Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.

David Bowie - "African Night Flight"

One of these days, one of these days
Gotta get a word through one of these days

Did David Bowie accidentally invent rap music? Of course not. Don’t be silly. Yet the thought just might enter your mind when listening to “African Night Flight” off of Bowie’s 1979 album, Lodger. The song starts out with various non-melodic instruments and sound effects working together to create a frantic rhythm. Brian Eno, who co-wrote the song, is there to provide prepared piano and “cricket menace” (“little crickety sounds that Brian produced from a combination of my drum machine and his ‘briefcase’ synth,” Bowie said in 2001). The result reminds me more of a modern day rap “beat” than the backdrop of a 1970s rock song. And then Bowie comes in.

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The Avett Brothers - "I and Love and You"

I know this song sounds like something from a shitty moment of realization scene in Gray's Anatomy....but I don't care. I love this song. It's just something that...soothes me. It's a song that would fit greeting sunrise as it peaks over a hill as you drive off into the distance, or watching the one you love peacefully dozing, or enjoy a cigarette while noticing the stars for the first time in a long time. It's a good song for reminiscing about fireflies, or picturing what your first house will look like, or saying goodbye to friends that you know the next time you see them, things will be different. You'll be different. So yeah, I like this song.

Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.

Hulk Hogan - “Hulkster in Heaven”

I used to tear my shirt,
But now you've torn my hearts.
I knew you were a Hulkamaniac,
Right from the very start

I have no idea what set of circumstances led Hulk Hogan to release his 1995 album Hulk Rules. "Money" would be the obvious answer, but by 1995 Hogan should have already made lots of it from his lengthy wrestling career and various movie roles (the album did actually hit the top ten. . . . . children’s album chart).  I certainly hope it wasn’t for love of music, because the resulting album can barely be called music. It can, however, be called hilarious, particularly the penultimate track on the album “Hulkster in Heaven”.

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Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.

Radiohead - "Cuttooth"

I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied;
I don't know why I feel so skinned alive.

While not as currently popular as they were in the late 1990s/early 00s heyday, Radiohead is still one of the biggest bands in the world. They are clearly not unappreciated nor are they unknown. Yet there is still a wealth of good-to-great Radiohead material that the average listener doesn’t know about. Like many bands, Radiohead frequently releases completed songs that didn’t make the final cut of their albums as b-sides on EPs and singles. However, unlike many bands, Radiohead’s b-sides can actually be quite good. This is particularly true of the b-sides off of OK Computer and Amnesiac. Clearly, Radiohead was in peak form during this time period because many of these b-sides hold their own against the album tracks.

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Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.

Lou Reed - "Oh Jim"

All your two-bit friends
they're shootin' you up with pills

Although it is looked back on much more fondly now, Lou Reed’s 3^rd album, Berlin, was largely reviled at the time of its release in 1973. In its review of the album Rolling Stone stated that “there are certain records that are so patently offensive that one wishes to take some kind of physical vengeance on the artists that perpetrate them”. In other words, they did not enjoy it. Coming on the heels of his hit album Transformer, which yielded the top twenty single “Walk on the Wild Side”, Berlin is certainly not what audiences were expecting. Despite being released only one year apart, the two albums are very different.

Reed replaced Transformer producers (and glam rock extraordinaires) David Bowie and Mick Ronson with Bob Ezrin, who at that time was best known for producing Alice Cooper records and would go on to produce Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Instead of utilizing the more traditional rock instrumentation he did on Transformer (such as his own electric guitar playing), Reed brought in a slew of session musicians including such notable names as Jack Bruce (Cream bassist), Steve Winwood (Traffic, Blind Faith organist), Aynsley Dunbar (Journey drummer). The combination of Bob Ezrin and the session musicians leads Berlin to have a very full, theatrical sound although it can also be too polished and overbearing.

But the thing that people found most strange and off-putting about Berlin was Reed’s songwriting. Whereas Transformer was filled with fun, largely upbeat songs, Berlin is a downright depressing album. The songs form a loose storyline about the downfall of two lovers in Berlin. Typical song topics include drug addiction, physical abuse, childhood trauma and suicide.

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Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.

The Zombies - "Beechwood Park"

And the breeze would touch your hair
Kiss your face and make you care
About your world
Your summer world

When people look back at the British Invasion of the 1960’s, the groups that immediately come to mind are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and perhaps The Kinks. Of course, many other groups were part of the British Invasion, they just tend to be forgotten because they didn’t achieve the level of success that these groups did (remember Herman’s Hermits?). The Zombies are another example of a semi-forgotten British Invasion band. In 1965 The Zombies had two top-ten singles in the US: "She’s Not There" and "Tell Her No." During the next couple years The Zombies released several singles that couldn’t replicate their earlier success. Believing that they were unlikely to make it in the music business much longer, in 1967 The Zombies got together to record what they decided would be their final album.

That album, Odessey and Oracle, was released in 1968 to little or no fanfare and the group broke up shortly thereafter. Strangely, a year after its release the album’s last song, "Time of the Season," became a big hit in the US. Although it wasn’t enough to bring the full band back together, various incarnations of The Zombies have toured over the years and "Time of the Season" is still a staple of classic rock radio stations (or are they Oldies stations now?).

Still, even though many people have heard "Time of the Season," the Odessey and Oracle album itself tends to get overlooked. That’s a shame because it’s an amazing record, easily one of the best pop albums of the 1960s. I strongly encourage everyone to listen to the entire album, however I’m going to spend the rest of this post highlighting one of my favorite songs from the record.

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Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.

Vanity 6 – "Nasty Girl"

Uh, It's time to jam,
Nasty girls, dance, dance, dance

1982 was a big year for Prince. He released “1999”, his most popular album to date and a precursor to the style of music he would explore more fully on the “Purple Rain” album. That same year Prince’s protégé band, The Time, released their second album, “What Time is it?”, with Prince handling the production, much of the instrumentation and, legend has it, the songwriting.  Although not nearly as successful as “1999”, The Time would go on to play Prince’s rival group in the Purple Rain film two years later and score a couple minor hits.

Finally, 1982 saw the release of the only album by Prince’s other protégé band, Vanity 6. Unlike The Time, Vanity 6 was unquestionably under the complete control of Prince, who wrote, produced and played the instruments on all their songs. Vanity 6 front woman Vanity (real name Denise Matthews, Prince enjoyed giving female artists new names in the 80s) was Prince’s girlfriend at the time and she was expected to play the role of his love interest in Purple Rain.

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Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.

Beck - "Halo of Gold"

“Have you got a fine place to slip to when you're feeling down?”

Although I don’t think Beck is an underappreciated artist, there is a song of his I’ve always liked that is not very well known. Originally released on the Cold Brains EP, Beck’s cover of the Skip Spence song “Halo of Gold” stands out to me particularly when compared to the original version.

Unlike the Beck cover, the original Skip Spence song sounds sloppy and unfinished (for good reason- learn more about Skip Spence here). Spence’s delivery is halting and out of rhythm; the instrumentation is very sparse, just drums and bass.  Beck takes the original melody and lyrics, adds typical Beck instrumentation (while retaining much of the prominent bass line), and performs it in his usual style.

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