100 Rare Classic Rock Songs 3
Most of these songs, like in our other two lists ( and many songs in our general lists ), you will likely never hear on Classic Rock Stations. Why? Because radio stations cater to the interests of their advertisers, and as a result usually only play very popular Top 40 by well-known groups and artists.
Many of these songs I had on 45 as a kid and later as collector of one-hit wonders and rare hard-to-find classics. I also had several compilation albums which were very popular back in the early 70’s. Albums put out by companies like K-Tel or Pepsi.
If you come from the 60’s or 70’s generation, or are a hard-core classic rock lover, some of these you might remember, and many you will remember if you listen to them, and many that you don’t remember but should listen to.
If you like music, and have a fondness for the classic oldies, you won’t want to just read this and not follow up on these tunes.
Most of these you will never hear played on Classic Rock radio stations.
All of these songs I have played on my Blip Station at TheTAZZone
These tunes are spun in no particular order, so ignore the numbering.
100 Rare Classic Rock Songs 3
( by 100 different Artists )
1. The Wildweeds – No Good To Cry
2. Sounds of Sunshine – Love Means (You Never Have To Say You’re Sorry)
3. The Bystanders – Jesamine
4. The Shag – Stop & Listen
5. A Passing Fancy – I Believe in Sunshine
6. Big Boy Pete – Cold Turkey
7. Gibsons – The Magic Book
8. 13th Floor Elevators – You’re Gonna Miss Me
9. Bob Seger System – 2+2=? ( This rare Seger anti-war song from 68′ was a local hit in Detroit but never made it on the National stage )
10. The Leaves – Hey Joe
11. The Pretty Things – Come See Me ( this song was composed by JJ Jackson – But it’s Alright )
12. Tyrannosaurus Rex – One Inch Rock ( This song is actually by Tyrannosaurus Rex and even though this group did evolve into T-Rex, and both were headed by Bolan, they were different groups. Bolan was infatuated with the novel ‘ Lord of the Rings ‘ and the original folksy Tyrannosaurus Rex reflected that in most of their compositions. It wasn’t until the 70’s that Bolan introduced an electric guitar, bassist, and drummer and changed the name to T-Rex and the focus from folk to rock. )
13. The Holy Modal Rounders – Boobs A Lot
14. The Charlatans – Codine Blues ( this is the 60’s San Fran group not the one from the UK )
15. Kaleidoscope – Pulsating Dream
16. The Unbelievable Uglies – Spider Man ( This band and the Who, while on the same tour, were both banned from Fargo Civic Auditorium as a result of broken toilets )
17. Terry Lee & Poorboys – Driftin
18. Tin Tin – Toast and Marmalade for Tea
19. The Grodes – She’s Got What It Takes
20. Preachers – Who Do You Love
21. ( Dr. T & ) The Undertakers – Love so Dear
22. The Palace Guard – Falling Sugar
23. Bare Facts – Bad Part of Town
24. The Cherry Slush – I Cannot Stop You
25. The Mystery Meat – Give Me Your Love
26. The Roemans – Don’t ( the Roemans toured with Tommy Roe and named themselves after him )
27. Smoke Ring – No Not Much
28. Berkley Five – You’re Gonna Cry
29. Rumbles – Fourteen Years
30. Sapiens – Love Ain’t Makin’ It No More
31. Bojax – So Glad
32. Rockin’ Ramrods – Bright Lit Blue Skies ( they claim to have been offered the Beatles penned ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ at the same time it was offered to the Rolling Stones )
33. The Purple Gang – Granny Takes A Trip
34. Mogen David & The Grapes of Wrath – Little Girl Gone
35. The Graveyard Five – Marble Orchard
36. Red Beard & The Pirates – Go On, Leave
37. Jackson Investment Co – Not this Time
38. Mike & The Ravens: Roller, Roller, Rollerland
39. Plain Brown Wrapper – You’ll Pay
40. Kempy and the Guardians- Love for a Price
41. Friar Tuck and the Monks – Friar Tuck’s Music Machine
42. The Cellar Dwellers – Bad Day
43. Penetrations – Sweet Sweet Baby
44. The Undecided – I never forgot her
45. The Bad Seeds – Sick and Tired
46. London and the Bridges – Keep Him
47. The Gross National Product – Cover Girl
48. Somebody’s Children – I’m Going Back To New York City
49. Limey & the Yanks – Gather My Things and Go
50. The Bit’ A Sweet — Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
51. The Yellow Payges – Never Put Away My Love for You
52. The Wet Paint – We call him a Man
53. The Sheep – Thinkin’ About It
54. Mersey Lads – Whatcha Gonna Do Baby
55. The Unrelated Segments – It’s Gonna Rain
56. Million Dollar War Babies – Hey little Boy
57. Birtha – Free Spirit
58. Sacred Irony – I See Love
59. Burlington Express – Memories
60. Christopher & The Souls – Diamonds, Rats And Gum
61. Overdrive – Nuclear Bomb ( This group started in the 70’s, broke up, then was reunited in the 80’s, then reformed again in about 2004 )
62. Tyburn Tall – War game
63. Yesterday’s Children – Sad Born Loser
64. Mike Proctor – Mr. Commuter
65. Mayfield’s Mule – Double Dealing Woman
66. The Nerve – Piece By Piece
67. The Avengers – Be A Caveman
68. The Nightcrawlers – Who Knows ( this group also appears on our first list )
69. The Pseudos – A Long Way To Nowhere
70. Love – Seven and Seven is
71. Lollipop Shoppe – You Must Be A Witch
72. Robin & the Batmen – Batskinner
73. Ultimate Spinach – Mind Flowers
74. Blues Addicts – Smukke
75. Bunalim – Bunalim ( this Turkish group used to strip naked during concerts screaming LSD LSD )
76. After Shave – Him
77. The VIP’s – I Wanna Be Free
78. Sean Buckley & The Breadcrumbs – Everybody Knows
79. Allman Joys – Spoonful
80. Beacon Street Union – The Clown Died In Marvin Gardens
81. Jimmy Castor Bunch – Troglodyte
82. The Maze – I’m so sad
83. Vejtables – I Still Love You
84. Neighb’rhood Childr’n – Feeling Zero
85. Merrell Fankhauser & H.M.S. Bounty – Girl (I`m Waiting For You) ( this group became Mu in the 70’s )
86. The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – Shifting Sands
87. Pearls before swine – Another time
88. Fifty Foot Hose – God Bless the Child
89. United States of America – The Garden of Earthly Delights
90. Lewis & Clarke Expedition – Blue Revelation ( This group formed out of the ‘ Survivors ‘ after Nesmith ( The Monkeys ) left to his commitment to the Air Force )
91. Blind Faith – In The Presence of The Lord ( Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood, and Eric Clapton were members of this group. Clapton reportedly walked off the stage during a concert because of what he thought was a poor performance, despite the crowd cheering. The group broke up in less than a year. )
92. Sons Of Champlin – Sing Me A Rainbow
93. Baker Gurvitz Army – Hearts On Fire ( Ginger Baker )
94. The International Submarine Band – Do You Know How It Feels To Be Lonesome ( this was Gram Parson’s first band )
95. The Wilde Knights – Beaver Patrol ( They originally recorded ” Just Like Me ‘ which Rick Dey sold to Paul Revere and the Raiders )
96. The Barracudas – I Can’t Believe
97. Phil and the Frantics – I Must Run
98. The Raik’s Progress – Why Did You Rob Us ( Steve Krikorian, who would later become better known as Tonio K., was a member of this group which only produced one single )
99. Zakary Thaks – Face To Face
100. The Golliwogs – Walking On The Water ( This group started out as The Blue Velvets then transformed into C.C.R. )
This is just a sampling of the 100’s of rare classics I play on Blip. I play them because I enjoy them and because someone has to keep these classics alive. For the full treatment check out TheTAZZone on Blip where I play everything from 1960 to new songs, classic rare tunes, and one-hit-wonders.
Aight! 
The First, Second, and Fourth Lists:
You might want to check out our one-hit wonder collection lists:
One-Hit Wonders: Popular and Rare
One-Hit Wonders of the 60’s: Popular and Rare
Top Twenty One-Hit Wonders in the UK: 1960-1999
Top Ten One-Hit Wonders of the 90’s
Top Ten One-Hit Wonders of the 80’s
Top Ten One-Hit Wonders of the 70’s
Top Ten One-Hit Wonders of the 60’s
also our number-one hit collections:
Number One Hits in the UK: 1960s
Number One Hits in the UK: 1970s
Number One Hits in the UK: 1980s
Number One Hits in the UK: 1990s
also our hit collections:
Rock: Can You Dig It, Baby: Present meets the Past
100 Greatest Rock Classics: 1960-1999
Rock Classics: Remembering the Classics…songs that never made our other lists
Rock Classics: Remembering the Classics…songs that never made our other lists : Part Two
Rock Classics: that almost never get played anymore
Rock Classics: that almost never get played anymore: Part Two
Rock Classics: that almost never get played anymore: Part Three
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TheTAZZone
Hi there. I hope you can help me. You seem to be quite knowledgeable with 60’s/70’s rock. Do you recall a song/band from the early 70s’ where some of the lyrics in the song were:
Mister…
She has really found her love
She sent me here to see you
and to tell you that she needs you like she never ever did before
It has a nice guitar break that is very similar to Quicksilver Messenger Service. My brother-in-law recorded it from an Albany/Schenectady college station in the early 70’s. I can send you the mp3, if you like. It’s from an old reel-to-reel, so it shows it’s age, but the quality is still pretty decent. Thanks!
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True…but not the whole story ;)…there are many factors that prevent even a great song from getting air-play…radio stations primarily cater to the tastes of their advertisers…that’s why many of these cuts ended up on pirate radio stations receiving limited, usually localized, exposure. Some were big hits in the Cities they resided in because of pirate radio station air-play, but never got national exposure.
Also, radio stations receive thousands of promo records, and only a few of them ever get air-time. I remember when I was submitting my comic strip to newspaper syndicates the chances of it getting picked up ( and knocking a strip off to get yours on ) were about the same as winning the lottery. And, even though I do say so myself, my strip was a lot funnier than most you read in the paper.
Then there’s the time factor…many of these songs were ‘ before their time ‘, too progressive for mainstream pop radio at the time.
And there’s the vulgarity, blasphemy, etc issue…even artists/groups that found themselves on a major label would be banned for certain words or phrases in the music…the BBC was perhaps the worst for banning songs…so for an artist or group that didn’t have the backing of a major label would find itself far into a hole if they were shut out of getting air-play.
So, a lot of factors play into whether a song makes it or doesn’t. 😉
The reason they’re rare is because they weren’t well received when they were released. 😀
In some cases it is unfortunate since the recording did have merit, however, what drives the music industry is the ability of a recording to make money, or at least chart somewhere on the Billboard Top 100. Today on oldies channels you are rarely going to hear songs that placed outside the Top 40 in their time.
We can look at this phenomenon in one of two ways. Either the song was lousy which was why it didn’t catch on, or the majority of record buyers had bad taste. Whoa! The music industry was a popularity contest???? You betcha! 😉