Music you've never heard….'til now! A blog of rare, hardly-heard or remembered pop, hip-hop, R&B, freestyle, dance and country music from the '70s to the 2000s. From one-hit wonders to no-hit wonders, this blog has it all!!
Hey there! Thanks for dropping by rareandobscuremusic! Take a look around and grab the RSS feed to stay updated. See you around!
Yours Truly was an R&B trio from the ’90s that consisted of members Jerry L. Brinson Jr., Ricky Jones and Terence De Vaughn Brooks.
In 1991, they released their debut album “Truly Yours” on Motown Records. It’s unknown how or if the album made the charts at all.
The first single from the album, “Come And Get It” peaked at #44 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 12 weeks, becoming the trio’s only highest chart appearance to date.
The follow-up single “Hold Me” peaked at #88 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for only 4 weeks.
After that, it seems as if Yours Truly has faded into obscurity. It is unknown what the members of the trio are up to today.
3 Grand was a hip-hop/rap trio from the ’90s. Not much information is given about them, but they were first signed to MCA Records.
In 1991, the trio released their debut album “3 The Hard Way.” It’s unknown how or if the album made the charts at all.
The only single from the album to chart was “Girls” which managed to peak at #93 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for only 3 weeks.
In 1993, 3 Grand released their sophomore album “3 Bad Brothers” on 3 Bad Records. The album didn’t appear to make the Billboard charts at all.
The singles “Daisy Dukes!” and “Buck Wild” failed to make the charts at all. After that, it seems as if 3 Grand faded into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard from them since the ’90s.
Rick (born Rick Rodgers) & Rich (born Rich Harris) were a short-lived hip-hop/R&B duo from the early 90s. Not much information is given about them, but they were signed to Chrysalis Records.
In 1991, they released their only single “Pump (Let’s Go)” which managed to peak at #82 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for only 4 weeks.
After that, it seemed as if Rick & Rich faded into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard from them since.
Split Image was an R&B vocal group from Los Angeles, California that consisted of Dennis Johnson, Terrence Hatter, Jackie Anderson and Dion Overstreet.
In 1987, the group released their first single “Get Ready.” It’s unknown how or if the single made the charts at all.
A year later, they released their only album “Life in the City” which peaked at #64 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart.
The second single “Toss It Up” peaked at #74 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart, staying on the chart for 6 weeks.
The last two singles from the album “Holdin’ On” and “Players Get Played On Too” didn’t appear to make much impact on the charts.
After that, it seemed as if Split Image faded away and into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard from them since.
Spunk was an R&B trio that consisted of producers Jesse Boyce, Jimmy Levine and Rich Tufo. Not much information is given about them, but they were signed to the Gold Coast Entertainment record label.
In 1981, they released their only album “Tighten it Up” which didn’t appear to make the Billboard album charts at all.
The first single “Get What You Want” peaked at #72 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart, staying on the chart for only 4 weeks.
The follow-up single “Love Looks Good On You” flopped and after that, it seemed as if Spunk faded into obscurity.
The Southsyde B.O.I.Z. were a hip-hop/rap music duo from the ’90s. Not much information is given about them, but B.O.I.Z. stood for Beats Originated In the ‘Zon (meaning Arizona).
In 1996, the duo released the single “Get Ready, Here It Comes (It’s the Choo Choo)” which peaked at #96 on the Billboard Hot 100, #10 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Singles, #43 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart and #62 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 14 weeks.
After that, nothing much was heard from the Southsyde B.O.I.Z. and they appear to have faded into obscurity.
Soultry was an R&B group from Arizona. Not much information is given about them, but they were signed to Motown Records.
In 1995, they released their self-titled debut album. It’s unknown how or if the album made the charts at all.
The first single released from the album “Cash Money” didn’t appear to make the Billboard music charts at all.
The second single “I’ll Get Mine” peaked at #93 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for only 6 weeks and became their only chart appearance on the Billboard charts.
The last single from the album “Where Do Broken Hearts Belong” failed to make any impact on the charts. After that, it seemed as if Soultry faded into obscurity. Nothing much has been heard from them since.
Vanessa-Mae (born Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn on October 27, 1978 in Singapore) is a talented violinist who was successful in the United Kingdom and managed to chart on the Billboard charts as well. Her music style is self-described as “violin-techno-acoustic fusion.”
She was born to Vorapong Vanakorn (an English hotelier of Thai descent) and Pamela Soei Luang Tan (a Chinese lawyer and a semi-professional concert pianist). After her parents separated, her mom married a British attorney named Graham Nicholson who adopted Vanessa-Mae. She and her family moved to England when she was 4 years old.
At the age of 3, Vanessa-Mae began playing the piano and the violin when she was 5 years old. In 1989, she made her debut with the London Philiharmonia at the age of 10. When she was 11 years old, Vanessa-Mae became the youngest student to attend the Royal College of Music.
In October of 1990, Vanessa-Mae recorded her debut album, “Violin” and it was released in March of 1991. On the album, she performed with the Mozart Players and contributed her royalites from the album to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
During that same year, Vanessa-Mae released her sophomore album, “Kids’ Classics” on Tritico Records. The album was recorded in Ghent, Belgium and recorded in association with the New Belgian Chamber Orchestra.
Also in that same year, she released her third album “Tchaikovsky & Beethoven Violin Concertos.” According to the Guinness World Records, she was the youngest soloist to record both the Beethoven and Tchaikovsky violin concertos. As she reached her adolescent years, Vanessa-Mae broke away from her traditional classical music influences.
In January of 1995, Vanessa-Mae released her first techno-pop music single, “Toccata & Fugue” which peaked at #16 on the U.K. Singles chart and #24 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.
In May of 1995, she released her fourth (and first techno/pop music) album “The Violin Player” on EMI Records. In the U.K., the album peaked at #11 on the U.K. Albums chart.
In the U.S., the album managed to chart at #32 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart and #2 on Billboard’s Top Classical Crossover chart. It sold over 8 million copies worldwide and was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry in June of 1995.
The second single from the album, “Red Hot” peaked at #37 on the U.K. Singles chart. The last single, “Classical Gas” peaked at #41 on the U.K. Singles chart.
In 1996, Vanessa-Mae released her fifth album, “The Alternative Record from Vanessa-Mae” which was only released in Poland and Asia.
During that same year, she released her sixth album “The Classical Album 1” which peaked at #47 on the U.K. Albums chart, topped Billboard’s Top Classical Albums chart and sold over 500,000 copies.
The only single released from the album, “I’m A-Doun For Lack O’Johnnie (A Little Scottish Fantasy)” peaked at #28 on the U.K. Singles chart.
In 1997, Vanessa-Mae released her seventh album, “China Girl: The Classical Album 2” which peaked at #56 on the U.K. Albums chart and #3 on Billboard’s Top Classical Albums chart.
The only single released from the album, “Happy Valley” didn’t appear to make the charts at all. Vanessa-Mae toured in the United States and made some appearances on television.
In October of that same year, Vanessa-Mae released her eighth album, “Storm” which peaked at #27 on the U.K. Albums chart. The album was released in the United States a year later and peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Top Classical Crossover chart.
The title song managed to peak at #53 on the U.K. Singles chart. The follow-up single, a cover version of Donna Summer’s song “I Feel Love” peaked at #41 on the U.K. Singles chart and #19 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.
In 1998, Vanessa-Mae made her film debut in the movie “The Violin Fantasy.” During that same year, she released her ninth album, “The Original Four Seasons And The Devil’s Trill Sonata” which peaked at #5 on Billboard’s Top Classical Albums chart, but didn’t make the U.K. Albums chart.
The only single from the album to chart was “The Devil’s Trill/Reflection” which peaked at #53 on the U.K. Singles chart. Vanessa-Mae appeared on the title track to Janet Jackson’s “The Velvet Rope” album. In 1999, she fired her mother as her manager. In 2000, she appeared in the television movie “Arabian Nights.”
In September of that same year, Vanessa-Mae released her first compliation album “The Classical Collection, Part 1.”
In May of 2001, she released her tenth album “Subject to Change” which peaked at #58 on the U.K. Albums chart, but it hasn’t been released in the United States.
The first single from the album, “Destiny” failed to make the charts; however, the follow-up single, “White Bird” managed to peak at #66 on the U.K. Singles chart.
In 2002, she released her second compliation album, “The Best of Vanessa-Mae” which peaked at #5 on Billboard’s Top Classical Albums chart.
In 2003, Vanessa-Mae appeared on Prince’s album, “Xpectation.” During that same year, she released her third compliation album “The Ultimate Vanessa-Mae.”
In 2004, she released her eleventh studio album “Choreography” which peaked at #66 on the U.K. Albums chart.
In April of 2006, Vanessa-Mae was ranked as the wealthiest young entertainer under 30 years old in the United Kingdom in the Sunday Times Rich List, having an estimated fortune of about £32 million which stemmed from concerts and record sales of over an estimated ten million copies worldwide.
During that same year, she announced she would be releasing a new album sometime between 2007 and 2008. A new album was expected to be released in 2009, but it was never released. During that same year, she moved to the Swiss alpine resort of Zermatt.
In 2011, she attended a celebration in Chechyna for the birthday of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov along with other celebrities, playing excerpts from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and reportedly received $500,000 for her performance.
Human rights groups urged the celebrities to cancel their appearances of because of human right abuses carried out under Kadyrov and were criticised by them for attending the event. The celebrities apologized and donated their fees to charity, but Vanessa-Mae has not done that.
These days, Vanessa-Mae has taken up alpine skiing. She had been skiing since she was 4 years old and wanted to compete in the Olympics since she was 14 years old.
She attempted to represent Thailand in the 2002 Winter Olympics, but she was unable to do so because the Thai Olympic Committee requested that she give up her British citizenship which she wasn’t ready to do.
In 2009, Vanessa-Mae took up residence in the alpine resort of Zermatt and began training competitively in 2010. On February 18, 2014, she competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. During that same year, she was later banned from skiing because a qualifying race for her benefit was allegedly corrupt; however, in June of 2015, the ban was nullified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, citing lack of evidence for her own wrongdoing or any manipulation.
As for her music career, it’s unknown whether or not Vanessa-Mae plans on releasing another album anytime soon.
To see a video for “Toccata and Fugue,” go to:
To see a video for “Red Hot,” go to:
To see a video for “Classical Gas,” go to:
To see a video for “I’m a Doun for Lack O’ Johnnie (A Little Scottish Fantasy),” go to:
To see a video for “Happy Valley,” go to:
To see a video for “Storm,” go to:
To see a video for “I Feel Love,” go to:
To see a video for “The Devil’s Trill Sonata,” go to:
Desiya was a dance music project from the ’90s that consisted of DJ, remixer & producer Matthew Parkhouse (from New York) and vocalist Melissa Yiannakou.
In 1992, the duo released the single “Comin’ On Strong” which topped Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart for a week in March of that same year. The song also peaked at #7 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart and #74 on the U.K. Singles chart.
After that, it seemed as if the duo faded into obscurity. These days, Melissa (now Melissa De Sa) is married with children according to her Facebook page. It is unknown what Matthew Parkhouse is up to these days.
:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2259291-1317487936.jpeg.jpg)
:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-505708-1359654323-4946.jpeg.jpg)
rareandobscuremusic 