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How did they not make it big?

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    How did they not make it big?

    As I'm watching the video of an excellent gig I went to at Camden Palace in 1984, I am still wondering how the Big Sound Authority never made it big. They were an excellent live act, they had a great and pretty singer in Julie Hadwen, their songs were very good... And in "This House (Is Where I Love Stands)" they had a fantastic single which unaccountably stalled at #21.

    What went wrong?

    There are loads of other acts that never broke big when they clearly should have. Big Sound Authority is one case that puzzles me in particular.

    #2
    How did they not make it big?

    I was thinking that they were signed to Paul Weller's Respond label - famously a graveyard for forgotten bands like A Craze and The Questions (and ultimately Tracie Young) - but it seems they turned him down for MCA.

    Can't say I know or remember much about them, but my only guess would be that they perhaps emerged too late for the 'white soul' boom of the early eighties. By 1986, everyone was buying all the original US stuff instead.

    As for others, too many to mention! I'll return when I've thought of something appropriate...

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      #3
      How did they not make it big?

      I still don't understand why Fountains Of Wayne weren't bigger than they are. One giant hit in 2003 is a very meager return for their lovely slice of power pop with brilliant lyrics about finding myriad new ways not to be in love. Their songs beautifully tell the tales of the underdogs, their songs pack hooks that will never leave your head, but their only hit was partially due to Rachel Hunter doing a Fast Times At Ridgemont High thing in the video. This world is not a fair place.

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        #4
        How did they not make it big?

        Jah Womble wrote: I was thinking that they were signed to Paul Weller's Respond label....but it seems they turned him down.
        The Truth also fall into this category.

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          #5
          How did they not make it big?

          Jellyfish. Wonderful in every way, with a back catalogue of glorious pop tunes to die for. "Spilt Milk" probably in my top ten albums of all time and "Bellybutton" not far behind.

          Lewis Taylor. Wonderful in every way, etc etc

          I´ve hyped them both several times during my many years on the board without much response (although I seem to recall that G-Man gave Taylor a go and seemed okay with it).

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            #6
            How did they not make it big?

            I quite enjoyed Jellyfish too. Bar a minor UK hit with 1991's The King is Half Undressed, they pretty much died the death on both sides of the Atlantic. A few other random thoughts...

            Acts I liked that I thought would be bigger than they were:

            The House of Love
            I liked them at the time, but in retrospect they weren't actually that great - three decent singles and an okay-ish debut album isn't that much of a return for all the press-hype.

            Eric Matthews
            Great 1995 debut album (It's Heavy in Here) and a killer single (Fanfare) - then categorically failed to make any kind of dent with follow-ups.

            Credit to the Nation
            More-than-decent UK hip-hop act who rubbed shoulders with other left-wing rock acts in the mid-nineties - and also Chuck D, who nonetheless couldn't prevent their third album from remaining unreleased. Only really managed a minor hit thanks to a Nirvana sample.

            Acts that I just assumed would get big, but didn't especially:

            Fashion
            'Classic' eighties vogue-followers who issued single after single but couldn't catch the zeitgeist like the bulk of their contemporaries. Never had a Top 40 hit.

            Blue Rondo a La Turk
            See above, pretty much - though they did make #40 with Me and Mr Sanchez. (Way more fun than Fashion, anyway.)

            Habit
            UK-based funk/pop outfit signed to Virgin who seemed to tick all the right boxes, but got no further than an airplay hit with the admittedly-catchy Lucy (1989).

            Flowered Up
            Given the amount of column inches this lot were gifted, I felt it was just a matter of time before they blew up like the Mondays - of whom they were often cited as Camden's equivalent. Weekender found a small place in history, but the public generally left them out to dry.

            Comment


              #7
              How did they not make it big?

              Jah Womble wrote: Blue Rondo a La Turk did make #40 with Me and Mr Sanchez.
              I cannot believe that Klactoveesedstein wasn't a bigger, er, hit than that. But it wasn't. Utterly fabulous single.

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                #8
                How did they not make it big?

                Gangster Octopus wrote:
                Originally posted by Jah Womble
                Blue Rondo a La Turk did make #40 with Me and Mr Sanchez.
                I cannot believe that Klactoveesedstein wasn't a bigger, er, hit than that. But it wasn't. Utterly fabulous single.
                hobbes...is that you?

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                  #9
                  How did they not make it big?

                  I don't take music talk from a Rush fan...

                  Comment


                    #10
                    How did they not make it big?

                    I can take the jab. It's the bolding I can't abide.

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                      #11
                      How did they not make it big?

                      Microdisney should have been big, or at least biggish, in the late 1980s. Especially with the third album, which Coughlan now disassociates himself from for reasons which have little enough to do with music. It was easily their strongest melodically and lyrically.

                      They split up soon afterwards, having been royally fucked around by Virgin Records (which dropped them two months after the record came out). There was an audit done subsequently which found that Microdisney had made a profit of £1 in their two years on the label.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        How did they not make it big?

                        It seems like everyone on this board (of a certain age) knows/likes See That Glow by This Island Earth. I recently turned up a second single called Take Me To The Fire, which is also solid. Yet they disappeared without a trace. Like...poof...nothing left.

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                          #13
                          How did they not make it big?

                          Blimey, See That Glow is a song I've not heard in a *long* time. And yes, it was a good one.

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                            #14
                            How did they not make it big?

                            If you don't need the video, good quality audio here.

                            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxquvzIINpY

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                              #15
                              How did they not make it big?

                              Wondering if I saw This Island Earth supporting someone like Depeche Mode or OMD. Hmmm.

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                                #16
                                How did they not make it big?

                                Tony C wrote: Jellyfish. Wonderful in every way, with a back catalogue of glorious pop tunes to die for. "Spilt Milk" probably in my top ten albums of all time and "Bellybutton" not far behind.

                                Lewis Taylor. Wonderful in every way, etc etc

                                I´ve hyped them both several times during my many years on the board without much response (although I seem to recall that G-Man gave Taylor a go and seemed okay with it).
                                Ah yes, a timely reminder to give that a spin again.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  How did they not make it big?

                                  Jellyfish were wonderful.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    How did they not make it big?

                                    WOM wrote: It seems like everyone on this board (of a certain age) knows/likes See That Glow by This Island Earth. I recently turned up a second single called Take Me To The Fire, which is also solid. Yet they disappeared without a trace. Like...poof...nothing left.
                                    Yep, Radio One went mad for that - the band even recording them a couple of jingles based upon it - yet couldn't make it (or them) a hit. On the very-rare occasions that I hear it, I'm immediately transported back to my art-school bedsit in Chatham. Which, as you can imagine, is highly inconvenient for the people that live there now.

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                                      #19
                                      How did they not make it big?

                                      Jah Womble wrote:
                                      Credit to the Nation
                                      More-than-decent UK hip-hop act who rubbed shoulders with other left-wing rock acts in the mid-nineties - and also Chuck D, who nonetheless couldn't prevent their third album from remaining unreleased. Only really managed a minor hit thanks to a Nirvana sample.
                                      I saw them, well him really, at the Thekla in Bristol in 1994 (supported by Collapsed Lung for extra period detail) and he stopped the minor hit about thirty seconds in and said, 'Now you've heard the sample you can all f*ck off home.' So not entirely comfortable with that, then.

                                      He was from Walsall, as lots of cool people are.

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                                        #20
                                        How did they not make it big?

                                        The Armoury Show.

                                        Surely there was room for another U2, Simple Minds or, errr... Cactus World News?

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                                          #21
                                          How did they not make it big?

                                          That space was occupied by, erm, Light A Big Fire, surely.

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                                            #22
                                            How did they not make it big?

                                            Jah Womble wrote: Yep, Radio One went mad for that - the band even recording them a couple of jingles based upon it - yet couldn't make it (or them) a hit. On the very-rare occasions that I hear it, I'm immediately transported back to my art-school bedsit in Chatham. Which, as you can imagine, is highly inconvenient for the people that live there now.
                                            Please...you're charming and erudite. They'd be happy to have you. But yeah, odd thing. That song was obviously good enough to get some serious airplay in the UK and it made it on to Canadian video show, too. But have a go at locating any trace of either John 'Strange' Hawkins or Kevin Brown or any hint of an album or...anything.

                                            There was a period when you'd get all kinds of great UK bands on the video shows, but you couldn't find their stuff in record shop. So I had a jerry-rigged mic stand and would record stuff right off the TV. Very hi-fi, I assure you. And the VJs would never talk over the intro. Anyway, STG was one of those tracks for me. I never had a vinyl copy until my buddy Pete was DJing in a strip joint and found the 12" single of it in their bins. That went home in his duffle bag.

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                                              #23
                                              How did they not make it big?

                                              That Petrol Emotion.

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                                                #24
                                                How did they not make it big?

                                                Good call. I bought The Big Decision b/w Soul Deep on 12" single. Surprised they didn't do more. Or maybe they did...

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                                                  #25
                                                  How did they not make it big?

                                                  The debut album Manic Pop Thrill is superb. Their second album, from which the afore-mentioned Big Decision comes from, Babble, is also a good album.

                                                  After John O'Neill left the band, they released another three albums, of which Chemicrazy is the best.

                                                  If they had come along around the same time as the Roses et al, they most likely would have been massive. 3 years too soon.

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