A few dozen times now, I have featured on this blog batches of songs that I have labeled “lost classics.” In this new age of AI, I thought I’d take a look at how AI defines that term:

“‘Lost classics’ are forgotten, overlooked, or out of print books (often 50+ years old) that possessed high artistic quality but failed to gain mainstream attention upon initial release.  They are deemed ‘masterpieces’ worthy of revival, frequently brought back to attention by small presses, specialized series, or literary critics. These are books that were ignored or disregarded when first published, often due to poor timing, niche subject matter, or lack of marketing. They are works with enduring quality that are rediscovered, rehabilitated, and championed by editors, authors, or small, independent publishers.” 

That’s pretty much precisely what I’ve been saying all along — with one important difference. AI chooses to use the term in reference exclusively to books, while I have been referring to music — songs and/or albums from decades ago that, in my opinion, have been hidden and neglected but are crying out for their moment in the spotlight.

I offer the dozen songs below as nuggets from the dustbin of rock music history that absolutely deserve your attention. Most of these are tunes by established artists on popular albums; they’re “deep tracks” that never got the radio exposure that would have made them better known to a wider audience. I trust that you’ll agree they merit a closer listen once you hear them on the Spotify playlist you’ll find at the end of the piece.

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“The Goodbye Look,” Donald Fagen, 1982

Steely Dan’s seven albums between 1972 and 1980 still hold up today as some of the smartest, most technically proficient and crisply produced albums in rock history.  Nearly a dozen hit singles dominated the airwaves throughout the decade, and the albums drew rave reviews and sold millions.  When wunderkinds Walter Becker and Donald Fagen complained of fatigue and burnout and parted ways in 1981, Becker went into hiding in Hawaii, but Fagen soon soldiered on alone, producing the excellent LP “The Nightfly,” which sounded pretty much like the next Steely Dan album.  While the single “I.G.Y.” got most of the attention, several other songs should’ve been hits in their own right, especially the snappy calypso track “The Goodbye Look.”

“Where to Now, St. Peter?” Elton John, 1971

At the beginning, one of the most successful songwriters of the century struggled to be noticed.  His 1969 debut album, “Empty Sky,” stiffed in the UK and wasn’t even released in the US until years later.  His second, “Elton John,” also saw sluggish sales upon its release in March 1970, but it went on to establish him in early 1971 on the strength of his signature tune, “Your Song.”  Meanwhile, his third album, “Tumbleweed Connection,” released in October 1970, was a marvelous collection of songs that evoked the American West.  It ultimately reached #5 on the US album charts but, incredibly, never produced a hit single.  Among the many excellent tracks FM radio chose to play was “Where to Now, St. Peter?,” a lovely piano-based piece in which lyricist Bernie Taupin posed the age-old question every soul asks as he approaches the pearly gates on Reckoning Day.

“Lady of the Island,” Crosby, Stills and Nash, 1969

These three exemplary musicians, pooling their talents after their departures from The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and The Hollies, each contributed three superb tunes, and Stephen Stills (nicknamed “Captain Manyhands”) played most of the instruments and oversaw production on the astonishing “Crosby Stills & Nash” debut LP. With iconic classics like “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” “Marrakesh Express,” “Guinnevere,” “Wooden Ships” and “Long Time Gone,” it was easy to overlook the quiet, unassuming Graham Nash ballad “Lady of the Island.”  Accompanied only by Stills’ simple acoustic guitar plucking, Nash sang his tender melody as vocal maestro David Crosby weaved in and around him with an intricate scat counterpart.  This is SUCH a beautifully delicate song.

“The Late Great Johnny Ace,” Paul Simon, 1984

In the wake of the hugely popular Simon and Garfunkel “Live in Central Park” reunion LP of 1982, the estranged duo embarked on a US tour, then began working on what was supposed to be a new S&G studio album. But the old tensions returned, and Simon sent Garfunkel packing, turning the ten songs instead into “Hearts and Bones,” another Simon solo work. It received lukewarm reviews and fan response, perhaps a victim of changing times and preferences in mid-’80s pop music (although that would change dramatically with 1986’s “Graceland”). Buried at the end of the LP was its best track, “The Late Great Johnny Ace,” which merged Simon’s musings about the underrated ’50s rock & roller with a wistful verse overtly referencing the 1980 murder of John Lennon.  The song proceeds through several moods before concluding with a cello-driven, hymn-like elegy mourning the loss of both men.  It was debuted among the songs performed at the Central Park show, but was held off the live album, making its first appearance here.

“You Make It Easy,” James Taylor, 1975

Picture this scenario:  A married couple fight and the husband storms out, heading down to a quiet bar somewhere to drown his sorrows and ponder his next move.  At this vulnerable moment, he is approached by an alluring woman and is sorely tempted to stray, even if only for that one night…“You make it easy, yes you do, for a man to fall…”   This hidden track from James Taylor’s popular “Gorilla” album in 1975 serves up a smoldering melody and confident lead vocal, coaxed along by David Sanborn’s sexy sax solo.  The man in the lyrics of “You Make It Easy” ultimately sends the woman on her way, concluding that he has too much to lose by jeopardizing his marriage. I rank this one among the Top 15 songs in Taylor’s voluminous catalog.

“Can’t Find My Way Home,” Blind Faith, 1969

Critics and fans alike anticipated great things when Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton, each recovering from the breakup of their popular bands Traffic and Cream, joined up to form Blind Faith in the spring of 1969.  The crushing hype and expectations doomed the group from the get-go, and they split after one brief tour, but the resulting album, which was greeted curiously at first, nevertheless reached #1 on US album charts and today ranks among the finest of its era. Winwood wrote most of the songs, with “Sea of Joy” and “Had to Cry Today” getting the bulk of the FM radio airplay. Clapton weighed in with the impressive spiritual piece, “Presence of the Lord,” and drummer Ginger Baker came up with the hypnotizing “Do What You Like,” which was extended into a 16-minute jam with guitar solo, bass solo and drum solo before a bizarre coda fadeout. The real jewel of the bunch was Winwood’s gorgeous acoustic guitar song, “Can’t Find My Way Home,” which both artists have included in different arrangements in their live solo repertoires in the decades since.

“Written in Sand,” Santana, 1985

After three explosively inventive albums in the 1969-1971 period, the original lineup of Santana broke up, and leader Carlos Santana chose to work with multiple collaborators (John McLaughlin, for one) and experimented with a variety of musical styles over the next decade — jazz fusion, samba, blues — with varying degrees of success.  In 1985, following a pair of commercially successful LPs with hit singles (“Winning” and “Hold On”), the album “Beyond Appearances” seemed to fall on deaf ears, comparatively speaking.  As often happens on albums like this, there were a couple of top-shelf songs buried deep in the track listing. The one that really grabs me is the dreamy “Written in Sand,” one of the all-time best night driving songs ever. Santana’s guitar work is astonishing here.

“Can You See Him,” Batdorf and Rodney,” 1971

The singer-songwriter genre was huge in the early ’70s, with Crosby, Stills and Nash, James Taylor, Carole King, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell and others leading the way.  With so many acts vying for a piece of the pie, inevitably some didn’t get the attention they so richly deserved.  Perhaps the greatest of these artists was the duo of John Batdorf and Mark Rodney, who offered up some of the best harmonies, acoustic guitar work and songwriting to ever miss the charts.  Just one listen to their debut album, “Off the Shelf,” is all it should take to convince you that the record-buying audience really missed the boat by overlooking these guys.  Joyous melodies, sharp production values, delightful harmonies abound on tracks like “Oh My Surprise,” “You Are the One,” “Let Me Go,” “One Day” and “Where Were You and I.”  But nothing can touch the sheer exuberance and majesty of the six-minute masterpiece “Can You See Him,” which some FM disc jockeys were savvy enough to play.  Do yourself a favor and check out this amazing song, album, and artist.  Batdorf, by the way, continues to write and record new music 55 years later.

“Guitar and Pen,” The Who, 1978

By 1978, the best work of Pete Townshend and The Who seemed to be behind them.  The music scene had splintered into either the raw insolence of punk or the effervescent sheen of disco, neither of which had room for the power chords and arena anthems of The Who.  Townshend struggled with depression and burnout, but he continued plugging away in his home studio, relying more and more on synthesizers in his songwriting.  Critics and fans were therefore delighted by the release of the album and song “Who Are You,” which put the band right back among the premier acts in the business.  Among the underrated autobiographical tracks that dominated the album was “Guitar and Pen,” Townshend’s incisive look at the songwriter’s predicament — the frustration of writer’s block and the inability to take fragments of musical and lyrical ideas and turn them into a finished track. The arrangement and Daltrey’s vocal performance carry the day.

“Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow,” Joni Mitchell, 1975

The ethereal songstress from the Canadian prairies had been turning heads since her arrival in 1968 with incredible poem-songs like “Both Sides Now,” “The Circle Game” and “Chelsea Morning.”  She reached a commercial peak in 1974 with the shimmering “Court And Spark” LP and its hits “Help Me” and “Free Man in Paris,” followed closely by the superb live album “Miles of Aisles.”  So fans were a bit perplexed by Mitchell’s next move — a significant turn toward jazz influences with her 1975 collection, “The Hissing of Summer Lawns.”  She retained the services of saxophonist Tom Scott and his L.A. Express musicians, and wrote boldly experimental songs and arrangements that fused folk, rock and jazz in memorable ways.  Reviews were mixed, but those in the know raved about the trailblazing work she was doing on tracks like “”Shadows and Light,” “Edith and the Kingpin,” “Harry’s House” and the wonderful groove of “Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow.”

“It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City,” Bruce Springsteen, 1973

Among the handful of artists who were saddled with the impossible-to-live-up-to label as “the new Dylan” was the scruffy, streetwise songwriter from Asbury Park, New Jersey.  His first two albums — chock full of fantastic story-songs overflowing with words and images of the hardscrabble life along the Jersey shore in the early ’70s — were met with profound indifference by the record-buying public and a cynical press skeptical of record company hype.  His incendiary live shows established his reputation as a game-changer, a restless maverick who would revitalize rock just when it needed it most.  Eventually his fans would revisit his early work, and they found the original (and better) version of “Blinded By the Light” and such diamonds as “Growin’ Up,” “For You,” “Spirit in the Night” and the amazing “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City,” a regular part of his concert setlist during his rise to fame.

“Let’s Go Together,” Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship, 1970

The Jefferson Airplane started running out of gas after its Woodstock appearance and heroic 1969 album “Volunteers.”  Although a few more half-baked Airplane albums were still to come, most of its members were trying various solo and spinoff projects, including Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady’s band, Hot Tuna.  Paul Kantner, meanwhile, collaborated with Grace Slick and some of the better musicians of the Bay Area, including Casady, Jerry Garcia and David Crosby, among others, and the stunning result was a sci-fi/prog rock classic called “Blows Against the Empire,” the first album that ever included the moniker Jefferson Starship.  The LP is brimming over with utopian lyrics, engaging melodies and vocals, and strong instrumental passages, particularly on songs like “Starship,” “Have You Seen the Stars Tonite,” “A Child is Coming” and especially “Let’s Go Together,” a counterculture call to arms carried by Slick’s and Kantner’s soaring lead vocals and harmonies.

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Regular readers know I’m fond of dipping back into the bountiful waters of great music of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s to revisit “lost classics” that we may have neglected or forgotten. These lost classics now include songs from the 1990s, which (hard to believe) are now more than 30 years old.

In the ’90s, I was in my 30s and raising children, so I admit I wasn’t tuned in as closely to what was being released and played on the radio…but I was still buying new music (on CD at that point), and there was certainly plenty of really great music from those years that deserves our attention. I’m guessing the songs found below may be completely unfamiliar to many readers. You might know the artists, but not the tunes, so here’s your chance to get on board with a dozen choice tracks from the 1990s. Crank them up on the Spotify playlist as you read about them!

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“I Love You Goodbye,” Thomas Dolby, 1992

Most US music listeners know Dolby only from his quirky 1983 single “She Blinded Me With Science,” which reached #5 as his only entry on US pop charts, but he had several other successful singles and albums in his native England. A friend of mine who followed Dolby’s work turned me on to his overlooked 1992 LP “Astronauts & Heretics,” and its single “I Love You Goodbye,” and I became obsessed with the song. The UK music industry periodical Music Week called it “a strange, eclectic piece with folksy violins, a pleasant hodgepodge of synthesized sounds, and poised and polished vocals.” The lyrics tell the semi-fictional story of a drive he once took from New Orleans to the Florida Everglades. More recently, Dolby has been involved in producing and contributing to other artists’ work, and has spent decades as an entrepreneur in the audio equipment arena.

“Jeremiah Blues (Part 1),” Sting, 1991

Following the release of Sting’s second solo LP “Nothing Like the Sun” in 1987, his father died, which affected him profoundly and caused him to suffer from writer’s block, a difficult and frustrating affliction for a composer. It took him more than three years, but he finally came out of it by composing songs inspired by his father and his love of ships and sailing. The resulting album, “The Soul Cages,” was a huge success here, reaching #2 on the strength of “All This Time,” a #5 single on US charts. One of my favorites from the album is a lyrically ambiguous tune called “Jeremiah Blues (Part 1).” Said Sting, “I’ve been called a Jeremiah for sometimes being a bit preachy about the ecology thing, but with this song, I took a side-long look at it and kept the meaning intentionally murky.”

“Mysteries We Understand,” Sophie B. Hawkins, 1992

New York City-based Hawkins was a Best New Artist nominee in 1992 thanks to the dynamic single “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover,” which reached #5 on US pop charts that year. The debut LP, “Tongues and Tails,” had a number of strong originals, including “California Here I Come” and a convincing cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Want You.” I’ve always been partial to the enigmatic “Mysteries We Understand,” carried by a relentless groove, wah-wah guitar work, and strong vocals that sound not unlike Madonna in the ’90s. Hawkins returned to the Top 10 in 1994 with “As I Lay Me Down” from her “Whaler” LP, but her strong-willed defiance and outspoken activism put her at odds with her record label, and subsequent LPs failed to capture much attention.

“Somebody’s Daughter,” Tasmin Archer, 1992

If her name is unfamiliar to you, you’re not alone, but I think you’ll be intrigued by her voice and songs. The Jamaican-born British singer-songwriter found initial success in the UK in 1992 with her debut LP “Great Expectations” and its #1 single “Sleeping Satellite,” but curiously, that song managed to reach only #32 in the US, despite its contagious melody and Archer’s powerful vocal performance. The album has several other jewels like “Somebody’s Daughter” that are well worthy of your time. Sadly, her second effort couldn’t match its predecessor’s quality and Archer seemed to disappear, and although she came back with two new releases in 2006 and 2025, neither charted in the UK nor the US.

“Way of the World,” Genesis, 1991

Apparently burned out on Genesis and Phil Collins after their ubiquitous presence throughout the ’80s, critics were really hard on the 1991 LP “We Can’t Dance,” but that didn’t stop fans from making it another huge commercial success. I wouldn’t say I’m a big fan of the hit singles “No Son of Mine,” “Jesus He Knows Me” or “I Can’t Dance,” but there are some really great tracks to be found here. The 10-minute Collins opus “Driving the Last Spike” is a keeper, as is Tony Banks’s layered “Living Forever” and the catchy Mike Rutherford tune “Way of the World.” The latter offers a smooth melody/rhythm combination that goes down easy and would’ve made a better choice as a single, to my ears. This would be the band’s last LP with Collins, and the final Genesis product, 1997’s “Calling All Stations,” was a dud.

“Revolution,” The Pretenders, 1994

At age 22, Akron, Ohio-born Chrissie Hynde chose to relocate to London in 1973 to form a band and launch her impressive career, hitting the top of the charts right out of the box with the debut LP “Pretenders.” Although The Pretenders have had numerous personnel changes over the past 40 years, Hynde is still the undisputed leader, writing most of the group’s enviable catalog of hits and deep tracks. The group’s sixth LP, 1994’s “Last of the Independents,” is actually Hynde with a revolving door of sidemen. The single “I’ll Stand By You” reached #16 on US pop charts, and the album also includes a solid cover of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young,” but I’ve always enjoyed the rich production of the deep track “Revolution” (no relation to The Beatles classic), carried by one of Hynde’s finest vocals ever.

“Allison Road,” Gin Blossoms, 1992

The backstory of the Arizona-based alt-rock band Gin Blossoms is both tragic and ironic. The group’s founder was lead guitarist and chief songwriter Doug Hopkins, who named the band after the slang term for a skin condition where dilated blood vessels appear in the cheeks and nose, often of those people who abuse alcohol. Hopkins wrote most of the group’s songs, including their hit singles “Hey Jealousy” and “Found Out About You,” but his heavy drinking and consequent depression ended up causing his dismissal from the group, and he committed suicide at age 32. Meanwhile, lead singer Robin Wilson had begun writing songs as well, and his jangly pop tune “Allison Road,” originally released on an early EP, became a minor hit from their multi-platinum “New Miserable Experience” LP in 1992.

“Human Touch,” Bruce Springsteen, 1992

In the first 15 years of his career, Springsteen always claimed he found salvation and comfort through music, and many of the songs he wrote for his first seven albums reflected that philosophy. But when he disbanded the E Street Band in 1989, divorced his first wife, married Patti Scialfa and had two children with her, he began writing songs that were all about interpersonal connection, reflecting his new life as a family man. At the top of that list was the satisfying title track from his 1992 LP “Human Touch,” which reached #16 on US pop charts. Frankly, it’s one of only a few songs of that period that have withstood the test of time; even Springsteen concedes the album and the “Lucky Town” album, released the same day, have only “maybe three or four songs that I play in concert anymore.”

“Strange Groove,” World Party, 1997

Throughout rock history, there have been examples of “bands” that are actually just one person, usually an ubertalented multi-instrumentalist who writes and plays everything on the albums. One of those is World Party, the British band-in-name-only that is really the work of Karl Wallinger on his own. His work was hugely popular with critics, especially 1990’s “Goodbye Jumbo,” but thanks to a record label that insisted on more new studio albums instead of tours to promote existing music, it wasn’t as commercially successful as it should have been. Same goes for 1997’s “Egyptology,” which was jam-packed with contagious indie pop and alt rock. I vacillated on which song to include here (“Beautiful Dream,” “She’s the One,” “Always” or “Strange Groove”), finally selecting the latter for, well, its strangely satisfying groove.

“Dance of the Bad Angels,” Tim Booth, 1996

The British band known as James, formed in the mid-1980s and still active today, have been hugely successful in their native country, placing nearly all of their 18 albums in the Top Ten on UK pop charts, thanks in large part to the compelling lead vocals of Tim Booth. In America, however, their commercial success has been pretty much limited to their 1993 LP “Laid” (produced by Brian Eno) and its title song, which became wildly popular through college radio airplay. Booth chose to do a solo project in 1996, collaborating with film music composer/arranger Angelo Badalamenti (known best for the haunting “Twin Peaks” soundtrack). That album, “Booth and the Bad Angel,” really captured my attention on songs like “Hit Parade,””Stranger” and especially the moody “Dance of the Bad Angels.”

“29 Palms,” Robert Plant, 1993

From the beginning of his solo career in 1982 after the dissolution of Led Zeppelin in 1980, Robert Plant has exceeded my expectations with consistently strong LPs, melodious singles and compelling vocals. He collaborated with guitarist Robbie Blunt on his first three albums and then partnered with guitarist Phil Johnstone on the next three releases, culminating in the exceptional LP “Fate of Nations” in 1993. You’ll find some energetic, innovative rockers like “Calling To You” and “Network News,” but there are also some tracks that lean more acoustic, like the cover of Tim Hardin’s “If I Were a Carpenter” and originals like “I Believe” and the marvelous “29 Palms,” named after the small town near Joshua Tree in the California desert: “It comes kinda hard when I hear your voice on the radio… I feel the heat of your desert heart taking me down the road that leads back to you…”

“Happy Endings,” Better Than Ezra, 1996

Aggressive alternative rock is the genre that Better Than Ezra is primarily known for, especially on singles like “Good,” “Desperately Wanting” and “King of New Orleans,”which performed well on Alternate Airplay and Mainstream Rock charts in the mid-1990s. When I first heard their album “Friction, Baby,” my ears perked up at the tracks which featured a lighter touch, such as “Normal Town,” “WWOZ” and “Happy Endings.” Virtually every tune in Better Than Ezra’s catalog is the work of guitarist/singer Kevin Griffin, who said that although he knew it was the rockers that most fans came to hear, he enjoyed writing mellower songs to balance out the uptempo numbers. Here’s the romantic vibe on “Happy Endings”: “I thought that you’d like to know I’m finally letting her go, /You always said, ‘Tell me when you’re ready at last to begin,’ /And love is real, reading your eyes in the glow, /Play on, play on, happy endings…”

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