Why Are Some Artists (and Some Songs) "Criminally Ignored"?

People have different tastes. I can come up with a list of 100 artists/albums/songs/whatever that I think are “criminally ignored”. You could easily look at my list, play the material and come to the conclusion that not only are they not “criminally ignored” but in fact are justifiably ignored. And I can do the same with your list. To put it more simply, there’s no such thing as being criminally ignored.

 

I think some (Jethro Tull -- one of my favorite bands ever -- comes quickly to mind) just seem to be "only of their time."

In the early-mid 70's, no one was a bigger concert draw than Tull (+ massive sales), but to kids today:

 

I haven't heard of either of those two bands, although A Crowded Field sound familiar. What would you recommend?

 

Mink Deville's catalog. It was basically Willy Deville and a bunch of other various sideman. But their run of albums are exceptional. Very much nostalgic and quoting a rock from times past. But Deville was an incredible singer and a good songwriter. He deserves to be remembered in his own country much more fondly. And his back catalog deserves much better... quite frankly. There have been some decent releases. But not enough stewardship in maintaining and promoting it. Deville needed more influential people in his corner for that. And he already has quite a few famous fans. Despite some very bad career choices on Willy's part. His work is a great experience for anybody who discovers it.

 

My general answer would be: because the music's appeal isn't instantly obvious or broad enough to get money behind it and get exposure.

 

There is lots of music I don't like that others may and it doesn't make either right or wrong. Sometimes this can be due to timing in my life because I'll listen to stuff today that I wouldn't 30 years ago. Music has to move people at a given time, sometimes the timing is off when it's new. Then the fact we only have so much time for the intake and learning of music, there is tons of stuff I missed when it was new.

If we look at the amount of artistry that was coming out 30,40, 50+ years ago one can imagine how some would just not be as popular, or known about as much.

 

I guess its our responsibility.. We can't rely on corporations to care about art... Keep posting videos, especially the great stuff that does NOT get attention.

 

The right song at the wrong time.

A great song by a band that is currently out of favor for whatever reason.

 

I have always thought this song by the Charlatans is brilliant,but nothing much has ever been made of it by people as far as I'm aware!.
Shame.

 

As a big music fan with widespread tastes in the 70s, I don't recall ever seeing Nick Drake or Big Star mentioned anywhere--I was rather surprised to discover such a focus on them in recent years, because I initially went "Who??" when I kept seeing them mentioned 10-15 years or so ago from the millennial/"hipster"/Pitchfork/ etc. crowd. (Initially with Big Star, I figured that people must have been referring to Starz, but it seemed weird that everyone was calling them by a nickname that was longer than their actual name and that I never heard before, lol. Starz, who are now a "criminally ignored" 70s band, in my opinion, did have a "big star" on their album covers--that was part of their logo.)

I don't recall ever hearing Nick Drake or Big Star on the radio in the 70s, either. That's not to say neither was ever mentioned in magazines etc. or played on the radio, but it couldn't have been very often . . . as opposed to an artist like, say, the Pousette-Dart Band, where very few people remember them now, but they had a huge advertising push at the time, so that many people who regularly read music magazines during the 70s would have some memory of them just from their ubiquitous album ads.



So, I think a lot of the problem with artists like Nick Drake and Big Star was that they must have not had very robust promotion--there wasn't enough money/effort put into getting them into magazines, getting them airplay, getting them on TV, running album ads, etc. Even the Pousette-Dart Band had promotional problems aside from the big ad campaign, which is why very few people remember them now. (And they're also not hip for the millennial/hipster/Pitchfork/etc. crowd, since they did a commercial blend of country/yacht/soft rock . . . and another problem is that their branding didn't seem to match their music very well. They should have been marketed more in the vein of the Eagles, Poco, etc.)

 

Medicine for the soul. In all fairness, those tracks were laid on an unstable bed of subjectivity to begin with...

 

You would have been wrong on country music too.

 

For every complex question there is always a simple, easy to understand wrong answer.

 

I'm guessing some posts in this thread were deleted, but oddly some relating to them were left intact? What in the world is going on with the few posts mentioning racism, etc.?

 

My guess is that the gorts are having to work overtime to clean up not only this thread but also many others nowadays.

 

I would cite two artists...one male,one female...Terry Reid,perhaps one of THE rock vocalists....and Phoebe Snow...immaculate production and tasteful players on her albums...

 

It shows my growing maturity and wisdom after more than six decades on this planet and nearly a decade on this forum that I am not going to post in a towering fit of pique in yet another crypto-"underrated" thread.

 

This is what I've always said. A band like Opeth has some beautiful songs, but people think of them as a 'cookie monster death metal band' so they avoid them. Zappa gets ignored as 'that weird guy who wrote the Yellow Snow song' and people miss out on something like "Watermelon in Easter Hay." This is just covering the bands that sing in English. Most people won't even consider listening to something in another language.

Cheers to the people who dig deeper and discover new and interesting music from around the World.

 

"Criminally ignored" is pure hyperbole.

 

Some cream has more money backing it...

 

Why Country Music is Obsessed with Alcohol

You can go away now

 

2020 = censorship. That's what is going on.

 

I mean...it's an idiom...so yeah?

 

Links one article (and a short one at that) and thinks it's a strong argument

 

Here's a funny story. I didn't like Opeth at all when I was teenager. I really liked/loved a lot of metal/death metal bands, but didn't like them at all. Me and a friend went to a Mastodon/Opeth co-headlining show eight years ago and we left after Mastodon played.
Last year I listened to some Opeth to see if I was missing out on anything and sure enough I fell in love with them.