Pop-rock monoliths like the Beatles and Pink Floyd have provided the soundtrack of my life and I shall love them till I shuffle off this mortal coil. I do get a thrill from stumbling across an artist (or a song) I love, but who has a very low profile with only a few āhits/listensā
This thread is dedicated to those unloved gems Spotify has just announced that it will no longer be paying royalties for songs with less than 1000 listens per year, so that seems like a reasonable arbitrary cut-off point for inclusion here. The same goes for YouTube videos (but please check that there are no other YT clips of the same song that are more popular).
It would be nice if you could include a couple of lines on who the artist is, and what is it you like about them/the song.
If this turns out to be another obscure āBrian threadā, thatās fine, but feel free to share your own great (or indeed weird) taste
Iāll kick it off with a band from Rotterdam that Iāve been following for years. I have no idea how I stumbled on them, but the guitarist Thomas van der Vliet is a FB friend and asked me to take part in a video last year. (That video does not qualify for this thread as there are over 1k views). Dark broody music with Cave-like feeling and gorgeous violin.
Hereās The Bullfight with The Storm behind our Smiles from the album La Chasse.
(Iāve definitely shared this with Rogier but donāt think Iāve posted it here before.)
BEEEEEEP!
7.2k view you YT and over 350ā000 listens on Spotify
Iām talking obscure!
But nevertheless, thank you for the introduction to someone I didnāt know. Cool song
Hmmm, not sure.
On a pc, if you click on the Artist, then popular, it gives you the most played with the numbers and you can scroll down until the numbers disappear (presumably less than 1000).
My phone (android) does the same, but only gives you the top five tracks. (YT should be visible)
Iām sure the mierenneukers will let you know
If itās a really good unknown tune, we all win anyway
Less than 1000 is a tough call Brian. But i have a gem that is around 2k
It is not that rare either, but this version isā¦ it is a beutiful acoustic version from Madrugada. Been on loads of concerts with them, never heard it played acoustic. This version is a rare breedā¦
And it is a shame so few have ever heard this version. It is truly brilliant!!
Please feel free to delete it if you dont approveš
Brilliant thread by the way
The first one I thought of the artist has 1,827 monthly listeners on Spotify, and the song has 76,202 listens (I Just Want To Make Music, by Ken Tobias), and the 2nd one the artist has 12 monthly listeners, and the song has 20,659 listens (Draw Your Guns, by Caleb Joel Hawkins). Based on these stats the only way Iām getting under 1,000 seems to be to write myself a Gem and post it on Spotify!!
I have one that I think you would like presuming you donāt now her already.
Mary Hampton an English Folk singer. She has 481 Monthly listeners on Spotify The Record āFollyā is not on Spotify at all. The Song Hoax and Benison is not in a named Video on Youtube I can only find this rather wonderful version which has only had 361 views in 13 years.
@tRONd Itās not a ātough callā, as in: this is not a competition
I started this thread because I am sometimes astounded at some of the quality music out there, that has virtually no (online) listeners
Regarding the incredible Madrugada, well, they kind of get carte blanche for everything Nice find.
Iām sure your fellow countrymen St. Thomas might end up on this thread at some stage, but not tonightā¦
Sounds like a plan. Looking forward to it already (in fact I think we might have heard the preview )
Itās not an/in out thing, Clint
You never know, you might come across a band/artist that you really like that you wouldnāt normally hear @Will_E_Vander Iām usually not that into English folk, but thatās a cool performance, Will.
Thanks for sharing @JokuMuu Hey I can see Wales from my bed (Just a pity theyāre from Cardiff on the other side). Nice share. I enjoyed that.
I initially thought of Half Man Half Biscuit - Len Ganley Stance.
Too popular.
Then I thought of The Weather Prophets - I Almost Prayed.
Much too popular.
Then I remembered an EP I bought in the mid 1980s that was pretty obscure then. It was the time I was buying albums by The Church (of course), REM, Green On Red, The Waterboys, Echo And The Bunnymen etc. In the UK it was the time of Stock, Aitken & Waterman and plastic pop saturation - and no amount of modern day revisionism is going to convince me that Rick Astley or Sinitta or Kylie Minogue were releasing great music.
It was peak Reagan and Thatcher.
It was leg warmers, shoulder pads and power dressing.
It was yuppies, gazumping and greed.
It was pre internet dot com, people bought newspapers and fed coins into public phones in the street to talk to distant friends and family.
I was a pale student in a long, dark overcoat and I wanted music that had substance and power to take me elsewhere.
I read a review of an EP by a new band from California on limited release.
The band were called 28th Day and the EP carried the same name. It was seven tracks of raw jangle post-punk psychedelic rock. And I loved it.
I will limit myself here to the last track with a criminally low < 1000 view count on Youtube. It is epic.
Hi Brian,
Nice idea
But so so sad that the first 2 persons have a total lack of respect for the rules you set up ā¦a āāvery simple ruleā¦
Annoying isnāt itā¦thatās how I usually feel if I come up with something and ā¦
And unfortunately you covered yourself with
otherwise I (we) could of course have posted our own video`s ā¦I was already think wich of mine i post
Of course I quickly looked at a few but some are not even on YouTube and a few others are just a little bit too much, and one of which I had doubts about the 59k viewers
And then there are a few from friends where the sound on YouTube is very badā¦and the video`s too, but I do have CDs of themā¦so who knows in the future when I am a bit more creative with dawā¦
But Iām sure thereās enough music I listen to that meets your criteria
Greetings and thanks for that I saw some friends and with the nice memories that came with that
I love this! Thanks! Also love the lead-up intro for it
This is from Ffredi Blino - also Welsh
Tarmacs, Roads and Fences.
Heās got some other songs on YouTube with more than 1000 views but this one doesnāt. Iām not sure about Spotify though. This is the title track of the album and one of my favourites.
Didnāt know this song. Later deleted or not. Thatās a gem indeed. Added to playlist 
(Just a pity theyāre from Cardiff on the other side). Nice share. I enjoyed that.
ā¦a āāvery simple ruleā¦
and a few others are just a little bit too much, and one of which I had doubts about the 59k viewers 
Also love the lead-up intro for it 