# 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:** 8
**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 14, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/141 "2016-04-14T03:19:51Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > [http://www.theonion.com/blogpost/you-know-i-used-to-be-kind-of-cool-once-10932](http://www.theonion.com/blogpost/you-know-i-used-to-be-kind-of-cool-once-10932) That may be my favorite Onion piece ever. Oldie but goodie. ---
**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 14, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/142 "2016-04-14T03:23:35Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Look, I was anti-disco and liked Ted Nugent back in the day, but anyone who doesn’t respect the BeeGee’s Saturday Night Fever songs and stuff like Donna Summer’s I Feel Love simply aren’t listening. Great music. Good lord, “I Feel Love” was so ahead of its time… I played it a few months ago to a couple friends of mine who apparently had never heard it, and they thought it was a contemporary song. Giorgio Moroder was a visionary. ETA: If you haven’t heard it, there’s a wonderful interview with him on [Sound Opinions](http://www.soundopinions.org/show/437/), and he discusses “I Feel Love.” ---
**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 14, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/143 "2016-04-14T03:30:05Z")
(ETA2: 21:18 is where the “I Feel Love” segment starts.) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/144 "2016-04-14T11:05:52Z")
Cool. I will check it out. I have somebody to discuss: **Carlos Santana** A fine guitarist who hadn’t had a hit in years, he decided to trust Clive Davis and go full commercial with his album Superstitious. He got his big hit with the song written and sung by Rob Thomas of matchbox20, Smooth. Santana sold millions of copies, won a ton of Grammys. All good and more power to him. But then he tried to work it. He cam out with another album on the same template - I think Vanessa Carlton was the featured songwriter this time. Didn’t do nearly as well. Carlos should’ve known to stop then, realizing he captured lightning in a bottle with that one. Then he came out with Guitar Heaven, which I ended up commenting on in this thread: [Guitar Heaven: Santana's New Album - not so heavenly, imho - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=579417) Clive talked Carlos into covering a bunch of guitar-heavy songs from the '60’s that really do not fit with Santana’s style. It sucked and it made Santana look like a sellout twit for doing it. He is a great player who has gone on to keep touring and do good work, and is past it. But it was, to me, a cynical moneygrab album and I wasn’t surprised when it died fast. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/145 "2016-04-14T11:36:07Z")
Too late to edit: his comeback hit album was Supernatural, not superstitious. I should’ve remembered because it is the name of an intrumental track by Santana’s biggest influence and idol, Peter Green the founder of Fleetwood Mac. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoasUjXBkm8/hqdefault.jpg "Peter Green -The supernatural") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoasUjXBkm8) I can’t listen to Santana and not measure his phrasing by how close he gets to this superior performance by Green. Green always wins. But I prefer Green’s original version of Black Magic Woman vs. Santana’s cover, too. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/146 "2016-04-14T13:24:12Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Frank Zappa - Don’t get me wrong; I’ve got most of his stuff from jazz, MOI days, 200 Motels, orchestral stuff. Sell-out /= more commercial stuff to fund his musical direction (s). He was honest. > > And, he never did a Christmas album to my recollection. You’re right, he even called the compilation of “radio-friendly“ stuff “Strictly Commercial“, but even his mildest stuff was too weird for the general public. Never a sell-out, just trying too make some bucks to finance his bigger visions. But I’d love to hear a Zappa christmas album, that’s for sure :D. ---
**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 14, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/147 "2016-04-14T13:33:16Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > You’re right, he even called the compilation of “radio-friendly“ stuff “Strictly Commercial“ Actually _he_ didn’t; that was a posthumous compilation put together by Ryko, who had just bought up his catalog (and took a bath on it, if what I heard is true). ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/148 "2016-04-14T13:36:15Z")
Out of left field: The. Romantics. From grungy indie rockers to pop punk the second they got a label deal. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/149 "2016-04-14T15:04:04Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Actually _he_ didn’t; that was a posthumous compilation put together by Ryko, who had just bought up his catalog (and took a bath on it, if what I heard is true). Oh my bad, I thought it had come out shortly before his death :smack:. Fun fact: the European version of _Strictly Commercial_ included _Bobby Brown Goes Down_, his biggest European hit, especially in Germany in 1979/80. It was frequently played back then here on the radio, almost nobody bothered about the lyrics, except for one famous radio DJ on WDR, Mel Sondock, who had come to Germany as a G.I., stayed and had a decent career. He hosted my favorite radio chart show (you know, which I used to listen to on my cassette radio with my fingers always ready to press record when a song I liked came up and cursing on Mel if he talked over the ending of a song. Good times.), and one time explained to the audience why he refused to play the song. I was at my second year of English in school and only had a nebulous hunch that it was somehow dirty, but that made me curious and I bought a compilation of lyrics of contemporary hit songs (I think they were called “Star-Hefte”) to explore the subject further. Of course my twelve year old self didn’t get most parts, but it was so full of smut that I got at least a gist of how dirty it was (I sure understood what he meant with “Heini”). But it got over the head of most people here because English competence wasn’t as wide-spread as today back then. I doubt that it would be played much on the radio today, but at least our radio stations still don’t bleep out fucks and shits and such, whereas I think an American radio station still wouldn’t touch _Bobby Brown_ with a ten feet pole. ---
**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 14, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/150 "2016-04-14T15:15:38Z")
Since I’m seeing her (and the Smashing Pumpkins) tonight, maybe Liz Phair? I hate to use that word with her (and, really, with any artist) especially since her change in style never really “sold” to begin with, but she went from making an interesting, raw, socially-charged debut album to making bland, boring over-produced pop songs (at least from my perspective. Sure, some of them still had a bit of that Liz Phair edge and bite to them lyrically, but they just didn’t resonate with me emotionally) I mean, I could get through the second and third albums, but the first one is the only one that I find myself coming back to again and again and again. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/151 "2016-04-14T15:19:37Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Since I’m seeing her (and the Smashing Pumpkins) tonight, maybe Liz Phair? I hate to use that word with her (and, really, with any artist) especially since her change in style never really “sold” to begin with, but she went from making an interesting, raw, socially-charged debut album to making bland, boring over-produced pop songs (at least from my perspective. Sure, some of them still had a bit of that Liz Phair edge and bite to them lyrically, but they just didn’t resonate with me emotionally) I mean, I could get through the second and third albums, but the first one is the only one that I find myself coming back to again and again and again. Great call - yeah, she made it clear she was going for the brass ring, full commercial. Lots of articles at the time about her choices. Oh, has **Susanna Hoffs** been discussed? Love The Bangles, love her, like the fact that her marriage to director Jay Roach and various Bangles nostalgia activities have kept her in the public eye. But her push to be Diana Ross and act in movies and the other Bangles her backing band drove their breakup. She appears to fully appreciate what played out and would do it differently if she could. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/152 "2016-04-14T15:22:49Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Frank Zappa…he never did a Christmas album to my recollection. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > But I’d love to hear a Zappa christmas album, that’s for sure :D. He didn’t release a Christmas album, but he did send out a [Christmas Card](https://goo.gl/photos/zwYLc5L4gJ6LrNiV7). ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/153 "2016-04-14T17:45:07Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > The Bee Gees went disco? You joke, but I was genuinely shocked to learn that they were once a folk group. I had no idea. > [@WordMan](#): > > I have somebody to discuss: **Carlos Santana** > > A fine guitarist who hadn’t had a hit in years, he decided to trust Clive Davis and go full commercial with his album Superstitious. He got his big hit with the song written and sung by Rob Thomas of matchbox20, Smooth. Santana sold millions of copies, won a ton of Grammys. All good and more power to him. > > But then he tried to work it. He cam out with another album on the same template - I think Vanessa Carlton was the featured songwriter this time. Didn’t do nearly as well. Carlos should’ve known to stop then, realizing he captured lightning in a bottle with that one. > > Then he came out with Guitar Heaven, which I ended up commenting on in this thread: [Guitar Heaven: Santana's New Album - not so heavenly, imho - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=579417) > > Clive talked Carlos into covering a bunch of guitar-heavy songs from the '60’s that really do not fit with Santana’s style. > > It sucked and it made Santana look like a sellout twit for doing it. He is a great player who has gone on to keep touring and do good work, and is past it. But it was, to me, a cynical moneygrab album and I wasn’t surprised when it died fast. I always just sort of assumed that Santana collaborates with anyone who shows up at his front door in the morning with donuts and orange juice. ---
**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 14, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/154 "2016-04-14T17:52:23Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > You joke, but I was genuinely shocked to learn that they were once a folk group. I had no idea. > > I always just sort of assumed that Santana collaborates with anyone who shows up at his front door in the morning with donuts and orange juice. It would be more accurate to say the Bee Gees were a vocal pop group. People thought they were a pseudonym for the Beatles. How can you mend a broken heart, To Love Somebody? ---
**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 14, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/155 "2016-04-14T17:55:03Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Since I’m seeing her (and the Smashing Pumpkins) tonight, maybe Liz Phair? I hate to use that word with her (and, really, with any artist) especially since her change in style never really “sold” to begin with, but she went from making an interesting, raw, socially-charged debut album to making bland, boring over-produced pop songs (at least from my perspective. Sure, some of them still had a bit of that Liz Phair edge and bite to them lyrically, but they just didn’t resonate with me emotionally) I mean, I could get through the second and third albums, but the first one is the only one that I find myself coming back to again and again and again. I’m totally with this. She was one of the great disappointments, given the greatness of the first LP. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/156 "2016-04-14T18:50:02Z")
I was thinking of Liz Phair the whole time I saw this thread myself but never composed a post for it. Her “sell out” album was the best selling of her career (although her follow up to that was her worst) so I suppose it worked for her and she defended it by saying she wasn’t the same age/person she was back when she did _Exile_ but, yeah, it did nothing for me and had a lot of disappointed earlier fans. ---
**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 14, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/157 "2016-04-14T18:54:11Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I was thinking of Liz Phair the whole time I saw this thread myself but never composed a post for it. Her “sell out” album was the best selling of her career (although her follow up to that was her worst) so I suppose it worked for her and she defended it by saying she wasn’t the same age/person she was back when she did _Exile_ but, yeah, it did nothing for me and had a lot of disappointed earlier fans. Is that Whip-Smart, I assume. According to [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Phair_discography), her debut is actually the best selling of the bunch, with the self-titled second. Or did you mean the self-titled album? That would also make sense, as while she went poppy on the second and third, she didn’t quite go all the way until the self-titled album. ETA: Actually, I see you must mean the self-titled album that came out in 2003. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/158 "2016-04-14T19:45:46Z")
Yeah, I meant her 2003 self titled album. I was wrong about best selling of her career – I probably remembered it as the fastest selling or highest ranking album and wrongly extrapolated from there. Her debut is her best selling (though it’d had a bit of a head start) with her “sell out” 2003 album second. Her 2005 album though looks to have done horribly in sales. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/159 "2016-04-15T00:46:43Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > I’d say it’s selling out when the motivation becomes the money rather than the music… Or Pink Floyd - they could have made roughly all of the money in the world by reuniting, but chose not to. I don’t think that it was for artistic integrity-they are getting pretty old, are already rich enough, and there are tensions. They probably just want to kick it and die in peace. ---
**Author:** ![swineflu8896](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@swineflu8896](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swineflu8896)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782/160 "2016-07-29T06:52:55Z")
Maroon 5 went from rock with some funk to pure pop. That’s about as sell out as you can get. Kenny G took jazz, fucked it up the ass and then sold is as a whore. potentially the devil incarnate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-artist-was-the-biggest-sellout/751782.md?page=7)