Why did The Doors and Jefferson Airplane do so badly in the UK charts?

I think you've made another valid point there. The UK market probably wouldn't have been worth what it would have cost to cross the Atlantic to promote anything back then! We didn't have Dick Clark or Ed Sullivan but what we did have almost exclusively showcased UK talent. The UK wasn't really a target market for American acts, understandably. I think that worked in our favour though in a way because the influence of US bands in England then was quite minimal, which allowed a different kind of sound to develop based on the same socio-political backdrop.

 

Depends what you mean by "massive." Are they really? One hit song in a long career, and some albums which sold decently in the '70s and '80s. Rock radio played a few cuts from 1970 over the years and that's about it until "Touch of Gray." Touring, of course was another matter.

 

Tracks known to be played on John Peel's BBC shows by the two bands; probably more or less the only place the Airplane (or the Doors prior to 'Hello I Love You') would have been heard on the BBC in the 1960s. (July-August 1967 plays were on the offshore Radio London)
Jefferson Airplane
Doors

 

This is one of the most cringingly stupid and nationalistically narcissistic comments I've ever seen on this forum.
Please accept my apologies on behalf of those of us in the UK who have 'thinking' in our arsenal.

 

I was referring to their tours. I have no idea about their mainstream popularity in the States.

 

I remember Radio Caroline in its early-to-mid 80s incarnation playing "Truckin'" fairly regularly but yes that's hardly mainstream radio.

 

It all comes down to the trousers.

 

Five top 20 albums in the UK. Eight that went top 40 in the UK in total. Eight top 40 albums on Billboard. I consider that successful on both sides of the Atlantic for The Byrds. Talk about missing the entire point of my initial post!!

 

The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and The Doors seemed to 'break on through' into the UK album charts in 1970. Why that would suddenly be, I'm not sure. Can we discount The Byrds from this discussion, as they slammed the charts in both the US and the UK.

 

Yeah, in 1991. Not 1967 buddy.

 

You had some great ones, but much better?


Paper Lace's version of "Billy Don't Be a Hero" reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 16 March 1974... enough said right there about the incredible bands of Britain and their deserving spots on the charts over the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Neil Young, etc.

 

Why? Because they didn't sound like Piper era Pink Floyd.

 

Going off topic here but: The Beach Boys suddenly became huge in the UK in 1966, after largely being ignored. (Yes, they had one major hit here beforehand granted with 'I Get Around'). This might be down to Derek Taylor's glorious spin machine. Brian Wilson was indeed a genius. And if The Beatles are saying it too, then you're home and dry. Other than Dylan, Byrds, Lovin Spoonful and Mama's and Papa's, not many contemporary acts got the MAJOR seal of approval from the fab four.

 

for the doors, isle of wight, maybe

 

It’s all good . There’s no need to get testy about it.

Where we disagree I guess is..
For a band that gets so much respect among people that actually obsess about music (like this forum) I don’t consider “Top 40” all that impressive .

This isn’t Gary Puckett and the Union Gap we are talking about, its the Byrds!

 

Again, you're missing the point of this thread. Why were some artists hugely successful in the states in the 60's, but seemingly failed in the UK?. What were the social dynamics between the two countries that differed, to allow this to happen.

 

True. The only DJ who would might have played them would be Sir* John Peel....and commercial radio & local radio didn't exist then so there was only one source. Plus the pirate radio stations by 1967 were gradually being silenced by new laws that came into effect the year before.

* Yeah I know he wasn't knighted but IMHO he deserved to be!

 

No, I’m not missing the point of your thread .
I was responding to a post zaphage made...only.
I’m aware that it deviated from the actual thread topic.
Lord knows that’s not the first time that’s happened on the forum .

 

Because the UK likes recycled repacked music and the real straight stuff.

 

You actually replied directly to me, to my post about The Byrds. But, yeah. Whatever. Either way let's get the thread back on discussion.

 

Again.. originally I responded to zphage’s post, and then I replied to you ..when you responded to my post to him.
But yes, let’s get back to your actual thread topic . I don’t care anymore.

 

Those who were aware of the Doors and JA in the UK would only have been those who were sufficiently dedicated and interested enough to read the broadsheet music press like Melody Maker and New Musical Express and/or underground papers like the International Times in the UK at the time. Both bands were regarded as more "underground" than mainstream. There was a burgeoning underground scene across the UK, and not only in London, far from it...as someone said upthread that was largely restricted to University cities and towns, everywhere there was an Art School too. People of like mind would find each other in folk clubs, coffee bars who hosted poetry readings and local musicians...indeed John Peel had recommended on his Perfumed Garden radio show (1967) that listeners make a button badge bearing the legend "PG" so that the listeners would be able to find each other should they pass in the street, see the badge on another across a crowded record shop...that sort of thing...it worked :>) To all intents and purposes the only place to hear these and other bands, as others have said, was on Pirate Radio broadcasts like John Peel's late night "Perfumed Garden" Radio London show in 1967 and a wee bit later on John Peel's Sunday afternoon mainstream BBC Radio 1 show. Record releases of US artists at that time usually had a gap of a few months before being brought out in the UK, and that was catered for by places like One Stop Records in London and 23rd Precinct in Glasgow who sold import copies long before the albums were available in the UK. Whether this impacted negatively on eventual sales is open to debate because both bands (and many others) seen as representatives of the counter culture had a fairly limited audience at that time.

 

This is why:



It just sounded like someone trying to rip off The Kinks.



If Elektra had instead released a single more representative of The Doors’ sound, it might have made a difference.

 

Nah.

 

Um, that was the hit.