Little Feat

[cd637299]

Hey

In the 70s, the band Little Feat seemed somewhat popular, although no monster band by any means. They churned out a lot of albums, but I don't think they ever had one song on the Hot 100.

Was that by design? Was their music too, say, "non-commercial", or were they anti-Billboard or whatever?

I heard their tune "Time Loves a Hero" on the radio the other night, and this had me wondering. Maybe their vocals weren't that good either....

I'm just wondering why the lack of hit-song success....

cd

 

[OldNumber7]

Hey

In the 70s, the band Little Feat seemed somewhat popular, although no monster band by any means. They churned out a lot of albums, but I don't think they ever had one song on the Hot 100.

Was that by design? Was their music too, say, "non-commercial", or were they anti-Billboard or whatever?

I heard their tune "Time Loves a Hero" on the radio the other night, and this had me wondering. Maybe their vocals weren't that good either....

I'm just wondering why the lack of hit-song success....

cd

Ahh, a subject close to my heart. Maybe the greatest band never to become commercial superstars. The only thing anyone can take away about these guys is how well the music endures, not how high it got on the charts. I saw my first Little Feat concert about a year ago and, man, they are still great (and FUN to see live). Dixie Chicken, Willin', Fat Man in the Bathtub, Trouble, Let it Roll, Down on the Farm, and (arguably their most commercial sounding song) Time Loves a Hero. All great tunes, just to name a few. Lowell George's untimely death changed the fate of the band, but by then they had already recorded many of their classics without stellar commercial success.
What can explain it? Lousy promotion by the label? Confusion by radio stations who didn't know how to pigeonhole their music? I don't know, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy them now. There were a bunch of great recording artists in the 70s who didn't chart, or who barely charted. It doesn't mean they weren't great.

 

[SuperRadioFan]

"non-commercial" would seem to be the most prominent reason. During the time they became 'popular' I had been seduced by the Dark Side of Disco abandoning my rock proclevities (read WNEW-FM, etc). So I had very little awareness of Little Feat until I got involved with my soon to be first wife back in the early 80s. She turned me on to the Little Feat sound as well as awareness of the great WIOQ Philadelphia of those days. Today Little Feat still gets rare play from rock stations around the country. So no "hit songs" strictly album fodder.