Who were those Japanese guys that had a hit in the 60’s? Sukiyaki?
Also, there was a hair metal band in the 80’s called Helloween. They sang in English, their song titles and album titles were in English, and the acknowlegements, etc. on their albums were in English. However, not a one of them actually spoke a word of English.
I read an article about them. They were in London, being interviewed by a British heavy metal magazine, and the writer mentioned that their lead vocalist had been taking English lessons so he could converse with the audience from the stage. At the time the article was written, he had learned to say “Fy don’t vee get a beerss?”
I imagine that there were quite a few European hair metal bands in the 80’s who sang in English but didn’t actually speak English.
Also, no one’s mentioned Menudo (from Puerto Rico).
While Supertramp was originally financed by a Dutchman, the members of the band were all English.
Among the non-American acts who’ve had big hits in the U.S.:
The Swedish duo Roxette had a lot of big hits here in the 1990s.
The Spanish group Mocedades had a big hit with “Eres Tu” back in the mid 1970s.
Wasn’t Soeur Sourire (the Singing Nun) Belgian? She had a #1 hit with “Dominique” when I was a little kid.
“Sukiyaki,” a Japanese song by Kyu Sakamoto, was a #1 hit here back in 1963.
The Swedish “hair band” Europe had some big hits here, especially “The Final Countdown.”
Nena had a smash hit with “99 Luftballons.” She later recorded an English-language version, but the German version was actually more popular.
Also… while heavy metal bands rarely have hit singles in America, several European hard rock/heavy metal bands have sold a lot of albums here. The German band Accept (“Balls to the Wall”) had some success here in the early 1980s, as did the Swiss band Krokus, the Dutch band Vandenberg, and the Japanese band Loudness.
Of course, many of those foreign artists sang in English.
I would think that the omnipresence of “Radar Love” on classic rock radio would, by itself, be enough. And they also had that song with the cool video, “Twilight Zone,” with the bullet cutting through that playing card and the dancing secret agent women … good times!
I’d like to say that Yello made it big, but their reign was during the '80s, with the end theme for Ferris Beuller’s Day Off and a buncha Snicker’s commercials.
Snooooopy: Are they still together? I think I remember reading somewhere as far as band longevity goes, they’ve been together even longer than The Stones.
I’m not sure if I get the OP. There are so many bands from countries where English is not the first language, I couldn’t begin to mention them all. It’s quite simple:
Music made by bands/artists who have English as the first language sweep the globe and is a big inspiration for young artists. I rememeber being a few years old and trying to to ape the English in Beatles/She’s loves you, coming out sounding somewhat as: Slav-s-ya. In Sweden, as in The US or England, many kids will pick up their first guitar and try to play the intro from Stairway to Heaven, even to this day.
If you’re from Iceland (Population 270.000), there is a limited amount of records that you can sell, singing in your own language. Since English is the lingua franca of the world, the obvious choice is to sing in English, rather than Mandarin or Cantonese.
Yup, the Earring will never die. Don’t know if they already outlive the Stones, but someday they will.
All right, I’ve seen most Dutch bands mentioned already: Golden Earring, Focus (good one!), Vandenberg, Shocking Blue, and even -thanks a million, Dragon Phoenix- Stars on 45. Ugh.
I don’t think you’ll guys let me field Van Halen as Dutch, right?
Anyways, I do have a genuine addition: 2 Unlimited, a now defunct “house” music group from the early to mid 1990’s. They scored a string of hits worldwide, including a few Billboard Top 10’s. Do songs like No Limit ring a bell?
That’s not entirely true… I met them in England in 1988, right before they played the Donington festival, and one of the guitarists, Michael Weikath, spoke English very well, with very little accent. BTW, I had to look them up online to remember the name of the guy I’d talked to and found out that they are still around, although Weikath and the bassist, Markus Grosskopf, are the only members remaining from that time.
Ooh - almost forgot… well, I did forget about them for many years, until this thread… anyone else remember Loudness, the mid-80s Japanese metal band? Holy crap. I have to go out today, and I’m going to be blurting out names of semi-obscure foreign bands at completely inappropriate times… “Can I take your order please?” “Autograf!” (That would be the Russian one, not the American Autograph.) Damn you for making me remember these things! Not to mention you’re making me give away waaaay too much about the music I used to listen to in those days… I could also name probably half the Scandinavian death metal bands, but at least I only know of them through magazines and can honestly say I never bought any of it.
