The Posies
Superdrag
Self
Failure

Blue Aeroplane
Blue Nile

(doing this in alphabetical order)

Yeah, how can any band that has an interpretive dancer not make it? Swagger and Beat Songs are two phenomenal records.

Translator

Oooh...I'm really in agreement with the Buck Pets & Translator picks.

Translator should've at LEAST been a much, much bigger "college radio" band in the mid-80's.

I saw the Buck Pets open for Jane's Addiction in a 300 capacity bar on the Nothing's Shocking tour. Amazing show.

Bad Religion ought to be much bigger with the indie crowd than they are.

"Bad Religion ought to be much bigger with the indie crowd than they are."

i disagree....they really havent done anything worthy in the last 10 years to warrant that. downhill after generator. i do like stranger then fiction alot though. maybe if this was 1992 then i would agree.

my pick->afghan whigs

dunwoody ->Grant Lee Buffalo-Fuzzy & Mighty Joe Moon (GREAT ALBUMS)

I think we're loosing sight of the point of the thread. There are LOTS of bads that SHOULD have been big, but weren't.

I'm specifically looking for bands that had a small taste of the big-time and then fell back into obscurity/cult status. See Spoon's pix. Those are dead-on.

Afghan Whigs certainly qualifies, too.
Self? Great band with some great stuff, but (despite Matt playing on sessions with Christina Aguilera, etc) the BAND was never close to being "Big".

Still.. some cool bands here.

The Replacements

I'll re-emphasize:

Translator: 1 "hit" in "Everywhere That I'm Not", and a major label deal.
Mott The Hoople: 1 "hit" in "All The Young Dudes", major label deal, highly regarded within the industry by the likes of Bowie, a slew of killer rock and roll albums, yet no one in high school ever wore a Mott t-shirt
Andy Prieboy: was doing all right with ties to Concrete Blond and Wall of Voodoo, two records on Doctor Dream (okay, not quite major label), and then nada
The Creation: some classic singles (Makin Time, Painter Man, et al), then nada
Evan Johns: Albums released by Alt Tentacles and Ryko, should qualify as "majors", highly regarded by lots of musicians, never hit the big time
Bluerunners: had the major label deal, excellent debut and followup, then next to nada

Thanks for the clarification, Bill.

Screaming Trees - "Nearly Lost You" got some play, but that was as close as they came.

The Raspberries - oh sure, we all know "Go All The Way" and maybe a couple of others, but these guys are probably more well known now than they were in the '70s.

The Pretty Things - once mentioned in the same breath as the Rolling Stones, then the rug got pulled out from under 'em.

Nick Lowe - "Cruel To Be Kind" was a hit, and since then nada. Nick may be the quintessential cult artist.

Webb Wilder - "Human Cannonball" made some inroads, but they were dropped from the majors pretty quickly. Still going, as far as I know.

And bands like the Vibrators, the Saints, and Stiff Little Fingers sort of fall into this category. All had major label deals, early success with a single or two, and then all ended up continuing on for decades without any major support.

The Jayhawks

Tonia, I'm suprised you didn't beat me to mine(which should be obvious):

Catherine Wheel - While most people recognize the song Black Metallic, few outside of circles like ours know who sang it. They put out 4 incredible complete albums, a great b-sides collection and 1 not as great album(Wishville) but never got the backing from their labels that they truly deserved.....had Adam and Eve been released on another label it might have taken off...but sadly it was released on Mercury right as it's parent company was crumbling.

but I do have to second most of the rest of your answers including(in no specific order)

Smoking Popes - 2 vastly underrated albums - the one time I saw them live they absolutely sucked though - was it just one bad performance? The do a wicked cover of "Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka.....from what I heard they broke up after the lead singer "found god"

Screaming Trees - Never reached the success they could/should have....possibly due to Mark L's addictions....he does continue to put out great stuff though....I swear, a person could start out drinking and smoking from age 2 and not be able to get a voice as gravelly as his.

Superdrag - Put out a string of great albums that showed good progression from album to album.

The Posies - Had the misfortune of being from Seattle and coming out around the time of grunge when they made pure wonderful pop. They are going to be touring again soon though from what I've heard.

Timbuk 3

fIREHOSE

Bardo Pond

Mike Nesmith

Papas Fritas

Well, that's what I'm saying -- I like everything I've heard them do, even the mediocre (for them) Grey Race is better than most everything by everyone else, in that genre.

My fave 60's band. They were everything the Stones should have been, and everything Brian Jones wanted them to be. I left them off because I thought they were "big time" enough during their run, much like the Animals or the DC5. They didn't achieve the longevity that the Stones did, but they weren't necessarily snubbed either. Some of their later catalogue was also pretty weak.

We should also add The Flamin' Groovies to this list.

I'm not sure when they were ever within a hundred miles of "making it", but man are they one of my favorite bands.

The Raspberries were an odd act, as they had several HUGE hits ( I think "Overnight Sensation" hit #1 ) but for some reason their albums didn't ever sell very well, I think . Just weird.

I was always happy for Nick Lowe when that guy ( Curtis Stigers, I think it was ) covered "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love, & Understanding" for the Bodyguard soundtrack, thereby netting Nick a shitload of cash.

Billzebub choices were excellent.

some others:

Guadalcanal Diary
The Connells
Julian Cope (yes, I know he's St. Julian and his commerical flirtation was not his best work, but he could have been huge)
Cactus World News
Squeeze (in North America I mean - I know they were huge elsewhere)
Hunters & Collectors (bigger of course down under)
James (ditto the previous two)
Thunderclap Newman
Shellyan Orphan (no hits, but on the verge of)
Dream Academy (seriously, their second album was great)
Steve Forbert
Belouis Some (showed promise, could have got good)
Hothouse Flowers
West Coast Pop Experimental Band
The Kane Gang (lightweight, but I liked them at the time)
The Innocence Mission

and the King...
The Basher...
The Man Who Cannot Make Bad Albums...

Mr. Nick Lowe

From the Raspberries site:

"Overnight Sensation" peaked at #12 on Billboard.
"Go All The Way" at #5
"I Wanna Be With You" #16
"Tonight" #69
"I'm A Rocker" #94

You're totally right, though. Their albums sales were way bad. The debut with "Go All The Way" hit #20, and after that it was a downward spiral into obscurity. Starting Over, the album that contained "Overnight Sensation", never got higher than #129 on the charts.

They fit Todd's criteria perfectly. Started with a major bang and then fizzled out just as their music got more interesting.

I believe I've heard that Operation Ivy was on the verge of getting a big record deal but then they broke up. Most non-punk people most likely got into them when Rancid hit it semi-big in 94/95.

Also, Jawbreaker was signed to a major label beacuse of Green Day, but apparently being on a major led to things falling apart, and the band became a bust in the shoulda-been-huge department.

Swell Maps, A Trip To Marineville - Rough Trade
"Full Moon In My Pocket" single

Garage punk bliss.

I just found Nikki Sudden's 2003 album Treasure Island in the used bins. Surprised that he's still going - and he's got Ian McLagan and Mick Taylor playing with him. Needless to say, he's satisfying his Stones jones on this one.

At least in the US:

James
Mansun