I adored Tommy Bolin but upon mentioning him some people would say “Oh yeah, from T Rex.”
Noooo…
I have never quite understood how I much managed not to know about Robert Wyatt for almost thirty years! This is one time when the self-proclaimed pundits at Amazon really do have it right. Take a look at what is written there about his 1974 masterpiece, Rock Bottom.
You’re right in the fact that you’ll probably never hear “Prove It” on the radio (Although in these days of XM and others you never know what you’ll hear anymore). However, say you liked the Talking Heads and you were talking about them to someone who knows way too much about music. They’d probably end up mentioning Richard Hell and The Voidoids and Television to you as similar but “better” because of the unknown status.
There used to be a bar around here somewhere that had Television’s Marquee Moon in the jukebox, so nothing’s impossible.
The fact that you’re in Los Angeles may color your perceptions on that one. I’ve met more people who have heard of the Pogues than Flogging Molly. (And, of course, I’ve met many more people who have never heard of either.)
Heard songs by Caroline’s Spine and 3 lb. Thrill, and actually own Welcome Home the Astronauts. It’s a decent light pop-punk album, but I was far less of a fan when I saw them in concert and they put out a horrible performance. They were smashed off their ass, and not only did they not perform well, they didn’t perform the songs halfway like they are on the album. (This was just after they won the VH-1 thing – maybe they’ve improved?)
I think you’d like them. “Marquee Moon” is a masterpiece, moreso the song than the album in its entirety.
I quit being “surprised” by what people haven’t heard a long, long time ago. If it’s not on the radio (or doesn’t have a cool video), it doesn’t matter to them. I think most people, no matter how big a music fan they think they are, don’t really know or care that much about music. They may be very passionate (and even very knowledgeable) about what they are familiar with, but they aren’t really interested in hearing anything much different from what they “like”.
Whatever. “Your loss.”
So I’m not really “surprised”, but I do wish more people were aware of (and I’m sure some of you are):
Gov’t Mule, String Cheese Incident, moe., Sea Level, Ozric Tentacles, Screaming Cheetah Wheelies, The Why Store (and any band with Jimmy Herring) none of whom are all that obscure to some people.
and my more recent obsessions:
The Flower Kings including various side/solo projects by Roine Stolt, Spock’s Beard with and without Neal Morse, Transatlantic a new “supergroup” with Stolt, Morse, Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) and Pete Trawavas (Marillion), The Tangent, Riverside and Porcupine Tree. These are all “third wave progressive rock” bands. Kind of carrying the torch for King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Rennaisance, Yes, ELP, etc. I’m sure they’ll be getting lots of airplay. 
(And, yeah, some of them do sing about Jesus, occasionally, especially Morse, but it’s not too “in your face” to ignore if you want. More like Kansas than 4Him.)
I always gravitated to groups that were never massively popular, and which are forgotten today. However, I’m rarely surprised that people haven’t heard of them.
A few more:
Spirit. Some people may have heard “I Got a Line on You,” but that’s barely scratching the surface of this superb group.
Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross. Jazz vocalists, and few groups ever sung better. They would take jazz instrumental, add lyrics, and sound like the instruments themselves. Astounding stuff.
Loudon Wainwright III. One of the top singer-songwriters around, with a terrific live show. Some know him as an actor and as Rufus and Martha’s father, but he’s a considerably better songwriter.
Soft Machine. One of the icons of progressive jazz-rock, but never hit it big in the US and went through personnel like water; the only member who might mean something to listeners is Elton Dean, whose first name was borrowed by Reg Dwight. Known for long improvisational music, the Village Voice called their album “Third” the best rock album ever when it came out (not so, but still pretty damn good).
The Band. I could be wrong, but it seems like they’re pretty obscure today. Considering that, in their prime, they were considered one of the top half dozen American groups, that’s a pretty big comedown. The issue is that they had no US hits: their best charting song was Joan Baez’s mangled version of “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”; “The Weight” gets airplay, but most of the rest of their music is obscure.
I’d say the same thing of Traffic. “Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” is the only song that gets airplay (oddly, since it’s over 12 minutes long), but they have many other great ones.
Two bands who are legends in the UK but mostly unknown in the US- The Jam and The Stranglers. Thankfully Billy Eliott and Guy Richie have helped increase their recongnition in the US a little.
Not to hijack or anything, but that was a show that deserved a second season and I’m very annoyed that they never released the first season on dvd. I loved that show!
I was glad to see mention of String Cheese Incident.
The Push Stars - I always hear that people assume they are OAR when they hear them in my car…maybe the difference is only audible to me…
Carbonleaf - As much as these guys tour and as often as I hear them on columbus radio stations, I’m just suprised…
of course, I’ve always been guilty of not knowing bands as well…
Oh yeah - brilliant stuff - really worth ton more attention.
No one knows them cause [here comes the twist]
they don’t exist. 
Wow, I love them! I’m a sucker for any twangy minor-key instrumentals, be they surf, spaghetti Western, or spy movie soundtrack stuff. A friend and I set out on a quest in 2004 to track down a Spies Who Surf CD called Calling All Martians, but it was long since out of print, the band was long since broken up, and even I, “The Man Who Knows How To Find Things,” was coming up empty except for one used copy selling for $30 on Amazon. Sadly, I am also cheap. I tracked one of the former members to a music store somewhere where he was giving guitar lessons, and left a message, saying I was a big Spies Who Surf fan and I would love to talk to him and buy any CDs or merchandise they had left. Of course, he never returned my call. My friend finally paid the $30 for the used CD and burned me a copy of it.
Aside from Levon Helm, they were Canadian.
Yeah, but Levon was the heart and soul of the Band (razzafrazzin’ Robbie Robertson. Pfah!)
[QUOTE=madhatter56]
Carbonleaf - As much as these guys tour and as often as I hear them on columbus radio stations, I’m just suprised…/QUOTE]
I dunno…I’ve heard them a lot on our local prog-rock station and haven’t been entirely impressed. They sound like a more mature Eve 6 to me. Still, it’s better than the latest Nickelback/Staind ripoff.
Many of the bands mentioned here were very good (many others bit the big one, but that’s to be expected), but…
I’m surprised anybody is surprised they’re not well known!
Look, you may be disappointed that 99% of Americans have never heard of Tom Verlaine or Paul Westerberg (I happen to think both were highly overrated… and don’t get me started on Television! God, can you imagine how critics would’ve crucified Keith Emerson if he’d been “pompous and pretentious” enough to adopt the name of a French poet???). You may think it’s an injustice that Britney Spears sells trillions of records while Tom Waits is all but unknown. You may think it’s utterly unfair that your favorite acts play in dingy clubs in front of tiny crowds while Celine Dion is set for life… but come on, are you really SURPRISED???
Most of the bands mentioned on this board were NEVER very popular, NEVER had many fans, NEVER made much money. Even when Television were at their peak, most New Yorkers had no idea who they were.
Why would you expect them to be better known thirty years later?
Mostly because influence outranks record sales for a lot of the early punk bands. There are a lot of really popular bands right now, such as the Killers, Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes, etc that owe a lot to the sounds that bands like Television or Suicide came out with. I got into funk music because I listened to a lot of rap, and took the time to read about influences and read the tiny little liner notes and try to figure out where this sound had come from. If you’re sitting down and rocking out to Interpol or The Academy Is, you should have an idea of the bands that came before them and where they get their influences.
I’ve never heard that on the radio! What station plays it? The Traffic song that likely gets the most airplay far and away is “Dear Mr. Fantasy.”