STIFFS! Killer Albums that Didn't Sell by Popular Artists

[EMB]

Well, they try to lump artists into a certain bag, as it were. And whenever one of them tried to break away from the 'Mac sound,' well, it wasn't just the respective record company that acted diffident or unprepared. Stevie Nicks' work was as much an extension of her personality and tendencies are her ex's, but as he proved with TUSK, Buckingham wasn't about to be a one or two-trick pony, and he proved that here beyond any doubt. And on the vinyl version--right out of a LIVE AT THE APOLLO reissue--"Play in the Rain" ends stone cold on Side 1, continues stone cold on Side 2--which was also radical, when you think about. Lindsey's the kind of restless rocker I like (Johnny Winter was the same way), he just can't sit still and do what you might like, he's got to please himself first (as everyone should). I mean, why should be care about being commercial anyway? When you've had some really huge, lucrative hits, why not go a little crazy and indulge? Certainly worked well here....

ED

 

[Snood]

This is one of my faves..I think that , since it was SUCH a RADICAL departure from his first LP, it was not very "welcomed" by the Label..I used to play "Go Insane" when I was a DJ in an FM station...love the music on the runout groove of Side A...

Great Album - Slow Dancing - Bang the Drum - I want you and mooooooooooooore - nothing like Law and Order

Kind of prefer Out of the Cradle and Law a lil better but still great :banana:

 

[kap'n krunch]

Got another masterpiece..., although their previous one-The Bliss Album- was the "Big One", this one is often overlooked and , to me is more homogenic and melodic than its predecessor..
Dig the samples, "Hush" (DP's version) on "Downtown Venus"...Cal Tjader on "Puppet Show"...and the medley at the end is a CLASSIC!!!

P.M. DAWN- JESUS WEPT

 

[Snood]

Got another masterpiece..., although their previous one-The Bliss Album- was the "Big One", this one is often overlooked and , to me is more homogenic and melodic than its predecessor..
Dig the samples, "Hush" (DP's version) on "Downtown Venus"...Cal Tjader on "Puppet Show"...and the medley at the end is a CLASSIC!!!

P.M. DAWN- JESUS WEPT
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Downtown Venus was koo song - Snood was never a big fav tho

 

[Quad Linda]

Hai Hai - Roger Hodgson

His first solo record sold well. This was his second. IMHO, a great album that stiffed. Saw him last summer at Naperville (IL) Ribfest. Great show! The stage announcer wrapped it up with "let's hear it for Roger Hodgkins."

 

[kap'n krunch]

I have yet to listen to this CD, even though I was VERY familiar with his first solo LP...

 

[wheeler98]

In the early '90s I worked at fledgling fm rock station and 2 of our latenight audience's favorites were the bands Cry of Love and the Four Horsemen. Those 2 bands should've been contenders. Other popular latenighters included Loud, King's X and Corrosion of Conformity...

 

[EMB]

Neil Young is an interesting case...he's certainly had some huge hits, and also some that didn't sell so well, although what would constitute 'disappointing' for such a dedicated maverick is difficult to say. I suppose EVERYBODY'S ROCKIN' might fit the bill (and his record company at the time, Geffen, would have agreed), because as a modern rockabilly-styled sound, it didn't really click with the public (though the Bangles, during an MTV 'guest DJ' stint, did play the "Wonderin'" video, which for me validated their good sense and taste).

Until DSOTM, Pink Floyd were a popular although rather cultish act, during and after Syd. Certainly, though, MEDDLE's modest chart position in the US belied its quality, though it has sold consistently over the years. Earlier albums like Electric Moo and ATOM HEART MOTHER sold modestly, but understandably so, since neither could really be considered commercial; shame with the two soundtracks (MORE, OBSCURED BY CLOUDS) which sold even less.

The Firesign Theatre (their two Quad albums are now listed in the poll forum) was the only truly 'rock' comedy act, unless you count George Carlin in (which is probably appropriate, though I'm not sure he would have thought so). In fact, FT never did sell any more than modestly despite their being on a major (Columbia) and it was not for lack of promotion--or talent. Granted they were quirky, sometimes maybe too subtle in approach, but that doesn't explain why their catalog, in general, hasn't sold much, nor even much mentioned anymore. HOW CAN YOU BE IN TWO PLACES, with the neo-legendary Nick Danger, is certainly their finest, but their ouvre is consistently funny, and very consistently strange (they often seemed to be on a frequency that listeners had to find for themselves, as if they were really playing to and for themselves and the rest of us were listening in). And given some of the names in the R&R HOF, I'd include them too, even if only because they were nothing if not unique.

ED

 

[Quad Linda]

Wouldn't Cheech & Chong be a rock comedy act? They had touted themselves as "hard rock comedy."

..."making table candles..."

 

[kap'n krunch]

Wouldn't Cheech & Chong be a rock comedy act? They had touted themselves as "hard rock comedy."

..."making table candles..."

Cheech and Chong WERE really rockin'.... besides their LPs, they had "Earache my eye" which is a CLAAASSSSICC (terara terara terara teeeee...my mama talkin' to me tryin't to tell me how to liiiiive), and then have Steve Lukather do Chong's gtr solo on ""Next Movie"...the gtr with the rearview mirrors was another CLASSIC ("UIS" also had Waddy Watchel and a bunch of high end session folks in there too.... Ch&Ch are a CLASS ACT...love 'em--)

 

[EMB]

Cheech & Chong? Beyond "Earache My Eye"--which IS still pretty funny--can't say they did much for me, the humor was too sophomoric and witless for my tastes. George Carlin was more my speed (before he got really grouchy) and the Firesign was even better, since their albums play like radio shows (even when you're not sure what they're going on about).

Too bad a wild ride like NATIONAL LAMPOON'S RADIO DINNER (1972) didn't make the quad cut, since it had a lot of effects and voices that would have worked in the way FT in quad does. But this bunch--which included some future Saturday Night Live members (and a then unknown Melissa Manchester)--was snarkier, ridiculing Les Crane's recitation of "Desiderata" (here, "Deteriorata") and that was only the beginning. By the time this one's over, not only did Nixon & Agnew get excoriated but Bob Dylan, John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Joan Baez, and the Bangladesh concert got a going over that was as mean as it was funny. Crazy, iconoclastic stuff (I played this one on election night '72, knowing Nixon had a landslide in the making. A depressing--if extremely inebriated--evening of kids hanging around wondering why they'd bothered to vote. Fortunately, I was not quite yet 'legal' and so didn't feel that sense of loss. Wasn't happy, either).

ED

 

[DuncanS]

But Dave's not here.................

 

[GOS]

But Dave's not here.................

hahahahaha!

Absolutely.....C&C were amazing. Witless? Of course they were...that was the plan. Their witlessness matched a whole generation of stoners who could relate. I sure could. Do they strike me as funny now? Nope, not quite as much......I've moved on. But they are from an era that I hold dear......wouldn't trade it for the world. Carlin was too deep for me back in the day....I couldn't relate. Now I can...I think Carlin in genius, but requires a little thinking and political savvy. They both have a place for me. Great stuff....

 

[JonUrban]

Wouldn't Cheech & Chong be a rock comedy act? They had touted themselves as "hard rock comedy."

..."making table candles..."

I loved those ODE C&C LPs. Could recite many of the tracks. "They are killing the girl tonight old man", "Look what you did to my car man", "Dave's not here", and "Basketball Jones"!! George Harrison on guitar, sweet!

Would have made some great ODE QLPs

 

[Bob Romano]

I loved those ODE C&C LPs. Could recite many of the tracks. "They are killing the girl tonight old man", "Look what you did to my car man", "Dave's not here", and "Basketball Jones"!! George Harrison on guitar, sweet!

Would have made some great ODE QLPs

100% agree!!! I have them all on my iPod. I often thought those albums would be as cool as the Firesign quads.

 

[Quad Linda]

George Carlin has always been one of my favorites. His "dark period" was fueled by his wife's death. Within a few years, he was back to his less dark self.

I reacquired all the early Carlin stuff in the Little David Years CD box set about 10 years ago. One of my friends at Tower sold me a returned copy for $40 It features 6 albums, plus an unreleased bonus disc. "Nail together two things that have never been nailed together before, and some schmuck will buy it." - GC

Sadly, I never got to see George live. In his last couple months, he appeared at Genessee Theater in Waukegan, IL, and the Riviera in Vegas while I was there. Sadly, I missed both. A huge regret.

New Year's Eve 2013/14 found Joe and I digging Cheech & Chong and WAR at the Chicago Theatre. They were great! Shelby Chong was also on stage, making most of the men very happy.

I shot pool, ate pizza, and did some shots with WAR in between sets in the late '90's. Had a great conversation with Lonnie. Ronnie Hammon, their drummer, was taken aback that I was a fan of Ballin'Jack. Luther Rabb, also from Ballin'Jack, had been in an earlier aggregation of WAR. Ronnie also was surprised by my asking how Luther was doing. Check out Ballin'Jack's three studio albums. The first (eponymous) album is by far the best. It was released on CD a couple years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballin'_Jack

"How ya doin' Bob?" "Bitchin'!"

 

[DuncanS]

As an aside, I got thrown out of a video hire shop for asking if they had Cheech & Chongs "Up In Smoke" :yikes

 

[Clint Eastwood]

As an aside, I got thrown out of a video hire shop for asking if they had Cheech & Chongs "Up In Smoke" :yikes

LOL...I gotta know...what year was that?

 

[DuncanS]

LOL...I gotta know...what year was that?

It was actually sometime in the early 80s, when I still had hair halfway down my back (as opposed to vanished today :howl), the owner complained about it being "not the sort of film he'd stock" - if only he'd known what his daughter was up to :yikes :yikes