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Bands that should be bigger!

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A propos of not very much & them appearing in a playlist, I give you The Silencers. One of the best bands I’ve ever seen live at the Barrowlands.

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  1. Never heard of them, but like what I’m hearing (in an 80s-ish stylee). I know I could Google this, but are they a Scottish Band – there’s something Celtic about the sound (can’t place the comparison – Simple Minds?)

  6. Mark Mulcahy, ex of Miracle Legion. Several albums to his name, each chock-full of charming, offbeat tunes, delivered with the some of the sweetest vocals you could ever ask for. He has a knack of crafting these short songs that don’t outstay their welcome, but which plant a melody or a lyric in your consciousness long term.

    I don’t think there’s any need for him to be some sort of superstar, but I’m constantly surprised he isn’t just a little bigger than he is.

    There was a tribute album of covers about a decade ago, staffed by his many musician fans (Thom Yorke! The National! Frank Turner! Frank Black!, etc, etc), which I think was to preserve his financial wellbeing after the sudden loss of his wife left him with kids to raise solo. But beyond that, you really don’t hear much about him, and he just trundles on, quietly making lovely music.

    He’s also responsible for Don’t Talk Crazy, which is about the most bare bones song you can possibly imagine (very light keyboard and Mulcahy’s voice, nothing more), but which floors me every time I hear it. It tells its story beautifully, and what a sad story it is, all regret and wisdom earned the hard way. Plus, “In my blind romantic eye, I made a simple supposition” is one of my favourite lines of any song ever. It’s all just so utterly weird and it shouldn’t work at all, and yet… it does.

    • Yeah, another big Mark Mulcahy fan here.
      I’ve loved his songs since the second Miracle Legion album “Me and Mr Ray” back in 1989.
      Every couple of years, he releases an excellent album, which the world then promptly ignores.
      I feel compelled to list my favourite Mulcahy solo albums in order of preference. The top four are all terrific.

      1. Fathering (1997)
      2. In Pursuit of Your Happiness (2005)
      3. The Gus (2019)
      4. The Possum in the Driveway (2017)

      5. Dear Mark J Mulcahy, I Love You (2013)
      6. Smilesunset (2001)

      • A fellow fan!

        I’m not sure I could put the albums in order, although I have more love for Smilesunset than you, probably as it was my way in.

        I can definitely see an argument for Fathering as number 1.

  7. Well my theory I’d if you want to be really successful, don’t be funny.

    As evidence, I think Sparks would have been more successful in their career if their lyrics had not tended to have been based on humour.

    Maybe also The Fall. I recall reading a member of the group saying that in the 80s and 90s they often used to bump into Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds while touring as they played the same types of venues, but the latter group got a lot bigger. There can be lots of reasons for that of course, but I think the fact that Nick Cave became a very serious artist came into it.

    • I concur. I occasionally do live sound for acts on their way up, and it’s often the ones we thought were miserable arseholes during soundcheck (“they’re not coming back”) who go on to better things (so we couldn’t afford to have them back, anyway).

      • Is this because the “miserable arseholes” are, er, actually more professional? Is it that the folks who think they are rock n’roll are more likely to be unreliable, intoxicated (in a bad way), and generally not as good as they think they are? I realise the other way, beginners thinking they are big stars and being humourlessly up themselves is probably also a bad sign. When i look back to see listings pages of the past, I often have a real sense of the justifiable failure of all that effort.

        • Sadly, usually not – they just have an over-inflated sense of their own talent. The really talented/professional/older ones tend to be nice on a human level, too, and happy with their lot.

          There’s a guide to soundchecks written years ago by Henry Rollins along the lines of “The PA crew have been here for hours already, will be here for hours after you leave, will not be impressed by your infantile behaviour. They should get your fee and vice-versa”.

    • Yep. What a wonderful world where the acts I like cost €25-30 to see in agreeably small venues while those ghastly merchants of cack fill out stadiums and enormodomes charging their fans €100+.
      The only problem is nowadays physical sales have gone through the floor, so the smaller acts have to live on sawdust sandwiches.
      If I had a magic wand, I’d give all my “bands that should be bigger” one “A Girl Like You”-sized megahit (or, perhaps nowadays more usefully, their song in an ad or as the theme for a prestigious HBO show) to keep the wolf from the door and allow them to do their own thing.
      (*thinks: I imagine a great many acts would regard this one hit as an albatross, perhaps even a curse, resulting, as it would, in a scenario akin to the Big Train “Play Streets Of London” sketch. Damn. Playing God is hard..*)

      • I was always a big Orange Juice and subsequently Edwyn Collins fan and I must have seen him live a dozen times before A Girl Like You was a hit. Through those wilderness years he never played Rip It Up even though other Orange Juice tracks were regularly. I remember his triumphant Shepherds Bush Empire post hit gig and the cheer when he launched into Rip It Up, no longer a one hit wonder. He segued into Good Times by Chic. It was a special moment and I think enough of the audience git the significance.

        Having written the above, it strikes me that Orange Juice should have been bigger. They had so many catchy pop songs and a handsome charismatic singer. I’m still baffled that I Can’t Help Myself wasn’t a hit. Pure jangle pop joy!

  9. I mentioned Lola in Slacks in the late-night songs thread…they deserve to be bigger.

    But then, they seem to be nice people with a sense of humour – so maybe the “Hawkfall-Fenton Humour Factor” will apply to them…

    • I bought the Lola In Slacks album – on blue vinly – last year, based upon a recommendation here (El Hombre?)

      I like it and have been trying to get the cloth-eared promoter of gigs I do sound for to book them, without any success yet. Mind you, it might not do their career any good if he did.

  10. Mishka. Two of his albums are among my favourites: Above The Bones and it’s sister-album Guy With A Guitar, which consists mostly of acoustic versions of songs from Above The Bones. I’d be hard pressed to say which versions I prefer. One (or two) of my favourite reggae albums. He seems to have had lots of critical acclaim, but I don’t think I’ve seen him mentioned on here (except by me and I don’t really read what I write). I love his songs, his music and his voice. He’s not a band but he should be bigger.

    Facts I found on my computer:

    Mishka Frith had an unusual childhood. Born to a Bermudian father and Nova Scotian mother, he grew up on his family’s boat, sailing from island to island in the Caribbean. Mishka and his sisters (one of whom is also a music artist, Heather Nova, the other television news reporter and model Susannah Frith) were home schooled until their high school years.[2][3] His uncle, Michael K. Frith, worked for The Jim Henson Company, and was a creator of Miss Piggy, and of the television shows Fraggle Rock and Between the Lions.[4] His son, Mishka’s first-cousin, is folk singer Jonathan Frith.[5] In addition to developing his skills as a musician, Mishka also spent countless hours honing his windsurfing talents. He represented Bermuda in 1991 and 1992 in the windsurfing world championships, before concentrating primarily on his music career.[3]

    Mishka was signed to Alan McGee’s Creation Records in the UK in 1997. In 1999, Mishka released his first single, “Give You All The Love” which was an immediate success charting in the Top 40 in the UK and Top 10 in Japan. Mishka released his self-titled debut album Mishka (including Heather Nova on backing vocals) later that year which received much critical acclaim in both the UK and Japan.[1][3][6][7][8][9]

    Mishka’s second album One Tree was produced by Swedish producer Martin Terefe (KT Tunstall, James Morrison) in 2005. On his third album, Above the Bones, Mishka worked with longtime Sly and Robbie guitarist, Daryl Thompson, who played for many years with Peter Tosh and Black Uhuru. It was at this time that Mishka met actor Matthew McConaughey. The two shared a deeply rooted appreciation for reggae music and it was a natural fit for McConaughey to sign Mishka to his j.k. livin record label.[10][11] In February 2009, Above the Bones debuted at number one on the Billboard Reggae Charts, and Mishka was named 2009’s Best New Artist in the singer/songwriter category by iTunes.[12]

    Mishka released his album, Talk About, on 30 March 2010. It again debuted at number one on the iTunes Reggae Chart and includes the song “Homegrown” that features Willie Nelson.[citation needed] Talk About also features “Stars Will Be Shining” and “Give Them Love”, produced by Butch Walker (Pete Yorn, P!nk, Fall Out Boy).

    Mishka began actively touring in support of Talk About in the spring of 2010. At the same time, Mishka and surf-clothing giant, O’Neill, entered into a partnership. O’Neill, the original California surf, snow and lifestyle brand, manufactures wetsuits, drysuits, sports clothing and accessories and is currently developing an eco-friendly apparel line, “ECO-Neill”, which Mishka will have a hand in designing.

    In 2012, Mishka released his EP album “Ocean Is My Potion” on Mailboat Records, featuring his long-time friend and legendary musician Jimmy Buffett and cover album artwork by surf genre fine artist Jay Alders.[13]

    His album The Journey, released in November 2013, topped the Billboard Reggae Albums chart in January 2014, his fifth album to achieve that position.[14]

    Above The Bones (band version)

    Above The Bones (acoustic version)

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