@DJDarren @labr
#theplaylistsuggestion
Had this been a week earlier, then I would have gone with the Dawn Parade, but I can't suggest them twice in a row. So I'll go with Goldrush, who I saw before they were famous (! )One of the many bands who could have been the next Coldplay at the time, this one got to #64 in the charts and the album to #99.
Goldrush - Same Picture
- Fighting Fit by Gene. I saw Jeff Buckley once because he was on in a tent at the Reading Festival before this lot
- Dry the Rain by the Beta Band. Not even a very high profile soundtrack appearance on High Fidelity really shifted the dial for these guys
- People Help the People by Cherry Ghost. Used in adverts sometimes, but should have been huge
- All Hell is Breaking Loose Down at Little Kathy Wilson’s Place by Wolfsbane. Do I need to explain?
@DJDarren @labr #ThePlaylistSuggestion
Sigh. As is so often the case, the gears have started working and now I keep coming up with thoughts. So:
Anvil - March Of The Crabs
(I mean actually I confess I don't much like Anvil, so I've only picked that one as it's a) short, and b) instrumental so can be used in the background of a link, maybe.)
BUT.
...I really DO want to recommend the 2008 rocumentary Anvil: The Story Of Anvil. Because it is the most glorious tale of not making it big, ever.
Pete Atkin - Star of Tomorrow
@DJDarren My #ThePlaylistSuggestion for this week has to include
Peaceful Sleepers by Amy's Ghost (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej_Ifaqicu8) the band really should have made it. They were right on the cusp.
Also contenders are Spacemen 3
@DJDarren @labr #ThePlaylistSuggestion
And a final few:
Again, well-regarded in the right circles, but I think both these Canadian MCs are under-appreciated.
She's on some of my favourite De La Soul songs, but I wish she had recorded so much more.
Neon Waltz - Dreamers.
Saw them live (HIGHLY recommended) and I assumed they'd get huge. Not yet, it seems!
@DJDarren @labr #ThePlaylistSuggestion
I know Ride are well-regarded, and even loved. But if you grew up in Oxfordshire in the 90s, there's no denying they firmly occupied an 'also ran' position, behind the stratopheric heights acheived by the likes of Supergrass or Radiohead. So:
Ride - Vapour Trail
#ThePlaylistSuggestion another irish band for ye. back in the late 90s in the melting pot of rock and trip hop and dance the scots had Garbage, we had Skindive.. The self titled intro track imho beats garbages attempt at a bond theme …
https://album.link/y/OLAK5uy_kirh559d_TOI8_z44bVz8dXJREW7vjcYc
@DJDarren @labr Given that Irish artists like U2, Val Doonican and Westlife made it, it's a total travesty that Horslips never got the recognition they deserved. They formed in 1970, lasted 10 years but fortunately there was a revival in the late 1990s. This is from an "unplugged" album of their old material made in 2004
@DJDarren @labr You could argue that Rory Gallaher doesn't fit in this category but I'm going to argue that despite his soaring talent as a guitar player he never made it as big as he might have. There's lots of versions of him playing this online but I'm suggesting this one as it's (reasonably) short.
@DJDarren I feel like, on the basis of these songs, the artists below all deserved to be much bigger and longer lasting than they were.
Big Country, In a Big Country
The Blessing, Highway 5
Tasmin Archer, Sleeping Satellite
Lush, Ladykillers
ETA: I really wanted to include the Northern Irish artist Ken Haddock. His “The Sweetest Hour” album is the best end of a drunken night in a pub purchase I’ve ever made. But I can’t find it anywhere online.
@DJDarren here are #thePlaylistSuggestion tracks from the Shepshed panel:
Mice - Mat's Prozac
Julianne Regan (All About Eve) and Bic Hayes (Cardiacs, Levitation) shamelessly hopping on the Brit Pop bandwagon just as the wheels fell off it
Oceansize - Amputee (Relapse EP)
They had a fervent following, but just never made it big. Incredible live band, one for 21:00?
Redpoint - Firem (Dark Side)
Boards of Canada inspired minimalist beats
Gribbles - Wait A Minute Now
Get yer glowsticks out 
@DJDarren @labr #ThePlaylistSuggestion
...And then, along similar lines, there's:
David Holmes Presents The Free Association - I Wish I Had A Wooden Heart (The original mix, too, not the one now available on streamers)
I saw these guys on Later, back in the day, and I was SURE all of my friends would be buzzing about it the next day. Were they? They were not! https://youtu.be/48J0IPNnRT0?si=OAhjlT155mSyhFHS
And obviously David Holmes is JUST FINE anyway, but still: I know not enough people with this album!
@DJDarren @labr #ThePlaylistSuggestion
This is tricky! My first thought was of a couple of albums/acts that were essentially side projects of otherwise hugely successful musicians. That may exclude them from selection, of course, but I'll mention them anyway since I still think not enough people listened to / liked them!
CirKus - You're Such An Asshole
(I mean, Cameron McVey and Neneh Cherry are stellar level in my book, but I still don't think enough people knew about this project.)
@DJDarren @labr Wheels of Wonder by Kevin McDermott Orchestra
(You didn't play the last KMO track I suggested, but I'm gonna keep suggesting them...)
This song stood out for me when it came on the jukebox in a student bar in Dundee in 1989 - the first time I had to pause and ask who was playing.
KMO never made it, never got the traction I thought they deserved. Mother Nature's Kitchen is a cracker of an album, and maybe my favourite - it hit me in my formative years.
@DJDarren @labr No hesitation for me this week. I'll take any opportunity to express my indignation that Birmingham band Casino never made it "big". Despite support from Kerrang Radio and Dave Grohl it just never happened. The Spider Simpson Incident is one of my favourite albums, but I don't think it's anywhere online. However one track from it is on Spotify. Therefore Fallen by Casino is #ThePlaylistSuggestion from me this week. I shall now go and find it and hope that song is still on there! It's not my favourite off the album but it'll do. https://open.spotify.com/track/4nVu51cNqnbHHUgj91OwPr
@DJDarren @labr
Always, always immediately King's X comes to mind. They exist a very long time now and are appreciated by fans and among musicians. It's (by musicbiz n charts) the most underrated band there is.
To many good albums to mention just a single one. 
Livegigs are always like a homecoming. Fans sing lyrics word by word like the most famous (i guess). Kinda like a must at every show:
https://youtu.be/sx_YpamL3WY?feature=shared
@DJDarren @labr #ThePlaylistSuggestion
First thought was to skip this. I have no idea who became big and who didn't. Many times I've started listening to what I thought was a new and unknown artist, only to find they've been huge for a decade.
But what I do know is Northern Soul. And though some stars on the scene were big names (like Eddie Floyd or Edwin Starr), much of the scene was obscure acts, some of whom later had a career rebirth in the north of England. That obscurity after all is where the Northern Soul tag came from - Northern Soul, as opposed to the regular soul that everyone else listens to.
So I hope you don't mind me spamming some otherwise overlooked Northern Soul legends:
Dolores Johnson - What Kind of Man Are You?
(sometimes listed as Delores or Doleres or variations on that theme, or sometimes Dee Dee - as far as I know, and the name changes make it difficult to be sure, she released three singles and none of them were successful)
Sandi Sheldon - You're Gonna Make Me Love You
(aka Kendra Spotswood, a respected backing singer in the 60s, but had no success as a lead artist before being rediscovered on the Northern Soul scene in the 70s)
The Carstairs - It Really Hurts Me Girl
(ultimately quite an influential live band, but commercially had zero success and only released a couple of singles)
Charles Thomas - Man with the Golden Touch
(not to be confused with Charlie Thomas, founder of one incarnation of The Drifters, nor indeed any of the many other musicians with the same name - this one seems to have only released one single)
Roy Redmond - Ain't That Terrible
(sometimes listed as Roy Redman, released two unsuccessful singles in 1967)
Mamie Galore - It Ain't Necessary
(aka Mamie Davis, another backing singer who tried and failed to become a commercially successful solo artist. Later became a respected blues musician in Mississippi.)
(that's probably enough for now but I really could go on all day)
@DJDarren @labr my #ThePlaylistSuggestion is Hothouse Flowers - “Love Don’t Work This Way”, their first single (which didn’t hit the charts)
