Groups that North Americans see different to the rest of the world

In that case, I'm obviously lucky to move in such restricted circles.

 

The US and Canadian market is so big there are acts that never really try anywhere else, no need.

At one point I compiled a list of acts well known in the US but not in the UK, either that or one minor hit wonders so many years ago everyone has forgotten. Here are some random ones I can remember: Jewel, Dave Matthews Band, Alabama, Tim McGraw, Marshall Tucker Band, Eddie Money.

As I noted in another thread a couple of these acts are reputed to have sold 75 million records. Quite something in practically the US market alone.

I think people in Europe know the names of the Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa but not anything else about them.

 

Zappa was and still is pretty popular in Europe, perhaps more so than in the US. Grateful Dead not so much.

 

A-ha - Thought of as one hit wonders in the US. Multiple hitmakers with a 30 year and counting career in Europe & South America.

Crowded House - One big album in the US (which was ironically not hugely successful elsewhere other than Australasia). Went on to be a much loved and revered band in Europe particularly from their third album onwards by which time the US had forgotten them.

 

Maybe Zappa had some kind of profile when he had his accident over here but I never heard anything by him growing up in the late 70s, early 80s and beyond in the UK and I was exposed to a lot of different music.

Ironically I did buy Trout Mask Replica as a student (one of those records you "must" hear), I had no clue he was involved.

Zappa may be more popular in some other European countries, I can't speak to that. I get told all the time I have a weird musical taste (it's practically mainstream on this forum) but Zappa's stuff is very weird to me and I just don't get it at all, I think the chances there's a huge hidden number of UK music fans who like Zappa is practically zero.

He had one "hit" single 09.05.1998 CHEAP THRILLS 83 in the charts. That's his only chart entry. Not even Valley Girl.

You'd expect his albums to do better but apart from Hot Rats in 1970 which was a decent hit, he did practically nothing. I suspect if he hadn't been on major labels for much of this time he wouldn't have got released in the UK at all. Top 40 is the only thing that really counts as a hit in the UK.

Year Title Highest Chart Pos
1970 HOT RATS FRANK ZAPPA REPRISE 9
1970 CHUNGA'S REVENGE FRANK ZAPPA REPRISE 43
1978 ZAPPA IN NEW YORK FRANK ZAPPA DISCREET 55
1979 SHEIK YERBOUTI FRANK ZAPPA CBS 32
1979 JOE'S GARAGE ACT 1 FRANK ZAPPA CBS 62
1980 JOE'S GARAGE ACTS 2 & 3 FRANK ZAPPA CBS 75
1981 TINSEL TOWN REBELLION FRANK ZAPPA CBS 55
1981 YOU ARE WHAT YOU IS FRANK ZAPPA CBS 51
1982 SHIP ARRIVING TOO LATE TO SAVE A DROWNING WITCH FRANK ZAPPA CBS 61
1983 THE MAN FROM UTOPIA FRANK ZAPPA CBS 87
1984 THEM AND US FRANK ZAPPA EMI 53
1988 GUITAR FRANK ZAPPA ZAPPA 82
1995 STRICTLY COMMERCIAL - THE BEST OF FRANK ZAPPA RYKODISC 45

 

Zappa is a huge cult artist in Britain and he DID have a top ten album in 1970.

There are several British Zappa tribute bands, of whom I'd rate the Muffin Men as the best.

My 75 year old mother has heard of him and she's by no means a music fan. His name has wide recognition and he made quite a splash via his first British appearance in 1967. But he was always a bigger name in places like Germany and Scandinavia, I think.

 

I think it's Steve Earle, John Cougar Mellencamp, that sort of stuff.

 

I never said he didn't have name recognition. He certainly did have that.

I'm truly surprised there is a demand for Zappa cover bands in the UK. Lets hope they're somewhat better than the VU ones I had the misfortune of sampling recently. If I was doing a tribute band I'd be trying to recreate the live performances, not the records.

 

My impression was that the Byrds fell out of favour fairly quickly in America and that their later experiments with country rock and roots rock weren't that popular but their rare forays into Europe drew big crowds (they could sell out the Albert Hall).

 

That's what the Muffin Men attempt. They are very highly rated - so much so that certain Zappa band members, notably Ike Willis, Don Preston and Jimmy Carl Black have played with and even toured with them.

 

1. There are Velvet Underground tribute bands???

2. There is an audience for Velvet Underground tribute bands???

 

I've often wondered if the perception of Cliff Richard in America is similar to that of Box Scaggs in Britain.....I think his most prominent American hit was Devil Woman, which was very slick and featured subject matter somewhat unusual for him. In Britain, Box Scaggs is known only as the man behind the smooth, good-time pop of Lido Shuffle, his background in 'raw' r&b is unknown. Cliff Richard's early records (still considered his best by many) were a lot less polished and more spontaneous than his pop hits.

 

I vote Thin Lizzy. In America, except for some of us "in the know," most only know them for " The Boys Are Back In Town."

 

Are The Eagles as popular around the world as they are in the U.S.? I've heard different tales about their popularity around the world.

 

The VU were quite popular among UK students in the mid-80s when I got into them. Around the time of the album VU. But looking at the charts they didn't do much then either. I would have thought them more popular than Zappa over here but I could easily be wrong about that. I would love to see a great VU tribute band. But not aware of one.

[Video: For informational purposes only]

 

Split Enz. Loved in both Oz and NZ.

 

I'm pretty sure most of the Eagles money came from the US market where they were huge but they sold plenty of records in the UK too and are/were famous. 7 top 40 singles (1 top 10) and 15 top 40 (9 top 10) albums.

 

Van Halen was way bigger in the U.S. than anywhere else.

 

That and for those Americans who DO remember Sparks, they're considered more 80s new wave. In the UK and most of Europe they're considered a 70s glam/synth group.

Americans also see T. Rex as a one hit wonder when in the rest of the world they caused Beatlemaniaesque scenes.

 

I'm sure most of their fortune came from the States but they sold more than plenty in the UK.

 

I would say that's definitely the case. This forum overall (so not any individuals but the impression we tend to give collectively) has a fairly narrow outlook with some very weird biases that shouldn't be taken as at all representative of North America or any other territory as a whole. Heck, for one, this forum tends to be extremely rockist, but North America certainly isn't rockist overall.

 

Weren't the Spice Girls one hit wonders in the US? In the UK almost all their singles made number 1.

 

In the US the Dead are a cult band with millions of followers. In Europe they are just a cult band.

 

They were big all over for a while, more than one hit wonders in the U.S too.


Spice

• Released: 4 November 1996
• Label: Virgin
• Formats: CD, cassette, digital download, LP, MiniDisc

1 3 1 6 1 1 1 1 5 1

• UK: 10× Platinum[6]
• AUS: 6× Platinum[22]
• CAN: Diamond[23]
• FRA: Diamond[24]
• GER: 3× Gold[25]
• IRE: 9× Platinum[26]
• NLD: 3× Platinum[27]
• NZ: 7× Platinum[26]
• SWE: 2× Platinum[28]
• SWI: 2× Platinum[29]
• US: 7× Platinum[30]

• WW: 23,000,000[4][5]
• UK: 2,940,000[31]
• US: 7,500,000[32]
• FRA: 1,074,800[33]

Spiceworld

• Released: 3 November 1997
• Label: Virgin
• Formats: CD, cassette, digital download, LP, MiniDisc

1 2 2 4 1 1 1 3 2 3

• UK: 5× Platinum[6]
• AUS: 6× Platinum[22]
• CAN: Diamond[23]
• FRA: 2× Platinum[34]
• GER: Platinum[25]
• NLD: Platinum[27]
• NZ: 3× Platinum[35]
• SWE: 2× Platinum[28]
• SWI: 2× Platinum[29]
• US: 4× Platinum[30]

• WW: 13,000,000[36]
• UK: 1,575,941[37]
• US: 4,100,000[38]
• FRA: 629,500[39]

Forever

• Released: 6 November 2000
• Label: Virgin
• Formats: CD, cassette, digital download, MiniDisc

2 9 6 6 15 30 25 24 11 39

• UK: Platinum[6]
• AUS: Gold[40]
• CAN: 2× Platinum[23]
• FRA: Gold[41]
• GER: Gold[25]
• NLD: Gold[27]
• NZ: Gold[42]
• SWI: Platinum[29]

• WW: 4,000,000[43]
• UK: 300,000[44]

US: 207,000[38]



Their singles did very well as well. Spice Girls discography - Wikipedia

 

Lots of other acts seen as one-hit-wonders in the US were consistent hitmakers here, Madness have already been mentioned. Others from around the same time are thought of more highly here; Dexys Midnight Runners, Soft Cell, Gary Numan, Ultravox, OMD.