The idea: if you were to compile/write about an “alternative” history to rock, which artists would you showcase? The criteria: It should be limited to artists who were not big in their own time - club acts, basically - though they may be seen as hugely important/influential/etc. in retrospect. No top 40 hits or stadium acts (so The Clash would fail on both counts, as would Frank Zappa on the former) - while lots of prog acts may not have received a lot of radio play, groups like Rush have been selling out tens-of-thousand seat venues for decades, so they aren’t eligibile. There are some acts I’ve left off, as they may have risen to stadium level (Ramones, Pixies) or charted on U.S. radio (XTC), though I’m not certain. Here’s my list so far - please add those you think belong (or argue about those I’ve chosen):
The Velvet Underground
The Fugs
The Stooges
The New York Dolls
Television
Wire
Black Flag
The Feelies
The Replacements
Husker Du
Minutemen
Robyn Hitchcock
Neutral Milk Hotel
Are we talking solely about the U.S. charts? I can think of groups like the Bonzo Dog Band who had great influence on other groups, but had a hit in the U.K. though never in the States. Kraftwerk had a minor U.S. hit with “Autobahn” and more chart success in Britain but created a whole genre. So did Hawkwind, who had some chart hits in the U.K. but far fewer than XTC, which also never charted in the U.S. On the flip side, Television had three minor hits in the U.K.
Hawkwind is a great choice. Yeah, no point in being too stringent with the criteria - Kraftwerk and XTC and the Bonzos surely deserve a place on the list (as do, IMO, the Ramones). Let’s just say no superstars/radio staples/classic rock mainstays.
Would Big Star qualify? I’m not really up on what their US chart or touring success was like, or what level of touring they got to, but I get the impression that their legacy and influence have far outshone the recognition they received in their day.
One that comes to mind from Australia, and that had a strong influence both on Aussie music and on quite a few later artists overseas, is Radio Birdman. These guys weren’t even a club act; Sydney clubs and bars refused to book them, so they got their own place.
How about the Triffids, from Australia, who never quite broke through into mass recognition but had a lot of success in the the UK ‘indie’ charts in the mid-80s with the lp Born Sandy Devotional.
Or maybe X, although they were pretty big in the US West Coast punk scene
And, of course, Van der Graaf Generator, prog rock’s weirdos whose reputation continues to grow
And oh, yeah, don’t forget Yello with their swathes of electronic noise from Boris Blank and Deiter Meier’s vocals.
If you read existing “alternative histories of rock” many of the bands mentioned so far are listed.
**Please Kill Me: An Uncensored Oral History of Punk **starts pre-punk with the Velvets and Doors and moves through the MC5, Stooges and then the NY Scene.
**From the Velvets to the Voidoids **covers the Cleveland and Detroit punk scenes and lots of other diy type bands.
**Our Band Could Be Your Life **covers one band per chapter from Black Flag to Minor Threat, Mission of Burma, Beat Happening, The Minutemen - really great stuff.
A bunch of other good books on alt/indie bands out there. For post-punk UK, try Rip it Up and Start Again, which moves from UK punk to bands like Gang of Four, Scritti Politti, PiL, etc…although I didn’t find that book to be all that well-written.
I don’t quite know what the right exact bands are, but I think you’re missing representatives from the proto-ska-punk scene. The Specials and Madness probably both had chart hits, but I’m sure there’s an influential non-charting band from that scene or later in the US. (In the Northeast, I might nominate** Bim Skala Bim** who helped build the late 80’s and 90’s ska scene in the Boston area, but I don’t think they really had worldwide influence).
For that matter, did Toots and the Maytals ever chart high enough or play big enough venues to be disqualified? They pretty much invented ska to begin with.
And, moving on, I might suggest Phil Ochs, if folk counts.
Oh, and Robert Johnson is pretty darn influential, and never played stadiums or had a top-25 hit. Not that he had the chance, but kind of fits the spirit of the OP, I think. In that vein, I don’t know if John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers fit the OP. Not that the band really did anything noteworthy itself, but it launched quite a few careers, so in that sense it was important.
(I guess continuing in that direction we’d get to the Quarrymen and various other early incarnations of bands that later got Top 25 hits, but let’s not go there)
Well, I would think the Residents should make the list. Also the Blues Project (unless “Flute Thing” was a hit, but I don’t think it was).
In the area of prog rock, some contenders are Soft Machine, Caravan, and Gong. Also King Crimson unless you consider them too big.
From the West Coast scene – maybe the Charlatans, Sons of Champlin, and Love.
From Britain – Blues Incorporated, the Graham Bond Organisation, and maybe the Pretty Things, the Move, and Creation (those last three weren’t big in the States, but maybe were too big in the UK to qualify).
Bibilography:
Unterberger, R. Unknown Legends of Rock & Roll.
Unterberger, R. Urban Spacemen and Wayfaring Strangers.
Delany and Bonnie and Friends. Without them, no Layla. (Technically, they did play big venues, but as an opening act.)
Spirit. I’d say they were at least as influential as Big Star, and The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus is one of the top 20 rock albums of all time.
Soft Machine. Integrated rock with jazz and were the leaders of the Canterbury scene of progressive rock.
Taj Mahal. Pretty much the founder of the roots blues movement. Robert Johnson was a great pioneer, as were other acoustic blues performers, but his style was passe until Taj took it up and worked to popularize it and he influenced people like Keb’ Mo’ strongly.
There’s also the Chess Records crew. Technically,** Howlin’ Wolf **never had a mainstream single hit (“Smokestack Lightning” reached #2 on the R&B charts, but that’s not the same thing). His vocal style is ubiquitous. Muddy Waters is in the same position: R&B hits, but nothing mainstream. You cannot overstate his influence on rock. Willie Dixon was in a similar position for most of his career, yet his songs are covered by everyone. Little Walter influenced every harmonica player after him and though he was a big R&B star, he was unknown to the mainstream.
Nitpick, but wouldn’t it be the “History of Alternative Rock” rather than the “Alternative History of Rock” (which could, conceivably, be a book about ‘what if rock had gone in another direction’)?
Roxy Music is like Madness and Status Quo. One-hit wonders in the U.S. but giant hit machines in the U.K. Roxy had ten top 10 hits; Madness 15; Status Quo 22!
Based on this (and I’m shocked no one listed them yet) I have to give the nod to the Sex Pistols.
They were not big in their own time, most likely because it was so brief, but hugely influential in the American punk scene that developed after their demise.
Sure, they’re popular now, because of their history and the whole Sid/Nancy thing, but during their one and only American tour, they played dive bars and strip joints, and no one understood what they were witnessing at the time.
