"When You're Gone" by Getaway Car

Back in 2004, a little known indie powerpop band called Getaway Car released a damn near perfect record called "All Your Little Pieces." Filled from start to finish with catchy pop rock, this album should have been huge. I can't find my favorite track for your streaming pleasure (it's "Adored"), but this one does just nicely.

"Can't Stand The Pain" by Georgia Satellites

The debut album by the Georgia Satellites took the world by storm in 1986, bolstered by the monster #2 hit "Keep Your Hands To Yourself." This novelty sing-a-long tune showcased the band's fun side, but wasn't truly representative of their Southern rock ways. The second single, the rousing "Battleship Chains," was more representative, but it stalled at #86. 

The Georgia Satellites would see the charts one more time in 1988 thanks to inclusion of their track "Hippy Hippy Shake" on the soundtrack to the Tom Cruise movie Cocktail. It got to #45.

Main songwriter and vocalist Dan Baird went solo after the group split in 1991 and had another hit with "I Love You Period." Terry Anderson was co-writer for that one and "Battleship Chains."

Guitarist and vocalist Rick Richards wrote "Can't Stand The Pain," which also appeared on the band's debut. This feisty rocker should have burnt up the charts. Richards moved on to join Izzy Stradlin & the Ju Ju Hounds.  

"Who's That Knocking" by The Genies

The Genies was a short-lived R&B group from Brooklyn led by Roy Hammond that had a single chart appearance in 1959 with this catchy little gem called "Who's That Knocking." The song managed to reach #71 before being lost to obscurity. It should have been played at hops all across the land!

Claude Johnson was also a member of The Genies before teaming with Roland "Don" Trone as Don & Juan.

"Anything She Does" by Genesis

Genesis is another one of those bands that changed dramatically over the course of several decades. Formed in the late 60s, Genesis remained a prog rock band lead by Peter Gabriel until he left in 1975. At that point, drummer Phil Collins stepped up to the mic and helped put the band on the charts for the first time with "Your Own Special Way," which went to #62 in 1977.

The follow-up singles established the Collins-led version of Genesis as a radio-friendly act that occasionally dipped back into its prog roots. "Follow You Follow Me" reached #23 in 1978 and "Misunderstanding" hit #14 in 1980, which would prove to be a decade owned by Phil Collins and Genesis. Genesis ranks as the 38th most successful act of the 80s and #159 of all-time.

The band roared back to radio in 1983 with "That's All!" hitting #6. Hot off the heels of a hugely successful solo album by Phil Collins, Genesis scored their first (and only) #1 hit with "Invisible Touch" in 1986. The record of the same name was a monster success and mined for nearly every track. One that got lost in the mix of the many hits such as "Throwing It All Away" (#4), "Land Of Confusion" (#4), "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" (#3), and "In Too Deep" (#3) was "Anything She Does."

Genesis would return in 1991 as a full-fledged adult contemporary act to rack up a bounty of hits like "No Son Of Mine" (#12), "I Can't Dance" (#7), "Hold On My Heart" (#12), "Jesus He Knows Me" (#23), and "Never A Time" (#21). After an amazing run, they haven't recorded with Collins again and haven't seen the charts since.

"Wait" by J. Geils Band

The J. Geils Band is synonymous with their #1 smash from 1981, "Centerfold," not realizing that the band had been making music for a decade already as a blues and jam outfit. Driven by Jerome Geils (guitar), Peter Wolf (vocals), and Magic Dick Salwitz (harmonica), the band first entered the charts in 1971 when "Looking For A Love" went to #39.

After changing to a more radio-friendly sound and achieving mainstream success in the early 80s, Peter Wolf left to pursue a solo career. J. Geils passed away earlier this year.

"Wait" is a terrific cut from their debut 1970 self-titled album. 

"Gorgeous" by Gene Loves Jezebel

Darlings of MTV's 120 Minutes through the 1980s, Gene Loves Jezebel never managed to break through to the mainstream. They came close in 1988 with their first US chart hit, "The Motion Of Love" going to #87.

For their follow-up, one of the twin Aston brothers who founded the English band left, which may have partly explained the change to a heavier guitar-based sound for 1990's record, "Kiss Of Life." "Kiss of Life" yielded the band's biggest US hit with the excellent jam, "Jealous," landing at #68 in 1990. It is amazing to me that this album was so ignored - "It'll End In Tears" and "Tangled Up In You" also had strong hit potential.

The band, which derived their name from the artist Gene Vincent and his song "Jezebel," is still active today, and released a new record called "Dance Underwater" earlier this year.

But today I'm highlighting the lead off track from their 1987 effort, "The House Of Dolls," a wonderful piece of ear candy called "Gorgeous."

"Love Like A Rocket" by Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof is perhaps best known as the man who organized the superstar charity group called Band Aid, which recorded the now holiday classic "Do They Know It's Christmas?" The highest the song ever went was #13 in its debut year, 1984 (it has since been re-released and re-recorded with new musicians).

Geldof was also in the popular new wave band The Boomtown Rats, who had a single hit in 1980 with "I Don't Like Mondays" going to #73. While most people think that is just a generic tune about the start of the work week, it was actually about Brenda Spencer, a teenager who shot two people on a Monday in 1979.

Geldof also had a few releases as a solo artist, putting him back on the charts in 1986 when "This Is The World Calling" hit #82. Here's an unusually upbeat tune from Geldof on that same album (the album was "Deep In The Heart Of Nowhere") that should have done even better, but it failed to chart. And yes, that is Eric Clapton, who lent his guitar chops to the song.