underrated:

* fishbone

* mojo nixon (okay, he was kind of a joke...but a damn good one. what a character!)

* and, of course, XTC. well, maybe underpurchased more than underrated; serious melody and songcraft lovers realized that Patridge/Moulding were our latter day L/M.

say what you will about Adam Ant (and i have no doubt you will!), but his stuff before Goody Two Shoes was all very original, and rhythmically complex. his first album, Dirk Wears White Sox, has rightly been hailed in retrospect as a keeper. nearly impossible to find on disc, but nevertheless quite good and punk.

i also loved the Simple Minds, especially their '83 classic Sparkle In The Rain. Steve Lillywhite did that one, then Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain tried to overly pop-ify Once Upon A Time (the album after Don't You Forget About Me). Jim Kerr regretted their capitulation, and they returned to ethereal Scottish form with '89's Street Fighting Years. okay, sales plummeted, but it was a good album, with appearances by Lou Reed, Copeland and others.

as for the more hirsute bands, those two Ozzy albums with Randy are still killer. those fromage peddlers from Night Ranger filmed the Sister Christian video at my alma mater, San Rafael High School. one of my few highlights of those miserable years was sneaking into the auditorium and hiding in the rafters watching the filming, and my seventh grade girlfriend was in the video. oh boy.

either way, i still miss Country Dick. 

:(