Great music acts that never made it commercially

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Ceist Beag

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This is kinda the reverse of the other thread - are there any acts you really really like but that never really made it into mainstream popularity? Looking to pick up tips here as much as anything! ;) To kick things off one of my own personal favs are The Cocteau Twins - I suppose ye could say they were relatively popular but at the same time radio airplay wasn't something they ever got much share of!
 
Can we include non Radio-Friendly acts ?

St.Germain
Massive Attack
Bentley Rythm Ace
 
Agree with Cocteau Twins and Massive Attack too. Always thought XTC deserved a lot more commercial success than they achieved.

Not exactly radio friendly, but Killing Joke were an awesome band (still are usually) that deserve more respect/success.

Although successful, and well respected, don't think most people appreciate Kate Bush enough (when she can be bothered to release anything that is :))
 
I don't know how on earth Massive Attack can be classed as "a music act that never made it commercially". They have been a household name for almost 20 years - ever since Blue Lines was a hit album back in 1991. Ditto Kate Bush - she would fill Croke Park if she ever wanted to play there.

My own suggestions:

The Go Betweens
A House
The Would Be's
Fatima Mansions/Cathal Coughlan
Tuesday Blue
The Bogmen
Aslan
The Wedding Present
 
The Frank and Walters never really made it as big as they should. They're still on the go and at a decent Irish level but never kicked on from After All, Fashion Crisis Hits New York, This is not a Song (3 singles on first album).

Great album, Trains, Boats & Planes but v hard to find now.
 
ubiquitous said:
I don't know how on earth Massive Attack can be classed as "a music act that never made it commercially"
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Yes, you're right - guess I was fixated more on the notion of underrated/underappreciated. Same with Kate.

Certainly agree with The Wedding Present BTW.
 
Montrose
April Wine


2 fine 70's bands I thought would make it big, but didn't really.

In fact, I'm curious as to whether anyone else here has heard of them?
 
The Pixies were one of the greatest bands ever, enjoying only fleeting commercial success. Were capable of being pop/noisy/arty all at once - they should have been huge.
 
Golden Horde
Devlin Law (someone told me once that this was the band of The Devlin bros before they became famous....have never quite been able to confirm this...)
 
Caveat said:
The Pixies were one of the greatest bands ever, enjoying only fleeting commercial success. Were capable of being pop/noisy/arty all at once - they should have been huge.
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Absolutely, fantastic band. I thought they did quite well commercially tho? Another that springs to mind who had one gem of an album but never heard from her since was Stina Nordenstam - anyone hear of her or what happened to her since?
 
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