Oct 162008
I’ll start things off: Status Quo. For better or for worse, they seem to have been ubiquitous among a generation or two of British bands while making little to no impression on US audiences. Beside “Pictures of Matchstick Men”, from their early psych incarnation, did anyone in the US ever hear their popular UK boogie music without tracking it down in cutout bins? Once tracked down, did it ever make a positive impression on any set of American ears?
Feel free to speculate on why these artists were unable to make the jump across the pond.
Stone Roses
no one in the U.S. could give a rat’s ass about the Stone Roses.
They are a great band with a great album.
Man, we lived in very, very different parts of the US. The Stone Roses were HUGE where I was in 89/90! You couldn’t turn on any of the college stations in west Texas/eastern New Mexico without hearing “Fool’s Gold,” “She Bangs the Drums” and “I Wanna Be Adored,” and the videos were all over late night MTV.
I am one of, like, three American Bonzo Dog Band fans.
Scott Walker is/was much more popular over there. I figure it’s his literate stylings that kept him from crossing the pond. I’ve always thought that everything Walker (incl. the Brothers) were about five years too late as far as the US market went, there not being much room in the youth market for their crooner style charts after the early-60s or so. I mean really, Jacques Brel in 1967? Anachronistic.
For some reason my brother and his crew were really into Status Quo at the time. We had four or five albums, which, as far as I know, came from “Clover” the B-string store of an upscale department store that was the nearest accessible place to buy records. They were as uninteresting as any such store, but were the only place we could get to without a car. I’ve also heard that the roles of relative popularity were reversed for Deep Purple and Led Zep, here and in Europe. Go figure.
let’s get an obvious one out of the way: the jam.
One obvious one is T-Rex. With the exception of “Bang A Gong”, there was no level of T-Rextacy in the USA.
Robbie Williams
Suede, who always sounded better to my ears than a lot of other more successful bands over here from the UK at that time.
I’ll second the vote for Scott Walker and the Walker Brothers pre his solo career.
Scott is American which would make for an interesting spin off thread (sometime)…artists that didn’t make it big in their own country but made it elsewhere? Sparks comes to mind. Hasselhoff doesn’t count. 🙂
Steve D
Does Robert Wyatt count or is he a cult figure over there too?
Robbie Williams is a good one. Scott Walker is not “ubiquitous.”
Cliff Richard
I’m going to put my vote for Slade, who even didn’t have a single Top 40 hit here in the U.S., unlike T. Rex.
great 48, I’m one of the other three Bonzo Dog Band fans here in the U.S.
Slade is a good one. By the time ’80s Hair Metal bands started covering their ’70s hits, Slade was about as relevant as I was.
Gomez was a big deal in the UK for a couple of years and never made the slightest splash over here.
That ’80s androgyne pop star “Marilyn.”
Hey, how about Pulp?
Cliff Richard and The Shadows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZUK9LDqxqU
I was going to say Pulp, but I thought it would be unfair to rob Oats of the pleasure of saying it.
Plurbie faves THE STYLE COUNCIL!
Great 48, I’ll bet there are a lot of Monty Python fans who checked out the Bonzos becasue of the Neil Innes connection like I did.
Yes, I would guess Bonzo Dog Band owes what interest they’ve garnered in the US to Monty Python and The Beatles. They probably got played on Dr. Demento too, although the thought of ever listening to that show terrified me.
How about Ride?
Mod quaked: “They probably got played on Dr. Demento too, although the thought of ever listening to that show terrified me. “
I originally heard “I’m The Urban Spaceman” on Dr. Demento as a matter-of-fact. As a ten-year old that show was just what i needed, a smorgasbord of music styles from through out the century tied together by cheap yucks. First time I heard Devo, Ramones and Louis Jordan was on his show as well.
Oh yeah, Curiosity Kills The Cat.
Paul Weller
Crazy Frog
Beside one debut single, Terrence Trent D’Arby never made much of a splash back home, did he? (Another entry for that future LMS…)
By the way, it’s funny how Paul Weller has struck out in the States on all three versions of himself. Thanks for completing the triple play, Northvancoveman.
I think that Paul Weller had a weak bunt single or a walk w/”My Ever Changing Moods” when it hit the lower rungs of top 40.
I thought Terrence Trent D’Arby’s 1st album was a big hit over here.
Has anyone seen “Slade in Flame”? I picked up a DVD copy recently & I thought it was pretty good. The Slade dudes were much better actors than the Ramones in Rock ‘n Roll High School.
Billy Fury
You may be right about TTD, Diskojoe. Strike him from this list!
I have not yet seen Slade in Flame. I’ve been thinking about tracking it down.
I picked up my copy of Slade in Flame @ the local Newbury Comics for $8. I do recommend it. It’s rather realistic & downbeat, considering Slade’s reputation, & Bill Conti, Tommy Vance, the late BBC DJ & Kenneth Colley, who was in Return to Waterloo, several Star Wars movies & who looks a bit like Putin are also in it.
I’m blanking on that trad-jazz bandleader whose bands spawned members of the Stones, Fleetwood Mac, et al. If I could remember that band’s name I could be last man standing… I think I’ve got it: Alexis Korner, right?
It could be Alexis Korner or Cyril Davies.
The Small Faces didn’t do much over here, did they?
Primal Scream, The Levellers, Manic Street Preachers, Orb, FSOL, The Delgados, Beta Band.
Cornershop?
I have to admit that I’m too young to have been going to clubs when PWEI was in their heyday, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t get much play over here.
Lonnie Donegan?
The one key rule in Last Man Standing is that you only give one answer at a time. All your suggestions are good, mac, but we’ll only keep Primal Scream. Nevertheless, eh is Last Man Standing!
Simple Minds?
Texas
Blur
Debatable perhaps, but what about The Kinks, from ’67-’69?
The problem w/the Kinks from ’67-’69 is that they were also in a popularity decline in the UK starting in 1968. Their biggest hit after ’67 in the UK was “Days”, which only went to #12 & songs like “Wonderboy” & “Plastic Man” were flops, as well as VGPS. This was also the time they had to do a old-fashioned package tour where they were upstaged by Peter Framption’s first band, the Heard & they actually did a cabaret tour, a Scandinavian amusement park tour & went to Beirut.
Simple Minds is definitely not a viable answer for me: i graduated high school in 1985. for my sweetheart and i, “don’t you forget about me” was not only ubiquitous, it was “our song.” we went to see them on their subsequent tour and the place was packed. their live aid appearance was over here, not over there, and “alive and kicking” did well, too.
do american bands who did well over there while not being recognized here fit into this category, mod? not that i can think of any, but i’m just wondering.
joy division had some chart success in england (i think? they had some fame at least), and none at all in america, though this may be an unfair entrant, since they didn’t get a crack at america due to the lead singer’s decision to stand on a chari, rope his own neck, and kick the chair out from under himself.
since it’s likely to be rejected, i’ll throw another hat into the ring. my REAL entrant in this post is….
the buzzcocks.
I’m going to have to reject The Buzzcocks, mostly to be a dick:) Actually, I’m not sure they qualify because, although they never made their mark in the US, as soon as they were out, all cool rock fans of that time immediated got into them. On the other hand, I didn’t reject The Jam, so I’ll let The Buzzcocks stand for now. Were they ubiquitous in the UK? This act of generosity does not mean that Townspeople should be suggesting The Fall, Comsat Angels, et al.
Where you been, Sat? It’s good to have you back. Can you BELIEVE the Phils?
But, Simple Minds are a two-hit wonder in the US, whereas overseas they are much more popular. To that extent, I think they have made “little to no impression”. “Don’t you forget about me” was written for Billy Idol, who rejected it, and “Alive and Kicking” is a sound-alike. But I think fans of the band abhor those songs, preferring albums like “new gold dream”.
mod: re. my absence, the underworld’s a strange place. the less said, the better. great to BE back, and thanks for the warm reception!
the phils have surprised me to no end. here’s hoping the pen continues to hold, the bench (and the bottom of the order) keep hitting, moyer finds his mojo, charlie doesn’t have to make any brain cramping managerial decisions, ryan howard doesn’t have to throw anyone out, and the bounces continue to go their way. i think i’d rather face the rays than a ‘been-there-done-that’ hotter than july red sox team fresh off a miracle comeback. you?
cher: saying that Simple Minds made “little to no impression” is stretching it, in my opinion. they’ve had measurable success over here. the rest of what you wrote is “innaresting,” but immaterial for a LMS contest. besides, other choices have been posted since you nominated the Minds, so even if your man was allowed to stand, he’s not standing anymore.
oh…also: the fact that “all the cool rock fans of the time immediately get into” a brit band, shouldn’t DQ them, should it?
i mean, it’s probably true of just about every band on this list.
Bay City Rollers
Roy Wood/Wizzo
Japan.
Westlife
Travis
Libertines
Take That
Nik Nershaw
Uriah Heep
Sorry for the late posting, but I have to call bullshit on the Bay City Rollers as not getting props in the US. “Saturday Night” was a monster hit. I first saw them play it live with a fancy UK satellite hook-up in the mid 70’s. “Rock and Roll Love Letter” and “Money Honey” got quite a bit of airplay as well.
The Small Faces I can get behind as being more or less ignored in the US. To US ears, they were a one-hit wonder with Itchy-Coo Park.
Meant to say: the live BCR broadcast was on the Howard Cosell show!
Toyah