# Why did they/it never make it in America? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015 "2010-05-28T00:32:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/1 "2010-05-28T00:32:41Z")
Could be anything - band, actor, other creative type, fad, movie, TV show, whatever. What do you find baffling that it never got popular in the U.S? I could probably think of a hundred things, but since I just got the new single, I’ll pick **The Divine Comedy**. [New song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB--qzE4JhE) [My favorite song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnY9ea_q3nI) [Another good one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=674PtHca8Kg) To my mind, it’s perfect pop, and Neil Hannon is one of the best songwriters going right now. I can’t see why he has to play the tiniest clubs on his infrequent mini-tours of the U.S. If R.E.M. can sell out arenas here, surely there’s a market for this? Anyway, what are your choices? ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/2 "2010-05-28T00:40:49Z")
Dang - sorry, mods, meant this for Cafe Society. Could one of you kindly move it for me? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/3 "2010-05-28T00:49:03Z")
Europop? It hasn’t been competitive here since the time of ABBA. Every real American is grooving on Elf Power nowadays. > **[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/index?app=desktop&desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US)** > > Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/4 "2010-05-28T00:57:56Z")
The Metric System. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/5 "2010-05-28T01:14:33Z")
[Dual Flush Toilets](http://home.howstuffworks.com/dual-flush-toilet.htm) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/6 "2010-05-28T01:36:44Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Dang - sorry, mods, meant this for Cafe Society. Could one of you kindly move it for me? Done. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/7 "2010-05-28T03:01:35Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Could be anything - band, actor, other creative type, fad, movie, TV show, whatever. What do you find baffling that it never got popular in the U.S? I could probably think of a hundred things, but since I just got the new single, I’ll pick **The Divine Comedy**. > > [New song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB--qzE4JhE) > > [My favorite song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnY9ea_q3nI) > > [Another good one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=674PtHca8Kg) > > To my mind, it’s perfect pop, and Neil Hannon is one of the best songwriters going right now. I can’t see why he has to play the tiniest clubs on his infrequent mini-tours of the U.S. If R.E.M. can sell out arenas here, surely there’s a market for this? While They’ve certainly been critically acclaimed and had some very moderate chart success some years back over here in the UK, they’re not exactly that hugely popular in terms of sales (their only top ten single was in 1999) so it doesn’t surprise me they they haven’t transferred elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/8 "2010-05-28T03:13:01Z")
I’ll give you a few pop acts, all of them great song craftsmen, and, sadly, none of them ever made the big splash over here that they most definitely deserved: [The Jam](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-H0uIH5HHQ) (yes, [“Town Called Malice”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfpRm-p7qlY) was a modest hit stateside, but they had [so much more](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz8zZ5YHrkQ) to offer). [Blur](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrbxWOMpwfs) (though Damon Albarn did finally make a splash over here with Gorillaz). [John Cale](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3ueIweuUvo). ---
**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:** [May 28, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/9 "2010-05-28T03:47:49Z")
**Kate Bush** had [chart success](http://stason.org/TULARC/music-bands/kate-bush/4-6-Chart-success-Kate-Bush-Info.html) all over the (non-US) world, and is one of the most influential artists, but she never made it in America. American radio wouldn’t play her music because she was too weird and, for American ears, too non-mainstream. I guess. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/10 "2010-05-28T04:34:50Z")
Kate’s “Running Up That Hill” charted here at like #30 or so, FWIW. For someone more contemporary, I’d go with Porcupine Tree. When the presence or absence of an artist on modern rock radio is almost wholly is independent of their quality anymore, they never really had a chance. I went to a show here (Jax Florida) and there couldn’t have been more than 30 people in the joint. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/11 "2010-05-28T04:53:35Z")
“Wuthering Heights” was pretty big. That was like her only real hit in the U.S., right? Did the Divine Comedy do the Father Ted theme? ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/12 "2010-05-28T05:11:04Z")
Yep, that was the Divine Comedy. Kate Bush, The Jam and (to a lesser extent, since “Song #2” was pretty big here, and Damon Albarn’s many other projects have heightened his profile in the U.S. considerably) Blur are all good picks - like The Kinks, who faced a similar problem, The Jam and Blur were almost “too English” (lyrically and musically) to ever make it big on this side of the pond - at least, that’s one argument I’ve heard. Kate Bush is harder to understand; too arty, I guess, though her stuff always sounded plenty accessible to me. John Cale I have a less hard time understanding; though I like him, there’s no way he was going to appeal to mainstream American tastes with the music he made. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/13 "2010-05-28T05:14:26Z")
I don’t think Kate Bush ever toured in America (or anywhere else) much. She did appear on “Saturday Night Live” once in the late 1970s host Eric Idle got them to book her) and she got polite applause. "the “Hounds of Love” album was fairly popular but she never really went past that, other than appearing in a Peter Gabriel video. I don’t know if “Status Quo” was worth listening to: the only time I ever saw them was the Live Aid concert. Never heard a thing of theirs on the radio. They have something like 60 chart hits in the United Kingdom, 22 in the top 10. 30 years ago Pete Townshend recommended to the Jam that they should tour America more to become popular, as The Who did. But they didn’t listen to him ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/14 "2010-05-28T05:15:35Z")
An obscure but puzzling one: the song “Aserejé,” aka “The Ketchup Song,” by Las Ketchup. It was a Spanish record from 2002 that went to Number One in practically every European country, the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand - so basically all the Anglophone parts of the world - except it failed to break even the Top 40 in the USA. To explain that would be to reveal something interesting about the American music business. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/15 "2010-05-28T05:22:56Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > “Wuthering Heights” was pretty big. That was like her only real hit in the U.S., right? _Wuthering Heights_ didn’t get played in the US. Her first album \*The Kick Inside \*was released on two different labels and she appeared on _Saturday Night Live_. But her second and third albums weren’t even released by her US label until after her fourth album _The Dreaming_ was released. EMI America really had no idea how to promote her. She was a cult artist until _The Dreaming_ started getting play on college radio and much better reviews than it got in the UK. But her only mainstream success was _Running Up That Hill_. But one #30 single is an anomaly, giving her roughly the same US identity level as Joan Armatrading. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/16 "2010-05-28T05:26:31Z")
A quick check of Wiki shows that Kylie Minogue has scored 39 Top 20 singles in the UK and only 2 in America. That cannot be explained by her being “too Australian” or “too arty.” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/17 "2010-05-28T05:41:14Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > _Wuthering Heights_ didn’t get played in the US. Her first album \*The Kick Inside \*was released on two different labels and she appeared on _Saturday Night Live_. But her second and third albums weren’t even released by her US label until after her fourth album _The Dreaming_ was released. Are you sure? My mom mention hearing it over and over again in this one diner where her friend was working back in the day. It’s pretty much the only Kate Bush song that my parents know–they think of her as some random artist who only had one real hit and that was it. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/18 "2010-05-28T06:11:20Z")
Off the top of my head, Absolutely fabulous, most Japanese anime TV shows, or martial arts movies not starring Jackie or Jet. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/19 "2010-05-28T06:22:06Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > A quick check of Wiki shows that Kylie Minogue has scored 39 Top 20 singles in the UK and only 2 in America. That cannot be explained by her being “too Australian” or “too arty.” I came in to mention Kylie Minogue too. She is HUGE in England, most of continental Europe and of course Australia, and has been for decades. She’s a great all around entertainer and IMO absolutely fabulous. [I also think Lady Gaga channels her more than most people realize.](http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/kylie-minogue-cant-get-you-out-of-my-head/a4624abe52fa83666b1ea4624abe52fa83666b1e-30732125033) (Caution: Major hotness, maybe NSFW.) I was also expecting big things from [Terence Trent D’Arby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Uz-dPANDY&feature=related). I recall reading at some point that his ego did him in but I don’t remember the details. Still, the guy had real talent and IMO we’re a little worse off that he never lived up to his potential. ---
**Author:** ![Negative\_Lite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Negative\_Lite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Negative_Lite)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015/20 "2010-05-28T09:09:30Z")
I’ll take a stab at explaining some of these. I like what I’ve heard of Divine Comedy but it’s not “pure pop.” More like “pop for people who hate pop.” The vocal stylings are ironically misplaced against the poppish sensibility of the beat - something pleasing to my ears but not begging to be played on Top 40 radio. I don’t think they compare to R.E.M. at all - Michael Stipe sings like a pop singer. Asereje (The Ketchup Song) hit #1 in the U.S. Latin charts, but topped off at #39 in the mainstream U.S. Top 40. Foreign-language songs face almost impossible odds in the U.S., so just cracking the Top 40 at all is a major success. Kate Bush. As Jim’s Son said, she’s never toured the States. Ever. And never will. That’s strike one. Two, her music videos. Rather than treating her videos as marketing endeavors - essentially commercials for her songs - she’s sought to use the video to express her creative interpretations of the material. I admire that. But the result is something that MTV wouldn’t play. In contrast, her musical soulmate Peter Gabriel broke through huge in the States with two massive singles backed by terrific commercially-produced videos (Sledgehammer and Big Time). Basically, if you don’t tour the States and you don’t get on MTV, you don’t exist as far as mainstream America is concerned. (I don’t buy the “weirdness” excuse except as applied to her videos, which are indeed way too weird). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-it-never-make-it-in-america/541015.md?page=2)