Though I’d like to think my music tastes lean underground, I’m by no means an anti-mainstream purist. I love—and, conversely, despise—a Top 40 hit as much as the next guy. Still, there are so many great rock ‘n’ roll tracks from the late 1950s and beyond that we’ve lost due to the overwhelming ubiquity of the standard midcentury rock canon as we know it today. (Just imagine the usual group of 50ish songs that your local classic rock radio station plays.)
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With so many “Black Dog”s and “Carry On My Wayward Son”s to get through, countless other deserving tracks are stuck on the backburner. Here are four hidden rock ‘n’ roll gems that I would bet the majority of you haven’t heard before. And if you have, we probably have the same music taste.
“The Things We Do For Love” by 10cc
10cc perfectly captured the late 1970s vibe: rich harmonies, keyboard-forward arrangements, and a sense that the band is patchworking multiple musical snippets together. “The Things We Do For Love”, which the British soft-rock band released as a single in 1976 and on Deceptive Bends the following year, is no small exception. It’s like if teenybop-era Beatles had skipped over the tumultuousness of the late 1960s and skipped straight ahead to the late 70s.
Peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, this track certainly isn’t the most hidden. But its lack of staying power in the general classic rock canon means that a lot of people born post-1970s still have yet to discover this 10cc bop.
“(Ballad Of) The Hip Death Goddess” by Ultimate Spinach
Ultimate Spinach was only a band for a couple of years, but the Boston psychedelic rockers left us with a wealth of jangly, late-60s rock before they left. The A-side closer to their eponymous debut, “Ballad of the Hip Death Goddess”, is the musical equivalent of a lava lamp. Shimmery guitar, ethereal electronic squeals, and a driving bassline make this track the perfect psychedelic companion, if you’re not afraid of things getting a little weird.
Ultimate Spinach disbanded shortly after releasing their second album in 1968, and the breakup wasn’t exactly amicable. Despite this unsavory ending, the band’s debut album stands out as a hidden gem of the rock ‘n’ roll world.
“Big Man” by Charlie Daniels
Charlie Daniels’ “Big Man” is an anomaly in that the artist himself isn’t quite straight country, and he isn’t quite heavy enough to be full-on rock ‘n’ roll or blues. Moreover, this particular track is a bit more soulful than your standard rock fare, but it has the kind of sharp edge that one might not expect from straight R&B.
Without Daniels’ signature fiddle shredding, one would be hard pressed to guess that the singer behind “Big Man” was the same one behind “Devil Went Down to Georgia”. The former remains an ultra-funky relic from Daniels’ 1973 album, Honey in the Rock, which he re-released three years later as Uneasy Rider.
“Hocus Pocus” by Focus
Once again, Focus’ 1971 track, “Hocus Pocus”, is only really a hidden rock gem if you weren’t around to witness the Top 40 in the early 1970s. The wild journey of a song peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and achieved Top 40 success in the U.K., the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia. But these days, the track is hardly in the regular rotation of radio rock cuts—except for on Halloween, maybe.
And indeed, for those who haven’t experienced the chaotic, weird wonder that is “Hocus Pocus”, this rock ‘n’ roll gem is a sight to behold. Searing guitar, manic yodels, and heavy-duty flute riffs. Sharing the insanity is half the fun of knowing the song exists.
Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
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