I Found Them First! Artists You "Discovered"

[Smilla]

Everyone I know seems to have at least one band, group or individual artist they are convinced they were listening to before anyone else got turned on to them. My submission for this category, should it "take" around here, is my beloved Soul Coughing. I "found" them in 1995, just a few short months after Ruby Vroom came out, and fell in love. None of my friends could be convinced of that band's appeal until El Oslo was released, and then, while most of said friends eventually said they liked the first CD, too, they refused to credit me with "being the first." I'm still bitter.

[Deleted]

Shirley Manson (pre garbage), I was at a concert (The Breeders) and she was in the warm up act, she was fantastic and I became fascinated by her and then came garbage etc etc

[dwanollah]

I've loved The Donnas for YEARS AND YEARS, and suddenly, a couple summers ago, all the teens were just going ga-ga for "Take it Off." I went to a show and was the oldest person there. I got moshed on by kids!

[vacationland]

Billy Bragg. I was a fan of his when he was a street musician in London (circa 1983) and even when he started getting opening act slots at concerts, he still used to busk (play on the sidewalk) outside his shows. The first time I ever attended a concert where he was actually on the bill (Smiths/Redskins/Billy Bragg) he thanked the audience for the extra 27 quid he got from people waiting to see the show.

He was unmistakable: he played a white electric guitar and carried around an amplifier on a big backpack frame. He kept up a great stream of running chitchat with passers by, and it's one of the reasons his between-song commentary is so polished and funny: he's been doing it for 20+ years and back in the day, it used to come in handy for talking people out of their spare change.

The first thing I ever bought of his was a homemade cassette tape, from his guitar case on a sidewalk near Covent Garden. I was shocked (and delighted!) to see him actually record and release an honest-to-god album some months later. I was definitely the first person I knew who was listening to this guy.

Let's see...I helped book The Pogues to play at my college once, well before they had a record deal. They had good word-of-mouth from another student society, but we were warned they'd drink a lot so we'd better have enough lager on hand. We didn't.

Not me, but a friend (as an 8th grader) went to a junior prom with a much older guy. The live band? The Cars (obviously pre-recording contract). She was also the first person I knew who owned a Sugar Hill Gang record, waaaay before most white suburbanites had discovered hip hop/rap (circa 1979-80).

[londonaster]

I "found" The Darkness before all my friends did. That was really only because I was in England the summer they brokeout and they didn't hit the States until a couple months later.

Currently none of my friends seem to know who Bloc Party, The Music, or Kasabian are and they usually catch on to the foreign bands even if the bands never release a song in the States.

[harkesiemcgee]

Freaking Gavin DeGraw in coffee houses before he was on the WB. Loved him and pimped his music to my friends at college.

Also, strangely G Love and his band Special Sauce, who was a substitute teacher at our high school...which, of course, led me to know Jack Johnson, who was his friend.

On top of those, I will admit with a bit of shame that I was at *NSYNC's first showcase, before they were signed to a record label. So yeah, I feel a little strongly about watching them evolve...so back off! ;D

[carrier76]

Well, the only one I can think of offhand was Maroon 5. I was reading Spin and there was a little sidebar where we learned what Michelle Branch likes. This was Fall '02. She said Maroon 5, and we should all check out the song "She Will Be Loved." So I downloaded it, and was pleasantly surprised. About 6 months later, "Harder to Breathe" blew up, and I went out and bought the CD....we all see what happened after that, and now debate that CD's worth to me. I NEVER listen to it, even though I still love "Harder to Breathe."

I tried to be the one who first "discovered" Bijou Phillips but that didn't exactly work out for me. "When I Hated Him" is still a good song.

[valueofaloonie]

Snow Patrol and The Weakerthans. I was turned onto both groups by a 'more-indie-than-thou' friend in Toronto.

I have no idea if they're popular anywhere else, but they're pretty big here in Canada.

[Deleted]

I'm not terribly proud of this but I had a friend who worked in a radio station(no, that's not what I'm not proud of) and he gave me a bunch of CDs that they got free from the record company. One of them was Jewell. I loved it. I thought she had an awesome voice and I loved all the songs. Listened to that CD for a year and then suddently that "Who Will Save Your Soul" song was being played everywhere.

[Ripley]

Me and my friend Kim were the first people in our high school to discover The Pet Shop Boys thanks to the Canadian video show Video Hits. Then one of the trend-oid girls tried to lay claim two months later when West End Girls became more popular and we quickly corrected her.