Singles That Flopped In The UK But Hit Paydirt In The USA.

I've heard similar things about Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl", which is one of several popular Morrison singles over here from that never got chart action in Britain.

 

Didn't they actually relocate to the US, kind of like Hendrix or The Walker Brothers in reverse? I know Lonesome Dave was living in Florida when he died, and had been there for years.

 

Bad Company's initial success was truly transatlantic but from then on they continued to be hugely popular over here while falling out of favor with the UK record buying public.
Here is one of their early 90s pop hits in the USA from their platinum certified LP, Holy Water.

 

True. I noticed they used Bearsville recording studios which is definitely American territory.

 

Wow! That's VERY surprising. Two stone classics

 

Probably one reason the Beatles never recorded in the US as a group when they all recorded here as solo artists.

 

Fleetwood Mac were very big in Britain but Rumours was still twice the dominant force on the charts over here, leading to 20 times platinum in sales (6th best selling in the US, 14th in the UK) and four singles in the top ten, including this one which hit #9 here but just missed the UK top 40.

 

This stuff would probably be more favorably remembered if they hadn't kept the name Bad Company. It's like calling The Firm "Led Zeppelin."

 

Has anyone mentioned The Outfield yet? They had very little success in the UK, their home country, but were popular in the US. This song got to 6 in the US charts but only 83 in the UK charts according to Wikipedia:

 

The Bay City Rollers were a bit of a delayed reaction in the US, but when they did finally hit here they started to lose favor with the UK public with tracks like "Rock N' Roll Love Letter" and the disco-y "You Made Me Believe In Magic doing much better in the US than in the UK.
And this goes double for this US#1 from the mid 70s.

 

Golden Earring are another Dutch band that had greater success over here than next door in the UK, with only 1973's "Radar Love" becoming a UK before becoming a hit over here.
In the 80s they continued top 40 success here with "Quiet Eyes" and "Twilight Zone". Twilight Zone became their biggest success on the US charts.

 

Elton's classic 1972 #8 US hit, Honky Cat, stalled at #31 on the UK charts. Were the Chinese styled piano licks too out there perhaps?

 

The two US #1 singles for Herman's Hermits, "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "I'm Henry VIII, I Am," were not even singles in the UK.

The same was true of Dusty Springfield's US Top 10 hit "Wishin' and Hopin'" - it was not a single in the UK.

 

US: #7
UK: #68

 

More on the Zombies

She's Not There - #2 - US; #12 - UK (not a flop but not top 10)
Tell Her No - #6 - US; #42 - UK (definitely and unbelievably a flop for this great tune)

 

Former ABBA singer surprisingly missed the UK top 40 with her solo single "I Know There's Something Going On" but hit the top 10 and top 20 about everywhere else, including the US, where it peaked at #13.

 

John Lennon's 1974 duet with Elton John peaked at #1 in America while barely making the UK top 40, reflecting a trend in poorer UK chart performance coinciding with Lennon's re-locating to the US. Mind Games,#9 Dream, Stand By Me and Watching The Wheels also performed better in the US as did album sales.

 

The Hoyt Axton penned "No No Song" was another top 3 hit for Ringo Starr. Like the top 5 hit "Oh, My My or Ringo's mid 70s output, it did not dent the UK charts like he was doing over here.

 

George Harrison's 1976 top 20 hit, Crackerbox Palace, became one of several American successes that failed to translate back in Britain.
In fact only Paul McCartney's solo work has proven at least as popular in the UK charts as it is on the US charts, with slightly more hits.

 

Same applies to such Beatles' U.S. #1's as "Eight Days A Week," "Yesterday" and "The Long And Winding Road," not to mention the Top 5 "Nowhere Man." Never issued as singles in their native land.

 

I think some of it has to do with market timing. Some songs have to hit the market at the right time to become a big hit.

 

There is also the phenomenon of UK collectors buying more 45 than LPs as opposed to USA collectors buying more LPs than 45s.
For many years US buyers bought 7 times the LPs than UK buyers, despite the fact that we were 5 times the population.

 

I think the problem Olivia had in the UK was that she was considered by many to be just not very good. Her fluffy appearances on TV at the start or her career probably set her image.

 

The singles from Fleetwwod Mac ST were flops in the UK despite US success, the singles from Rumours also were substantially bigger hits west of the Atlantic.

 

And they ignored her singing talent? Every word and phrase sung on-key? The silky-smooth voice?