We're on a mission from God.
I have come to realize over the last few days that I have been sorely negligent. My fandom has been lacking in enthusiam and must therefore be rectified. (no, no......I'm straight.)
So this is my apology to all the little bands out there that you've never heard of, but I love to death. Listen. Enjoy. Fall down on your knees and say "Dear Lord. Why haven't I heard these songs before? They're great!"
First I give you the Cows with Guns song by Dana Lyons, with a little movie even.
Link
Oh yeah.........we will fight.......for bovine freedom.......... heh heh.....now that's in your head all day. Next I take you to a little a cappella group called The Bobs. They've done some pretty cool covers of pop songs, but are downright nifty on their own. I reccomend ya click on March and Fanfare, and Helter Skelter, but hey, whatever you like there.
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Okay, you madcap barbershop maniac, let's move on to something a little more........slick. Richard Cheese (and he get's no milage whatsoever out of the nickname Dick.) and Lounge Against the Machine.
Anything from Gin and Juice to 99 Luftballoons. Done lounge. It would be too goofy for words, if it wasn't funny 'cause they're so. damned. good............Damn it man, they even did Slayer and Depeche Mode.
His website here. Link
And samplers of his music on this page. Link
If you've made it this far, try Trout Fishing in America. I found them when I was in college and fell in love with "The Day the Bass Player took over the World." Here ya go, when you get there, click on Launch Trout Radio, when it comes up, the tracklist button will let you change songs. Link
And last but certainly not least, a band so good I swore that if they'd come down here I'd cross all of hell and half of Texas to hear them. (I didn't, mission interfered when they finally came to austin.......sigh.) They're a novelty group called the Trailerpark Troubadours. And guess what the novelty is........that's right, every songs got some kind of a trailerpark association.
I know, but again, they're so. damned. good. With their own "airstream trailer guitar" made in their honor by epiphone, and once turned down from the simpsons, when one of their players refused to be represented without his characteristic plaid pants (apparently the artists found it to be a pain in the ass to repeatedly draw the checked pattern), I give you the Trailerpark Troubadours. Alright, you've got to click on one of the "Play Samples" but I still give them to you. Link
And just for s--- and giggles, here's a couple of guys I went to college with. One I used to rock out Jerry Lee Lewis songs and attempt Skynard with, but he's been on Nashville Stars now, and he's being recorded by different country stars, so I guess he doesn't really quite count as an "unknown." Ladies and gentlefunks, Jody Evans. Link
The other? Well, he's a neat guy with a great voice, he was in the 100 sexiest men alive (and boy doesn't he just know it too) in People magazine. I wish he'd stuck to opera, but he's currently singing "the kind of songs that make even the most heartworn cynic fall in love with love all over again," and trying to make it to hollywood. Hell, I hope he gets there. Here he his, Josh Payne. Link
That's it. Got a favorite band that nobody knows?