Did you used to be in a band that never made it?

afterschoolvideoclub · 07-10-2015, 03:57 AM

I have. Lots.

How many bands have there been that got as far as recording and playing gigs but never ultimately made it commercially? Hundreds of thousands, must be. Probably millions. Of those, many would have course been rubbish, but I’ve seen my fair share of bands who really had something. And yet it was not to be… musical differences (both genuine and euphemistic) and perhaps as many stories of why the band ended as there are bands themselves.

I thoroughly recommend Killing Bono, a brilliant book by Neil McCormick who went to school with U2. He was there in Larry's kitchen for the first rehearsal in the late 70s. As U2 went on to become the biggest band in the world, Neil's own band lurched from near-miss to near-miss, getting painfully close but hitting every bad luck and self-destructive obstacle on the way. They turned it into a movie which wasn't so great as they made up most of the story, but the book itself is brilliant - fantastic therapy for anyone who was in a band (especially a good one) which, for whatever reasons, never really took off.

The millions of lost songs out there languishing on cassettes and forgotten hard drives in bedroom drawers, cupboards and lofts fascinate me. In fact I thought I’d contribute one more – a slightly retro song about lost songs, itself surely destined to be another lost song. I’m trying to crowd source a video, made up totally of real footage of lost bands. I’ve got about half of what I need – we’ve already got some brilliant stuff, including Neil McCormick’s old bands which he was kind enough to let us use. If you used to be in a band and there’s any online evidence, do post a link or send me an email at afterschoolvideoclub@yahoo.com .

My own best story is when we got a record deal with a small label, initially a cassette-only release. With about 2 or 3 weeks to go, the warehouse with all their stock burned to the ground. They were uninsured, and dropped all their new artists in their financial crisis that followed.

So what about your lost bands? Or did you ever see a band that you thought were gonna be big and were never heard of again?

Guy - After School Video Club

07-10-2015, 03:57 AM	#1 (permalink)
afterschoolvideoclub Groupie Join Date: Jul 2015 Posts: 3	Did you used to be in a band that never made it? I have. Lots. How many bands have there been that got as far as recording and playing gigs but never ultimately made it commercially? Hundreds of thousands, must be. Probably millions. Of those, many would have course been rubbish, but I’ve seen my fair share of bands who really had something. And yet it was not to be… musical differences (both genuine and euphemistic) and perhaps as many stories of why the band ended as there are bands themselves. I thoroughly recommend Killing Bono, a brilliant book by Neil McCormick who went to school with U2. He was there in Larry's kitchen for the first rehearsal in the late 70s. As U2 went on to become the biggest band in the world, Neil's own band lurched from near-miss to near-miss, getting painfully close but hitting every bad luck and self-destructive obstacle on the way. They turned it into a movie which wasn't so great as they made up most of the story, but the book itself is brilliant - fantastic therapy for anyone who was in a band (especially a good one) which, for whatever reasons, never really took off. The millions of lost songs out there languishing on cassettes and forgotten hard drives in bedroom drawers, cupboards and lofts fascinate me. In fact I thought I’d contribute one more – a slightly retro song about lost songs, itself surely destined to be another lost song. I’m trying to crowd source a video, made up totally of real footage of lost bands. I’ve got about half of what I need – we’ve already got some brilliant stuff, including Neil McCormick’s old bands which he was kind enough to let us use. If you used to be in a band and there’s any online evidence, do post a link or send me an email at afterschoolvideoclub@yahoo.com . My own best story is when we got a record deal with a small label, initially a cassette-only release. With about 2 or 3 weeks to go, the warehouse with all their stock burned to the ground. They were uninsured, and dropped all their new artists in their financial crisis that followed. So what about your lost bands? Or did you ever see a band that you thought were gonna be big and were never heard of again? Guy - After School Video Club