A few more that deserved better.....
THE AFFORDABLE FLOORS
BEARGARDEN
THIS FINAL FRAME
SYSTEM 56
SOUTH PARADE
B-MOVIE
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Top 5 NW bands that got screwed by history
63 posts
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by Screen 13 » Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:15 am
I have to also agree with the mentions for The Sound. Fine stuff, but I also agree that they should have been given a budget to make some videos.
The Wolfgang Press were also a damn good band!
20/20 can count, but their second album, Watch Out, was not as strong as their first, so I don't know if they can be that all elusive #5. Still, they had some great sounds (SOLID first album!)
Clan of Xymox/Xymox? Their first two 4AD albums can count them in the running, especially Medusa, a fine album that makes me forgive that mistake that was their 1992 or 3 attempt to branch out into more Dance-oriented music (I think it was called Metamorphosis).
Have to hear the Trashcan Sinatras music again, but I do remember really liking what I heard.
Here's one - The Bluebells! Called to be one of brightest lights of the Early 80's, but then after getting a couple of major hits ("Young At Heart" and "I'm Falling"), there was the under-performing album Sisters and the unfortunate fate of the "All I Am" single that had an over-produced 7-Inch version and that rather messy attempt to bring it to the 12 Inch format (despite the mega fine B-Side cover of "The Ballad of Joe Hill" which may have hinted at where they wanted their music to be...). A very quick rise and fall, but one filled with some very good music. Critical and Fan love, but not much beyond that.
The Wolfgang Press were also a damn good band!
20/20 can count, but their second album, Watch Out, was not as strong as their first, so I don't know if they can be that all elusive #5. Still, they had some great sounds (SOLID first album!)
Clan of Xymox/Xymox? Their first two 4AD albums can count them in the running, especially Medusa, a fine album that makes me forgive that mistake that was their 1992 or 3 attempt to branch out into more Dance-oriented music (I think it was called Metamorphosis).
Have to hear the Trashcan Sinatras music again, but I do remember really liking what I heard.
Here's one - The Bluebells! Called to be one of brightest lights of the Early 80's, but then after getting a couple of major hits ("Young At Heart" and "I'm Falling"), there was the under-performing album Sisters and the unfortunate fate of the "All I Am" single that had an over-produced 7-Inch version and that rather messy attempt to bring it to the 12 Inch format (despite the mega fine B-Side cover of "The Ballad of Joe Hill" which may have hinted at where they wanted their music to be...). A very quick rise and fall, but one filled with some very good music. Critical and Fan love, but not much beyond that.
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by Screen 13 » Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:21 am
[quote][i]Originally posted by korova1[/i]
<br>Chameleons and the Sound are two of the biggest bands to get "screwed". Makes you wonder about Statik record's promotion department.
But in reality neither band was a bunch of "pretty boys". They had dark introspective lyrics about deep subject matter (wars, suicide, morality, humanity) and their words actually meant something.
Generally speaking this formula doesn't work for mass pop consumption.
Although with fair success in UK, Teardrop Explodes gets no true BIG commercial or critical recognition in the USA IMHO, along with Mr. Cope for that matter, although he did get a brief bit of recognition in the late 80's with Jehovakill and Peggy Suicide. I think he only had one hit with "World Shut Your Mouth" way back. I love that band.
Polyrock is a greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat example of a phenomenal band who got absolutely nowhere.
[/quote]
In a way, Teardrop Explodes' second (and in my opinion best) album Wilder was a pretty dark album which had a lot of promotion in The UK, but actually wound up being an under-performing album that only had a small fraction of sales compared to Kilimanjaro. I think Wilder was in it's quick fall appearance while their debut album was still hovering around in the lower half of the UK album charts (Could be wrong, but...). The singles apart from "Passionate Friend" were also comparative flops sales-wise. Throw in the erratic nature of the band, the ever-revolving lineup, and the declining Smash Hits audience (that short-lived Duran wanna-be looking Bass player around the time of the release of "Passionate Friend" seemed like an obvious attempt to fit in an image they never fitted into at all), and you have a recipe for what happened.
When all is said, Wilder's a perfect companion album to any classic Chameleons - at least to me.
Actually, when you look more Synth-Based, Soft Cell also had that same fate after their Non-Stop 1982, but their major success that year puts them out of the running in this topic. Still, no denying that The Art of Falling Apart and This Last Night in Sodom are serious contenders for a Top 10 of albums that were great Pop which still had no chance for Mainstream success. A case of turning into something more interesting which killed off their mainstream success and also facing those who still thought of them as "Tainted Love" and nothing more.
Still, as for the Marc and the Mambas albums of that time, you might want to consider Almond's solo project - the two albums were not commercial, but still are very under-looked even today.
<br>Chameleons and the Sound are two of the biggest bands to get "screwed". Makes you wonder about Statik record's promotion department.
But in reality neither band was a bunch of "pretty boys". They had dark introspective lyrics about deep subject matter (wars, suicide, morality, humanity) and their words actually meant something.
Generally speaking this formula doesn't work for mass pop consumption.
Although with fair success in UK, Teardrop Explodes gets no true BIG commercial or critical recognition in the USA IMHO, along with Mr. Cope for that matter, although he did get a brief bit of recognition in the late 80's with Jehovakill and Peggy Suicide. I think he only had one hit with "World Shut Your Mouth" way back. I love that band.
Polyrock is a greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat example of a phenomenal band who got absolutely nowhere.
[/quote]
In a way, Teardrop Explodes' second (and in my opinion best) album Wilder was a pretty dark album which had a lot of promotion in The UK, but actually wound up being an under-performing album that only had a small fraction of sales compared to Kilimanjaro. I think Wilder was in it's quick fall appearance while their debut album was still hovering around in the lower half of the UK album charts (Could be wrong, but...). The singles apart from "Passionate Friend" were also comparative flops sales-wise. Throw in the erratic nature of the band, the ever-revolving lineup, and the declining Smash Hits audience (that short-lived Duran wanna-be looking Bass player around the time of the release of "Passionate Friend" seemed like an obvious attempt to fit in an image they never fitted into at all), and you have a recipe for what happened.
When all is said, Wilder's a perfect companion album to any classic Chameleons - at least to me.
Actually, when you look more Synth-Based, Soft Cell also had that same fate after their Non-Stop 1982, but their major success that year puts them out of the running in this topic. Still, no denying that The Art of Falling Apart and This Last Night in Sodom are serious contenders for a Top 10 of albums that were great Pop which still had no chance for Mainstream success. A case of turning into something more interesting which killed off their mainstream success and also facing those who still thought of them as "Tainted Love" and nothing more.
Still, as for the Marc and the Mambas albums of that time, you might want to consider Almond's solo project - the two albums were not commercial, but still are very under-looked even today.
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by Frank_Chickens » Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:46 am
[quote][i]Originally posted by pellerman[/i]
<br>The Comateens, especially the material from their 1981 self titled release. This album was a real gem of synthpop songs. Few artists have made albums in which most of the songs were really good, at least in my opinion, and this is definitely one of them.
[/quote]
Certainly worthy of a mention.
'The Late Mistake' is a brilliant track and deserved a much better fate, but can't help wondering how things would of turned out if Lyn Byrd took full vocals duties and the band was more synth led. Two decent albums that deserved better than being popular in France but there ya go.
<br>The Comateens, especially the material from their 1981 self titled release. This album was a real gem of synthpop songs. Few artists have made albums in which most of the songs were really good, at least in my opinion, and this is definitely one of them.
[/quote]
Certainly worthy of a mention.
'The Late Mistake' is a brilliant track and deserved a much better fate, but can't help wondering how things would of turned out if Lyn Byrd took full vocals duties and the band was more synth led. Two decent albums that deserved better than being popular in France but there ya go.
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by pellerman » Sat Oct 22, 2011 5:20 am
I believe a couple members mentioned Clan of Xymox on this thread. Here's one song by the band that never gets mentioned, but it's my favorite - maybe cuz it came out in the early 90's.
My mistake - this is actually a different band altogether, called just "Xymox"
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aoaoZJqWCJg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
My mistake - this is actually a different band altogether, called just "Xymox"
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aoaoZJqWCJg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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by schwenko » Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:30 am
[quote][i]Originally posted by pellerman[/i]
<br>I believe a couple members mentioned Clan of Xymox on this thread. Here's one song by the band that never gets mentioned, but it's my favorite - maybe cuz it came out in the early 90's.
My mistake - this is actually a different band altogether, called just "Xymox"
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aoaoZJqWCJg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
[/quote]
I believe they are the same band.
Sugoi !!!
<br>I believe a couple members mentioned Clan of Xymox on this thread. Here's one song by the band that never gets mentioned, but it's my favorite - maybe cuz it came out in the early 90's.
My mistake - this is actually a different band altogether, called just "Xymox"
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aoaoZJqWCJg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
[/quote]
I believe they are the same band.
Sugoi !!!
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by SallyLightfoot » Sun Oct 23, 2011 3:12 am
Not sure about NW bands, but power-pop bands definitely got the shaft. They were squeezed in the transition from classic rock to commercial-pop/new wave. A bunch of them were sorta able to get on the early NW bandwagon (Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Cars, The Police, Blondie, Squeeze, etc.).
So, in my view, power-pop artists really got screwed:
Big Star
Shoes
Paul Collins
The Interview
The Producers
Phil Seymour
Bram Tchaikovsky
Flamin' Groovies
Vulgar Boatmen
So, in my view, power-pop artists really got screwed:
Big Star
Shoes
Paul Collins
The Interview
The Producers
Phil Seymour
Bram Tchaikovsky
Flamin' Groovies
Vulgar Boatmen
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by Frank_Chickens » Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:24 am
[quote][i]Originally posted by SallyLightfoot[/i]
<br>Not sure about NW bands, but power-pop bands definitely got the shaft. They were squeezed in the transition from classic rock to commercial-pop/new wave. A bunch of them were sorta able to get on the early NW bandwagon (Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Cars, The Police, Blondie, Squeeze, etc.).
So, in my view, power-pop artists really got screwed:
Big Star
Shoes
Paul Collins
The Interview
The Producers
Phil Seymour
Bram Tchaikovsky
Flamin' Groovies
Vulgar Boatmen
[/quote]
They did, being in one was the musical equivalent of being on the Titantic.
Although they would occasionally have hits, by and large it was a hiding to nothing. Oh and a couple of more to add to your list:
The Yachts
The Dazzlers
The Pinkees
<br>Not sure about NW bands, but power-pop bands definitely got the shaft. They were squeezed in the transition from classic rock to commercial-pop/new wave. A bunch of them were sorta able to get on the early NW bandwagon (Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Cars, The Police, Blondie, Squeeze, etc.).
So, in my view, power-pop artists really got screwed:
Big Star
Shoes
Paul Collins
The Interview
The Producers
Phil Seymour
Bram Tchaikovsky
Flamin' Groovies
Vulgar Boatmen
[/quote]
They did, being in one was the musical equivalent of being on the Titantic.
Although they would occasionally have hits, by and large it was a hiding to nothing. Oh and a couple of more to add to your list:
The Yachts
The Dazzlers
The Pinkees
-
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by AS Swanski » Fri Oct 28, 2011 11:21 pm
Interesting thread. I agree with others that The Comsat Angels would have deserved wider recognition. They were big in Holland, where I lived back then - they even had a minor Top-40 hit with "After The Rain". But obviously, their record company Polydor wanted them to be successful in bigger markets and dropped them after three albums.
The band was clearly frustrated and made some desperate attempts to polish their sound and eventually were forced to change their name because of legal problems in the US.
Unfortunately, their music is hard to find nowadays. There were a couple of CD reissues but that's a long time ago and you have to be lucky to find a copy. Yet, their first three were among the most beautiful albums released in the early 1980s, and it's only a few days ago since I put some old Comsats vinyl on the turn table.
The Sound was another band that was pretty big in The Netherlands but, from what I understand, far from successful in their home country. Their singer Adrian Borland even moved to Holland. Like The Comsat Angels, it has become virtually impossible to find their music now.
In their case, I always had the feeling they might have been more successful if they had chosen a different band name. They also had problems with drugs which didn't do them no good, and their third album "All Fall Down" got negative reviews even in Holland.
I remember The Sound playing as headliners on a rainy festival in the south of Holland, and I was truly impressed by Borland's stage presence. There was something very urgent in his performance and my memories of this night have stayed with me ever since. It's so sad to think of what happened to him later.
The band was clearly frustrated and made some desperate attempts to polish their sound and eventually were forced to change their name because of legal problems in the US.
Unfortunately, their music is hard to find nowadays. There were a couple of CD reissues but that's a long time ago and you have to be lucky to find a copy. Yet, their first three were among the most beautiful albums released in the early 1980s, and it's only a few days ago since I put some old Comsats vinyl on the turn table.
The Sound was another band that was pretty big in The Netherlands but, from what I understand, far from successful in their home country. Their singer Adrian Borland even moved to Holland. Like The Comsat Angels, it has become virtually impossible to find their music now.
In their case, I always had the feeling they might have been more successful if they had chosen a different band name. They also had problems with drugs which didn't do them no good, and their third album "All Fall Down" got negative reviews even in Holland.
I remember The Sound playing as headliners on a rainy festival in the south of Holland, and I was truly impressed by Borland's stage presence. There was something very urgent in his performance and my memories of this night have stayed with me ever since. It's so sad to think of what happened to him later.
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by Screen 13 » Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:01 am
[quote][i]Originally posted by schwenko[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by pellerman[/i]
<br>I believe a couple members mentioned Clan of Xymox on this thread. Here's one song by the band that never gets mentioned, but it's my favorite - maybe cuz it came out in the early 90's.
My mistake - this is actually a different band altogether, called just "Xymox"
[/quote]
I believe they are the same band.
Sugoi !!!
[/quote]
They are.
They changed their name to just Xymox around 1989-90, from what I remember.
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by pellerman[/i]
<br>I believe a couple members mentioned Clan of Xymox on this thread. Here's one song by the band that never gets mentioned, but it's my favorite - maybe cuz it came out in the early 90's.
My mistake - this is actually a different band altogether, called just "Xymox"
[/quote]
I believe they are the same band.
Sugoi !!!
[/quote]
They are.
They changed their name to just Xymox around 1989-90, from what I remember.
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by Screen 13 » Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:09 am
[quote][i]Originally posted by SallyLightfoot[/i]
<br>Not sure about NW bands, but power-pop bands definitely got the shaft. They were squeezed in the transition from classic rock to commercial-pop/new wave. A bunch of them were sorta able to get on the early NW bandwagon (Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Cars, The Police, Blondie, Squeeze, etc.).
So, in my view, power-pop artists really got screwed:
Big Star
Shoes
Paul Collins
The Interview
The Producers
Phil Seymour
Bram Tchaikovsky
Flamin' Groovies
Vulgar Boatmen
[/quote]
Big Star certainly deserved a hell of a lot more. They wound up another example of being ahead of their time and winding up on a sub-division of a label that was fading away(Ardent was a sub. of Stax, who first went away in 1975-6 - after years of classic Soul reissues, Stax returned some time ago). Not touring then also hindered things. Thankfully, their first three albums were that great not to be forgotten through numerous re-issues.
The Groovies were pretty cool as well.
<br>Not sure about NW bands, but power-pop bands definitely got the shaft. They were squeezed in the transition from classic rock to commercial-pop/new wave. A bunch of them were sorta able to get on the early NW bandwagon (Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Cars, The Police, Blondie, Squeeze, etc.).
So, in my view, power-pop artists really got screwed:
Big Star
Shoes
Paul Collins
The Interview
The Producers
Phil Seymour
Bram Tchaikovsky
Flamin' Groovies
Vulgar Boatmen
[/quote]
Big Star certainly deserved a hell of a lot more. They wound up another example of being ahead of their time and winding up on a sub-division of a label that was fading away(Ardent was a sub. of Stax, who first went away in 1975-6 - after years of classic Soul reissues, Stax returned some time ago). Not touring then also hindered things. Thankfully, their first three albums were that great not to be forgotten through numerous re-issues.
The Groovies were pretty cool as well.
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by SallyLightfoot » Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:43 am
[quote][i]Originally posted by SallyLightfoot[/i]
<br>Not sure about NW bands, but power-pop bands definitely got the shaft. They were squeezed in the transition from classic rock to commercial-pop/new wave. A bunch of them were sorta able to get on the early NW bandwagon (Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Cars, The Police, Blondie, Squeeze, etc.).
So, in my view, power-pop artists really got screwed:
Big Star
Shoes
Paul Collins
The Interview
The Producers
Phil Seymour
Bram Tchaikovsky
Flamin' Groovies
Vulgar Boatmen
[/quote]I should add Mink DeVille to this list. Great, overlooked band/artist that was unusual and difficult to classify and therefore was ignored by the US record labels.
<br>Not sure about NW bands, but power-pop bands definitely got the shaft. They were squeezed in the transition from classic rock to commercial-pop/new wave. A bunch of them were sorta able to get on the early NW bandwagon (Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Cars, The Police, Blondie, Squeeze, etc.).
So, in my view, power-pop artists really got screwed:
Big Star
Shoes
Paul Collins
The Interview
The Producers
Phil Seymour
Bram Tchaikovsky
Flamin' Groovies
Vulgar Boatmen
[/quote]I should add Mink DeVille to this list. Great, overlooked band/artist that was unusual and difficult to classify and therefore was ignored by the US record labels.
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