Underrated

Every morning, I wake with a keen realization that there are colossal wrongs that need to be righted.

Yeah, yeah - dictatorships and injustice, too.

But for the purposes of this post, I'm talking about music, here.

I'm not talking about groups with great critical backing but remained unheard-of outside their regions or hard-core fan bases, groups like the Iron City Houserockers, Southside Johnny, or Tenants' Union. No - I'm talking about artists that saw a glimpse of fame - and have seen their body of work unjustly poo-poohed.

History has left some accounts to be set straight. And I'm just the guy to do it.

1. Katrina and the Waves - Yeah, "Walking on Sunshine" was overplayed. So was "Imagine", and does anyone (but Lileks and I) say John Lennon's solo career was a joke? "Touch Me" gets overplayed, but does anyone say that Doors were a glorified Holiday Inn lounge band with...oh, wait, I say that. Where was I? Oh, yeah - so what if "WOS" got overplayed? They made other music! And lots of it is very, very good! Listen to their American debut record (compiled from the best of their first three British albums), and tell me "Red Wine and Whiskey" and "Going Down To Liverpool" aren't the coolest garage-pop songs of 1983 (Yeah, yeah - except for "I Don't Mind", by the incomparable Nelsons - but that wasn't exactly a hit, was it)? Or that "Cry To Me" or "Go On Cry" aren't the best last-call songs ever written? Or that Kim Rew (an alum of the glorious Soft Boys) isn't the most gleefully, anarchically-baroque guitar player (anarchically-baroque - I like that) ever to do a top-forty record?

   You can't. Dont try.

2. Gin Blossoms - So you heard "Hey Jealousy" too much? Awwww, you poor thing. When I was a kid, they overplayed "I've Never Been To Me" (both versions!) and "Let 'Em In" and "Billy Don't Be A Hero" - treacly dreck, the seamy underside of the seventis. Did "Jealousy" get overplayed? So friggin' what? It was the best song about ex-hankering ever to appear on the top forty, from an album that was, really, the most vibrant hangover record ever put out. That album was on constant repeat during many overnight "finish the job" sessons - partly because it was the only CD I owned in those lean years, partly because it was just damned fine rock and roll. Their second album, at its best, was even better (although not as consistent) - and both albums were crammed with hooks you could hang sides of beef on.
3. Gordon LightfootYou think "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a joke? First, you're wrong. Second, so what? Lightfoot did the whole singer-songwriter thing, without becoming James Taylor (See: Overrated artists), and wrote a lot of really cool music (including "Fitzgerald") from the perspective of - get this - a regular schlemiel who looked and sounded like he'd meet you at the bar after his set for a couple of Schlitzes. And "Summer Side Of Life" is an amazing song.
4. Big CountryThought "In A Big Country" got beaten to death? Pffft. It was probably the best radio single of 1983. And beyond that, every song on their first American album was great (except "Porrohman", but even that was an extravaganza of fun for guitar players), and their followup, "Steeltown", was just gorgeous - angry (the title cut), lovely ("Tall Ships Go"), poignant ("Just A Shadow")...that record still makes me verklempt.