Weekly survey: What band did you get into too late?
Years ago when I was still in high school, an older girl name Sharon asked me to transfer some of her albums from vinyl to cassette. I had the appropriate gear and she was hot, so I was only too happy to help.
She showed up at my house with some Doors albums, a band I’d heard of but never bothered to check out. Within ten minutes of initiating the vinyl-to-cassette transfers, I realized that this was a group I really, really liked. Unfortunately, the group was long gone, its singer dead. All that I could do was dig into the existing Doors catalogue knowing that when it was all consumed, there would be no more.
With almost seventy years of rock’n’roll history, it’s inevitable we discover groups that came before our time, in which case we can be excused for not appreciating them while they were around.
We may have even co-existed with bands without paying them much mind until they broke up. The Smiths were that band for me. I detested their wimpiness while they were around. It wasn’t until they broke up that I realized that they were, in fact, awesome.
Any of this sound familiar? Which artists did you not discover until it was too late?
Doors, Smiths, Pink Floyd, Ramones… I’m sure there are more.
Linkin Park. I was just about to see them in concert for the first time when Chester died.
Ahhh yes, they were great live too not only because of Jimbo but also the rest of the band who’s improvisational interplay’s were legendary and rarely the same two nights in a row. They all had jazz backgrounds and were able to weave seamlessly in and out of each other’s play with a simple nod or smile, quite something to experience. Jimbo was the same as if they all respected each other’s time and space coming together at just the right moment. Sadly, Jim left us way too soon joining the ‘27 Club’ yet the music lives on. I’m thankful and privileged to have seen them in 1967 and again in ‘69, in my opinion, the mid ‘60’s through the early ‘70’s was one of the most creative eras for the arts especially music and The Doors still reign long after the kids went home!
The Beautiful South! I used to enjoy listening to The Housemartins when I was younger. It was only until recently (and I’m 50) that I discovered the singer, Paul Heaton, had a whole music career after the eighties.
easy. the clash.
Stone Roses (Got into them with their second and final album), Joy Division, the Clash, all of Shoegaze
The Beatles, I was only born the year they broke up but even then I didn’t get into their music until the Red and Blue albums were released on CD in the early 90’s…
Great Big Sea. They performed their last tour in 2013, but I didn’t really get into them until about 2016. Hopefully they’ll reunite one day.
Springsteen!
The Kinks! I was a teen with the horrible song “Come Dancing” came out and I just never bothered to explore. Of course I heard the overplayed Lola and their first two singles here and there and figured that was about it. Suuuuuper bad move. Didn’t really get into them until I was an adult and heard “Nothing In This World…” when watching Rushmore and that took me down an amazing path of albums!
the Beatles…. my dad was obsessed with them, his version of a lullaby for me as a baby was singing yellow submarine. Me, as a good rebel rejected anything to do with those annoying dudes. Now that the Beatles and my dad are gone, i just discovered how awesome their music actually was.
Fred Eaglesmith. Had heard of him but didn’t know a single song when we saw him in Hamilton last April. Since then, I’ve listened to almost nothing but Fred for the past year. Incredibly talented songwriter. Fantastically diverse catalogue dating back to 1980. On of the most underrated Canadian talents ever.
Joy Division, man.