# Bands you grew up with that you loved but never made it big... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2018, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658 "2018-07-27T05:09:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658/41 "2018-07-31T23:33:23Z")
I’m a Long Island boy – [Good Rats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTOnuiezOaM) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658/42 "2018-08-01T00:23:41Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > We saw **Donna The Buffalo** last night. It was a great show. Before the show started, a friend described the band to someone who had never heard of them as a “jam band”. I corrected him, explaining that the band is actually considered a “jelly band”. > > So,we were all high af, and my friend admitted that he wasn’t aware of the “jelly band” genre and asked how it differed from a “jam band”. This led to a 20 minute discussion of the difference between jam, jelly, marmalade, preserves, compotes, etc. > > I just now got a text from my friend asking what the deal was with “jelly bands”.😃 Oh I’m totally gonna run with that; you’ll be hearing that come out of Las Vegas before the end of the year as a real (but nebulous) term. I’ll let the community define it for themselves, actually. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658/43 "2018-08-01T00:44:54Z")
[Shinehead](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinehead), late-80s dance hall reggae (Jamaica/NY). ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658/44 "2018-08-01T01:03:21Z")
In Chicago we had [The Bad Examples](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qth8xNZvVM). Great, great band. Apparently, lead man Ralph Covert’s other band, which does little kids’ songs, is more lucrative, so the BA’s have been on the back burner for years. They’re still playing local clubs though. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658/45 "2018-08-01T02:26:08Z")
Another DC boy here. Skip Castro Band and the Nighthawks! ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658/46 "2018-08-01T07:15:31Z")
> [@betterlifethroughchemistry](#): > > Inspired by a recent thread… > > As a child of the '70’s (born in 1962), and who loved music, I was astonished to learn that, when I went to college in 1980 in upstate NY, many, OK, MOST, of my friends (other than those few from Baltimore) had never heard of Crack The Sky… > > We loved them, they played a lot of local Baltimore/OC places and were featured frequently on local radio…originally from WV, they developed a strong regional following that never translated to national/international success…and I have no idea why… > > So, what band did you see/hear as a teenager, that you loved, rocked out to, but beyond your region, never caught on? CTS was given heavy rotation of their “Greenhouse(?)” song maybe 85-86ish here in the Philly-Allentown radio market and to me it sounded like a weak Pink Floyd ripoff; that said, we were not exposed to any of their other music on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658/47 "2018-08-01T07:22:27Z")
> [@LoneRhino](#): > > The '80s band Zebra were big in NYC, especially on Long Island. I’m not sure if they got much national exposure. I would go see them whenever they played in Brooklyn. Zebra has three fantastic songs: “Behind the Door” (awesome video), “Bears” (heavy airplay in my area and IIRC MTV rotation and a fun video) and “Tell Me What You Want” that somehow didn’t translate into mainstream success. Late last year a local new bar advertised a Zebra concert and I immediately bought tickets then about a month later it was cancelled. It seemed shady but knowing the age of the band members maybe it was something else? ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658/48 "2018-08-01T07:25:11Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > I’d have said that Faith No More were a pretty big deal; I have three of their albums, and I’m not even a huge fan. _The Real Thing_ seemed to playing at every party I was at in about 1990, and _Angel Dust_ was a terrific album, just awesomely [dark, heavy and nasty.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q-_iOqQ8Bs) Angel Dust was a fantastic album, I think part of the problem was FNM was SO mainstream that album title might have been a turnoff. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658/49 "2018-08-01T07:29:46Z")
> [@Anamorphic](#): > > Count me in as someone else who immediately thought of Crack The Sky upon reading the thread title. Yes, I grew up in Baltimore. I also liked Kix. They’re still touring! I saw them out here in Los Angeles, headlining the Whisky A Go Go, a year or so ago, so they obviously have had some reach outside Baltimore. The place was pretty crowded, although judging by the not one but two people I saw wearing Hammerjacks t-shirts, I clearly wasn’t the only transplant there. Kix’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes” might be one of the greatest combinations of awesome songwriting + bad singing ever. I can listen to it over and over again!😄 ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658/50 "2018-08-01T07:47:00Z")
Mid to late 80s Metalhead while maturing into adulthood checking in: PRETTY MAIDS-Danish metal band with a singer with a very unique voice and they put out two very well produced albums the first that tackled nuclear annihaltion, the second a little more light hearted, “Future World” and “Lethal Heroes” CELTIC FROST- they would never have made the big time. Maybe the heaviest metal band ever (check out their song “Morbid Tales”, but before you play it, put your bass all the way up, volume all the way up, and let me know if your speakers aren’t smoking!) They put out a comeback album around 2010 THE MENTORS- Three guys wearing executioners masks playing heavy mental songs about giving women anal sex, killing homosexuals, doing heroin, and about as every other depraved act you can imagine. You had to be in on the joke though sadly, lead singer/drummer El Duce may have taken it to seriously and paid the price. > **[Eldon Hoke](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldon_Hoke)** > > Eldon Wayne Hoke (March 23, 1958 – April 19, 1997), nicknamed El Duce, was an American musician best known as the drummer and lead singer of the shock rock band the Mentors, as well as other acts, including Chinas Comidas and the Screamers. > Apart from his musical career, Eldon was also an actor who appeared in several films as an extra, and discussed his hugely-controversial band and lifestyle on the notorious Jerry Springer and Wally George TV talk-shows. > Today El Duce is remembered as a cu... ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658/51 "2018-08-02T00:08:28Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Zebra has three fantastic songs: “Behind the Door” (awesome video), “Bears” (heavy airplay in my area and IIRC MTV rotation and a fun video) and “Tell Me What You Want” that somehow didn’t translate into mainstream success. I remember “Who’s Behind the Door?” and “Tell Me What You Want” getting quite a bit of airplay when the album came out in '83. San Francisco Bay Area. I liked the songs enough to buy the album, though. I suppose most people have no memory of Zebra. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-you-grew-up-with-that-you-loved-but-never-made-it-big/818658.md?page=2)