Obsessive music lovers have few goals in life: spending money they don't have on music, listening to said music while wondering how to pay the credit card bill and occasionally taking their minds off the credit card bill by unearthing an overlooked gem of an album.\nHey, it doesn't take much to please us. We also like nagging other people about buying the albums we like: "Oh man, you GOTTA listen to Engelbert Humperdinck Live in Reykjavik." DISCLAIMER: Mr. Whirty does not endorse Engelbert Humperdinck.\nBut here are 10 albums you've never heard that I do recommend:
1) Whistle Rymes, John Entwistle (1972) -- Entwistle was easily the best musician in the Who, and on his second solo album, the Ox proved he was also a master songwriter. The album is filled with intensely personal tracks like "I Feel Better," "Apron Strings" and the aching "I Found Out." Oh yeah, and the bass-playing is frickin' awesome.\n2) Rockihnroll, Greg Kihn Band (1980) -- After five years cranking out LPs for the influential Beserkley label, he finally hit the charts with this one, featuring "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)," which has more long-term resonance than his better-known hit, "Jeopardy."\n3) The Rill Thing, Little Richard (1971) -- By the early 1970s, many rock and R&B fans considered Little Richard irrelevant — a throwback from a former era. The Rill Thing is Richard's attempt to change that, and while it wasn't received as well as he would have liked, it's still a great comeback album, led off by the hard-driving, anti-racism single, "Freedom Blues."\n4) Big Wheel, the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies (1998) -- A modern-day incarnation of Lynyrd Skynyrd, but with a hipper attitude and stronger influence from black soul and funk, the Cheetah Wheelies have never really broken through to the big time, and that's too bad. Big Wheel is their most recent studio album, and, starting with the lead track, "Boogie King," the Wheelies take no prisoners.\n5) Zoot Allures, Frank Zappa (1976) -- Admit it. You're not a Zappa fan, and you know you should be. Everyone should be, because the man was a genius, an artist who literally covered all musical bases during his career. Zoot Allures is stripped-down hard rock, but with a seedy, sordid twist. Take as evidence the nearly-10-minute "The Torture Never Stops," a slow, grinding centerpiece highlighted by females' screams of thinly-veiled sexual pain. Freaky? Yes. Sinful? Oh yeah. Brilliant? You betcha.\n6) The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James, Skip James (1994) -- Not to be blasphemous, but Skip James was both more talented and more influential than Robert Johnson. These songs from the late 1920s and early '30s are perhaps the finest pre-electric blues ever, with possible exception of Son House's stuff. "Devil Got My Woman" is simply haunting, while "I'm So Glad" shows where Eric Clapton and Cream got their inspiration.\n7) Blessing in Disguise, Metal Church (1989) -- Jonesing for late-'80s metal? Take a look at these generally overlooked headbangers from Seattle. The group's third album, Blessing, included such fist-pumpers as "Fake Healer" and the downright uplifting "The Powers That Be." The disc's centerpiece is the nine-minute plus "Anthem to the Estranged," a doleful plea for the homeless.\n8) Taking It Home, Buckwheat Zydeco (1988) -- Buckwheat's second album for Island Records gets knocked around by some critics for allegedly being overproduced and too mainstream, but with this album -- especially the inspiring single "Make a Change," which was featured in the movie "Fletch Lives" -- Buckwheat helped bring zydeco music to a whole new audience.\n9) Bourbonitis Blues, Alejandro Escovedo (1999) -- Really, any CD by Escovedo is top-notch, but this one is a personal favorite. For 30 years, Escovedo has been bending genres, from punk to alt-country to straight-ahead rock, even earning his name on the list of Artists of the 1990s from No Depression magazine. He's been battling hepatitis C for more than a year now without health insurance. Go to www.alejandrofund.com to find out more.\n10) The Bard of Armagh, Tommy Makem (1970) -- Makem is perhaps best known for his work with the Clancy Brothers, but even on his own, Makem has made some of the finest Irish folk music ever recorded. This LP includes the wistful and cathartic "Four Green Fields," a masterpiece of folk songwriting. \nOf course, the problem is that, even if you wanted to try them out, many of these albums are simply too hard to find. A few, like the Makem and Little Richard records, are perhaps only available on vinyl, while others, like the Cheetah Wheelies, are obscure enough that the CDs won't be stocked in your average Best Buy.\nBut, still, if you're curious and (for some unknown reason) actually trust my judgment, try to hunt a few of these down. Just don't use your credit card.
