I think that explains why Cliff Richard never really broke through here, either.
Terence Trent D’Arby’s first album was pretty heavily pushed by the record company in the U.S., and “Wishing Well” was a hit, but his subsequent albums (which were more experimental and arguably better) were buried. I remember hearing his ego did him in, too, but I think it was more that he abandoned the more obvious top 40 sound of his debut on his following releases.
Ooooh, yes, I love Coffee Crisp! And I hate that I can never find it here. A small candy shop in my town used to carry it, but no longer does. :mad:
Kylie Minogue’s version of “The Loco-Motion” did hit #3 in the U.S., and as I recall, she was pretty successful as a teen-pop act along the lines of Tiffany or Debbie Gibson. I think that was the problem, because when she re-imaged herself as a grownup, it just didn’t take here.
Good point. And now that I think about it, I believe he even changed his name to reflect the different direction of his music.
Good point, too. I had almost forgotten about her early stuff. Here’s an example of of Minogue in the era you’re talking about. Cute vid, though.
Robertson Screws are vastly superior to the Phillips and whatnot used in the US but are rarely seen outside Canada.
The usual explanation was that Americans couldn’t accept that a product better than their standard might exist but the link above suggests it had more to do with Robertson’s refusal to license the design after being screwed [sorry] by a British licensee. That doesn’t explain why Americans didn’t adopt the design after the patent expired in 1964.
My guess would be that because they have different size recesses they require different size screwdrivers. With a slotted or Phillips head screw you can generally make do with whichever slotted or Phillips driver you have on hand.
P.S. - What do you call a drink made from orange juice, vodka and Milk of Magnesia?
A “Phillips” screwdriver.
Ha, ha…Ouch! Ow! Stop it! Stop!
MODS?!
She’s five foot nothing!
I remember a few years ago how it seemed like everyone in Canada was shaking their heads at why The Tragically Hip could not break through into the US market – there were even articles in daily papers about it, which might reflect our need to be liked LOL! They did have some catchy songs and are still making music but they never did taste much success in the US.
I am not too sure how to post a link but I’ll give it a try … this is I think their first big song in Canada after being “discovered”.
I remember reading somewhere that she’s actually 4’11".
Which means that at 5’3", Truman Capote would tower over her. :eek:
Still, you know what they say - Dynamite, small packages… (Definitely NSFW)
To be fair, it’s not like they’re really that common inside Canada, either. I use my Phillips screwdriver way, way more often than a Robertson one.
Marillion. I got into them in ‘85, when Misplaced Childhood was released, because “Kayleigh” got a tiny bit of radio airplay. They remain one of my favorite bands to this day. The way I understand it, they were absolutely freakin’ huge in Europe in the '80s, but very few people here in the states have heard of 'em. I’m actually quite happy with this arrangement… my little secret. 
They are used here, but they are not called “Robertson screws”, but “Square Drive”. They are popular among deck and stair builders. You go to a Home Depot or Lowes and you’ll find a wide range of them. That, and “Bristol Spline”, “Star Drive” or “Torx” screws.
I personally can’t abide Phillips screws, and the only thing worse is a flat head. I always carry a square drive screwdriver in my kit, and always choose to buy them for any project.
I’ve experienced them in a number of homes. Pressing the lighter flush always seems to leave stuff in the bowl, one invariably ends up pressing the stronger one. My friend who had one installed complained about it. YMMV.
Unlike Europe, we learned our lesson from “The Macarena”.
Robertsons aren’t as common as they once were in Canada; I remember my grandfather once telling me that at one point in the 30s, he remembered that they were pretty-much “everywhere” in Canada until WWII. Munitions builders dropped them in favour of Phillips’ and slotted, because most Allied countries had no real exposure to them.
I find that they’re the easiest to work with, especially when you have to put in a screw from below – they sit right on the end of your screwdriver, and you can even get away with working one-handed if you have to.
And yes, I like my Coffee “crisp”, too. Seems that Nestle just doesn’t want to bother with a distribution network, nor do they want to manufacture it in the US.
Crispy Crunch was also exported down to the US at one point, but this was a distribution arrangement with the trading card maker Pro-Set, and when they imploded after saturating the hockey card market around 1993, that pretty much killed the deal off. You guys would like Crispy Crunch; it’s somewhat like a Butterfinger, but way better.
What I have is a Gerber “pressure assist” toilet, which uses the water pressure to fill an air tank. When you flush, it literally fires the selected amount of water down the waterway, either 1.6 gallons (#2) or .9 gallon (#1). I always use the #1 for urine and even small bowel movements. I describe it as flushing with a fire extinguisher.
A few US toilet manufacturers made crappy, cheap toilets that tried to use only gravity like the old 5 gallon toilets. That just doesn’t work. Tell your friend to replace it with a pressure assist toilet.
My brother is a Master Plumber and installed this and he is a huge fan of these toilets.
I would have to disagree. Lulu is great. She tore up that Isely Brothers song. Dionne Warwick is OK but nothing great in terms of vocal quality. Certainly other artists were much better.
But you do bring up an excellent point. Perhaps some artists fill the gap in some countries. For instance, Olivia Newton-John is basically a female Cliff Richard. Which is not hard to see, as they are friends and used the same band members and writings and Olivia got her start on Cliff shows.
If you look at chart performance, ONJ is no where near as big in the UK as she was in the UK She was the #1 female of the 70s in the USA but pretty much faded out in the UK. Even her “Physical” didn’t hit #1 in the UK which it did pretty much everywhere else.
So perhaps Cliff wasn’t as big here as ONJ was filling the “need” so to speak in the USA. And ONJ wasn’t as big in the UK 'cause Cliff was already there.
I imagine other artists have a similar effect
I agree that Lulu’s great, but I think the Shangri-Las’ version is too. See what you think…
The Shangri-Las (featuring Mary Weiss, who I believe was only 15 or 16 years old at the time).
Lulu’s definitely got a lot the raspiness thing cornered, but all things considered I think I’d give the edge to the Shangs.
Nuh uh. There were/are singers with stronger “instruments,” but Warwick stands near the top of any list of great stylists. Her phrasing, her delivery–she could sell a Bacharach song–a notoriously difficult to sing composer–better than anyone.
The chorus of “Aserejé” is sung in gobbledy-gook, so you’d think the song would sound equally foreign to everyone.
I know who he is. I don’t like him, but I’m familar with a few of his songs. Didn’t really like the image of him being just a stain on someone’s sheet, for example.
Your parents aren’t necessarily even familar with her version of the song, though. Pat Benatar covered it, and it was the only version I knew until I was an adult and finally heard of Kate Bush.