I guess I define obscure differently than some others. Commander Cody obscure? He had a giant hit record, fer Chr@st's sake! No, "kids" today haven't heard of them, but what have they heard of older than their current pair of Chuck Taylor's?
I guess to a lot of people Rockpile is obscure, and member Dave Edmunds himself, though everybody I know (or want to know ;-) loves them both. How about NRBQ, everybody's favorite Bar Band? Keith Richards asked NRBQ bassist Joey Spampinato to join The Stones when Bill Wyman retired, and Joey turned him down! Why quit the best Rock 'n' Roll Band in the world to join "The Best Rock 'n' Roll Band In The World"?
Here are some truly obscure Bands you might love as much as I do, should you ever hear them:
- The Skeletons: from Springfield Missouri, THIS is what a great Band sounds like. Dave Alvin (if he's not too obscure himself for ya!) stole his drummer from them. Great, great band, they had it all.
- The Lyres: My favorite Garage Band (and I'm from San Jose California, Garage Band ground zero in the 60's. I saw Buckingham & Nicks live in their Garage Band, Fritz, in '68), like The Kinks meet The Sonics (the great Seattle Band from the 60's who did the classic songs "Psycho" and "The Witch"). About as nuts as I've gone seeing a live Band, and I saw The Who with Keith Moon, twice.
- The Flamin' Groovies: Not at all obscure, at least by my standards. But I can not in all good conscience recommend other Garage Bands without including them. Their album "Shake Some Action" (produced by the great Dave Edmunds) is a stone classic, one that should be in the collection of every lover of true Rock 'n' Roll.
- The Leroi Bros.: From Austin Texas, a swingin' little combo I love. Drummer Mike Buck was the original in The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Buck Owens on them: "These guys play my kind of music...honest and unique. Listening to them is like you're sitting in the same room with them."
- The Notorious Cherry Bombs: again, not really obscure, but it seems like a lot of people missed them. A Country Rock 'n' Roll SuperGroup whose members include Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill, Tony Brown, and Hank DeVito. Wow!
I could go on all day (how about The Fraternal Order Of The All, Andrew Gold and Graham Gouldman's 90's Group whose "Greetings From Planet Love" album is a real trip), but that's enough outta me, I'm sure you'll agree!