner in last week’s drawing of email subscribers who responded to our question of the week was reader Brent Godfrey. To be placed in a drawing for a Local Spins gift pack, sign up for email updates and the weekly newsletter here: https://localspins.com/subscribe-local-spins-mailing-list/

THE READER RESPONSES:

Don Clapham – “Frijid Pink.” The debut album by Detroit rockers Frijid Pink. Album has a fantastic version of “House of the Rising Sun.”

Todd Ernst – Waterlillies, “Tempted”

Daniel P Hudelson – Robert Palmer, “Double Fun,” 1978

John Nowak – “Maria Fumaca” by Banda Black Rio

John Sinkevics – I’ve got a bunch in mine, but I’d have to go with this one: “Pampered Menial” by Pavlov’s Dog from 1975. Incredible stuff.

Doug Chesnut – The Fredrick

Kyle Brown – Western Centuries – “Call The Captain”

Stephen Aldrich – I could fill up this whole thing, with these, but will stop back later for one. Sink is on it with Pavlov’s Dog, every Rush fan needs to know where that vocal style came from.

Leroy Theseal – Duck Stab by the Residents

John Bruni – Essra Mohawk, Primordial Lovers. Robert Palmer’s “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley” is great, too.

Michael Van Denend – Chicagoan Bill Quateman, self-titled debut record on Columbia, 1973.

Aris Peter Hampers – Michael Van Denend: His next 3 albums were even better!

Dan Hildebrandt – Anna Ash “L.A. Flame”
Michael J Vizard – The Wozard of Iz..An Electronic Odyssey…we used to ride around drinking beer and sing along to this..sorry, but I don’t have the album though..we loved slapping it in the 8 track…

Roger Kintner = Sniff-N- The Tears.

Matt Jarrells – Lover’s Knot by Jeb Loy Nichols, featuring members of Medeski, Martin and Wood; The Holmes Bothers; Living Colour; The Jazz Passengers; and The Wailers – all in a folk record!

Scott Steiner – Just Plain Lonesome -The Bellfuries. For reggae , What Kind of World -The Cables

AJ Dunning – The Gravel Pit, from Boston- opened a show for them way back in ’96, Portsmouth Maine. Incredibly great live band, stellar songs (power pop garage-esque), catalog available via YT.

Chad Michael Wedeven – AJ Dunning: I have two of theirs, phenomenal

Brent Godfrey – “Gothic Hut.” 1982 release on Posh Boy records

Jon Shears – Watch Out by Wells Fargo 1970’s rock and roll from Zimbabwe

Mike Dodge – Shai No Shai’s Human Condition.

Dave Adams – I have a CD signed by The Honeytones

Justin Wierenga – Bo Hansson- The Magician’s Hat

Chad Michael Wedeven – Eric Matthews, It’s Heavy In Here. Astonishing intricate chamber pop on the Sub Pop label. Was dismayed to learn he’s a Trumper now. I guess I did spin this a lot in my “incel” days. For a more recent one, there’s a band out of Boulder, CO, called Foxfeather, and they are fabulous. Their self-titled album is tremendous, but this stand-alone single I send to everyone I know – “The Rules.

Kette – Probably either of the first two albums from The Ditty Bops, or Hey Violet’s From the Outside.
Kyle Rasche – Ken Yates – Quiet Talkers

Stephen Aldrich – Judee Sill, the self-titled debut. Deserved to be as big as Joni or Carole, every bit as good. I saw her play live for fleeting minutes, still can’t believe it

Dave Adams – Relatively unknown by the masses, I have Spider (self-titled) album). They had two songs on other albums that were covered and became bigger hits for those artists; You better be good to me – Tina Turner and Change – John Waite. Their principle songwriter, Holly Knight is in the songwriter’s hall of fame.

Rodger Bliss – Brother Wayne Kramer!!! “Kick out the Jams!”

Robert Biggie G Gill – It Bites – “The Big Lad In the Windmill”; Jellyfish – “Spilt Milk”

Ryne Clarke – The Ship – a contemporary folk music journey

Scott VanderSchel – The Big Dish – Swimmer. Love that band.

Joe Bockheim – Little Sonny – New King of the Blues Harmonica

J Oscar Bittinger – In no intentional order: ALPHA BAND – “Alpha Band” (where we met T-Bone Burnette, Steven Soles, & David Mansfield), DUNCAN BROWNE – “The Wild Places” (all albums interesting), DANE DONOHUE – “Dane Donohue” (1 major-label album full deck Yacht Rock – check crew on album) Also see: “The Lost Prince of Yacht Rock”. Went to see him at a Holiday Inn in Mansfield, OH many year after the album came out – but didn’t have the heart to ask for an autograph on a record that was a promo copy and was marked 10¢.), ARLYN GALE – “Back to the Midwest Night” (Managed by Mike Appel and obviously an attempt to cash-in on a missing Spruce album in 1978), TIM BUCKLEY – “Greetings from L.A.” – Dark and intense, ANY TROUBLE – “Wheels in Motion” (Featuring Clive Gregson – Saw Clive at One Trick Pony with Steve Aldrich – who introduced me to Any Trouble – Sept 10, 2001)

Richard B. Kelley – For years I thought Wayne Kramer was dead. To answer the question: Rival Sons from Long Beach, CA. The second or third greatest band to come out of Australia, Datura4. – and John Salvage and the New Twenty Saints from Sterling Heights (or one of those Detroit factory ‘burbs).
A.p. Van Portfliet – Album? Probably Horsefeather. Fury: The Grand Prize ranks right up there.
Copyright 2022, Spins on Music LLC