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

Status Quo isn't as big in the U.S. as the rest of the world but I like them. I bought a compilation CD years ago and that's how I "discovered" them.

 

Not that they were ever huge in the US, but did King's X ever have much success in other countries?

Some of the BritPop groups are barely known in the US. Pulp and Suede are maybe the two biggest ones where the vast majority of Americans would go "who??" if you mentioned them.

Aren't most southern rock bands little -known elsewhere? Would UK audiences know much Allman Brothers? Lynyrd Skynyrd? 38 Special? Etc.

And I'd guess that a lot of country bands (and solo artists) probably wouldn't be well-known elsewhere. Alabama? Rascal Flatts? Florida-Georgia Line?

How about gospel? Are the Oak Ridge Boys big worldwide? The Statler Brothers? Mighty Clouds of Joy? Mississippi Mass Choir? Israel & New Breed? (Granted most non-religious Americans (I'm one of them) wouldn't know these artists well, either, but they're very popular among segments of American Christians (I'm a weird atheist who likes gospel a lot)).

 

And even there it was mostly restricted to just the northeastern USA.

 

I had absolutely no idea until this year that "Rockin' All Over the World" wasn't a Status Quo original but instead was a cover version of a John Fogerty song. Really never even suspected it.

 

Lynyrd Skynyrd for sure. "Freebird" and "Sweet Home Alabama" - the rest not so much. I think they took the time to come to the UK which probably helped. I really only knew of the Allman Brothers via "Layla", and also "Jessica" was the theme tune to a TV institution in the UK.

 

I think most British music fans tastes, tend to be of a genre base, but what they are into, they're really into in great depth.
This is certainly the case for the younger music buyer from teens to 25 I guess.
I think tastes widen and keep widening over 25 for the more intelligent in our society
(ahem, moving on)
This limits the appeal of a certain genre to a wider market. So I think there is a bigger market in the USA not only because of it's size
But I think Americans must have a wider taste in music, and tend not to have the same music genre prejudices.

I first noticed how wide generally the American listeners tastes were back in the day of Napster etc.
when I would browse through someones library.
I'd see some what I thought was really cool stuff and what I was into,
but often would find a load of 'uncool stuff' of bands etc that my Mum and Dad would have listened to.
There seemed to be no music barriers in their collections listed on Napster

The Brits listings on the otherhand would be something like,
Rock, Prog Rock, Hard Rock. (very little of any other style of music)
or Folk, Singer Songwriters, easy acoustic based. (we don't want it too loud and annoy the neighbours)
or Pop, Abba, & other Handbag Dancing Radio Hits type stuff Queen, Bowie would be as adventurous as they would step it would appear
But very few listing by Brits covering a much wider field of music unlike our cousins across the pond.

 

I find this forum very Beatlesist I think there could be a sub-forum for the Fab Four,
I tend to ignore Beatles threads, I'm just not interested in reading anything about the various pressings etc ffs get a life.
That said I do read about Macca and what he is up to his latest Release etc and anything on George,
the other two? don't get me started

 

Reading this thread one would think the "rest of the world" means Britain.

 

I think they're just biding their time with the later generations here.

In it for the long game, in the US perhaps?

 

I resist this board becoming ist-ist

It gets me pist, and if gone would not be mist

I insist all desist.

 

Well, there was "The Living Daylights" due to the Bond film. Or was that forgotten also? Agree with your statement in general, however.

If I recall correctly, "Chocolate Cake" wasn't exactly a US-friendly single. Probably offended some music executive over here.

 

This forum is representative of a certain US demographic, which is middle-aged / beyond middle aged males that grew up on a Motown and Classic rock menu. Some of whom have since expanded into Jazz and Classical, as they've gotten older.

Since this forum has been, and continues to be, very Beatles-leaning, it's the type of person it contunues to attract. Replace The Beatles with an artist like Eninem as the driving force on this forum and I think you'd see the demographics here change pretty drastically.

 

well we did have our fingers in a few pies

 

Ah, you're a res-ist?

 

Nirvana, pearl jam, alice in chains stp were pretty huge in the states during the grunge boom but did the rest of the world get on board?

 

The UK was one of the first to recognise Nirvana. They did well all over.


Bleach

• Released: June 15, 1989
• Label: Sub Pop (SP-34)
• Formats: CD, cassette (CS), LP

89 34 26 — 22 46 — 30 — — — 33

• US: 1.9 million[7]

• US: Platinum[21]
• CAN: Gold[22]
• FRA: 2× Gold[23]
• UK: Platinum[24]

Nevermind

• Released: September 24, 1991
• Label: DGC (24425)
• Formats: CD, CS, LP

1 2 2 1 1 24 3 2 2 1 2 5

• US: 10.64 million[7][25]
• FRA: 1.69 million[26]
• Worldwide: 30 million[27]

• US: Diamond[28]
• AUS: 5× Platinum[29]
• AUT: Platinum[30]
• BRA: Platinum[31]
• CAN: Diamond[22]
• DEN: 5× Platinum[32]
• FIN: Gold[33]
• FRA: Diamond[23]
• GER: 2× Platinum[34]
• IT: 2× Platinum[35]
• NLD: Platinum[36]
• NZ: 7× Platinum[37]
• SWE: Gold[38]
• SWI: Platinum[39]
• UK: 5× Platinum[24]

In Utero

• Released: September 21, 1993
• Labels: DGC
• Formats: CD, CS, LP

1 2 8 3 6 13 4 3 7 1 16 1

• US: 5.0 million[40]
• Worldwide: 15 million[41]

• US: 5× Platinum[42]
• AUT: Gold[30]
• AUS: 2× Platinum[43]
• BRA: Gold[31]
• CAN: 6× Platinum[22]
• FRA: Platinum[23]
• GER: Gold[34]
• IT: Gold[44]
• NZ: 3x Platinum[45]
• NLD: Gold[36]
• NOR: Gold[46]
• SWE: Gold[38]
• UK: 2× Platinum[24]

 

Wow I had no idea that was a huge band outside the states. Good to see as I love nirvana they were the first real band I got into as a young lad.

 

It's exaggerated for sure. Queen was really, really big here in the late '70s -- but not as big as they were in the UK at the time, and their huge success there never waned in the 80s. Here in the US, post-1982, the band struggled by comparison to the rest of the world. The band and fans alike seem to have adopted an official story that the "I Want To Break Free" video was so unappealing to US audiences that it completely and permanently killed their career here.

Fact of the matter is, Queen was not the kind of band that was going to be able to carry over their '70s success through to the next decade. They weren't "beloved" on the level that they were in the UK -- they were just a great band who had its time and place for success. The MTV era signaled the beginning of a new era, and most bands from the '70s were old hat by then. Look at how huge Cheap Trick was in the US during the same time period that Queen was. They couldn't get arrested here from 1981-1988 (until they sold out for a fluke mega-hit penned by outside songwriters). Things just worked a little differently in the US -- charts and album sales show that we never had quite the same reverence for legacy acts.

 

Also, the popularity of Brit music could be attributed to the vast, decades long reach of the BBC.

 

The only thing the BBC really did popular music-wise that springs to mind was Top of The Pops. I don't think that show had that much influence worldwide. I mean, the U.S wouldn't follow a British chart show. I doubt other countries would either.

 

All of them were big in Ireland...

 

He was very popular with British hard rock/metal fans in the mid-70s!

 

I can only talk about what I know and the contrast with the States in some areas is interesting to me. For all the differences there are a huge number of acts that had similar levels of success on both sides of the Atlantic.

It would be better to hear from people from other countries, and but I suspect USA and UK are the biggest contributors by far here. It would be interesting for instance to hear stories about acts being successful in Japan long after their success went elsewhere. How are such bands even viewed over there?

 

There's no accounting for taste.

 

Does this include broadcast televison? Europe didn't get that?
Also one must include music news, interviews, gossip, information in general..etc etc