Lesser Lights

Subject: Lesser Lights
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Mar 05 - 12:32 PM

There's something enjoyable about discovering that someone else has heard and likes some of the lesser known musicians who've brightened your life over the years. A while back, I put together a CD of rock that was constantly playing in my home when my sons were teenagers (as much what I was playing as they were.) The familiar musicians were strongly represented, like Dire Straits, Huey Lewis & The News, Men At Work, R.E.M. and Tom Petty. But, to really recapture the music of those days, I couldn't leave out some more obscure musicians who were a part of our daily lives. There are borderline, "lesser known" musicians like The Pointer Sisters and Musical Youth, and perhaps Robyn Hitchcock. And then there are the ones that never had a follow-up hit, or primarily recorded albums, with no hits at all.

The "Lesser Lights" I still enjoy are people like Bob Mould,Dexy's Midnight Runners, Till Tuesday, Eddy Grant, The Hooters, Los Lobos and Thomas Dolby.
I'm curious... are any of these musicians favorites of yours? Some only cut one or two records I heard, but they are permanently burned into my mind... like Electric Avenue, or She Blinded Me With Science.

Of course, there are also "Lesser Lights" in folk music (like Allan Block) Jazz (Goerge Van Epps) and pretty much any form of music. Some music, like folk music, has more Lesser Lights (as far as the general public is concerned) than others.

Right now, I'm making a Volume II of the rock songs that defined our home when my sons were teenagers, so this is on my mind.

Any lesser known musicians who still sound fresh and new to you?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: rumanci
Date: 31 Mar 05 - 12:35 PM

Jonathan Kelly - certainly lesser known at the time when he supported the Strawbs years back .............wow !!!

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 31 Mar 05 - 12:38 PM

Jazz Butcher!

:-)

They were 15 years ahead of thier time...

Men At Work... they were 20!

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Mar 05 - 12:44 PM

Tell me more about Jazz Butcher, Clinton... never heard of them.. (I do remember the Strawbs, rumanci, but never heard a lot by them..

Jerry

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: rumanci
Date: 31 Mar 05 - 01:04 PM

Jerry - my suggestion was more wrapped up in the impact a lesser known artist had on at least one occasion *g*
The Strawbs were the big act at the time - they'd put Kelly on as support. I swear not one person in the audience had ever heard of him and the guy ambled onto the stage nervously clutching a guitar and you could almost feel the sighs of "oh well the guys will be on soon" from the crowd.   Mr Kelly, songwriter extraordinary, sang and sang and had all of us eating out of his hand. Dave Cousins (Strawbs) came out at what should have been the end of the "filler", asked him to carry on and the rest of the Strawbs just sat down at the side of the stage and listened to him. Just a wonderful unforgettable night, and it still makes me smile now.
rum

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 Mar 05 - 01:05 PM

I loved Bonnie Raitt when she was nobody. She gave as good a show back then as she did later when she hit it big. AND I knew who Sippie Wallace was, long before anyone else around me!

~S~

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: John Hardly
Date: 31 Mar 05 - 01:06 PM

Hard to define "lesser lights" when a good 3/4 of my recordings collection is non-pop music. (f'rinstance the strawbs, given the MASS amount of ink and huge fan base they have, are hardly "lesser" lights by any standard in my book).

I'm a liner notes junkie so I guess I notice the guys who rarely, if ever, headline, but have virtually defined recordings since forever -- guys like Steve Cropper, Dean Parks, Leland Sklar, or songwriters like Hugh Prestwood, Darrell Scott, Paul Brady. Guys like that.

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Mar 05 - 01:13 PM

That's true, John: Lesser lights in pop music are usually far better known than better known (in the folk community) folk musicians. Now, when you get to musicians who've made someone else's recording sound a lot better, the list is near-endless.

In country music, The Amazing Rhythm Aces were great (I thought)and I don't know how many people know Jo-El Sonnier (who came out of more traditional cajun music.) Don Lange is one of my favorite folk singer/songwriters, along with Jerry Rau. Don't know how many people ever heard of them..

Jerry

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: rumanci
Date: 31 Mar 05 - 01:25 PM

btw ......Jerry and John Hardly - it wasn't the Strawbs themselves I was suggesting as lesser lights
sigh .........that big pond has a lot to answer for in understanding Saxon English eh ?   *bg*
so I clarified it ......above !!!
rum x

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: John Hardly
Date: 31 Mar 05 - 01:31 PM

Sorry rum,

I've been practicing to master the art of oversight. It's a valuable skill and it would seem I'm getting better at it.

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: PoppaGator
Date: 31 Mar 05 - 04:47 PM

The big question here is, "lesser-known to whom?"

Of the various acts mentioned in Jerry's first post, I would never have thought of the Pointer Sisters or Los Lobos as the least bit obscure ~ but then again, perhaps that's just me.

Any artist who has released multiple recordings, or who has been making a living on tour for more than a year or so, is in some sense "major," even if performing in one of the less widely popular genres (folk, blues, jazz, Celtic, etc., as opposed to top-forty pop). For most of us cognoscenti here at Mudcat, I'm sure that most of the artists we value would be considered "lesser lights" among the masses.

Of course, there is a meaningful distinction between career musicians and "one-hit wonders." I suppose that even within the context of a specialized and relatively obscure field like, say, traditional folk, there are examples of acts who made one brief brilliant appearance and then were never heard from again. Any nominations?

Speaking for myself, manye of my very favorite musicians and groups are virtually unknown outside of New Orleans (and the world is worse off for not knowing them, as far as I'm concerned.) Also, I encounter quite a few names here at Mudcat of artists who many of you seem to love and know very well, which mean nothing at all to me. (Not yet, anyway.)

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 31 Mar 05 - 05:19 PM

Hey, Poppa:

I think of the Pointer Sisters as kinda borderline because while they were real popular, it was real brief.. But, they were at least a three hit wonder. Los Lobos, to the general public, was La Bamba, although they have had a long, wonderful career and they are one of my very favorite bands. Los Lobos would fit the New Orleans atmosphere well, reflecting a distinct culture in this country.

Right now, I'm listening to There She Goes by the La's... a one-album group known for one song..

Now, Bob Mould was in Husker Du and Sugar, as well as recording on his own. My favorite work of his is a solo album called Workshop where the guitar work is phenomenal.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: mooman
Date: 01 Apr 05 - 03:59 AM

Jerry,

Pointer Sisters! Indeed!

We still do an arrangement of BS's "Fire" based on their arrangement of the same!

Most of my CD and record collections consist of "lesser lights". I'm at work now but will do a trawl through it this evening and post up a few of my old favourites. People like Joe Egan, Brendan Croker and Gallaher and Lyle immediately spring to mind though.

Peace

moo

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 Apr 05 - 06:19 AM

Awrigt awready. I take it back. I love the Pointer Sisters and they are prominent in the two CDs I'm putting together of heavy-rotation music from the 80's that we played at home. They did have a fairly brief career, as the sisters broke up and tried solo careers. I never heard that they got back together. Maybe when they're in their 60's or 70's for an oldies tour?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Lesser Lights
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 08 Jun 20 - 05:57 PM

The Pointer Sisters:
I remember when they broke through in the early 1970's.
They were on a variety show (Flip Wilson maybe?)
singing
"Cloudburst" by Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross,
and their part-singing, at breakneck speed, was sensational.
From the same debut album came their recording of
Allen Toussaint's "Yes We Can Can."

They were a quartet then: in order of age,
Ruth, Anita, Bonnie, and June.
Their parents were Arkansas natives who ended up
leading a church (father, the pastor) in Oakland, California.

When they recorded in the 1980's, were they not a trio?
They had, as the above posts indicate,
several hit singles then.

I post here because
Bonnie Pointer's death has just been announced today.
Her younger sister June died over ten years ago.

It is the older of the four sisters,
Ruth and Anita, who still survive.