# Best UK bands that never 'broke' America **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788 "2018-03-18T17:24:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/141 "2018-03-21T19:56:14Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > How well is Kylie Minogue known in the US? She’s been pretty huge for 20 years in the UK I regret to inform you that _I Should Be So Lucky_ came out over 30 years ago…☹ ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/142 "2018-03-21T19:59:24Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > I regret to inform you that _I Should Be So Lucky_ came out over 30 years ago…☹ La la la la I can’t hear you… _sob_ ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/143 "2018-03-21T19:59:53Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > How well is Kylie Minogue known in the US? She’s been pretty huge for 20 years in the UK Can’t Get You Out of My Head, was a huge international hit and reached top ten in America, and she’s had a few more minor successes in the USA, plus she is known for her role in the Street Fighter movie. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/144 "2018-03-21T20:01:02Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > How well is Kylie Minogue known in the US? She’s been pretty huge for 20 years in the UK Her cover of “Loco-Motion” was a pop hit here in the '80s, and she then had a lot of dance hits (particularly “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”) in the 2000s and 2010s. I don’t think that she’s at Beyonce / Madonna levels of fame in the US, but definitely not unknown, either. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/145 "2018-03-21T20:02:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s an instrumental edit—doesn’t get to the vocals, but it’s the Massive Attack recording. That said, I’ve heard at least one fantastic cover of it by Jose Gonzalez. I thought that song was uncoverable, but he does a great job with it, IMHO. I quite like local group [Civil Twilight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcO6xQq7oNs)’s cover, even if it is a little bit jam-band-y ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/146 "2018-03-21T20:03:46Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > plus she [Kylie Minogue] is known for her role in the Street Fighter movie. I would have mentioned her role in “Moulin Rouge!” first, but yes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/147 "2018-03-21T20:14:56Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I was a huge Protection lover. I have mentioned here before that my drummer in my last band co-wrote and produced Tricky’s Maxinquaye. I loved the Bristol bands and lots of trip hop. Morcheeba was a favorite. Trip hop has lasted a whole lot better than the Big Beat artists of the mid 90s like Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Propellorheads and Fatboy Slim: they were hugely popular and influential at the time, but mostly now they mostly sound like crappy 90s movie soundtracks. I can still happily listen to Portishead and Tricky, but acts like Basement Jaxx sound like they should be soundtracking Wesley Snipes throwing someone out a window. Also you are correct that [Morcheeba are awesome](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifc3qXbou9A). ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/148 "2018-03-21T20:57:43Z")
Did anybody mention Nick Lowe? I learned about him several years ago when he did some work with Wilco, and now I’m a huge fan. “Cruel to be Kind” was a hit in the US back in the 80s, but I think that’s it. I get the impression he was more popular in the UK, but I’m not sure how _much_ more popular. He might be better known as the producer of Elvis Costello’s early albums than as a musician/songwriter in his own right. EDIT: Richard Thompson is another UK musician I learned about from Wilco (and this message board). I presume he’s much more popular in the UK than here, as well. Was Fairport Convention a big deal back in the day? I’d never heard about them until I started looking into RT. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/149 "2018-03-21T21:02:11Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I quite like local group [Civil Twilight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcO6xQq7oNs)’s cover, even if it is a little bit jam-band-y I’ll have to watch that just because I’d always thought Civil Twilight would make a good band name and then I found out a year or so ago that they do exist. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/150 "2018-03-21T21:07:23Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Did anybody mention Nick Lowe? I learned about him several years ago when he did some work with Wilco, and now I’m a huge fan. “Cruel to be Kind” was a hit in the US back in the 80s, but I think that’s it. My college roommate in the 1980s was a big fan of Lowe, and Rockpile, and so, I wound up listening to (and liking) a lot of his stuff. Lowe would occasionally get some exposure on MTV in the 80s, beyond “Cruel to Be Kind,” but yeah, he never really made it big here. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/151 "2018-03-21T21:11:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oh, he doesn’t try to ape her articulation. Which is a good thing. Only Beth can do Beth. Plus I don’t want to hear copies when it comes to covers. You’re totally right. Checked it out, really enjoyed his take. Seems an interesting artist so I’ll poke around youtube. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/152 "2018-03-21T21:21:26Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > You’re totally right. Checked it out, really enjoyed his take. Seems an interesting artist so I’ll poke around youtube. Yeah, I don’t know much about him. I just came across that once when I was looking up “Teardrop” and was shocked that it sent chills up my spine the same way as the first time I heard Beth Fraser’s vocal on “Teardrop.” (I think originally I came across a live performance of it.) I was really surprised, as I thought nobody else could do that song justice. I just love the way the emotion and intensity of the guitar just builds in his acoustic guitar version, while still maintaining a bit of a plaintive coolness in the vocal. Really captures the spirit of the song. (As an aside, another one I discovered within the past month that _really_ threw me off was an acoustic cover of [My Bloody Valentine’s “Sometimes”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7RVdI1TsOY). Yet another song I thought was uncoverable, but a beautiful rendition. The falsettos at the end, where he sings the keyboard line, just wonderful.) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/153 "2018-03-21T21:37:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > (As an aside, another one I discovered within the past month that _really_ threw me off was an acoustic cover of [My Bloody Valentine’s “Sometimes”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7RVdI1TsOY). Yet another song I thought was uncoverable, but a beautiful rendition. The falsettos at the end, where he sings the keyboard line, just wonderful.) That’s really very good. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/154 "2018-03-21T21:38:43Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > That’s really very good. Yeah, not “perfect,” but a hell of an honest heart-felt cover. Would love to hear this recorded in a studio. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/155 "2018-03-23T17:03:46Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > did some work with Wilco[…] > another UK musician I learned about from Wilco Aah, that reminds me - Billy Bragg! Has he ever “broken” in the US? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/156 "2018-03-23T17:07:25Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Aah, that reminds me - Billy Bragg! Has he ever “broken” in the US? Not ttbomk. I’ve only heard two of his songs on the radio and that was specifically on folk and/or non-mainstream music programs. But he is distinctive enough that I recognized him when I heard his second song despite not having heard his first in several years at that point (it was on a mixtape I had made from the radio years earlier.) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/157 "2018-03-24T05:38:31Z")
> [@Dave.B](#): > > This was because her house in Salcombe, Devon was slowly slipping down the cliff it was perched on. The firm I worked for tendered for the design of the stabilisation works. It was going to be enormously expensive. I heard about this happening with her house (what an interesting story), but that’s not why she came back to perform. She didn’t have to do it for money. She’s never done anything at all for money. She came from a well-off family before she even released her first single, then had hit after hit after hit. Unlike a lot of musicians, she took control of her music and finances early on, almost immediately creating a corporation run by her father and brother to look after her publishing/financial interests. She’s rich, and was for decades before the residency. The [most recent figure](https://networthtimes.com/richest-celebrities/kate-bush-net-worth/) I could find was that she’s worth 60 million pounds, which seems low, but it’s a ballpark. Her son talked her into performing again. It’s that simple. ---
**Author:** ![Allezgatta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/65b543/32.png) [@Allezgatta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allezgatta)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/158 "2018-03-31T01:27:51Z")
Erasure had 24 Top 40 hits in the UK and only 3 in the US. Teenage Fanclub is still going strong. In 91 Spin voted Bamdwagonesque Album of the Year over Nirvana’s Never mind. I recall hearing Inspiral Carpets’ When Worlds Collide on alt rock radio and MTV 120 Minutes played the video. Didn’t make much of an impact though. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/159 "2018-03-31T22:51:26Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, I don’t know much about him. I just came across that once when I was looking up “Teardrop” and was shocked that it sent chills up my spine the same way as the first time I heard Beth Fraser’s vocal on “Teardrop.” (I think originally I came across a live performance of it.) I was really surprised, as I thought nobody else could do that song justice. I just love the way the emotion and intensity of the guitar just builds in his acoustic guitar version, while still maintaining a bit of a plaintive coolness in the vocal. Really captures the spirit of the song. I’m a fan of [Aurora Aksnes’ version of Teardrop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPTY6l_PX5k) {skip the DJ banter of the first couple of minutes}. Just an astoundingly good vocal. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788/160 "2018-04-01T00:01:42Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > I’m a fan of [Aurora Aksnes’ version of Teardrop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPTY6l_PX5k) {skip the DJ banter of the first couple of minutes}. Just an astoundingly good vocal. Someone needs to have a word with the sound engineer about levels - that’s distorting really badly. Decent version though. From the same show Youtube suggests something truly horrific. Please don’t watch Kasabian covering Cypress Hill’s Insane in the Brain. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nQoBAKZy9Q&t=1m15s) Dear. God. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-uk-bands-that-never-broke-america/810788.md?page=9)