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Post by LC on May 18, 2022 19:23:17 GMT -5
There were a lot of acts in the 70s & 80s that were equally popular on both sides of the Atlantic. There's also a pretty long list of acts that were hitmakers in one country or the other, but not both.
1) How much of that could be explained by differences in record company efforts?
2) How much of that could be explained by differences in musical taste based on location? Is there something about "being British" or "being American" that played into how well an act was received?
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Post by chrislc on May 20, 2022 16:15:23 GMT -5
There were a lot of acts in the 70s & 80s that were equally popular on both sides of the Atlantic. There's also a pretty long list of acts that were hitmakers in one country or the other, but not both. 1) How much of that could be explained by differences in record company efforts? 2) How much of that could be explained by differences in musical taste based on location? Is there something about "being British" or "being American" that played into how well an act was received? I think #1 would be about 80%. There were some hits with lyrics referring to cultural elements that didn't translate and I'd say those hits made up some of the other 20%. |
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Post by LC on May 21, 2022 16:55:30 GMT -5
Two acts that were huge in the UK but only had limited success in the US (both in 1983, interestingly) were Spandau Ballet and Big Country. They showed they could appeal to US audiences, so one has to wonder if the fault was with the record companies in not capitalizing on what success they did have. Or maybe with radio constantly searching for more new stuff to play?
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Post by djjoe1960 on May 22, 2022 14:09:52 GMT -5
I know T. Rex had one Top 10 hit here in the U.S. (Bang A Gong) , while there many more in the U. K. (1970's)
Gary Numan is a one hit wonder here in the U. S. (Cars)--not so in the U.K.
Chris Rea made the U. S. Top 40 with Fool (If You Think It's Over) , while he had many others hits in the U.K.
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Post by jblues on May 23, 2022 16:12:49 GMT -5
I just saw Rod Stewart in concert in Las Vegas last Weds.
He said near the middle of the show that he had 'one for the UK folks in attendance.'
It ended up being Baby Jane, which hit #14 in US, and #1 in UK (his last UK #1.)
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Post by LC on May 26, 2022 19:15:50 GMT -5
Although both ABBA and Sweet had a lot of US hits, they were even more popular in the UK.
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