Why Wasn't This a Hit?

[DaytonaRik]

Following on from the One Hit Wonders thread, how about a shout out for those tracks that really should have been huge but just didn't for whatever reason.  I'll start the ball rolling with the fantastic Irish rock band No Sweat and their track Heart and Soul

 

[AndyTravis]

I’d probably suggest they blew the promotion money on that video and couldn’t afford to push it 😂

It’s an innocuous enough tune, sort of Def Leppard Esque but without that “x-factor” which made DL the household name.

Wonder if this was around the same time as hysteria etc, maybe they were just overshadowed.

[Maude]

I'm sure I saw No Sweat supporting someone back in the late 80s or early 90s, Thunder maybe. My mate bought the CD bought it was fairly throwaway stuff IIRC. 

Edit : I've just tried to look it up and if it was Thunder that they supported then the gig was December '90, popular rock was about to change in a massive way. They'd have been trying to make it big when that style of rock was becoming very uncool. 

Edited December 1, 2019 by Maude

[dave moffat]

Its OK but looking back it's very similar to so much that was around at the time, so maybe too derivative 'same old formula' and just falling short on pretty much everything.

[Mykesbass]

OK, I'll follow up, with something completely different - a 1980s Liverpool pop song which I don't think even bothered the Liverpool indie charts, let alone the main one, despite a Peel session.

 

[Leonard Smalls]

2 hours ago, Maude said:

that style of rock was becoming very uncool. 

Becoming?

[dave moffat]

Probably too long for radio/TV, some bits drift a bit, could easily have been cut down to around 3 mins without losing anything and be less repetitive/better for it. IMHO, enjoyed it though.

[ezbass]

2 hours ago, Maude said:

...it was Thunder that they supported then the gig was December '90, popular rock was about to change in a massive way. They'd have been trying to make it big when that style of rock was becoming very uncool. 

Very much this. Thunder themselves pretty much disappeared once grunge came on the scene (they later broke up at least twice IIRC). However, these days, Thunder seem bigger than ever - timing is everything.

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, Mykesbass said:

OK, I'll follow up, with something completely different - a 1980s Liverpool pop song which I don't think even bothered the Liverpool indie charts, let alone the main one, despite a Peel session.

 

1 minute 15 sec intro. Nuff said.

[Mykesbass]

27 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

1 minute 15 sec intro. Nuff said.

Yes, but pretty sure this was the (cherry red) 12" version.

[kodiakblair]

34 minutes ago, Mykesbass said:

Yes, but pretty sure this was the (cherry red) 12" version.

A 12" version lasting 4 minutes 14 seconds with a 1 minute 15 sec intro ?

Waste of vinyl don't you think.

[Soledad]

 It may surprise some... but Journey: 'Don't Stop Believing'. CBS tried with it at least 3 times around '80/'81 - radio wouldn't play it, couldn't get arrested. It took a Glee cover 28 years later to expose the original (and best).
 

[DaytonaRik]

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

...Thunder themselves pretty much disappeared once grunge came on the scene (they later broke up at least twice IIRC). However, these days, Thunder seem bigger than ever - timing is everything.

Danny Bowes admitted this very thing on the recent Danny and Luke Unscripted tour that I saw them on.  Radio play changed overnight.  I saw No Sweat on a headline tour...oooh, 1990/91ish and thought they were excellent.  I believe this track was actually produced by Joe Elliott iirc

Edited December 1, 2019 by DaytonaRik

[AngelDeVille]

It sounds like it should be playing over the closing credits of a 90”s Stallone action film....

 

Edited December 1, 2019 by AngelDeVille

[Ant1972]

An odd one is "welcome to the jungle" by guns n roses.

One of those tracks that everyone knows and that has had a long life.

But... Didn't even manage to crack the top 20 in the UK singles chart. Which is pretty surprising, even taking into account that a lot of people had the track through buying the album.

So, as a single, it wasn't really a big hit.. yet it is still one of the best known rock songs.

Huge AND not huge.

[AngelDeVille]

13 minutes ago, Ant1972 said:

An odd one is "welcome to the jungle" by guns n roses.

One of those tracks that everyone knows and that has had a long life.

But... Didn't even manage to crack the top 20 in the UK singles chart. Which is pretty surprising, even taking into account that a lot of people had the track through buying the album.

So, as a single, it wasn't really a big hit.. yet it is still one of the best known rock songs.

Huge AND not huge.

And used in an 80’s action film...

 

 

[BassTractor]

Jethro Tull: "Locomotive Breath" off Aqualung.
If one can believe Wikipedia (I'm still a bit doubtful), it saw mild success (#59 or #62 on Billboard) in the USA when it was released the second time, in '76 of all possible years, but saw no success in the UK.
Wot?

 

 

Edited December 1, 2019 by BassTractor

[gjones]

Why did British Band Wang Chung get to No2 in the US charts, with this 1986 single, and only a measly 76 in the UK charts. Only the Gods of Pop know the answer to that question.

 

Always thought the singer had an uncanny resemblance to Dr Zachary Smith from Lost In Space.

 

 

 

Edited December 1, 2019 by gjones

[Rich]

I will never understand why this awesome band were not total megastars. 

 

[BassTractor]

IMHO one of the most glorious pop songs ever. Why was it only released as a press kit video?
Also, why was "Can We Still Be Friends" not a UK hit (I love the Robert Palmer version, but that's the year after, so doesn't explain).

 

 

[fleabag]

What happened to this crew ?

 

[NancyJohnson]

Years ago The Tube did an Irish special, I think they went north and south of the border.  They featured two bands Cruella de Ville (playing Gypsy Girl) and The Bankrobbers (playing Jenny). 

How neither of these bands went on to have long and illustrious careers is beyond me.

Edited December 2, 2019 by NancyJohnson

[BrunoBass]

19 hours ago, Ant1972 said:

An odd one is "welcome to the jungle" by guns n roses.

One of those tracks that everyone knows and that has had a long life.

But... Didn't even manage to crack the top 20 in the UK singles chart. Which is pretty surprising, even taking into account that a lot of people had the track through buying the album.

So, as a single, it wasn't really a big hit.. yet it is still one of the best known rock songs.

Huge AND not huge.

Same with Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams. Perennially popular, didn’t even make the Top 40 in the UK. 

Edited December 2, 2019 by BrunoBass

[Muzz]

On 01/12/2019 at 11:55, DaytonaRik said:

Following on from the One Hit Wonders thread, how about a shout out for those tracks that really should have been huge but just didn't for whatever reason.  I'll start the ball rolling with the fantastic Irish rock band No Sweat and their track Heart and Soul

 

Loved this, bought the EP...it pretty much disappeared without trace...

[Leonard Smalls]

What this thread shows is:

a) some good bands never make it big

b) some very poor bands never make it big

c) some good bands make it big

d) some very poor bands make it big

And that one man's good band is another's pile of steaming dog doo...

Talking of which, I never understood why this band never made it: