The lost gems of the 80s/early 90s (for corplhicks)

So rather than continue to take the Music Haul thread any more in this direction, I'll start a new thread for recommendations in line with the Charlotte CD that sparked the discussion. I know there have been threads about lesser known glam/hair metal bands, but this is focusing less on bands like McQueen Street, Rock City Angels (RIP Durango), Babylon AD, and so on--bands that had their chance and didn't make it for whatever reason. More focus on bands who barely even got the chance to try and make it.

I spent a good amount of time trying to find every note ever recorded by bands similar to Faster P*ssycat, LA Guns, Crue and Pretty Boy Floyd, and I'm sure many of you are just as versed, or moreso. We can pass this knowledge on to corplhicks and others who may be on the look out.

Eonian records was already mentioed in that thread. They focus heavily on releasing stuff that was recorded in the late 80s and early 90s, but maybe didnt get released, or only got small releases.

I mentioned Shake City, but another band that fans of this stuff must check out is Rattleshake. Eonian put out their 7-song CD, and it is excellent sleazy stuff that, to my ears, puts together Faster P*ssycat and Dangerous Toys.

Retrospect Records is another one. They specialize in getting out stuff that never saw the light of day, as well as reissuing stuff that is out of print now and hard to find. They have a pretty big catalog, so you just gotta browse their site.

Perris Records is another one, though I don't know if they are still active. Like the others, they put out stuff that was recorded back in the day that never got released, or limited release. They've also released new material by older bands, like Pretty Boy Floyd, and they've put out stuff by new bands playing 80s glam styled stuff.

Demon Doll doesn't have a primary focus. They put out unreleased old stuff (Doll, Agent X and Talks Cheap). They reissue OOP stuff (Cats In Boots, Alleycat Scratch). They put out newer bands playing vintage, or highly influenced by the vintage, rock n' roll.

FNA also puts out new stuff by old bands, as well as newly unearthed stuff by old bands. I'm not sure if they sign brand new bands or not.

I know there are others, but those are probably the biggest labels putting out the unknown, unreleased and recently unearthed material from the 80s/early 90s. The websites for those labels are great places to start in any quest for unknown glam/hair metal.

For some reason, a huge portion of what I typed above, about Eonian, Retrospect, Perris and Demon Doll, is not showing up. I can't figure out how to make it show. When I go to the edit function, it is all in there.

EDIT: I figured out the problem when I changed editor mode. Apparently, I somehow changed the font color for some of the text...I guess to black or a color that does not show up on black.

ZombieHavoc wrote:

For some reason, a huge portion of what I typed above, about Eonian, Retrospect, Perris and Demon Doll, is not showing up. I can't figure out how to make it show. When I go to the edit function, it is all in there.

I have the same problem with you post in Rainbow vinyl therad - missing a part of it. Happens only with your posts Looks like this http://gyazo.com/c5a76fbad4ef648d90184fae28d12702

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

For some reason, a huge portion of what I typed above, about Eonian, Retrospect, Perris and Demon Doll, is not showing up. I can't figure out how to make it show. When I go to the edit function, it is all in there.

I have the same problem with you post in Rainbow vinyl therad - missing a part of it. Happens only with your posts :DLooks like this http://gyazo.com/c5a76fbad4ef648d90184fae28d12702

Weird, man. I have no idea what I am doing that makes that happen.

: This may be my favorite thread of them all; thanks ZH!

corplhicks wrote:

: This may be my favorite thread of them all; thanks ZH!

No problem, glad you like it!

And you can now see my full text in my original post!

I was just playing this today.  One of my forgotten favorites.




Another one I love.  

jstate wrote:

I was just playing this today.  One of my forgotten favorites.




Another one I love.  

I love that Company of Wolves disc!

How about this one:


Lead vocals by Britny Fox's "Dizzy" Dean Davidson.

I could add a ton of bands to this list:

Electric Angels
Childs Play
The Throbs
Spread Eagle
Smashed Gladys

...to name a few.

tohostudios wrote:

I could add a ton of bands to this list:

Electric Angels
Childs Play
The Throbs
Spread Eagle
Smashed Gladys

...to name a few.

Name dropping bands doesn't help quite as much as you'd think. How about impressions? Or a song you particularly like?

I'm interested in this thread.

Lari wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

I could add a ton of bands to this list:

Electric Angels
Childs Play
The Throbs
Spread Eagle
Smashed Gladys

...to name a few.

Name dropping bands doesn't help quite as much as you'd think. How about impressions? Or a song you particularly like?

I'm interested in this thread.

If you're reading this thread then you should already have a decent idea of what bands mentioned here will sound like. I could go scour YouTube looking for clips by the above bands but A) I didn't want to clutter up this thread with a bunch of clips that take forever to load and B) if you're interested at all you can look them up yourself.  

Like I said, if you're really interested in this thread you probably have a good idea what bands from this era sound like.

I don't have the patience to sample every band. Quick impressions was all I was after. What's the thing with these bands that makes you enjoy them?

I want something with sweet lead guitar.

The short answer to what makes me enjoy them is memorability.

I like songs where I can remember the hook and basic melody after one listen.  The bands I posted above have that IMO.  

Case in point:


But I think if you're looking for flashy leads, this is probably the wrong thread. Most "lost gems" bands from that era don't feature Satriani-style soloing.

There are a few though like this:

Or maybe this one:

Gonna have fun on youtube tonight.

Of course, I couldn't leave here without mentioning my favorite Christian metal band. 'Tis a hard find, and I reaaaally regret giving my copy away back in the day.

corplhicks wrote:

Gonna have fun on youtube tonight.

Of course, I couldn't leave here without mentioning my favorite Christian metal band. 'Tis a hard find, and I reaaaally regret giving my copy away back in the day.

Never heard of these guys before but I dig that song.

I'm interested in this thread. Thanks for the clips.

tohostudios wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Gonna have fun on youtube tonight.

Of course, I couldn't leave here without mentioning my favorite Christian metal band. 'Tis a hard find, and I reaaaally regret giving my copy away back in the day.

Never heard of these guys before but I dig that song.

The whole CD--an Elefante effort--is a wild heavy metal ride, even if a bit commercial. All the tracks are up on youtube. CD runs anywhere from 30-50 bucks on Amazon and Ebay. Larry Worley's voice is just killer. But yeah I don't even think they toured for the album. It just kind of went bust--like it was the last great Christian metal album as grunge settled in.
Only things that suck are a short, goofy rap, and the closing track, a sappy, boring ballad. Everything else is ear-shattering.

There are so many bands that came out during that time and went unnoticed, it's not even funny. One album, for me, that really deserved a bigger audience was Cycles, by Wicked Maraya. Not really 80s rock like the other examples given her, but surely there was some of that mixed in. To me, this album is the perfect melding of late 80s hard rock and early 90s alt-metal.







This album should be considered a classic today.

That Wicked Maraya is a great record. Got it after it got a lot of love from people on here.

I was rushing on here to post about Child's Play but I see Toh already beat me to it. I honestly thought Rat Race was going to make them huge. Though I was completely biased since they were a local band.

Another album that I think is great all the way through is War Babies - s/t. A better band name and a few years earlier they would've been huge. Of course also have to mention the vocalist previous band TKO whose stuff also would classify as lost gems.

Lost of great bands mentioned here.

Spread Eagle cranked out two great albums of classic sleaze metal.  Too bad they got lost in the shuffle.







I also really like Kik Tracee.  Terrible band name but they were doing cool stuff.  Their Field Trip EP is killer.

Im with Toho on Spread Eagle,Childs Play and Smashed Gladys.
No one has mentioned Shotgun Messiah or Dangerous Toys or Tora Tora yet either.

Heres probably my favorite song from Dangerous Toys

Rock City Angels - a lot of mystery/controversy always surrounded this band with Johnny Depp being a member at one point and then rumors that Geffen suppressed the album so that Guns 'n Roses wouldn't have any competition.



Salty Dog - Had one great album and then nothing. At least we got American Dog out of it!



Junkyard - Sleazy southern rock sound? I liked their first album but I think their second - Sixes Sevens & Nines - is their best.







And my absolute favorite "lost band of the early 90s" - The Four Horsemen. These guys deserved much better. They were 70s retro before that was cool.