35 Lost Musical Geniuses – Chosen By NME Readers

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@Rustymonupod wants The Butthole Surfers to get more kudos, labelling them as “one of the greatest art rock bands of all time” before arguing that “they should be one of those reformed festival headlining bands.” The band, who have been through 11 bass players and counting, last performed back in 2011.

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The Auteurs, writes@Poisoned_Apathy, were “one of the most unique bands of the 90’s. Kinks’ wit meets T.Rex’s glamour.” The band split in 1999 as Britpop drew to an end. Lead singer Luke Haines released a book in 2009 which referred to fellow bandmate James Banbury only as “the cellist” throughout. No hard feelings then?

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Another “lost band of the 90s”, @warrenjonhughes loved The Longpigs. “They never get mentioned but ‘The Sun Is Often Out’ is still a cracking album.” NME gave it 7/10 when it was first released and were impressed with lead singer Crispin Hunt who “boasts the messianic qualities of Piotr Adorable and the howling sixth-form lyricism of Delicatessen.”

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@AlexSNorris wants Sparklehorse to be given a higher plinth in popular culture. Mark Linkous is “The master of melancholy” he writes. Known for catchy album titles, such as debut-release ‘Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot,’ the duo hail from Richmond, Virginia.

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@mdrnlifeisrbsh agreed with our mention of Wire but still thinks Graham Coxon is “very underrated.”

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Rory Gallagher is an “Instigator, innovator and forward thinking,” writes @Joel_jhf. The Irishman was known for his flamboyant stage performances and bare Stratocaster, stripped of its paint from extensive touring and also from when it was left abandoned in a rainy ditch for days after being stolen from the back of a tour van in Dublin.

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Originally known as Cecil Ingram Connor III, Gram Parsons founded the Flying Burrito Brothers and worked with the Byrds before he died of an overdose in 1973. @MrMarkCopeland claims he “bridged the gap between country and popular rock music and seminal influence on The Stones and beyond.”

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@pipedown27 agreed with us on Sixto Rodriguez going as far to say that “if his music had taken off earlier he’d be a superstar. Lyrical genius.”

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@WadeyWade thinks Earl Brutus “should have been the Mud of the 90s”. They were known for their raucous live shows, with their last album released in 1998. They returned for a one-off live date at Hammersmith Working Men’s Club in London on 7 April 2004 which also featured a DJ set from Mani. The profits were donated to Ken Livingstone’s London Mayoral election campaign.

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Bonehead tweeted us to suggest…. Bonehead.

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@seenitheardit1 are digging some of “today’s wittiest and sharpest lyricists” from the Mountain Goats. The band are known for their Lo-Fi approach, releasing LPs in cassette or vinyl 7″ formats as part of a Boom-Box recording series.

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@KeatsianOrphan thinks that Andy Partridge is a “criminally underrated writer.” Besides his work with XTC, Partridge has also released original demos under his own name as part of the ‘Fuzzy Warbles’ album series on his record label, APE House. “Check out Senses Working Overtime, Rook, & Mayor of Simpleton,” he writes.

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@Ange_Cat remembers Kirsty MacColl as “a great singer and songwriter who was taken from us far too young.” Besides being carted out every Christmas to shout profanities at Shane MacGowan on ‘Fairytale in New York’, MacColl released five solo albums and also worked with the Smiths. She died in a power boating accident in 2000.

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Lee Mavers “is inarguably the best songwriter,” boldly claims @echdee. Achieving success with The La’s and particularly ‘There She Goes’, the frontman gained a reputation as an eccentric perfectionist. He retreated back to Liverpool as a recluse after the band’s only album.

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@stuartmwrites rates The Only Ones as lost geniuses. “Nearly 30 years of silence, a brief, tantalising return a few years ago, and then…?”Hhaving last played in 2012, The Only Ones are known to have written new material, which they played live but was never officially released. Mysterious.

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Akala is “an actual genius,” writes @LBLKMN. Also known as ‘Black Shakespeare’ or ‘The Rap Rock Electro Kid’, he’s the little brother of Ms. Dynamite. In 2006, he was the first rapper to perform a headline concert in Vietnam, and has also toured with Nas and Damien Marley.

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