“My theory is that all Scottish food is based on a dare.”
- Mike Myers
Doesn't it kind of make you crazy? When you know a band or singer's music really well, but the average person only knows them by maybe one or two songs that were hits? And, they're not even songs that you consider close to the artist's best stuff.
Someone will say, “Oh, I know them, they sing Blah, Blah, Blah”
“Yes” I'll say, “They do sing that…but, man, there's so much more to them.”
If I even start to go into it, they glaze over pretty quick, so I drop it. I care about it, but most people don't. If they cared they'd know already. I get it. It's not their thing, just like stock car racing or astronomy isn't mine. But still!
So, when I saw the question, “What band or artist's catalog is so much better than the song(s) they're known for?” I thought, oh, I feel that.
I have a long list and if you care, you probably do too. I'm gonna go with a relative unknown as my example. Chances are if people have heard of this group at all it's because of one song:
Del Amitri is a Scottish band from Glasgow. The song someone might know came off their third album, released in 1995. Roll to Me is a hooky, effervescent, two-minute ditty. It's perfectly fine. I hear it overhead in the grocery store sometimes. Good for them. But, there's way more meat on the bone with Del Amitri. Their first three albums were packed with engaging, well-crafted songs. Songwriter Justin Currie is a name that should be mentioned among the best that do it.
So that's my pitch for the overlooked. You?