Bands HUGE in the UK that don't register here

[Taverner]

Two bands come to mind, both great: The Stone Roses and Marc Bolan/T.Rex

Why is they don't have the following here in the US that they do back in the UK?

[mainegreen]

1. Ian Brown by extention as well.

[Taverner]

4. True, tho Ian Brown never did it for me

His SR stuff was so much better, then again, they had much more time to work on that material

[LynneSin]

2. Robbie Williams

He actually lives in LA because he's not recognized in the states but he is huge in England

[Taverner]

3. is 'e any 'ood?

[RevolutionaryActs]

34. Robbie was my first thought.

He's fantastic, I will never understand how he isn't huge here.

[JCMach1]

5. David Gray, James Blount

Perhaps there should also be another thread of bands that should NEVER leave the UK


Here is a good example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9ypaAWuqCg

[SKKY]

6. Actually, I think the Stone Roses broke up just before they were about to break...

...big. Robbie Williams comes to mind though for the winner of this category.

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. Some years ago, Slade

Two U.S. tours (that I'm aware of) in the '70s got 'em nothin' here, but they were a monster in the U.K. for many years. They probably got their greatest name recognition here when Quiet Riot knocked off two of their tunes, "Cum on Feel the Noize" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m-loYwaCJI

(Audio is overdriven. Turn your volume DOWN!)

[mitchum]

10. I was going to say Slade...hell,Noddy Holder remains a freaking institution over there

[bbernardini]

27. To be fair, "Run Runaway" went to #20 in the US. nt

[Oeditpus Rex]

31. I wasn't aware of that

Weird, though — probably their best-known tunes, "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" and "Cum on Feel the Noize" (which went to no. 5 for Quiet Riot 11 years later) were both no. 1 in the U.K. but only nos. 76 and 98, respectively, in the U.S. Guess it's all about marketing.

The cuts I liked best were "Get Down and Get With It," "Raise the Roof" and "Just a Little Bit."

[muriel_volestrangler]

37. Their best known in the UK is now "Merry Christmas Everybody" - THE Christmas song

over here. So it gets replayed every single year, and everyone knows it even if they're too young to remember it from the first time it was released.

"Merry Xmas Everybody" - Slade

Chart history: Reached No 1 in 1973, relegating Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day" to No 4. Re-entered the UK Top 40 singles chart in 1981, 1983, 2006 and 2007. Currently at No 37.

Written by:: Noddy Holder

Background:: When Slade were recording the song, in New York in 1973, John Lennon was working on his album, Mind Games, in the next studio. Lennon's harmonium turned out to produce just the sound Slade's producer Chas Chandler was looking for. In a recent poll commissioned by MSN Music, 37 per cent of the British public voted "Merry Xmas Everybody", which has sold more than a million copies, their favourite Christmas song.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/old-chestnuts-roasting-ghosts-of-christmas-music-past-764334.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Having found a list of the most successful acts in the UK, I'd suggest:

The Shadows
Status Quo
UB40
Simply Red (or did they get somewhere in the US?)
Madness
Erasure (surprised to see them so high on the UK list - #67, and that's bands and solo acts)
Wet Wet Wet
Blur
The Beautiful South

No Justice In The World Dept.: Robbie Williams is 47 places above The Who. :banghead:

On edit: the list: http://www.xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=153173

An American will be able to pick out the acts not successful in the US better than me. I didn't bother with solos acts - Cliff Richard would be an obvious one, though.

[T_i_B]

9. Are the Arctic Monkey's big in the States?

If not then they should be!

Mind you, being from Hunter's Bar I am biased.

[mitchum]

11. Cliff Richard finally had a US radio hit in the late 70s

Madness had a middling hit
the same for UB40
Simply Red had one massive hit

[ForrestGump]

13. "Devil Woman," in 1976

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yosCYE4vwlY

Always had a soft spot for that one. I think some of his '80s hits may have had some chart action here in the USA, too.

He basically started out as an Elvis impersonator, of sorts, back in 1958 ("Move It"). And the Shadows were a cool backing group and did great things on their own.

[bbernardini]

18. Don't forget about "We Don't Talk Anymore."

It went to #7 in 1979.

[mitchum]

24. but I did forget

wasn't it a kinda duet with a female singer? Or am I misremembering? I also spent the 70s in a daze.

[ForrestGump]

26. He did "Suddenly" with Olivia Newton John:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx_BOgaIwwg

Also a nice version of "Daddy's Home" from somewhere around the same time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PfW0rKD1EY

[mitchum]

21. That's it...

and I understand having that soft spot. I remember it shining out from the top 40 of its time.

[bbernardini]

17. "Our House" was a "middling hit"?

It went to #7 in the US!

UB40 had two #1 hits in the US.

Same with Simply Red.

[mitchum]

20. Well, I did spend the 80s in a daze...

apparently, quite a daze
sorry

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

35. Didn't he have a hit with a tune called

"Carrie" or I am I remembering more things that didn't happen in the 1970s?

[realisticphish]

15. Blur is known for "Song 2" only

that's the only song anyone here has heard from them, but it IS a well known song

[fudge stripe cookays]

44. Unless you listened to college radio in the 90s...

in which case, "There's No Other Way" is also semi popular.

[dembotoz]

12. kate bush

[ForrestGump]

14. The Wombles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ2mJPSccvo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP7CDvQULXw

They were beyond cool. And very 'green.'

[redqueen]

16. Are Muse huge there?

Also Blur, but murliel already said them.


Is Graham Coxon big there? The Mars Volta?

Some bands seem to do better there than here: Queens of the Stone Age comes to mind...

[bbernardini]

19. Status Quo.

I know somebody else mentioned it, but I felt they were worth mentioning again. I'd say it wasn't just the UK where they were popular, but the entire world, except for the US. The only real exposure they had in the US, apart from Live Aid, was the use of "Whatever You Want" in a commercial campaign for Mandee's (a northeastern clothing chain).

I think there's some evidence of this from the one time I was able to see them live. In the 1990s, they played three shows in North America. I attended the show at Irving Plaza in New York City, and along with me were approximately 1,199 gentlemen of Mexican descent. We all had a grand old time, but I have to admit it was a little strange. I've never been to a concert by a UK band where the crowd started chanting "MEX-I-CO! MEX-I-CO!" over and over. :)

I recently found my recording of Quo's set at the Knebworth '90 concert (which introduced me to them), and Jim Ladd was speechless after their set (which was indeed a barnburner).

[ForrestGump]

22. The Quarrymen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuuOAA9ekbg

I think they had potential.

[ForrestGump]

25. And, of course, to the east were the Thamesmen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-BYzaDwNoE

Lovely Lads.

[datasuspect]

23. maybe because tyrannosaurus rex had album titles like

"My People Were Fair and Wore Sky in Their Hair, but Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-Bn8LzoOhE

[atomic-fly]

28. another one

I need to check them out. I've heard of them but not listened to much of their stuff.
A band I like that is a bit more art/experimental was the stranglers.They have tons of uk hits, but
none here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jGqx3sqq-4

[Orrex]

29. I don't need a tv when I got T. Rex.

[Mr. Blonde]

30. What amazes me are American bands

that are bigger in England than the US.

The White Stripes and Kings of Leon come to mind.

[TheBaldyMan]

41. the UK music industry is more permeable to new bands,

so they can get significant sales and national exposure because the UK is about the same size as NY state.

In order to break in the US you'ld really need to have some heavyweight corporate backing.

[Mr. Blonde]

42. And a shitty generic sound

at least that is my view of most music on the radio. Nickleback? Jesus H. Christ.

[Throd]

32. Boney M

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Hudgie DeRobertis]

36. The Jam.

The only song I ever heard played on the radio was "A Town Called Malice".
And that was never on Top 40 radio.

[muriel_volestrangler]

38. Good point - Paul Weller is held to be very influential on subsequent bands here

and The Jam were briefly very big in the UK - 'Going Underground' went straight in at no. 1 in the singles chart when it hadn't been done for years (by the end of the 80s, it happened frequently, when the record companies decided it was worth planning the marketing to achieve it).

[Kat45]

39. Thunder.

They're a hard rock band that had an album out and toured in this country in the hair-band days but did not get very well known here. (I wrote for a local rock mag back then and I interviewed them and went to see them; I liked them, still have their CD). But as I look through a British rock magazine that my boyfriend gets, I always see them mentioned. They're still around, touring and releasing albums. I think they might have even had a 20th anniversary show.

That magazine is pretty interesting because I find that lots of bands that I thought were long gone are either still around or back again. There also seem to be a lot more rock concerts in the UK than there are in the US, definitely a lot more big festivals with many big bands. IIRC, I recently read that Thin Lizzy is getting back together, though I'm not sure what that would be like since Phil Lynott is long gone.

[Kat45]

40. Another one is Girlschool.

A really good all-female metal band. I saw them on their "Lock Up Your Sons" Tour back in the eighties (I think). I don't think they ever made much of a splash in this country, though I could be wrong. I believe they've done well in their native UK; I know Lemmy has done some music with them. And I just found out (from that British rock magazine) that they are still around as well.

[Aristus]

43. Chris De Burgh. On the strength of his sole #1 hit in the U.S. "The Lady In Red", he was

dismissed as a sickly-sweet balladeer.

Reject him for that and you'll miss "The Sound Of A Gun", a furious condemnation of "The Troubles" and the Irish Republican Army. (And Tina Turner has a cameo in the song!)

And you'll miss "The Leader", an apocalyptic barn-burner about one man's fear of a world on fire, and no competent leader to see us through to safety. That song was written in 1985, but is more relevant than ever...

And you'll never get to hear "The Last Time I Cried", a primal-scream of a song about a man contemplating the Holocaust and wondering if it could happen again. The live version is simply searing...

He's an amazing artist. Don't hate him for his beautiful ballads...