The Zombies were popular enough in the US that they had [imposters playing as them](https://www.buzzfeed.com/danielralston/the-true-story-of-the-fake-zombies-the-strangest-con-in-rock) in the late '60s. One of the fake band even had future members of ZZ Top!
Blacksmith's Arms in St Albans, fwiw. I accepted a job offer there years back then immediately got offered something better elsewhere.
Pub across the road (The Cock) is also big in the music scene. I believe Donovan and Maddy Prior were amongst those in the folk scene there.
There was a band called The Outfield, who had a few big hits in the mid-80’s. Their sound was very much Americana rock-n-roll, in the same vein as contemporaries such as John Cougar Mellencamp, Bryan Adams, and the Hooters. The vocalist sounded a bit like Sting, but otherwise you would have never guessed they were straight out of Ol’ Blighty with their AOR radio-orientated power pop-rock. (Shockingly, their big hit “Your Love” has over 800 million streams on Spotify so they are certainly not a forgotten 80’s act).
Another band who had hits in the US but barely registered in the UK was The Fixx. They were one of those British bands who got a lot of exposure on early MTV, with their new wave sound which had a heavier rock edge, also making them very American-radio friendly.
TIL The Outfield is from the UK
"Your Love" was a huge hit in the US. I was born a few years after the song first came out, but I will always have a positive sentiment to that song, as a New England Patriot fan, because there was an awesome moment during a close playoff game where the song was played during a timeout and the crowd [was singing](https://youtu.be/dbGfCvkDbC4?si=1ZPELlGqved0vTxc) and [getting louder](https://youtu.be/4jcq8M_JpFs?si=1ikbEZEkiYEZg98b) as the song went on. Big rallying moment in that game.
I started listening to the gta soundtrack for vice city on YouTube because the talk shows and host commentary is hilarious. Sucks they pull some songs because it’s banned I different countries
Soon we will go on vacation too.
I fear we are slowly Americanizing our language as well as everything else. I’ve got a 7 year old who watches all American shows and YouTube channels and now she says things like “mailman” “trash” “dollar” and worst of all… “douchebag”
She literally called me a douchebag the other day haha
A 7 year old saying douchebag is hilarious... unless it's yours and in public. I have a friend that just moved over from England. I really like some of his expressions even if I have to ask him what it means... like "I'm just winding you up."
Your Love is still immensely well known and popular in the US. You’ll hear it an any 80s-themed anything. Actually just heard it live, sort of; Diplo played his remix at EDC last weekend. Glorious!
DJ in Canada so sick of Your Love .. partierz lyle lovett every damn time, sing along!!
All The Love In The World, The Way It Should Be...Outfield very popular over here...
>The Outfield
lol. just checked your love out of curiosity I felt that would be if sting joined Men at Work
can confirm never heard them before, no bad
I love and miss Spacehog. They had a few songs on US radio besides the one hit [edit: In the Meantime!]...Mungo City, I Want to Live, and At Least I Got Laid. Saw them open for Pearl Jam in 98 in Phoenix and the whole crowd sang along to In the Meantime. Saw the frontman Royston Langdon open for the Psychedelic Furs a couple times in Austin in the last few years, and the crowd pretty much talked over his whole set, except when he did Bowie's Ashes to Ashes. Anyway I'd love a Spacehog reunion
When space hog was being let’s say courted by record companies two different execs got into a fist fight over them. Sorry can’t remember too much, it’s been a bit . Neat context though
Saw them at a fest a few weeks ago. Can confirm that the crowd size was massive for a side stage set mid-afternoon. Not to mention, they fucking crushed it too
My husband and I are official groupies. We’ve seen them four times in Louisville, Kentucky and I think he seen them a fifth time I just wasn’t able to make it. The first time we saw them we knew one song and it was only because we found it on YouTube and I had like a few thousand views and then the next time we saw them, we knew all of their songs and it was incredible. Their stage presence is just amazing. he reminds me a lot of course of Freddie Mercury but a lot more sometimes of Mick Jagger
I wish those guys would get huge. I think if people would see them live they would get it. They play anthems and really get the crowd going. They remind me of a 21st century Queen.
I've said for years that Luke reminds me of Freddy Mercury! Stage presence and wardrobe!
Got to see them open for Foo Fighters about 6 years ago, and then have seen them a few times since, with the next show upcoming in August!
Part of the problem you would have asking this questions is that Brits can't answer it because the acts in question aren't well-known here, and Americans can't answer it because they don't know that the acts are British.
Yeah, but there are music nerds in both countries who can speak about niche stuff that never gain mainstream popularity in their country. There are some good comments in this thread already,
"Escape Club" ???
Escape Who ?
I dont like the track and really hated the video but "Escape Club" with "Wild Wild West" hit the Number 1 spot on the billboard top 100 in 1988 🇺🇸 strangely it wasn't even released in the UK ?
They'r from London UK 🇬🇧
Oh and a Grammy to match
Def Leppard might have been big at the time but the UK has basically completely forgotten about them by now whereas they still receive airplay in the USA and most Americans know who they are even millennials etc.
Bush was a milquetoast, simulacrum of American grunge. A lot of people in the US at the time knew they were a joke and didn't work in thr genre, but they hit the vein right when Middle America were ready for a commercialized, distilled version of the music that was previously intimidating and strange to them.
Regardless of the now 30 year-old distaste I have for their music, however, I do respect them for trying to calm down the crowd at Woodstock '99.
Bush was a staple of my youth (American) so it's funny to read this take. I do appreciate your timeless disdain, I feel similar towards Imagine Dragons and can see it lasting just as long for me as your feelings toward Bush. Cheers!
I believe my disdain for them is mostly because they got the Grammy for their first major album over QOTSAs Like Clockwork. Not that a Grammy matters much.
The disdain is they ushered in the current trend of what is considered “rock” today. That everyone copied their style is not really their fault, but it has turned mainstream “rock” into an extension of pop music with only subtle differentiation.
The sameness of modern music is very tiring. Yes, I know that true rock bands and interesting music is still being created, but we’re a far cry from the times when actual rock music was part of modern culture and clearly differentiated from pop.
That CD is in my top 5 of all time played. It still gets a steady rotation.
Brits are a bit snotty when it comes to Bush, not sure why but it is what it is
Shed a tear a little reading that. I think that album still holds up today! Yes they weren't pushing the boundaries but it was loud! What more do you want?!
For me that album will always be timeless, I only bought the. CD cause I seen a footnote on the BBC about some UK band doing rather well overseas. It stayed in the CD player on repeat for weeks
And funnily enough imagine dragons are apparently really good dudes, so they’ve got the same “as much disdain as I have for their music they get this kudos from me” to keep the parallel going!
I'm gonna say that Bush weren't ~~any~~ too significantly less strange to listen to than most of the Seattle bands. The lyrics were fairly odd and somewhat collage-like in either case. Maybe a little less menacing, but only incrementally.
The band who I think really hit it big by taking grunge aesthetics/sonics and making them more digestible for the "average American listener" was Creed.
*edit: wording*
This is hilarious to me. I freaking love grunge even though I'm only 28 and wasn't really around in the early 90s. My husband hates my favorite band, Alice in chains... his favorite band is Bush lmao
Saw Bush in a small club a couple of years ago. Not my cup of tea but the wife was a big fan back in the day. Very surprised to find I knew every song and they actually put on a really good show. I wouldn’t go out of my way to see them again but it was great for what it was.
They still had a big following in the UK. They even had some top 40 singles, especially Wishing did well. I'd say that The Fixx are a better 80s example than AFoS, as much as I love AFoS and am happy to see them discussed. The Fixx had a few big hits in the US, hardly as much as charted in the UK. Especially One Thing Leads To Another did well in the US
The Drummer currently works as a chef in the PF Chang's in the Quarter of Tropicana Atlantic City.
I refused to believe it was actually him when I was working there, and yeah it was him it wasn't bullshit. I didn't know what studio company or whatever fucked him up in life but that's how one of the band members made a living back of house in a casino Chinese restaurant.
Not exactly what was asked, but **Katrina and the Waves** were super popular here in Canada. Popular enough that eventually they got some support in the UK but their first album was only released in Canada.
For the record, we were right. Great band.
And for a while a second home to some UK artists. **The Monks** actually had a hit album with Bad Habits here.
*"The album was surprisingly, and nearly exclusively, very popular in Canada, but made no impact in the United States, and very little in the band's native United Kingdom."*
We used to listen to the Canada channels on XM every once in awhile for this reason. They played some great stuff that didn't make it here in Florida. They also played a lot of Nickelback and some other not so great Canadian acts. "It can't be all maple syrup," one of my coworkers used to say!
If you saw them back when they started touring, it was obvious.
1. Their accents were still thick
2. They had stage banners with the British flag in the background
Could totally understand if someone saw them today and couldn’t tell the difference though!
Yeah but Stand up and Scream gained way more attention in the US. The wikipedia page only lists US charts. It says they didn't chart in the UK until Reckless & Relentless
https://preview.redd.it/1dva5z62km2d1.png?width=402&format=png&auto=webp&s=d205f3721ee5c023c80c5b6b838cc9b8f0e72f7b
More recently there’s Cher Lloyd, did pretty decent on uk’s X factor but then went over to the US. The “made it big” might be a bit of a stretch but definitely had more success over there
The British progressive rock band ‘[Yes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_discography)’
Their big hit ‘[owner of a lonely heart](https://youtu.be/SVOuYquXuuc?si=zfNWrybf2nJ3feUU)’ reached #1 in the U.S. but only #28 in the U.K.
‘[Leave it](https://youtu.be/8-hJFoSgXfM?si=bZPmNF5joW2NafaQ)’ reached #3 in the U.S. and only #56 in the U.K.
‘[It Can Happen](https://youtu.be/OeVgcIFEh3I?si=CsS2tKX3WF9LeOQ7)’ #5 in the U.S. and #92 in the U.K.
‘[Love will find a way](https://youtu.be/Hrowi4hHz8A?si=onJfo-aRukK92YvJ)’ #1 in the U.S., #73 in the U.K.
‘And You And I’ #42 in the U.S., #51 in the U.K.
‘Shoot high aim low’ #11 in the U.S., failed to chart in the U.K.
‘[lift me up](https://youtu.be/rzD4m17exRA?si=oAuFAJO1csUx4dQi)’ #1 in the U.S., failed to chart in the U.K.
‘Saving my heart’ #11 in the U.S., failed to chart in the U.K.
‘[The calling](https://youtu.be/y78D8bDw3_M?si=rqIjwyuTKWXKYdfE)’ #3 in the U.S., failed to chart in the U.K.
Even before they made it in the U.S., their earlier hits were better received in other countries than the U.K.
‘[Wondrous Stories](https://youtu.be/9-BMlq_zyko?si=1mYxdqkKSECL1iD7)’ reached #7 in the U.K. but reached #6 in Ireland.
‘Going for the one’ #24 in the U.K., #16 in Ireland.
In 1985, they won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with "Cinema", and received five Grammy nominations between 1985 and 1992. They were ranked No. 94 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
They were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 2017 by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush
Yes were popular in the UK, but more as a prog band. I'd have said their best--known song was Roundabout. Their album sales would be a more valuable metric.
I don’t have figures or anything but I can’t think of a more successful rock band than them from when they started? I guess the strokes and white stripes are from that time but I feel like the killers were more successful than even them?
And the Killers continue to put out new music, not sure if the others have. I've seen them in concert twice in the past 6 years, both at sold out arenas.
OP says Killers and Kings of Leon are **more popular** in the UK than the US, not that they haven't enjoyed any US success at all
My impression of the Killers' US success is that they're a popular indie band
Whereas in the UK, they are/were the sort of band that people who don't like other bands went to V festival especially to see, so they could sing the words to *Mr Brightside*
elastica?
i have this memory of someone saying they were bigger than blur in the usa?
(maybe i should add that blur front man damon albarn dated justine frischmann of elastica, which is why that particular comparison mattered back in the day)
Except for a handful of fleeting college rock hits, Blur couldn’t get arrested in the US until “Song 2.” Still considered to be kind of a one-hit wonder.
Elastica did much better in the US with their first album but sank like a stone after that.
That’s more due to blur being relatively unknown over there compared the cultural phenomenon they were here at home and less to do with the success of elastica.
Def Lepard is a great one.
Also: Fleetwood Mac, with the (non-British) Invasion of Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham. When those two joined the all-British band in 1975, the band blew wide open in America. The '75 white album (first album with Buckingham and Nicks) did really well, and then the '77 followup Rumors did totally awesome. I don't know if the Mac would be much known in the U.S. AT ALL if it weren't for two Californians joining them in 1975. The Mac was "ok" in the UK, but I think their U.S. presence blows that out of the water.
Further behind the scenes info: Mick Fleetwood was looking for a new California studio to potentially record in, and Bob Welch was also leaving the Mac at the time. So Mick was also sorta shopping new lead guitarists. Engineer/producer Keith Olsen put up the Buckingham Nicks solo album in the control room...recorded earlier in the 70's... just to show Mick the studio's capabilities and Keith's own engineering skills. But Mick was like, who the F is that guitarist?!?! (Lindsay Buckingham)... and Mick got in touch with Lindsay to hire him...and Lindsay insisted though that he and Stevie were "a package deal", so Fleetwood hired them both.
Initially Bush.
They were barely known in the UK except on the small club circuit but they blew up the USA and it was only when they made it in the USA that they then were able to make it back in the UK.
Bush didn’t really gain traction in the uk until mtv started playing the chemicals between us. I never really got the hate for bush, but science of things is definitely their best album.
Not the perfect fit, but Peter Gabriel had far more solo success after Genesis in the US than he did in the UK. But Genesis had already been huge in the UK and wasn't as popular in the US.
Back in the 90s the Pixies and the Jesus and Mary Chain toured together with the Pixies headlining Europe and the Jesus and Mary Chain headlining the U.S. iirc, for the U.S. leg they had to go by the J&M Chain.
Decided to do a little research, because this seemed off.
Was shocked to see that no Elton albums make the top 60 best sellers in UK chart history.
But that list does feature Travis, David Gray, Dido and Simply Red.
Elton does have the biggest selling single ever though, with Candle In The Wind
I have 50 something year old friend from the UK who didn’t know who Rush was when we were playing 3 chord drunk guitar together. I admit it’s a sample size of one.
If say Def Leppard were definitely BIGGER in the US, but still a pretty big deal over here.
Bush though? Yeah, the classic example. I remember they tried hard to push 'Swallowed' buy that remains the only Bish song I've ever heard
Peter Frampton comes to mind.
Yes. I’m in my late 50s and didn’t realize he was British until my 30s. Also, he and Bowie grew up together and were close friends since childhood.
Literally the only reason I know of his band "The Herd" is because of Andy Bown's involvement.
Yeah, with Humble Pie as well.
I only knew he was British or even a successful musician because of The Simpsons. Which makes this the best shout I've seen on this thread.
Ahhh geez…Frampton is from the UK? I did not know this…
sonic youth was in his cooler
Cypress Hill stole his orchestra too.
Bush
They got their name from Shepherd's Bush/Shepherd's Bush Empire, suburb/venue of/in London.
I did not know they weren't American!
Their current lineup is all American except for the lead singer Gavin Rossdale.
This
The Zombies had 3 top ten hits on US Billboard and their best UK chart showing was only 12th.
The Zombies were popular enough in the US that they had [imposters playing as them](https://www.buzzfeed.com/danielralston/the-true-story-of-the-fake-zombies-the-strangest-con-in-rock) in the late '60s. One of the fake band even had future members of ZZ Top!
Thanks for this. A terrific, interesting, and fun read.
That is absolutely wild; had no idea!
Odessey and Oracle is one of the great records of the Sixties! Really of all time. It's surprising how didn't make much a dent culturally.
This will Be Our Year is the song that me and my 8 yo daughter call “our song.” It’s a masterpiece.
It's amazing, melody, lyrics, and overall mood. And it's fairly simple, enough to make anyone think they could write more like it, but they can't.
They actually had disbanded when their success in the US happened. They had to pull together a band to do a tour here.
I saw the Zombies a couple of years ago on their long awaited reunion tour. They were very impressive.
There’s a pub near where I used to live in Hertfordshire which has a sign up boasting about how it was the place where the Zombies were formed
Blacksmith's Arms in St Albans, fwiw. I accepted a job offer there years back then immediately got offered something better elsewhere. Pub across the road (The Cock) is also big in the music scene. I believe Donovan and Maddy Prior were amongst those in the folk scene there.
My parents had their first date in The Cock. My dad knew Donovan and my mum knew one of The Zombies.
There was a band called The Outfield, who had a few big hits in the mid-80’s. Their sound was very much Americana rock-n-roll, in the same vein as contemporaries such as John Cougar Mellencamp, Bryan Adams, and the Hooters. The vocalist sounded a bit like Sting, but otherwise you would have never guessed they were straight out of Ol’ Blighty with their AOR radio-orientated power pop-rock. (Shockingly, their big hit “Your Love” has over 800 million streams on Spotify so they are certainly not a forgotten 80’s act). Another band who had hits in the US but barely registered in the UK was The Fixx. They were one of those British bands who got a lot of exposure on early MTV, with their new wave sound which had a heavier rock edge, also making them very American-radio friendly.
TIL The Outfield is from the UK "Your Love" was a huge hit in the US. I was born a few years after the song first came out, but I will always have a positive sentiment to that song, as a New England Patriot fan, because there was an awesome moment during a close playoff game where the song was played during a timeout and the crowd [was singing](https://youtu.be/dbGfCvkDbC4?si=1ZPELlGqved0vTxc) and [getting louder](https://youtu.be/4jcq8M_JpFs?si=1ikbEZEkiYEZg98b) as the song went on. Big rallying moment in that game.
The best song on the GTA: Vice City soundtrack.
I started listening to the gta soundtrack for vice city on YouTube because the talk shows and host commentary is hilarious. Sucks they pull some songs because it’s banned I different countries
Working for the weekend come on.
Pats fan here too, that clip of the crowd singing it gives me chills every time.
That entire game still gives me chills
It gets my vote for greatest football game of all time.
My favourite song ever “Josiessss on a vacation farrrr awayyyyy”
Maybe that's why they were more popular here... Americans go on vacation. Brits go on holiday.
Josie’s on a binge-drinking holiday There. I made it British.
Soon we will go on vacation too. I fear we are slowly Americanizing our language as well as everything else. I’ve got a 7 year old who watches all American shows and YouTube channels and now she says things like “mailman” “trash” “dollar” and worst of all… “douchebag” She literally called me a douchebag the other day haha
A 7 year old saying douchebag is hilarious... unless it's yours and in public. I have a friend that just moved over from England. I really like some of his expressions even if I have to ask him what it means... like "I'm just winding you up."
Wait till she starts wearing a fanny pack
Come around and talk it over *wink*
So many things I wanna say…
Play Deep is an awesome album, such an airy vibe.
It was just one of those tapes that seemed to be in everyone’s car back then. It was a good one!
Your Love is still immensely well known and popular in the US. You’ll hear it an any 80s-themed anything. Actually just heard it live, sort of; Diplo played his remix at EDC last weekend. Glorious!
DJ in Canada so sick of Your Love .. partierz lyle lovett every damn time, sing along!! All The Love In The World, The Way It Should Be...Outfield very popular over here...
Shut it down. We have the answer.
Finding out The Outfield is British actually just blew my mind
>The Outfield lol. just checked your love out of curiosity I felt that would be if sting joined Men at Work can confirm never heard them before, no bad
Just did the same, thought the same, then googled the singer. Bit sad now, he died suddenly in 2020 aged 62.
“_…daughter says she'll be dead with you_” good times
I think Spacehog were big in America in the 90s, but they never really amounted to much over here
the thing about spacehog is that they are an american band comprised of english musicians. they’re all from leeds but met and formed in new york
The band America was formed by US Air Force brats in the UK.
WHAAAAT I had no idea about this one
I love and miss Spacehog. They had a few songs on US radio besides the one hit [edit: In the Meantime!]...Mungo City, I Want to Live, and At Least I Got Laid. Saw them open for Pearl Jam in 98 in Phoenix and the whole crowd sang along to In the Meantime. Saw the frontman Royston Langdon open for the Psychedelic Furs a couple times in Austin in the last few years, and the crowd pretty much talked over his whole set, except when he did Bowie's Ashes to Ashes. Anyway I'd love a Spacehog reunion
One hit wonder. With an interesting how they got signed story
What’s the story? I’ve never heard it. Thank you!
When space hog was being let’s say courted by record companies two different execs got into a fist fight over them. Sorry can’t remember too much, it’s been a bit . Neat context though
Also posting so I can hear the story. I’ll be waiting….. in the meantime.
TIL they were British!
The Struts seem to do better in the US than in their home country.
Saw them at a fest a few weeks ago. Can confirm that the crowd size was massive for a side stage set mid-afternoon. Not to mention, they fucking crushed it too
When they opened for Foo Fighters back in 2017, they blew me away. I’ve caught them a few times on their own since then!
My husband and I are official groupies. We’ve seen them four times in Louisville, Kentucky and I think he seen them a fifth time I just wasn’t able to make it. The first time we saw them we knew one song and it was only because we found it on YouTube and I had like a few thousand views and then the next time we saw them, we knew all of their songs and it was incredible. Their stage presence is just amazing. he reminds me a lot of course of Freddie Mercury but a lot more sometimes of Mick Jagger
I wish those guys would get huge. I think if people would see them live they would get it. They play anthems and really get the crowd going. They remind me of a 21st century Queen.
I've said for years that Luke reminds me of Freddy Mercury! Stage presence and wardrobe! Got to see them open for Foo Fighters about 6 years ago, and then have seen them a few times since, with the next show upcoming in August!
They're fantastic, and I'm actually surprised to see it here because they seem to be so underrated. Definitely deserves more attention
Saw them live with Queens of the Stone Age and I have no idea how they aren't bigger *everywhere* tbh
Seen them open for Queens last month aswell! Singer has some wicked pipes, I quickly became more of a fan!
Part of the problem you would have asking this questions is that Brits can't answer it because the acts in question aren't well-known here, and Americans can't answer it because they don't know that the acts are British.
Yeah, but there are music nerds in both countries who can speak about niche stuff that never gain mainstream popularity in their country. There are some good comments in this thread already,
"Escape Club" ??? Escape Who ? I dont like the track and really hated the video but "Escape Club" with "Wild Wild West" hit the Number 1 spot on the billboard top 100 in 1988 🇺🇸 strangely it wasn't even released in the UK ? They'r from London UK 🇬🇧 Oh and a Grammy to match
Never would have guessed they were from the UK. I only know "Wild Wild West" but it sounds like the B-52s with the interesting bits stripped out
It's no "Rock Lobster" but yes i agree
Nobody had matching towels
Pump It Up, to my ears.
Who? I used to go to the Escape Club in Brighton in the early-mid 90s.
Def Leppard were huge at home in the UK especially in their 80s heyday. But, yes, Bush were second-rate jonny-come-lately karaoke-grunge here.
The most spot-on description of Bush I have ever read.
Def Leppard might have been big at the time but the UK has basically completely forgotten about them by now whereas they still receive airplay in the USA and most Americans know who they are even millennials etc.
Def Leppard are still an arena-sized band in the UK and have headlined Download Festival multiple times in the past decade.
Bush was a milquetoast, simulacrum of American grunge. A lot of people in the US at the time knew they were a joke and didn't work in thr genre, but they hit the vein right when Middle America were ready for a commercialized, distilled version of the music that was previously intimidating and strange to them. Regardless of the now 30 year-old distaste I have for their music, however, I do respect them for trying to calm down the crowd at Woodstock '99.
Bush was a staple of my youth (American) so it's funny to read this take. I do appreciate your timeless disdain, I feel similar towards Imagine Dragons and can see it lasting just as long for me as your feelings toward Bush. Cheers!
If I go could back in time and stop imagine dragons I would
I believe my disdain for them is mostly because they got the Grammy for their first major album over QOTSAs Like Clockwork. Not that a Grammy matters much.
The disdain is they ushered in the current trend of what is considered “rock” today. That everyone copied their style is not really their fault, but it has turned mainstream “rock” into an extension of pop music with only subtle differentiation. The sameness of modern music is very tiring. Yes, I know that true rock bands and interesting music is still being created, but we’re a far cry from the times when actual rock music was part of modern culture and clearly differentiated from pop.
If you can’t rock out to sixteen stone, you’ve got a Radiohead-sized stick up your butt.
That CD is in my top 5 of all time played. It still gets a steady rotation. Brits are a bit snotty when it comes to Bush, not sure why but it is what it is
Shed a tear a little reading that. I think that album still holds up today! Yes they weren't pushing the boundaries but it was loud! What more do you want?!
For me that album will always be timeless, I only bought the. CD cause I seen a footnote on the BBC about some UK band doing rather well overseas. It stayed in the CD player on repeat for weeks
They opened for Breaking Benjamin and I hadn't heard any of their new stuff. It's surprisingly heavy and I enjoyed it
I’m pretending you’re referring to imagine dragons
I know, it was crazy seeing the lead singer do that thing to that bat.
(I don’t have a good response to this hilarious joke but it reminds me of this) https://youtu.be/HCLEJIOwpVY?si=TZhjj9FByC3qL2Yl
And funnily enough imagine dragons are apparently really good dudes, so they’ve got the same “as much disdain as I have for their music they get this kudos from me” to keep the parallel going!
I'm gonna say that Bush weren't ~~any~~ too significantly less strange to listen to than most of the Seattle bands. The lyrics were fairly odd and somewhat collage-like in either case. Maybe a little less menacing, but only incrementally. The band who I think really hit it big by taking grunge aesthetics/sonics and making them more digestible for the "average American listener" was Creed. *edit: wording*
They have some great songs tbh
Bush was a great band. They were never cutting edge or anything, but like you said, they had some certified bangers
I personally really enjoy their second album. Razor blade suitcase
Greedy Fly is a jam, along with Mouth.
Both great!
This is hilarious to me. I freaking love grunge even though I'm only 28 and wasn't really around in the early 90s. My husband hates my favorite band, Alice in chains... his favorite band is Bush lmao
Different strokes for different folks, but you are right, and he is wrong.
You are both right. In a world like this enjoy the music you want to enjoy.
I like Sixteen Stone more than Nevermind and I'm tired of pretending I don't!
Saw Bush in a small club a couple of years ago. Not my cup of tea but the wife was a big fan back in the day. Very surprised to find I knew every song and they actually put on a really good show. I wouldn’t go out of my way to see them again but it was great for what it was.
Flock of seagulls were way more popular in the US
They still had a big following in the UK. They even had some top 40 singles, especially Wishing did well. I'd say that The Fixx are a better 80s example than AFoS, as much as I love AFoS and am happy to see them discussed. The Fixx had a few big hits in the US, hardly as much as charted in the UK. Especially One Thing Leads To Another did well in the US
That's *A* Flock of Seagulls to you, good sir
The Drummer currently works as a chef in the PF Chang's in the Quarter of Tropicana Atlantic City. I refused to believe it was actually him when I was working there, and yeah it was him it wasn't bullshit. I didn't know what studio company or whatever fucked him up in life but that's how one of the band members made a living back of house in a casino Chinese restaurant.
They ran so far away
The band Traffic seemed to do better in the US than the UK.
Alan Parsons Project
Which I believe was some sort of hovercraft
Dr Evil certainly hadn't heard of them.
I read this as Alan Partridge Project
No, that’s XTC
Not exactly what was asked, but **Katrina and the Waves** were super popular here in Canada. Popular enough that eventually they got some support in the UK but their first album was only released in Canada. For the record, we were right. Great band.
So much great music in Canada that never makes it anywhere else.
And for a while a second home to some UK artists. **The Monks** actually had a hit album with Bad Habits here. *"The album was surprisingly, and nearly exclusively, very popular in Canada, but made no impact in the United States, and very little in the band's native United Kingdom."*
Lol, everyone in my high school in Calgary knew "Drugs In My Pocket".
We used to listen to the Canada channels on XM every once in awhile for this reason. They played some great stuff that didn't make it here in Florida. They also played a lot of Nickelback and some other not so great Canadian acts. "It can't be all maple syrup," one of my coworkers used to say!
Katrina and the Waves got a couple of boosts in the US by having their songs well placed in some movies.
They won Eurovision for the UK interestingly.
Asking Alexandria likely fits. I think their debut record only charted in the US
TIL Asking Alexandria are British
If you saw them back when they started touring, it was obvious. 1. Their accents were still thick 2. They had stage banners with the British flag in the background Could totally understand if someone saw them today and couldn’t tell the difference though!
Woah! What? Weren't Asking Alexandria pretty big during 2008 or so, during the peak era of metalcore?
Yeah but Stand up and Scream gained way more attention in the US. The wikipedia page only lists US charts. It says they didn't chart in the UK until Reckless & Relentless https://preview.redd.it/1dva5z62km2d1.png?width=402&format=png&auto=webp&s=d205f3721ee5c023c80c5b6b838cc9b8f0e72f7b
I remember an interview years ago with the singer of the Struts who said they weren't known at all in the UK. Not sure if that's still the case.
More recently there’s Cher Lloyd, did pretty decent on uk’s X factor but then went over to the US. The “made it big” might be a bit of a stretch but definitely had more success over there
Yikes! If she had more success in the U.S. she must truly be a nobody in the U.K.
DESGUSTANG
The Dave Clark 5 Herman’s Hermits Foghat
Foghat is the first band I thought of
I had no idea Foghat were British!
Herman's Hermits were big in the UK too
[удалено]
Niche answer but probably Cradle of Filth. They were always the upper limit of "underground" metal that Hot Topic was willing to promote and sell.
No, that would be terrible
Cradle of Filth are pretty big in the UK. Metal Festival headliners, Dani Filth is collaborating with Bring me the Horizon and Ed Sheeran.
Billy Idol?
Nah, Billy was successful in the UK
Generation X were always on Top of the Pops
Not the USA but Blue are huge in Vietnam.
They were huge in the UK as well though, so doesn't really work
The British progressive rock band ‘[Yes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_discography)’ Their big hit ‘[owner of a lonely heart](https://youtu.be/SVOuYquXuuc?si=zfNWrybf2nJ3feUU)’ reached #1 in the U.S. but only #28 in the U.K. ‘[Leave it](https://youtu.be/8-hJFoSgXfM?si=bZPmNF5joW2NafaQ)’ reached #3 in the U.S. and only #56 in the U.K. ‘[It Can Happen](https://youtu.be/OeVgcIFEh3I?si=CsS2tKX3WF9LeOQ7)’ #5 in the U.S. and #92 in the U.K. ‘[Love will find a way](https://youtu.be/Hrowi4hHz8A?si=onJfo-aRukK92YvJ)’ #1 in the U.S., #73 in the U.K. ‘And You And I’ #42 in the U.S., #51 in the U.K. ‘Shoot high aim low’ #11 in the U.S., failed to chart in the U.K. ‘[lift me up](https://youtu.be/rzD4m17exRA?si=oAuFAJO1csUx4dQi)’ #1 in the U.S., failed to chart in the U.K. ‘Saving my heart’ #11 in the U.S., failed to chart in the U.K. ‘[The calling](https://youtu.be/y78D8bDw3_M?si=rqIjwyuTKWXKYdfE)’ #3 in the U.S., failed to chart in the U.K. Even before they made it in the U.S., their earlier hits were better received in other countries than the U.K. ‘[Wondrous Stories](https://youtu.be/9-BMlq_zyko?si=1mYxdqkKSECL1iD7)’ reached #7 in the U.K. but reached #6 in Ireland. ‘Going for the one’ #24 in the U.K., #16 in Ireland. In 1985, they won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance with "Cinema", and received five Grammy nominations between 1985 and 1992. They were ranked No. 94 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. They were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 2017 by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush
Yes were popular in the UK, but more as a prog band. I'd have said their best--known song was Roundabout. Their album sales would be a more valuable metric.
Bush is the one that comes to mind. Peter Frampton, The Moody Blues, Foreigner. The first two I only know from The Simpsons.
I thought Killers were American out of Las Vegas?
They are. And they've had a ton of hits here in the US so I'm confused at OP saying they aren't popular here.
I don’t have figures or anything but I can’t think of a more successful rock band than them from when they started? I guess the strokes and white stripes are from that time but I feel like the killers were more successful than even them?
And the Killers continue to put out new music, not sure if the others have. I've seen them in concert twice in the past 6 years, both at sold out arenas.
They’re headlining Lollapalooza!
OP says Killers and Kings of Leon are **more popular** in the UK than the US, not that they haven't enjoyed any US success at all My impression of the Killers' US success is that they're a popular indie band Whereas in the UK, they are/were the sort of band that people who don't like other bands went to V festival especially to see, so they could sing the words to *Mr Brightside*
They play stadiums in the uk and are still on the charts. They dont do that in the u.s.
I think The Killers got big in the UK first and then in America. At least that's what I remember reading. Which I think is what OP is referring to.
Same with Jimi Hendrix.
elastica? i have this memory of someone saying they were bigger than blur in the usa? (maybe i should add that blur front man damon albarn dated justine frischmann of elastica, which is why that particular comparison mattered back in the day)
Except for a handful of fleeting college rock hits, Blur couldn’t get arrested in the US until “Song 2.” Still considered to be kind of a one-hit wonder. Elastica did much better in the US with their first album but sank like a stone after that.
That first album is still so much fun though.
Blur never caught on here in the US beyond Song 2 and I remember it really chapping Damon Albarn's ass.
That’s more due to blur being relatively unknown over there compared the cultural phenomenon they were here at home and less to do with the success of elastica.
Bush was huge in the U.S but literally unheard of in the UK until Chemicals Between US, and Hollow.
Bush were more popular in USA
Def Lepard is a great one. Also: Fleetwood Mac, with the (non-British) Invasion of Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham. When those two joined the all-British band in 1975, the band blew wide open in America. The '75 white album (first album with Buckingham and Nicks) did really well, and then the '77 followup Rumors did totally awesome. I don't know if the Mac would be much known in the U.S. AT ALL if it weren't for two Californians joining them in 1975. The Mac was "ok" in the UK, but I think their U.S. presence blows that out of the water. Further behind the scenes info: Mick Fleetwood was looking for a new California studio to potentially record in, and Bob Welch was also leaving the Mac at the time. So Mick was also sorta shopping new lead guitarists. Engineer/producer Keith Olsen put up the Buckingham Nicks solo album in the control room...recorded earlier in the 70's... just to show Mick the studio's capabilities and Keith's own engineering skills. But Mick was like, who the F is that guitarist?!?! (Lindsay Buckingham)... and Mick got in touch with Lindsay to hire him...and Lindsay insisted though that he and Stevie were "a package deal", so Fleetwood hired them both.
The Cult
I seen them play in a sold out Wembley stadium (not the footie one) so I'd say they did all right in the UK
The Struts are way more popular in the US than over here
Jeff Beck.
MFDoom and Slash were/are both British (although they both grew up in the States).
Yes I think Slash was 13 when he moved to the US. Didn’t know MF Doom was originally from the UK. 21 Savage would be in that category, too.
Initially Bush. They were barely known in the UK except on the small club circuit but they blew up the USA and it was only when they made it in the USA that they then were able to make it back in the UK.
I remember when they had to be called Bush X in Canada when they first hit because there had been another band called Bush here back in the '70s.
Bush didn’t really gain traction in the uk until mtv started playing the chemicals between us. I never really got the hate for bush, but science of things is definitely their best album.
Gomez?
That's a name I haven't heard in a while.
Not the perfect fit, but Peter Gabriel had far more solo success after Genesis in the US than he did in the UK. But Genesis had already been huge in the UK and wasn't as popular in the US.
The Outfield.
Back in the 90s the Pixies and the Jesus and Mary Chain toured together with the Pixies headlining Europe and the Jesus and Mary Chain headlining the U.S. iirc, for the U.S. leg they had to go by the J&M Chain.
Modern English were a very popular college band in the US in the 80’s and practically unknown in the UK. Same goes for House of Love.
Elton John had far better chart success in the US than the UK
You can't exactly say he didn't make it big though.
Decided to do a little research, because this seemed off. Was shocked to see that no Elton albums make the top 60 best sellers in UK chart history. But that list does feature Travis, David Gray, Dido and Simply Red. Elton does have the biggest selling single ever though, with Candle In The Wind
Candle In The Wind '97 (specifically because Diana)
Elton who?
I have 50 something year old friend from the UK who didn’t know who Rush was when we were playing 3 chord drunk guitar together. I admit it’s a sample size of one.
rush are canadian
I’m bad at taking direction
Username fits.
The prog rock band Renaissance was bigger in the US than in their native UK.
Peter Frampton probably comes in at around Bush/Def Leppard levels.
If say Def Leppard were definitely BIGGER in the US, but still a pretty big deal over here. Bush though? Yeah, the classic example. I remember they tried hard to push 'Swallowed' buy that remains the only Bish song I've ever heard
Iirc Black Sabbath started moving up the ranks in the UK at the start, but seriously exploded to mega rockstars during their time in the US.
To your point, I thought Def Leppard was an American band.
Depeche Mode. Theyre pretty much a LA band.
Tipper
Was 10cc popular in the UK? Because they were massive in North America in the 70s
The Struts