They are just names to me. I still buy new albums and see new bands. I saw The John Sparrow and The Riverboat Gamblers yesterday. Both bands could go far if given a chance but they probably will go unnoticed.
One already has nationally distributed albums (on Gearhead) the other is signed to release their new album on Bomp!.
That the band names and labels are not household names does not matter. A band named Mudhoney and a label named Sub Pop weren't very famous in 1990 either.