What forgotten mainstream music of the last century do you still listen to?

Required Fields wrote:

Runicen wrote:

Seconded on the cool topics!

Days of the New...  Haven't heard that name for a long time.  Whatever happened to that guy (wasn't it just one dude who surrounded himself with hired guns)?

I heard something about their lead singer spending all of his money on drugs and becoming bankrupt as a result.

I remember him on a reality show like "Intervention". He had a big meth problem and health issues.

Here is his Intervention episode.

https://youtu.be/kBugKGW0_eA

Troublezone wrote:

Required Fields wrote:

Runicen wrote:

Seconded on the cool topics!

Days of the New...  Haven't heard that name for a long time.  Whatever happened to that guy (wasn't it just one dude who surrounded himself with hired guns)?

I heard something about their lead singer spending all of his money on drugs and becoming bankrupt as a result.

I remember him on a reality show like "Intervention". He had a big meth problem and health issues.

I loved Days Of The New.  I have 3 of their/his albums (and they all have the same cover but in different colors).  Always reminded me of an acoustic version of Alice In Chains.

But to play the part of SD who picks threads like this to death ( ), I wouldn't call Days Of The New "mainstream".

I don't know, that first album was damn near omnipresent on the radio. They may have dropped off for the second and third albums, but the first was EVERYWHERE for a few years there.

Runicen wrote:

I don't know, that first album was damn near omnipresent on the radio.  They may have dropped off for the second and third albums, but the first was EVERYWHERE for a few years there.

That's because it was unique at the time. I know there was that unplugged generation, but here was a group that were playing some pretty heavy songs and doing them all acoustically. It didn't hurt that they got the Metallica/Jerry Cantrell tour in the summer of 98 as well. I saw them that summer and they sounded really good. Unfortunately the addictions/demons that Travis Meeks had were a bit much, as the other three members were either fired or quit. They helped form the band Tantric and had some success. Travis on the second and third records incorporated a bunch of what I'll call unique sounds. Not they sounded a like, but those album sort of had that Rusted Root feel to them.

Troublezone wrote:

Required Fields wrote:

Runicen wrote:

Seconded on the cool topics!

Days of the New...  Haven't heard that name for a long time.  Whatever happened to that guy (wasn't it just one dude who surrounded himself with hired guns)?

I heard something about their lead singer spending all of his money on drugs and becoming bankrupt as a result.

I remember him on a reality show like "Intervention". He had a big meth problem and health issues.

One thing I find kind of funny about Days of the New is that their second album had backup vocals by the same lady who went on to do this...



Very strange; hard to believe there's a connection between the two.

Required Fields wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

Required Fields wrote:

Runicen wrote:

Seconded on the cool topics!

Days of the New...  Haven't heard that name for a long time.  Whatever happened to that guy (wasn't it just one dude who surrounded himself with hired guns)?

I heard something about their lead singer spending all of his money on drugs and becoming bankrupt as a result.

I remember him on a reality show like "Intervention". He had a big meth problem and health issues.

One thing I find kind of funny about Days of the New is that their second album had backup vocals by the same lady who went on to do this...



Very strange; hard to believe there's a connection between the two.

Yeah, this is one of the songs that Nicole is on. The thing about Days of the New II (Green Album), it's much different from the first album. The first album was pretty heavy and this one not so much. It was more experimental, regarding incorporating even more sounds. Good stuff, but nowhere near as good as the first album.

Is there a community anywhere for documenting and exploring forgotten major-label music? I won't deny that the continued neglect of most pop artists is due to the manufactured, cookie cutter 'quality' of their music but there are some gems among the turds. I'd like to know who is still listening to say, Hoku or Aaron Carter in 2015, even though I don't consider myself such a fan of them. The cultural stigma that seems to think their 'relevance' is the only thing which determines if their music still has merit is another culprit in people abandoning these kinds of artists, so again it's hard to get an honest opinion as to what is still worth checking out that we haven't already seen in remastered form a dozen times over.

I could be way off on this and I am not trying to sound elitist, but I feel as though Hard Rock and Heavy Metal fans are the ones who actively seek out the forgotten gems, has beens, and overlooked artists of the genres they like and love. They are there week or day of release and track down their fave artist on every soundtrack and comp there is. I don't really see anyone doing this for Rap or Country or Pop. Like I said before, my wife likes those three genres of music but doesn't care to delve deep into the back catalogs of artists she doesn't already know. Or, if there is a new song she likes, she buys it from iTunes instead of on cd at a store and only gets that song. She doesn't care to explore the possibility of hidden gems on the album. She just turned 30 last month so maybe it's a generation thing?

I think it has to do with the counterculturalism of the rock subculture and its derivative genres. Hiphop, while claiming to 'keep it real', was never very diverse or eclectic even in its underground incarnations compared to rock. Rappers don't really like it when people think in more abstract terms and were always more lyric based, opting to sample and sequence pieces of music ripped off others than make up their own. Everything has to be spelled out and straightforward to them. I agree when you say the other genres are run by casual listeners for the most part. In rock/metal we have both straightforward and abstract thinkers as commonplace in our culture so even when we seek after a forgotten popular artist, we are usually looking at them and their music in a way that most of the average fans or music critics probably don't imagine them. A different perspective in what makes them have any merit.

the sentinel wrote:

I could be way off on this and I am not trying to sound elitist, but I feel as though Hard Rock and Heavy Metal fans are the ones who actively seek out the forgotten gems, has beens, and overlooked artists of the genres they like and love. They are there week or day of release and track down their fave artist on every soundtrack and comp there is. I don't really see anyone doing this for Rap or Country or Pop. Like I said before, my wife likes those three genres of music but doesn't care to delve deep into the back catalogs of artists she doesn't already know. Or, if there is a new song she likes, she buys it from iTunes instead of on cd at a store and only gets that song. She doesn't care to explore the possibility of hidden gems on the album. She just turned 30 last month so maybe it's a generation thing?

I would say for the most part you're dead on. Since I was fan of 80's pop to an extent, I've actually searched out stuff that never made it to the Top 40 or was on the precipice of making it to the Top 40. Examples of this would be, early Huey Lewis & the News. There were songs I had never heard off their first two albums up until a few years ago. I think those first two are really good. I'm a pretty big Bryan Adams fan through Reckless, but I hadn't really given his first two albums much of a listen prior to Cuts Like a Knife. Though those first two albums aren't what the "Cuts" and "Reckless" would be, I still like them. Journey would be another case band where this would be true (from Infinity ~ Raised On Radio). Cheap Trick, The Outfield, John Waite, etc... would also be examples.

Little River Band
Warren Zevon

James B. wrote:

Little River Band

Dig those guys! Some great pop there!

Supertramp is a great band. Not sure how forgotten they're considered though.

Huey Lewis and the News
The Outfield
Bryan Adams

Thrasher73 wrote:

Huey Lewis and the News
The Outfield
Bryan Adams

The Outfield's "Play Deep" is a great album. I still have my cassette of that one that I bought back in junior high. Ha. I actually saw them play live on the boardwalk in AC in '86. Same goes for Adam's "Reckless" as I have it on both cassette and CD. Two months ago in Classic Rock magazine was a great article on the 30th anniversary of that album.

I keep meaning to grab "Sports" but it always is a bit too expensive.

Yeah play deep never gets old. I actually found a used copy on cd at one of the local music stores not long ago for cheap.

mikeinfla wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

80's Easy Listening. Remember when that was pop music? I'm an unashamed fan. Got a while Spotify playlist dedicated it.

I forgot ALL about this! I'm interested, any suggestions? I wouldn't even know where to begin. We used to have a station in Knoxville called WEZK, EZ Listening. I hated it then but would probably like it now.

I love 80s soft rock/easy listening too. Some suggestions would include:
Starship
Toto
Phil Collins
Lionel Richie
Richard Marx
Chicago/Peter Cetera

Just for starters

Hadley wrote:

mikeinfla wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

80's Easy Listening. Remember when that was pop music? I'm an unashamed fan. Got a while Spotify playlist dedicated it.

I forgot ALL about this! I'm interested, any suggestions? I wouldn't even know where to begin. We used to have a station in Knoxville called WEZK, EZ Listening. I hated it then but would probably like it now.

I love 80s soft rock/easy listening too. Some suggestions would include:
Starship
Toto
Phil Collins
Lionel Richie
Richard Marx
Chicago/Peter Cetera

Just for starters

We have a radio station on at work sometimes that plays all of that stuff and I hate it! They played two completely separate Lionel Richie songs in one day the other day! Two of them!!! 

Thanks for making me think of this!

I would like to add Rick Springfield as I just listened to Working Class Dog the other day. In fact he has a new album out now.

Mike, I just saw your message. James has a good list. My definitive 70s/80s playlist guess something like this:

Never Gonna Let You Go - Sergio Mendes
After the Love is Gone - Earth Wind Fire
Sailing - Christopher Cross
Arthur's Theme - Christopher Cross
Sara - Starship
That's What Friends are for - buncha wankers
Careless Whisper - Wham
Anything Poco

And so much more. All guilty pleasures of a bygone era.

Ah, "buncha wankers" what an amazing supergroup. Who could forget such greats songs as "famine relief," "generic song," and "the one you hear at weddings/ movie trailers." I am still trying to get an original of their first album but it's ridiculous money on the bay! Well, I need more coffee.

the sentinel wrote:

I could be way off on this and I am not trying to sound elitist, but I feel as though Hard Rock and Heavy Metal fans are the ones who actively seek out the forgotten gems, has beens, and overlooked artists of the genres they like and love. They are there week or day of release and track down their fave artist on every soundtrack and comp there is. I don't really see anyone doing this for Rap or Country or Pop. Like I said before, my wife likes those three genres of music but doesn't care to delve deep into the back catalogs of artists she doesn't already know. Or, if there is a new song she likes, she buys it from iTunes instead of on cd at a store and only gets that song. She doesn't care to explore the possibility of hidden gems on the album. She just turned 30 last month so maybe it's a generation thing?

True; a lot of pop, pop-country, and pop-rap fans seem to be like this.

When doing my research this afternoon, the corporate rap star Flo-Rida is a perfect example of these demographics being like that. He has been popular for several years now. His first single, Low, which was released in late 2007, has sold over 7,000,000 copies on iTunes. He has had several Top 10 hits since then, one being in the Top 10 just a couple of months ago. He has released five studio albums (with three having a song that went to #1) and none have gone gold (his 2008 debut has sold close to a gold album's worth of sales, though). By the logic of how well his singles have sold, you'd think he'd have at least one platinum album, or a gold one.

But then again, this is the generation of people not buying physical music anymore. A lot of people might sample the album, and only buy the singles (and maybe one or two "not singles" from it off of iTunes, IF that).