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How did they not make it big?

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    #51
    Another to think of Grandaddy (thanks AE; naff name but at least 3 excellent albums). I'd nominate British Sea Power- excellent albums so far, a decent political stance but so far down the festival listings. Having seen them live quite a few times they should be better well known imo.

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      #52
      Great band, but I'm surprised that folk felt Grandaddy would be 'huge' - I think they became about as big as they could be, certainly in the UK. Twenty years ago (ie, when guitar bands 'could' break into the mainstream), Grandaddy simply weren't commercial enough to impact in the existing market: that they actually managed to get a single to #23 (Now It's On - 2003) was some achievement, in my opinion.

      Originally posted by Benjm View Post
      Yes, I remember them being ribbed for the "where you going with that UB40 in your hand" line in Going Down To Liverpool.
      So they should be. It was awful.

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        #53
        On one of the earlier threads I must have mentioned Any Trouble. I'm doing it again.

        Clive Gregson, an Elvis Costello soundalike from c1980, wrote some catchy songs, commercial enough to be hits, I thought. But no.

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          #54
          By rights, Orange Juice and Edwyn Collins should have been huge. And they were - but only for two fairly ordinary, plodding songs: 'Rip It Up' and 'A Girl Like You' respectively. They still play 'A Girl Like You' regularly on German radio, just like they did when I lived here almost a quarter of a fucking century ago, and I'm glad Edwyn is making money out of it all these years later. That these were by far and away the two most successful songs out of a stunning but otherwise low-key career is perhaps telling. Why did these two songs snag on to a global audience when, for example, 'Simply Thrilled Honey' and 'I Can't Help Myself' and 'A Place In My Heart' and 'Means To An End' and '50 Shades of Blue' (plus at least a dozen others) didn't? Why does mediocre sell? Or are we the ones with bad taste?

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            #55
            Well, not everyone would concur that either of those songs is especially plodding in the first instance. I'd agree with you that Orange Juice had far better moments than Rip It Up, however: Falling and Laughing, Felicity and What Presence? (among others) were also great moments.

            And, yes, they should've been bigger. (As should Josef K, to expand the Postcard remit a little.)

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              #56
              Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
              Well, not everyone would concur that either of those songs is especially plodding in the first instance. I'd agree with you that Orange Juice had far better moments than Rip It Up, however: Falling and Laughing, Felicity and What Presence? (among others) were also great moments.

              And, yes, they should've been bigger. (As should Josef K, to expand the Postcard remit a little.)
              I actually like both those songs, and even in later years have come to love Rip It Up - it spanks the pants off a million other hits. But by OJ standards, it's a lesser item, and I could just as easily imagine someone hating it with venom and fury. Agree entirely with your adds to the OJ/EC Greatness List.

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                #57
                World Of Twist should have been bigger than they were. They were another group who, like The Beta Band, spent quite a chunk of money recording an album but were then quite vocal about their disappointment with it.

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                  #58
                  My two favourite bands were both fronted by a guy called Chris Thomson. Firstly Friends Again who just had one tremendous album called Trapped and Unwrapped, including a couple of wonderful songs, State of Art and Honey at the Core. Then he formed The Bathers who released 6 cracking albums. Both of these bands are virtually completely unknown, which to me is utterly baffling.

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                    #59
                    Canadian Remy Shand could I suppose be regarded as having briefly made it big, given that he was signed to Motown. His self-produced, self-written 2002 debut album ‘The Way I Feel’ on which he sang and played every instrument is a masterpiece of blue-eyed soul, but didn’t receive the popular acclamation that it deserved. Further information is somewhat sketchy, but it seems that he had a few personal demons and pretty much gave up on the music business soon after.

                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf6GbW82VcQ

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                      #60
                      In terms of soul singers of yore, I guess James Carr will always remain 'the one that got away'.

                      Signing to Atlantic should've done it for a guy with a fine voice, but a series of poor decisions - not necessarily 'his' - and Carr's mental health issues pretty much put paid to his career in the long term. He managed a few minor hits, but the fact remains that - seventeen years after his death - most music fans still won't know his name.

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                        #61
                        Top. Their 1991 album "Emotion Lotion" is a lost classic of jangly, citrussy Scouseadelica. Am listening to it now for the first time in about 25 years and it still sounds fantastic!

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                          #62
                          I always liked Number One Dominator...

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                            #63
                            You can hear James Carr's influence on Van Morrison: very raw and spiritual

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                              #64
                              Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
                              I always liked Number One Dominator...
                              "Soul Magic", "As Far As I Can See" and "Goodnight" are my favourites.

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                                #65
                                Top call with James Carr.

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                                  #66
                                  Thank you - good to see that people agree.

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                                    #67
                                    "Pouring Water On A Drowning Man" is a great record. Ironically it's from an album called "You Got My Mind Messed Up."

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                                      #68
                                      Originally posted by lackedpunch View Post
                                      Top. Their 1991 album "Emotion Lotion" is a lost classic of jangly, citrussy Scouseadelica. Am listening to it now for the first time in about 25 years and it still sounds fantastic!
                                      Always thought Life's Only Dreaming was a lost classic track. Deserves to turn up on a movie soundtrack.

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                                        #69
                                        The Scars-Author Author is magnificent & should have been the precursor for greater things.

                                        Do Au Pairs count?-again Playing With A Different Sex was deserving of a higher audience but Sense & Sensuality was a major dissapointment.

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                                          #70
                                          I used to share an office with someone who was a "Long Blondes" fan. I'm kind of surprised that they weren't more successful. See also the Noisettes.

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                                            #71
                                            The Au Pairs were great, but were clearly always going to be too jagged for much mainstream success. Like a fair few others of that time - ie, a time of shiny pop and drenched production.

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                                              #72
                                              Always thought Wall of Voodoo should have been bigger than they were.

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                                                #73
                                                Ah, Wall of Voodoo were among my favourite bands at the time.

                                                (And they're still pretty durned good now.)

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                                                  #74
                                                  They did get a decent amount of airplay in the better radio markets.

                                                  Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
                                                  I always liked Number One Dominator...
                                                  Good song. Did you hear them in the UK? Back then exposure was mostly through the radio, or friends, and to a lesser extent print media.

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                                                    #75
                                                    Yep, I heard Top through radio - via Gary Crowley's GLR show on a Sunday and also probably the young Steve Lamacq on wunnerful Radio 1.

                                                    While they were probably big on US college stations, I don't recall Wall of Voodoo receiving much airplay in the UK - bar Mexican Radio, which gained daytime rotation on R1.

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