Do you have a band that to most people is obscure or they've never even heard of them, but to you, they're so familiar you see them as very mainstream? These quirks are quite common. You get a record early in life and even though no one has heard of them, you've played it so much, they seem like a commonplace band to you.
It won't surprise you that I had a few of these. One was Brian Prothero, who had a single called Pinball released in August 1974, which reached a peak of number 22. He had three albums in the 70s which featured Ian Anderson and Barrimore Barlow who were also on Chrysalis. Now 81 he has been narrating the Channel 4 dating show First Dates since 2015. No one remembers those records but I played them all the time in my teens and they were quite commonplace to me.
Duncan Browne was another. You may or may not remember his hit 'Journey' in 1972, it got to #23. His self-titled 1973 album, made with the help of Jim Rodford from Argent and Rabbit Bundrick. It flopped even with the help of the single and he later joined a band called Metro, who I think I saw in 1979 at Newcastle Poly. He even co-wrote a song on Bowie's Let's Dance album. Died of cancer aged just 46. His was an early proggy-folk record for me.
A bit more well-known is Jo Jo Gunne whose single Run Run, Run which went top 10, I loved in 1972, but he albums didn't do anything in the UK and they were lost to the mists of time. They had a bit more success in America, where the debut album that I loved got to #57 but they were one of my early loves
Lastly were The Illusion. They were an American psychedelic hard rock band from Long Island, New York. They released three albums in the United States, the first of which was also issued in the United Kingdom, though ironically I had an American copy which I'd bought for pennies from Alan Fearnley's just because it was cheap. They are best known for their single "Did You See Her Eyes", which reached #32 in the US in mid-1969. No one remembers them or their silly hair but I thought they were a bit far out and I played that record a lot. It got to #69 in the states and they even toured supporting Hendrix
You will remember Standing In The Road by Blackfoot Sue, which was a #4 in 1972, but did you have "Sing Don't Speak" which reached number 36 in December 1972. Well I did and their debut album, Nothing To Hide which didn't sell. They were from Birmingham and evolved into Liner and then Outside Edge. I loved their hairy, glam rock approach but aside from the hit, I think I was the only one who liked them.
There are probably many more, long forgotten groups that were on my early play lists that I thought everyone knew but no one did.
