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

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Remington Steele, Dec 13, 2014.

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  1. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I have read that the reason Fleetwood Mac failed in the U.K. starting in the 70s was because of the addition of Buckingham/Nicks. Those two alone gave FM a decidedly American pop sound.
     
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  2. ryno

    ryno Forum Resident

    Hold Me was a massive hit in the States for them and yet it sank without trace in the UK. It did manage to limp to the mid-90s in the chart when it was re-released in the UK in 1989 to promote the greatest hits album.
     
  3. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    It was apparently that image that was called up in the book The Worst Rock & Roll Records Of All Time, regarding her cover of Dylan's "If Not For You," given their referring to her as "Malaria Neutron-Bomb" and a "soft, bland non-emoter." But then, the writers of that book hated The Doors and especially Jim Morrison, so . . .
     
  4. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I bought the Hold Me single (one of the few), but I only heard it played on radio shows that concentrated on the U.S. charts.
     
  5. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    Even Olivia didn't like her cover of If Not For You! She didn't want it put out as a single and was surprised when it did so well.
     
  6. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    There were a lot of singers like Olivia back then. Pretty girls who appeared on other people's TV shows, had the odd hit single but didn't sell albums and supported other acts on their tours. Dana, Clodagh Rogers and Lynsey De Paul to name but three. The latter did pen her own material, of course, which set her slightly apart.

    Olivia was seen as a female Cliff, an image she's never really shaken off here.
     
  7. Glenpwood

    Glenpwood Hyperactive!

    A recent example is Ellie Goulding's "Lights." Hit #2 stateside but only hit #49 in the UK.
     
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  8. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    Despite being featured on UK tv, Seals and Crofts weren't able to replicate any of the success of their several US hits, not even the million selling "Summer Breeze".
     
  9. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    And Americans seemed to get a whiff of that part, when Ms. Newton-John and Mr. Richard duetted on "Suddenly" from the Xanadu film in 1980.
     
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  10. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    That's the Richard Song I hear most on radio. I hear We Don't Talk Anymore and Devil Woman now and then.
     
  11. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    Only Woman Bleed began a string of ballad hits for Alice Cooper in the USA that failed to dent the UK market. Some of the rockers like School's Out and Election did do very well in Britain.[​IMG]
     
  12. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    It seems for every UK glam single from the 70s that failed to catch on in America, there is an 80s American glam rock single that failed to catch on in Britain.[​IMG]
     
  13. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    Very little of the brass section driven rock of the late 60s and early 70s crossed over into the UK market, with bands like the Buckinghams, Ides Of March, Chicago and Lighthouse having either smaller or no success in Britain.
    Blood, Sweat & Tears were no exception as even their million sellers like "Spinning Wheel" did not cross over into UK success.[​IMG]
     
  14. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    Dan Fogelberg and his singer/songwriter style produced over a dozen US hits but no UK action, the million selling "Longer" included.[​IMG]
     
  15. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    It seems hard to fathom that James Taylor, who has made lists of top 50 best selling artists in the US, did not muster more than one sizable hit or any significant album sales in the UK but 1971's "You've Got A Friend remains his only real success there. Even this million seller that charted in the US top 5 did not muster any higher than #55 on the UK charts.[​IMG]
     
  16. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    Welcome To The Jungle became the million selling breakout single for Guns N' Roses, going to #6 in the US but stalling at #24 in the UK. And while the album was only 3 times platinum in the UK as opposed to 18 times platinum here, subsequent singles did do very well in the UK even if subsequent album sales weren't as phenomenal.[​IMG]
     
  17. GV1967

    GV1967 Senior Member

    Location:
    Northeastern US
    "Try Too Hard" by the Dave Clark Five reached #12 in the USA and completely missed the UK chart. My all time favorite DC5 tune.
     
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  18. monewe

    monewe Forum Resident

    Location:
    SCOTLAND
    The reason that pre Nicks/Buckingham didn't do well here is because WB never promoted them.

    They were also still considered to be a blues band here who had lost their major star in Peter Green.

    Re some of their later singles not doing well the simple reason for that was because most people bought Fleetwood Mac albums at the time so didn't need to buy the 4th. 5th or 6th single from one of their albums.

    WB also didn't need to spend the funds pushing any Mac single during this period as the band were almost automatic huge sellers.

    However having said that WB did a huge push on Tusk and we threw thousands of freebie copies of the albums to Chart diary stores to "make" sure it did well.

    Queen Gt Hits got the same style of push from EMI at this time.

    UK chart sales during this period can be taken with a pinch of salt as there was a single that had only sold less than 100 copies out of the record companies warehouse that had thousands of copies given away free to ensure it did well in the UK singles charts that made ended up charting at number 10.

    However one single I released through our label sold 57,000 copies and only made 52 in the charts.

    Knowing who were the chart diary stores was the key to promoting albums and singles in the UK and at no time did the charts accurately reflect what the actual sales were as you made a point to visiting these stores on a Sat morning with freebies to make sure that certain artists product charted well the following week.
     
  19. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    The Bob Welch era did respectably, with Gold and Platinum certified LPs and tracks like Sentimental Lady, Lay It All Down and Hypotized getting airplay, it just seems small compared to the omnipotent Buckingham/Nicks era of multi-multi platinum releases.
     
  20. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    Used to love Longer, but as you say, Fogelberg did nothing here.
     
  21. GV1967

    GV1967 Senior Member

    Location:
    Northeastern US

    Fascinating.

    Earlier, I mentioned the DC5. It's been said that someone high up in that world (no names shall be mentioned) paid off the chart companies so that classic to end all classics 45 "The Red Balloon" would be guaranteed a top ten placing. Somehow, some way, it reached #7 in the UK and died a complete death in the USA. Go figure.
     
  22. monewe

    monewe Forum Resident

    Location:
    SCOTLAND

    I think he would have done better if he had come over with the Eagles on the Hotel California tour as billed. He was the support act.

    However he cancelled as he was finishing off I think Netherlands at the time.

    Valerie Carter was his replacement as the support act and she did reasonably well out of it
     
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2014
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  23. monewe

    monewe Forum Resident

    Location:
    SCOTLAND
    Think that was more to do with the fact that Glam rock for us started in the early 70's and by the time Poison and the other US bands came around was kinda old hat for us. However it did make a slight re-appearance in the way the New Romantics dressed but not to the same degree as US Glam rock of the period.
     
  24. jimjim

    jimjim Forum Resident

    ....and it's the only hit he had. Thank god!
     
  25. jimjim

    jimjim Forum Resident

    Well, I think the fact it is officially the most charted album in the UK, speaks volume about its popularity since 1977. Mind you, despite its low-ish charting singles, it did reach #1 in the UK in 1977.
     
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