Gentle Giant. Criminally overlooked if you ask me. More Early 70s I guess
England’s skiffle craze missed the USA completely. I remember Lonnie Donegan’s Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It’s Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight getting AM radio airplay before the British Invasion but I don’t know if it was a skiffle style Lonnie was famous for. Here the song was considered just a novelty tune.
Beatles aficionado Ian McDonald thought that the Incredible String Band were very influential, on folk-rock (of the “minstrel” variety) and progressive rock. I wouldn’t call them a rock band, and I don’t really like their music much, but they probably deserve mention in this thread.
ISB were not unknown in the states, in fact their records could be found in the collections of many college-age hippie-type young ladies. I even went to see them once, at Paul’s Mall in Boston (RIP).
Slade were the biggest (in terms of UK chart success) band of their time and I feel they are chronically underrated.
However their time was the early 1970s. Sure their roots trace back to the 1960s but the success, and even the name date from the start of the 1970s. Although as noted they had a “Heavy Metal” comeback in the 80s.
If you include Slade then you might as well include The Jam who were about as big as Slade but in the late 70s.
TCMF-2L
Apart from one US tour, The Nice didn’t make much of an impression in the states, even with their roundhouse version of Bernstein’s “America”.
“Only 3,000 people saw them play, but every single one who did went out and bought a Hammond organ and a knife.”
(Paraphrased from Brian Eno)
Both Traffic and Renaissance* were very successful in the US, though with albums rather than singles. Traffic had three gold and one platinum albums. Renaissance albums generally did better in the US is the UK.
*The Annie Haslam version, not the Keith Relf one. The group had a complete turnover of personnel by the time Haslam joined.
Just for grins, here’s a list of all #1 hits by year in the UK in the rock era.
In how many cases can I look at the biggest hit of the year in Britain and say, “I’ve never heard of that act or that song”? A few.
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The #1 hit of 1965 was “Tears” by Ken Dodd. Never heard of him or the song.
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The #1 hit of 1974 was “Tiger Feet” by Mud. Never heard of the act or the song.
Ken Dodd was an old school comedian who also sang a bit and got lucky with a big ballad number.
Mud were kind of fun and didn’t take themselves too seriously - upbeat pop/glam sort of stuff.
More songs that hit #1 on the British Charts by Acts That I’ve Never Heard of:
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“Concrete and Clay” by Unit Four Plus One
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“Where Are You Now” by Jackie Trent
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“Puppet on a String” and “Long Live Love” by Sandie Shaw
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“Cinderella Rockafella” by Esther and Abi Ofarim
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“The Legend of Xanadu” by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich
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“Baby Come Back” by the Equals
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“I Pretend” by Des O’Connor
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" Lily the Pink" by Scaffold
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“Half as Nice” by Amen Corner
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“Where Do You Go to, My Lovely” by Peter Sarstedt
There are also several #1 hits by acts I have of heard of but who never hit it big in America. Long John Baldry was a fixture on the British blues scene for years, and his proteges (like Rod Stewart and Elton John) have been big stars here. But Baldry himself never had any success in America.
There are also a lot of big hits that I’ve never heard by acts who are, nonetheless, very famous in America. EVERYBODY knows Paul McCartney, but hardly anyone here knows “Mull of Kintyre.”
But I mentioned #5 & #9 in my post #7 up thread, so you’ve very vaguely heard of two of them!
True enough- I was just giving some documentation of how big some of those acts are.
Sandie Shaw had at last two #1 hits in Britain, but her name doesn’t ring a bell at all.
Her Puppet on a String won the Eurovision song Contest.
You probably don’t want to play that link! Bubblegum pop, although she did a lot more than that.
What makes you think that?
Because I know most of Mac’s songs, and that one NEVER got any radio airplay in America.
Another one: if Monty Python had not devoted a big chunk of one episode to a loony (played by Terry Jones) who imagines he’s Clodagh Rogers, I would have no idea who Clodagh Rogers was. I have never heard “Jack In The Box” except on Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Come to think of it, Monty Python indtoduced me to Leapy Lee and “Little Arrows.” I have never heard of him or the song anywhere else.
Mud were glam-lite, similar to Sweet, and Tiger Feet was a great song which probably ought to be on a Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack backing the “preparing to rob the vault” montage.
Of these, I’d be hard pushed to describe any of them as “rock” with the possible exception of Dave Dee, Dozy, et al. Most of them are pop - and some of them are terrible - Des O’Connor in particular was the butt of many jokes regarding his signing career (he was a “light entertainer” with singing being only one of the things he turned his hand to). The only one I would personally recommend of this list is The Equals - a better than decent 60’s Ska band. Baby Come Back is pretty poppy but bounces along amiably.
If you’re at all interested in this, there is a long running blog called Popular by British music critic Tom Ewing, where he is attempting to review and rate every British number 1 of all time. The comments sections are also good, with journos from both sides of the Atlantic, plus enthusiastic amateurs chipping in with facts and opinion. He’s up to the middle of 2002 and has been going for over 10 years, though his review rate has slowed appreciably. Nevertheless there’s nearly 1000 #1s covered in that period. You may not always agree with his opinions but it’s a good project and may alert you to some songs big in the UK that you’ve never heard of.
Not a big Wes Anderson fan, I take it.