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16 May 2012

What are some really interesting bands? I was just thinking about how I'd like to know about some interesting bands. [More:]By interesting, I don't just mean interesting music. "Good music," on some level, is a necessary but not sufficient requirement of being interesting. The further requirements of being interesting would be --
-- an interesting history
-- interesting personalities of the band members
-- lots of documentation about this stuff
-- influences that are worthy of exploring
-- a history that is idiosyncratic in the sense of not being a typical product of the music industry machine
-- at least some of the members are genuinely intense, brooding, poetic, loner-types who have succeeded in spite of this
-- a painful history of ups and downs that are documented
-- at least one intellectually interesting book has been written about them
-- they are at least arguably a real band that is driven by their members' passions for better or worse
-- knowing about their history, their dramas and personal mythology would make their music even more fascinating.

I got to thinking about this recently when I read a reference to the Smashing Pumpkins, and for some reason I find them interesting. (I'm not even sure how many of the above criteria they satisfy.) But I was reflecting on how I find them somehow inherently interesting. It would be hard to deny that the Rolling Stones and Beatles are interesting. Bob Dylan would be kind of a classic example of an interesting musician, as would maybe Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith. I'm looking for under-recognized bands many people haven't heard of that are interesting.
That's quite the list of criteria!

I recently noticed that a lot of the "classic albums" shows are available to download...some might even be on netflix. The reason I mention this is that through downloading a few of these, I became aquainted again with the favourite band of my thirteen year old self. The Doors.

While they aren't under-recognized, they sure were an odd lot, for the most part. Very egalitarian in their songs, Morrison would show up with a melody (composed to help him recall his lyrics) and the classically-trained, flamenco guitarist, carnival organ player, and jazz drummer would work up an arrangement. No bass player, unless they were in the studio. Morrison was almost a crooner at times, more Sinatra than anyone really realized, at the time. While I wasn't alive then, everything I've read about those times sure seems to suggest that this band were well outside the norms for the time.

They were an unusual group, but for a couple years, they really made some interesting stuff together. I can hardly listen to it today, partially due to its DRAMA, but they sure do meet a number of your criteria!
posted by richat 16 May | 19:57
The Velvet Underground immediately spring to mind.

The cast of mid-1960s characters- Sexually confused New York artiste: Lou Reed. Musically avant-garde European dude: John Cale. Quiet young woman from Georgia who would play drums on some of the most iconic rocks songs ever: Maureen Tucker. Vastly underappreciated bass and guitar player who just wandered in from art school with Lou: Sterling Morrison. Icy, spaced-out chanteuse who was placed in the band by ANDY WARHOL and who had more musical talent than anyone realized at the time: Nico (aka Christa Päffgen).

Drama, books about 'em, a life way outside the music industry.... they had all that. I've read many books about VU that are very entertaining. And their music is, was, and always will be amazing.
posted by BoringPostcards 16 May | 21:39
Morrison was almost a crooner at times, more Sinatra than anyone really realized, at the time.

So true, richat. I know the Doors aren't 'cool' anymore, but I'll always love how fucking bizarre they were.
posted by BoringPostcards 16 May | 21:41
#1: Frank Zappa/The Mothers of Invention. The family includes Alice Cooper, Captain Beefheart, Flo and Eddie, George Duke, Steve Vai, Adrian Belew, Pamela des Barres and many others. Influences: from Edgar Varese to doo-wop.

My own personal favorite is Deep Purple. From 60s prog band (on a label founded by Bill Cosby) to proto-speed metal innovators. Ritchie Blackmore is the sore thumb who drove record companies nuts, and Jon Lord is the classically trained keyboardist who kept the music intellectually stimulating. Roger Glover became a noted producer. Other personalities range from Ian Gillan (the original Jesus Christ Superstar), David Coverdale (Whitesnake), and Tommy Bolin (an american indian whose tragic death ended a promising career). With Six Degrees of Deep Purple, you can even find Linda Ronstadt (in 3 steps actually).

The Runaways, not only the obvious but Kim Fowley, as well.

posted by Ardiril 16 May | 22:21
Magma!
posted by Hugh Janus 16 May | 22:42
I saw The Runaways with Cherie Currie in attendance for a Q&A. I thought Michael Shannon was great, if overacting just a tad. Then I saw the real Kim Fowley in a documentary. OH MY LORD.
posted by Madamina 16 May | 23:41
... and Kim Fowley is a notorious teetotaler and anti-drug evangelist! I have long considered writing a play about a lawsuit brought by Kenny Laguna (another notable character) against Kim Fowley in which they both act as their own lawyers.
posted by Ardiril 16 May | 23:47
The Stone Roses.
posted by pompomtom 17 May | 01:45
The Velvet Underground was the first band I thought of as well.
posted by Slack-a-gogo 17 May | 08:41
Do they necessarily have to be "bands"? Because if not, both Phil Ochs and Townes Van Zandt need to be on your radar. Both are stellar songwriters who died from (quite different) tragic means and seem to be forgotten in our current times.
posted by ufez 17 May | 16:56
Love these answers! And no, they don't have to be "bands," singers are fine, too. What I'm getting at with this question, perhaps imperfectly expressed, is the kind of band or musical artist whose life/history/influences/mythology/etc. is sort of a "world" in which you can get immersed not only in listening to them, but also in reading things about (or by) them. These are great answers... Thanks!
posted by jayder 18 May | 11:19
Jackson Browne - A Thousand Kisses Deep. || Her hat is the BOMB.

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