# Bands/singers/musical acts that should have been bigger **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2013, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-singers-musical-acts-that-should-have-been-bigger/671125 "2013-10-13T06:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-singers-musical-acts-that-should-have-been-bigger/671125/21 "2013-10-13T18:51:33Z")
I think the band **Dada** should have been much bigger than a mere one hit wonder. Their album _Puzzle_ was wonderful. I could tell right away how talented they were. Unfortunately, they were a victim of their one hit. “\*Dizz-knee Land” \* was a vapid, silly, cheesy song and I think people didn’t take them seriously because of it. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-singers-musical-acts-that-should-have-been-bigger/671125/22 "2013-10-13T19:01:17Z")
Oh, and **The Stone Roses**. Their eponymous debut would’ve been great as the first of a long, varied career. So damn good in a lot of ways. They coulda been contenders. ---
**Author:** ![HenryDorsettCase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f19dbf/32.png) [@HenryDorsettCase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HenryDorsettCase)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-singers-musical-acts-that-should-have-been-bigger/671125/23 "2013-10-13T19:11:51Z")
In the Cleveland area, Michael Stanley in all of his various incarnations. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-singers-musical-acts-that-should-have-been-bigger/671125/24 "2013-10-13T19:44:14Z")
Jenny Lewis. None of her solo albums or work with Rilo Kiley came even close to gold. Yet she seems to have the whole package: beautiful distinctive voice, [great](http://25.media.tumblr.com/7d09b105be5259dcbcbd195eb95a72a1/tumblr_mjx4ozR2U21qdb38so1_500.jpg) [looks](http://www.delawareonline.com/blogs/uploaded_images/76474946-730752.jpg), melodic songs that aren’t abrasive, distinctive fashion sense. Then why hasn’t she had the success of say Mumford and Sons? Dressy Bessy. [Here’s a representative sample of their work.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeBdakicGYE) Some of the catchiest guitar rock you’ll ever hear. But in the indie rock world their albums have had almost no impact. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-singers-musical-acts-that-should-have-been-bigger/671125/25 "2013-10-13T21:10:29Z")
Tooting the horn (tho they rarely used horns) of my favorite band The Church. If their 2nd LP, _[The Blurred Crusade](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LxVfXowQGc)_, had been released at almost any other time in the history of rock, I am sure it would have been a huge success. Hooks and dynamics galore, eminently listenable, with one out and out anthem in “You Took”. But instead they recorded it in 1982, when, in the US at least, two trends were going very hard against them: Rock radio by then had become 99% corporate, with extremely conservative playlists and the lines between genres, as defined by the Big Music Machine, being very unbreakable. The chance of a new rock act which lacked any patina of “traditionalism” (i.e. formerly established artists in new guises such as Asia) making it big in such circumstances were thus very meager. Then MTV came along and, while they did break a number of new bands who otherwise would have had no chance in traditional radio formats, redefined “new age” (and thus worthy of heavy airplay) as being only that which was synth-heavy, which The Church most definitely were not. As such not only did they not break big in the US with this album, but _it wasn’t even released here_ until several years later. The US label demanded “more radio-friendly” material, which was code for “We want more synths!”, because as I said it was perfectly radio-friendly. But the truth was that the radio and MTV formats of the time weren’t the least bit friendly to _them_. Those who were around back then likely remember them getting their one smash hit, “Under the Milky Way” 5 years later (thus acquiring the taint of being a “one hit wonder”), then getting caught up in yet another career-killing trend when grunge came along. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-singers-musical-acts-that-should-have-been-bigger/671125/26 "2013-10-13T21:30:19Z")
Given the popularity of the tv show _Popstars_, their reasonably-successful single _Get Over Yourself_ and the popularity of their one (1) CD, I really expected [Eden’s Crush](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eden's_Crush) to be more than that. At least another CD or two, or touring for a few years, eventually performing at venues like state fairs. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-singers-musical-acts-that-should-have-been-bigger/671125/27 "2013-10-13T21:52:23Z")
Hot Tuna should be (present tense) more well known, but I don’t know about “bigger”. Simply in the sense that the general reaction to the words “Hot Tuna” isnt: “Who?” The band never strived for superstardom, but with their history, talent, and longevity, they should at least be more well known. Rory Gallagher, too. (past tense on Rory, unfortunately.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-singers-musical-acts-that-should-have-been-bigger/671125.md?page=1)