The other day as I was getting dressed I mentioned to my wife that I had somehow managed to accumulate a pocketful of change. Then I said something like “Maybe I just got paid” (referencing the old ZZ Top song) but she didn’t know what I was talking about, claiming she didn’t know any ZZ Top songs. So rattled off a bunch of ZZ Top songs and she was familiar with most of them, but other than songs like “Legs” or “Sharp Dressed Man”, didn’t realize that they were ZZ Top. It turned out she knew a lot more ZZ Top than she thought she did.
I remember a similar experience back in my teen years when I was first making the transition from Top 40 radio to “hard rock” radio. I knew that the Rolling Stones were a famous rock band but couldn’t have named many of their actual songs, so every time I found out that a song I knew and liked was by the Stones it was like a little light bulb going off. I knew more Stones than I thought I knew!
Anybody else have a similar experience? What bands do you know better than you thought you did?
Steve Miller Band. I knew about the Joker and the pompatus of love ‘n’ all that, but listening to a classic-rock radio station while driving to work these past few months, I’ve begun to realize that a good many other songs I grew up hearing the '70s are also Steve Miller.
I heard Billy Idol’s cover of Mony and Joan Jett’s cover of C&C and started thinking “hmm, what the hell is a Shondell?” and got a greatest hits CD. I had heard all of the songs!! Who knew?
Believe it or not,** Queen**. I knew *Bohemian Rhapsody *(who doesn’t!) was by Queen, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I started exploring all their music. I discovered several of my long-time favorites were Queen songs, like *Radio Gaga, Another One Bites the Dust, Under Pressure *and You’re My Best Friend.
Don’t ask me why I never made the connection before. :smack: I’m now a complete Queen fanatic and know just about everything there is to know about them.
Back when I was in college a friend invited me to a Tom Petty concert, mostly because she didn’t want to make the 90 minute drive by herself. I told her I wasn’t really interested, not knowing any of his songs. She eventually convinced me to go and we were on the road about 45 minutes later. I was surprised to find out that for his entire concert I knew almost every single song by heart.
To this day, when I mention Tom Petty, most people say “I don’t really know anything by him” they’re usually surprised when I say (or play on youtube), 'sure you do, you know: Running Down A Dream and American Girl and Refugee and The Waiting and I Won’t Back Down and Free Fallin and Learning To Fly and Last Dance With MaryJane and Into The Great Wide Open"
It’s nice when they say “Oh, I guess I do know a bunch of songs by him” it’s less nice when they say “eww, I only know him from Silence Of The Lambs” which happens surprisingly often (American Girl gets played right at the beginning).
For me it was the band Spirit. One day Mr. Skin came on the radio, and I had to go home and look it up. Ordered a Spirit compilation, and knew every single song. “I never knew that was Spirit”
I had this experience just the other day. I was cleaning my home and had spotify on, but had become tired of all my regular playlists. For some reason I decided to check out some Fleetwood Mac which is a band I liked when they came on the radio but never got “into”. I listened to about four different LPs and was surprised by how much of their music I already knew or had heard before. Even some of the pre-Buckingham/Nicks era: “Albatross” and “Hypnotized.” I was also surprised at just how prominent Christine McVie’s music is on all the records. I always thought of her as the “George Harrison” of the band, a decent second-stringer who maybe got a single spotlight song on each album. But she seems to contribute the lions share to most albums.
“Tusk” however (the whole album) was as bad as its reputation alas.
