Five Songs You Dig But Prolly Dunno Who Sings 'Em!

Whilst writing today's Open Letter Re: Adele And The Forgotten Demographic, I brought up the band Geggy Tah, who released three pretty cool albums, but never quite got a foothold. Thing is, every time I play their song "Whoever You Are" for someone they immediately gush, "Hey, I love that song." None of them have any idea who the band is, which falls on the record company. I mean, you've succeeded in getting the band's music heard to such a degree that everyone I know loves the song, but none were propelled to take that next step and put a name and face with the music.

This led me to think of a few other songs that we all know when we hear them, but draw a blank when it comes to knowing who recorded them. Hopefully this will lead to a few forehead slap moments and some purchases of new music. After all, it doesn't matter how long a record has been out if its new to you.

Elefant - Misfit

I remember hearing this New York City band's first album Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid in 2003 and thinking that this band had everything the Strokes had; that not-yet-a-caricature-of-itself deep NYC hipster swagger and a fondness for Velvet Underground, but didn't get caught up in intentionally crappy production for the sake of faux-authenticity. The song was all over the radio for a hot minute and then ffffft!

I found their second album Black Magic Show in the dollar bins, completely unaware they were still around. The album floored me with its supreme majesty and jaded beauty to the point that I actually looked forward to sharing this band with the rest of the world. It happens so rarely for me that I kind of enjoy it when the band is just so damn good that the secret can't help but get out.

Mellowdrone - Orange Marmalade

Oh, the number of times I sped right past this album in the used bins, completely unaware that they were the band who played that song I always dug when I heard on the radio. I'd literally be screaming at the radio to tell me the artist this time, PLEASE! I always meant to call the station once I got home, or to work, but always got sidetracked and never followed through.

Mellowdrone's Box (2006)

Finally putting two and two together after hearing the song in the movie "Never Back Down", I realized that I had been breezing right past the album for months in the cheapo bins. Maybe the label should have bothered putting the band's name on the front cover. From that moment on, I swore to help as many others do the same. If this little write-up helps even just one person, it will have been worth it.

This tune appears on the band's 2006 album Box, which, if you dig this tune, will literally blow the top of your head off or, at the very least, leave a hand-shaped bruise on your forehead.

King Missile - Detachable Penis

There are few success stories more unlikely than that of New York avant garde band King Missile, who were part of the Kramer/Bongwater/Shimmy-Disc scene. That they would not only go on to be signed by Atlantic Records, but actually get to make a second album for the label after the first oen failed to set the world on fire. Not only did they manage to get Atlantic to release a song called "Detachable Penis" as the first single on what was surely a make-it-or-break-it album for the band, they also managed to get it played on commercial radio.

Spacehog - In The Meantime

I almost talked myself out of keeping this one off the list. After all, the album the song is from (Resident Alien) went gold and, for a brief moment, Spacehog were on the verge of becoming a somebody, but the years have not been kind to the band's memory. "In The Meantime" is the song that Stone Temple Pilots were always trying to write, much less play, so why is it STP got all the fame and accolades and the Langston brothers got diddly?

Well, it's time for refresher course on one of the best glammy post-grunge pop bands to ever rock the earth.