Weekend Listomania (Special It Might Have Been Audio/Video Edition)

Well, it's Friday and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental lesbian bondgage sex-themed club consultant Fah Lo Suee and I are off to scenic Long Branch, New Jersey, where we'll attend a memorial service for my beloved grandmother Bernice "Woo Woo!" Simels, a wonderful woman who on Monday nonetheless became the the first senior to be killed by one of the new Obama-Care mandated Death Panels.

Ironically, just last week when I visited Nana Bernice I told her (in jest, or so it seemed to me at the time), "Nana -- you're 143 years old. You've had a rich full life. I want my money."

In any case, further posting by moi will have to be sporadic for a day or two as a result.

In the meantime, then, here's a hopefully fun little project for us all:

Post-Beatles Pop/Rock Band or Solo Artist That, From Where You're Sitting, Should Have Been Huge(ly Successful) But For Some Reason Never Was!!!

No arbitrary rules here, except by huge we mean commercially ubiquitous in these here United States, so your Big in Japan (or wherever) faves definitely count. And yes, I'm pretty sure I've done something like this before, but I'm also reasonably sure that most of my nominees this time are newbies.

And my totally top of my head Top Six is -

6. Marah



I love 'em, Nick Hornby absolutely adores them, and their first two albums -- Let's Cut the Crap & Hook Up Later On Tonight and Kids in Philly -- are an absolutely astounding mashup of Springsteen, the Exile-era Stones and The Replacements. They're still at it, of course, but barring an act of God they seem likely to remain a cult band.

5. The Real Kids



Punkish Boston roots-rockers, and as you can see from the above, the real deal on every level. World class frontman John Felice apparently partied a little too hearty to play the kind of career games necessary for stardom on the level they deserved, but when they were on these guys were great sweaty fun.

4. The Kit Kats




A hugely popular live act in the Philly/Jersey Shore area from the mid-60s to the early 70s, these guys made amazing pop-symphonic singles and at their best -- as in the regional hit single above -- they had an unearthly quality that was utterly unique.

3. Starry Eyed and Laughing



A lovely British pub band that essentially chanelled The Byrds -- both their original 60s folk-rock hit-making incarnation and their 70s country-rock model -- with gorgeous aplomb. Really nice guys, too, especially Rickenbacker honcho Tony Poole (the dude with the unfortunate hair singing "Chimes of Freedom" above.)

2. The Red Devils



Hands down, the toughest and most idiomatic young white boy blues band since the Rolling Stones (in fact they backed Mick Jagger on a couple of tracks, although Rick Rubin produced their one and only studio album). In any case, had the usual demons not intervened, these guys could have been the biggest blues-rock breakthough this side of J. Geils.

And the Numero Uno shoulda-been-gynormous rock persons absolutely have to be, I will brook no controversy on this so watch it, buster...

1. The Broadcasters



A punkish/bluesy/roots-rock/rockabilly/garage combo who could absolutely kill live, these guys (their sole, brilliant, album was produced by the MC5's Wayne Kramer in 1987) had boatloads of great songs (like the one in the clip) to go along with the chops and attitude. Why they're not household words is beyond me, frankly.

Alrighty, then -- who would your choices be?

[Shameless Blogwhore: My parallel Cinema Listomania -- Theme: Best and Worst Films Referencing Some Kind of Apparel in the Title -- is now up over at Box Office. As always, you would be too kind if you could get over there and leave some kind of snarkily perceptive comment to impress my bosses. Thanks!]