3 Nostalgic and Strange Albums from the 20th Century I Know You’ve Never Heard Before

Do you yearn for the musical days of old, but feel like you’ve heard every noteworthy album from the 1960s through the 1990s in existence? Maybe you’re at a point where you still want to consume music from the previous century, but can’t find anything new that you know will be good. Luckily, I’m here to help. I bet you’ve never heard the following three strange, nostalgic, yet often undiscovered albums from back in the day.

Videos by American Songwriter

‘Silver Apples’ by Silver Apples (1968)

I’ll never get sick of writing about this album. I’ve listened to it about a million times at this point. And still, so few people know about the massively influential electronic rock outfit, Silver Apples, and their debut 1968 album. 

This group was using (homemade and primitive) synthesizers before they were really being used in music at all. At the time, synths were just a tool studied in greater academia. Many believe that Silver Apples was the first rock band to utilize synths. And their resulting works are absolutely mind-boggling.

‘Mother Earth’s Plantasia’ by Mort Garson (1976)

If you’re in the mood for something on the relaxing side of music, I might recommend the 1976 space age pop album Mother Earth’s Plantasia by Mort Garson. The younger crowd recently rediscovered this gorgeous little gem, and a few of its songs have been floating around TikTok. 

Still, not enough people know about this album. Mort Garson was friends with a few authors who wrote plant care books, and he was inspired by them (and his houseplant-loving wife) to create an electronic album specifically composed for plants to listen to. The result is something quite pleasant for humans to listen to as well. If you’re a fan of early electronica, give this one a spin.

‘Space Hymn’ by Lothar And The Hand People (1969)

Perhaps the weirdest album on this list is the 1969 psychedelic rock record Space Hymn by the ever-underrated Lothar And The Hand People. This album, at least at the beginning, sounds like something a cult leader would release to further their organization’s reach. It’s trippy, full of spoken-word oddness, and a fine example of using unique instruments in the context of rock music. 

I’d put this album in the same category as Silver Apples. Lothar And The Hand People utilized the theremin and modular synth in pioneering and creative ways on this hidden gem of an album. It’s definitely one of my personal favorite strange and nostalgic albums.

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images