What follows is a list of
garage bands and other largely unknown
rock bands throughout
North America and
Europe which often played music that made
garage rock sound good in comparison. These titles also happen to be other things by pure
coincidence. Most of these bands were formed during the latter half of the
20th century. What singles all of these bands out is the fact that the members of said bands consisted mostly of
high school and
college kids who had somehow acquired
musical instruments but only a few of them per band actually knew how to play. The rest were just there to
jam, get
drunk, and raid whatever was in the lead
guitar player's refrigerator. They are not garage bands because they rarely made it that far.
In most cases recordings were never made, but occasionally someone was able to find a decent four-track machine or just a cassette recorder. Those recordings which did get made are occasionally kept faithfully by ex-members of the band for years after the initial attempt to formulate the band. These recordings are ideal conversation pieces for when ex-band members meet again years later. They can also be used for purposes of bribery, should an ex-member of the band ever actually become well-known and embarrassed by his past.
On very rare occasions, these bands became the incubator for a later incarnations of more successful bands which eventually actually found a garage, changed their name to something better, and then later something called an audience, which was always the Holy Grail for all garage bands which never made it to the garage. Most of the time garage bands which never made it to the garage were really only able to get close friends or very drunk people to sit still long enough to listen to them rehearse. These bands were able to play in people's bedrooms, living rooms when the parental units were away, or public restrooms where the acoustics were great but everyone had to bring their own power source since electrical outlets in public restrooms were often in short supply. Another problem with performing in public places was the police.
Anyway. Here's the list. There are more. This should give you an idea what I mean.
Please see also: