I forgot the blurb for Happy Rhodes.
The first thing that struck me about her was her awesome-beyond-belief voice. Her range goes from very very low to very very high. Think a duet between David Bowie and early Kate Bush, but even that doesn’t quite do it, because she goes lower than Bowie and higher than Bush.
The second thing that struck me (and I became a fan in 1988, when she only had 4 albums out) was her music. It’s familiar, yet not really like anything I’d ever heard before. She’s not easily labeled. She plays acoustic guitar, often, but she isn’t folk. She’s not rock, not pop, not country, not really anything that’s easily identifiable. She has traces of those things (except country) but nothing that you can get behind. Her fans label her music, and music of other hard-to-classify artists such as Kate Bush as “ecto music” because we all know what we’re talking about if someone says someone’s an ecto artist.
The third thing that struck me was her lyrics. She often writes very personal lyrics. Anyone who’s ever been depressed NEEDS to hear Happy Rhodes. She puts into words exactly what you’ve felt. She also writes stories. Stories about monsters (a young child conjures up a monster called Alice to wreak havoc on those who have caused the girl pain, in “He’s Alive”), and science fiction (her song “100 Years” is about a sentient computer, left behind when a space station is abandoned. The computer doesn’t have anything to do, is gradually breaking down, and can’t fix itself. It’s almost heartbreaking) and she has several songs inspired by movies (“Roy” is about the Rutger Hauer character in Blade Runner, “Down Down” is about a submarine, inspired by The Hunt For Red October). She writes about schitzophrenia (“One And Many”), horrific step-mothers (“Closer”), the death penalty (“Murder”), how the search for aliens is ridiculous, because why are we looking for life on other planets when we’re so fucked up here on earth? (“Save Our Souls”). She writes about people, like Omar Sharif (“Omar”), Charles Crumb (“Charlie”), and Freddie Mercury (“Nevermore”), and the musicians who’ve inspired her (“Feed the Fire”) and her fans have their own song, written just for them (“Collective Heart”). She writes about vampires and cats and a girl who collapsed and died right in front of her when she was a waitress (“The Issue Is”). Some songs are from the point of view of a sad and lonely child, visiting a magical town (“Just Like Tivoli”), playing with imaginary friends (“Moonbeam Friends”), watching the sun go down (“Ra Is A Busy God”). She writes songs about and to the child she was (“If I Ever See The Girl Again,” “She Won’t Go”), and then there’s the death and suicide songs. She was a very depressed child and teenager, but she’s all better now.
I love her voice, her music, her lyrics. I love how she treats her fans, making up special releases just for them (Left Hand Demos, Find Me Sampler), letting people tape her shows and share her music, as long as no one’s making a profit, and Happy Rhodes fans are fiercely loyal. I can’t imagine any one of them taking advantage of her. I love how she’s turned down record deals by labels who wanted her to change and be someone other than who she is. I love how she keeps her sense of humor (and she is VERY funny) in the face of obscurity, poverty, and potentially career-changing injuries.
I’m pushy about her because she deserves to be heard and known, but there’s no way that’s going to happen. I want people to discover her not to benefit her as much as to benefit the listener. There are so many huge Happy Rhodes fans out there, people who would be enriched by having her music in their lives, but they don’t know it yet. 
They have to find her first.
So that’s why I often pop into threads with a link or two. I could do it several times a day, but would probably get myself pitted by being too obnoxious. I hate obnoxious fans, and I fear anyone perceiving me as one.
Oh, I was going to put in more links but I have to go. So, there you are.
Why he insisted on using the stage name Nick is beyond me.