# What band/artist was the biggest sellout? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2016, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782 "2016-04-10T08:50:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/41 "2016-04-10T22:19:30Z")
Johnny Cash. He became the Michael Bolton of country music. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/42 "2016-04-10T22:51:45Z")
Simple Minds ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/43 "2016-04-10T23:53:55Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Pure protest band? They needed money? Were an American band is bubblegum? Where do I start with this? > > They were a sellout right from the beginning, second rate cream, and pop mix. They were commercially huge. They had a fallow period. Then they made a giant comeback with a great rock and roll song. Get a copy of Survival or Closer To Home and then tell me it’s the same style as “The Loco Motion” or “We’re An American Band”. They never had a top ten hit until WAAB. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/44 "2016-04-10T23:58:58Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > What band/artist most changed their style in pursuit of the almighty dollar? > > My first instinct is Jefferson Airplane, RIP and god bless recently deceased members. > > Late 60s revolutionary band, by the mid 80s a miserable mutation of the band under the name “Starship” pumping out muszak with Mickey Thomas such as “We Built This City”, “Sara” and other Top 40 slop. > > Off the top of my head there’s also Billy Idol: Gen X punker mass producing Top 40 hits by the mid 80s. > > Who else? Rebel Yell is a great album, and if he made a few ballad like songs on there…so what? They’re great songs. Depends what you mean…Did Genesis sell out on Invisible Touch? There are still a few nice prog songs on there…and some of them even became singles. I’d say Leo Sayer…his first two albums are very eclectic…and then he went Adult Contemporary ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/45 "2016-04-11T00:27:08Z")
> [@btcg](#): > > Get a copy of Survival or Closer To Home and then tell me it’s the same style as “The Loco Motion” or “We’re An American Band”. > > They never had a top ten hit until WAAB. That’s because it is their best song. They weren’t a singles band. They were a huge moneymaking teen sensation live act. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/46 "2016-04-11T00:34:48Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > One likes to believe in the freedom of music, but glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity. Perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/47 "2016-04-11T01:05:11Z")
I was also going to say Metallica, but for a different reason: After building a career on bootleg recordings, they turned around and became the champions of the music industry against piracy. I mean, yes, they have the right to do so, and I can’t question that… but it still makes them sellouts. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/48 "2016-04-11T01:20:41Z")
Blood Sweat and Tears were considered a sell out when they did a tour of eastern Europe at the request of the Nixon administration as US propaganda. They were basically forced to do it - David Clayton-Thomas had visa issues and they wouldn’t let him enter the US unless they agreed, but the group lost what credibility it had. Zal Yanovsky of the Lovin’ Spoonful got castigated when he gave up his drug dealer to get out of being prosecuted and avoid visa issues (like Clayton-Thomas, he was Canadian and needed a visa to work) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/49 "2016-04-11T01:22:09Z")
Clapton quit The Yardbirds when they released "For Your Love’. What the hell was a blues band doing releasing a pop rock single feature a freaking harpsichord? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/50 "2016-04-11T01:35:44Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Clapton quit The Yardbirds when they released "For Your Love’. What the hell was a blues band doing releasing a pop rock single feature a freaking harpsichord? Yeah, those sellouts! Especially when Slowhand ended up doing more than his share of commercial dreck. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/51 "2016-04-11T02:08:27Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’d say they really sold out a little bit later than the “Black Album”- there were still several old-school songs on that album. “Load” (the next album, and 5 years after the “Black Album”) is where they really sold out. No real fast songs, several Top 40 hits, short hair, etc… That was it for me, too. I actually thought the black album was great. Yeah, they were moving mainstream with that album, but it was a great blend of Metallica and pop sensibility. That feels weird to write, but there it is. “Load,” though, is where it really went to shit for me. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/52 "2016-04-11T02:10:52Z")
Let’s look at another band that opted to go in a more commercial direction, and lost a great musician in the process. In the Seventies, the Scorpions were a much more progressive metal band than anyone hearing “Rock You Like a Hurricane” would guess. Back then, Uli Jon Roth was their lead guitarist, and he was an immensely talented guy. Problem was, everyone else in the band wanted more commercial success. Everyone else wanted to break through in the USA, to get some radio airplay, to score some hits. Uli wanted to keep going in his own “Jimi Hendrix Meets Wagner” style. Is there anything wrong with wanting to be more popular? With wanting to play in bigger arenas to larger crowds (and, ideally, more females!)? I don’t think so. I understand why some of the Scorpions’ older fans preferred Uli to Matthias Jabs, but I don’t think there was a good guy or a bad guy in that fight. I don’t think altering your sound to win more fans is a sin. I may or may not like the results, but who am I to tell any musician, “You have an obligation to play what I like, even if you could make a lot more money playing something else”? Similarly, Grace Slick made enough money from “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” and “We Built This City” to retire and devote herself to whatever art now interests her. Remember, those were HUGE hits. Where do any of us come off telling her not to do something that millions of people liked and that gave her financial security? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/53 "2016-04-11T02:38:34Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > How about bands who sold out only to find that no one was buying? Gentle Giant struggled for years purveying a particularly intricate brand of prog-rock and never made it past the lower/middle reaches of the charts. When they finally made a concerted effort to “go commercial,” however, it bombed miserably. Ditto Renaissance. After middling sales of _Azure d’Or_, they ditched the symphonic rock idea and embraced synth on _Camera Camera_. It and its follow-up _Timeline_ tanked **hard** , and the band went from obscure to non-existent. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/54 "2016-04-11T02:49:08Z")
I used to naively assume that bands made their music simply because they loved it, and that was reward enough. I have since come to learn that even for the most critically acclaimed bands, being number one is a huge motivation for why they make music. And that includes–gasp!–the Beatles. It becomes a competition. Knowing that, it’s easier to see why bands sell out, or change direction, whatever they want to call it, if they don’t get the sales they want. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/55 "2016-04-11T03:02:53Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Yeah, those sellouts! > > Especially when Slowhand ended up doing more than his share of commercial dreck. Well, that was after he had put in his time with John Mayall, Cream, Blind Faith, and the Dominos. Maybe he gotten the Blues out of his system for a while by then. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/56 "2016-04-11T03:17:17Z")
> [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](#): > > **Justice** was a sell-out album? The one where pretty much every song was over seven minutes long? Yes. It was the beginning of their change in sound, and made them a lot more accessible to people that previously wouldn’t have listened to them. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/57 "2016-04-11T04:47:18Z")
> [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](#): > > **Justice** was a sell-out album? The one where pretty much every song was over seven minutes long? Well, they went slower and had extended clean sections with a tinny overall mix, when the rest of thrash metal was generally going heavier and faster. It’s the record where I decided I had better things to spend my money on. > [@WordMan](#): > > The Goo Goo Dolls were a longstanding punk band that got a hit with the ballad Iris, and went full-on adult contemporary. > > And Johnny Rzezezezznick went from snotty punk dude to heart throb… Well, to be fair, they were covering “My Girl” when they were a punk band. Not the most aggressive punk band to hit the planet. I liked them when I saw them several years prior to their hit, but they weren’t any more heavy than Green Day was, who ended up dallying in the same kind of vibe by the time of their third major label release, even if they didn’t completely change styles. All that said, I’m not sure that “sellout” is a really valid concept. It’s unfair to expect bands to keep putting out the same record. They wrote the earlier songs to scratch an itch, and may have new itches today. Yesterday it might have been heavy rock, today they might have the urge to write the version of “The Girl from Ipanema” that won’t angry up the blood with its rhythm, tomorrow they might have a house payment to make. Metallica took a chance with _…And Justice For All_. There was no guarantee it would have been a success. It certainly failed with a few of their current fans, like myself. Now, if I have a gripe, it’s with bands that complain that someone made them put out a record they didn’t like. They blame their band mates, their manager or their label, but it doesn’t matter in the end. They almost always have the option to quit the band, and if they have an individual contract with the label, the only thing it stops them from doing until things are worked out is releasing recordings.They can usually play live sets as much as they want. At that point, they can get a regular performing gig if they’re a talented enough musician. If they’re not, they can get a day job like everyone else who never made it as big as themselves. If they’re not willing to do that, make that shit sandwich bite you’re gonna have to take the tastiest one you can muster - work out your dealings with your adversaries the best you can, get the record out, and move on. Who knows, if it’s somehow successful they might be able to make the record they want next time. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/58 "2016-04-11T04:54:25Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > One that really disappointed me was the great Louis Armstrong, who went from singing powerhouse blues songs like “Why Am I So Black and So Blue” to crap like “Hello Dolly” and “What a Wonderful World”. In both those instances, he lived down to comments from some quarters that he pandered to white audiences. Odd that Black and Blue is the one you pick out as pre-sellout. As beautiful as it is, I wince when he says “I’m white inside, but that don’t help my case”. We understand what he means, but this way of putting it nevertheless makes white a privileged status even as it objects to it. What kind of bugs me with Louis Armstrong are these movie clips where he gets trotted out as a kind of gimmick to play his horn in accompaniment to some white guys and then gets put back in storage. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/59 "2016-04-11T05:39:09Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Ditto Renaissance. After middling sales of _Azure d’Or_, they ditched the symphonic rock idea and embraced synth on _Camera Camera_. It and its follow-up _Timeline_ tanked **hard** , and the band went from obscure to non-existent. And personally, I thought _Camera Camera_ was a really great album, but it just didn’t sound much like Renaissance. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/60 "2016-04-11T07:48:13Z")
Keep in mind that, by definition, many “legendary” artists “sold out” from the beginning. Bon Scott was a backup singer in a popular Australian bubble-gum band when that style was popular. Then he played the recorder in a prog band before finally making it big with AC/DC. I speculated in a thread several years ago about the reason most country music bands (as opposed to solo artists) have tenors for lead singers, in a genre where the male vocal standard is “baritone”: they’re actually pop/rock bands who weren’t having success with pop/rock, so they “countrified” their sound. Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot once accused half of the “metal” bands in LA of being “posers”, because they’d all been playing power pop five years earlier. Simple fact is, lots and lots of artists just want to be successful, and will make whatever changes they think they need to make in order to find success. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782.md?page=4)