Why aren't The Flamin' Groovies more well-loved?

Big Star, The Raspberries, etc...get all kinds of love from critics and music lovers but The Flamin' Groovies always seem to be left out of the conversation. Why is that? They are a great power pop / 60s pop rock style band. Why is this?

 

I've tried but I just don't get it. I like a song here or there. I like almost everything Big Star and Raspberries did.

 

Their music was always out of step with whatever was in fashion during their existence and thus weren't taken seriously. Personally they're one of my favorite bands and don't really care what critics or other music lovers say.

 

Why is that? Did you not like the material? Or was it the (granted) horrible production that most of their albums suffered? It just seems that if you'd like Big Star then you'd enjoy The FGs.

 

Flamin' Groovies? Flamin' love 'em!

 

I love them

Why isn't that enough for you

 

I love Big Star. I saw the Groovies at The Fillmore East. They stunk up the place. They were terrible.

 

I love them too. I'm just curious why they're not more highly thought of. Just my curiosity getting the best of me.

 

i am a fan.my favorite of their's is "shake some action" and it is probably one of my top 25 albums of all time.
why are they more revered? maybe because they never had what could be considered a "sound" they kind of genre hopped a bit.and had some personnel changes along the way as well.

 

i like them a lot, but i almost enjoy them more in concept than in reality. their hearts are in the right place, but they really don't have the songwriting chops or the ensemble playing skills to compete on a big star or raspberries level. good as "shake some action" is, i'd trade it for even the first three seconds of "go all the way."

 

OK so this is where we divvy up into "Loney" and "Post-Loney"

 

Yeah, they did suffer from not always having the best self-written material. I agree with you there.

 

Why? Because they were always out of step with their times and, “Slow Death” aside, not especially good.

 

As much as I love "Teenage Head" I like the post-Loney band better.

 

As much as I love Big Star, there is a kind of detached coldness to them (which actually put me off when I first listened to them). They were the REM of the '70s.

The Groovies are more in the spirit of a true '60s garage band, with no Velvets influence, and the ironies kept at a minimum.

OK, maybe the playing on "GATW" is better, maybe just maybe the record of "GATW" is better than "SSA". But it isn't that much better.

 

I get bored listening to an entire album so probably the material. Bad production doesn't bother me. The Raspberries albums aren't sonic marvels. I don't think they sound like Big Star at all.

 

Ok fair enough.

 

The little that I've heard reminds me of bands like Shoes and Teenage Fanclub... The style is right on but not enough hooks!

Edit : just went to listen to "Shake Some Action" Great tune! Might need to try them again.

 

I'll take Flamingo and Teenage Head over anything Big Star recorded. I'm not as high on the post-Loney stuff, though. I think Shake Some Action is good, but I don't like it as much as the earlier albums.

Why weren't they better known? I guess because they had their early period and didn't really catch on, and then they went on hiatus. When they came back from that hiatus, they were a different band (also playing things out of step with the times).

 

Shake Some Action is one of the very best power pop songs ever. In some alternate dimension this song was a #1 hit and is considered to be one of the "classics" of rock and roll.

 

Some classic rock bands have built careers off songs that weren't 1/3 as good as Shake Some Action.

 

"Teenage Head" ought to be a stone cold 1970s teenage party anthem classic along the likes of "School's Out", "Surrender", and "Rock & Roll All Night". "Shake Some Action" of course as well. Some things for different reasons fall between the cracks I guess. Never once did I ever hear either one of those wonderful Groovies' songs on radio.

I love 'em. Their latest album is great.

 

Yeah, i guess they had their chance and missed it. But im surprised they haven't been re-appraised like Big Star, etc...

 

If The Groovies had ceased to exist after Roy Loney's departure, they'd deserve legendary status in my book on the strength of Flamingo and Teenage Head alone. Better yet, they persevered and gave us "Slow Death," Shake Some Action (one of my all time favorite LPs) and a slew of other gems. The highway of rock & roll is littered with greats who never gained the audience or notoriety they deserved, for some reason or another...

 

True. BTW, I love your avatar. I really like The Exploding Hearts a lot. I've turned a lot of my friends on to them.