Artists that are huge in England havent been doing so well in the Usa.

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The Strokes have been getting lots of press, but is the record selling? Not really. Andrew WK charted at #91 or something and everyone hates him. Kylie's performance on SNL last week was laughable at best to american audiences (way too euro for us, man). Why do they keep pushing this stuff on us? Have the record companies learned their lessons or is it going to keep happeneing. Spice Girls were a fluke.

― chaki, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

huge is going a bit mad as regards the strokes in the uk

they will keep trying: i just ran into my bud robbie of modern english, in old compton street on monday night => me = er huge in us since pretty in pink, but he couldn't get arrested here eg every now and then a surprising one sticks

― mark s, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i shall translate into your earthling how-you-say language tomorrow when i am not tired

― mark s, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

a friend of mine in the US emailed me to say how awesome the kylie performance on snl was... of course, he is apparently also developing an unhealthy obsession with the video, so perhaps his opinion is not to be trusted.

― dave k, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

it was really akward and silly. you could hear all of america look at eachother and shrug.

― chaki, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

aw, i saw it. i liked it! but she seemed to be trying so hard. i dunno. kylie is just a little too old to survive in our youth- oriented culture, i fear. we like our pop stars barely legal.

― geeta, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i just ran into my bud robbie of modern english

What, you're just going to say this without comment? "After the Snow" = one of the greatest songs of the early eighties.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i just ran into my bud robbie of modern english

jeezus. I suddenly have this strange vision of London (or mark's life) as being the sort of place where you run into various washed-up 80s pop stars every day at the local pub.

yo, marc almond! haven't seen you since uh, yesterday at the bar! dude, how's it going?

of course i am insanely jealous

― geeta, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

If I had the chance to talk to Marc Almond daily, I'd be a happy man.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

somehow I knew this.

― geeta, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I knew when MTV showed the Europe MTV music awards that trouble was brewing. Kylie's performance was well...stupid in this American's eyes. I'd seen her in many many many European music mags and wonder "who the hell is this twerp?". Well I'm glad that I know but you can keep that one to yourselves. Also, is actually AliG popular over there? As for Andrew WK, I don't think mainstream-"alternative"- modern rock-radio America will ever cheer him on. While I find the album cover slightly amusing, I'm bored with chanting "party hard" over and over again in a song. Plus the guy is dressed like a house painter in the video-where's the bling bling? Is Andrew WK a band or the guy?

But hey, BBMak had a couple of hits over here.

― Lindsey B, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

somehow I knew this.

You're most wise.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I somehow think the reverse of this list, who's not getting from the U.S. to the U.K., would be uglier. But maybe being inundated with Creed crap rock has me biased.

― bnw, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

How tall is Kylie?

― Stuart, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

7'3"

― chippy, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Is Andrew WK the guy or the band"

Its the guy, apparently WK stands for White Killer (named after a White Serial killer sometime ago in the US) the band are just a bunch of Californian Death Metallers. I saw him at the Rocket in Holloway and he dived into the crowd and smacked his nose on some guys head. Oh dear .... White Klutz ?.

― JB, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ash. Well they arent exactly *huge* here in Britain, but they have a dedicated fan base. They are currently in America, attempting yet again to make an impression on more than a handful of people. I was just wondering if many Americans are too inward-looking with their music.

― emma, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i think WK stands for "Wrinkled Kock"

― Poops Mcgee, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think the WK stands for "Webber, Knight." As in Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. The cheese.

― Dave225, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Andrew WK is not big in Britain. His album charted at 71.

Fun Lovin' Criminals aren't too big in the US, are they? They're pretty popular over here, even if they are shite.

And then there's the way that Americans just don't "get" the Eels.

― Judd Nelson, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm very glad we don't get the Eels. E = yawnsome, and so is his music. And you're more than welcome to keep the Fun Lovin' Criminals, who indeed don't amount to spit over here.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Eels and Fun Lovin' Criminals should do an album together.

― adam, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The WK stands for Wilkes-Krier. That's his last name. My roommate went to high school with him or something in Michigan, said that he was a huge nerd.

― Chris H., Friday, 22 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well, there's a shock.

― Dan Perry, Friday, 22 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I just saw on the newspaper that kylie was on 9 on the american album charts, wich goes against all you said, so i dont think was that laughable

― Chupa-Cabras, Friday, 22 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

it doesnt go against what i said.

― chaki, Friday, 22 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Deep breath........God, you yanks are so sad, Irony just passes you by, talent has to be rammed, porno style down your throats and the whole of pop music over the past 25 years has bypassed you due to your total lack of understanding of ability when it doesnt have 20 foot neon signs attached to it.

Why have you ceased to be citizens and become total consumers?

― Kris England., Sunday, 24 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hm. Isn't this a bit like saying all UK folks are a bunch of deluded sheep who willingly embrace the stupid foibles of New Labour?

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 24 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm far less impressed by the way so many UK music buyers jump at every tiny little piece of hype attached to any band regardless of quality.

― electric sound of jim, Sunday, 24 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

well now mr kris eng-er-land, has it not occured 2 u that there is a opposite way of looking at yer theory, eh? eh? IE that the fucking shit sliced white bread indie rawk pushed on us by our korporate musick spin doktorz (step forward mr steeeve lamacq, thee NME and....er....) = k-sux0r and thee amerikans are more sensible than u give them kredit for, like? Also that kylie = sux0r as well. She has not made a decent rekkid since "I Should Be so Lucky" and god knows why she has been hyped so over the years.

― Norman Phay, Sunday, 24 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

daphne & celeste

― Wyndham Earl, Sunday, 24 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I have no fucking idea what you (Kris) are talking about. Citizens? Of what? The POP music world? Consumers? Isn't everyone who buys music from Blur to Britney to Haino Keiji a freaking consumer?!? Who really cares who the better consumer is? Aren't your silly weeklies touting this weeks sickly pale lad fresh from art school looking all dapper the equivalent of twenty foot flashing signs? Obviously we are all fucking fodder for advertisers (be they the NME or MTV). Just because your brand of crap is slightly better (and this is debateable) is no reason to feel all superior. What's amazing is that given the relative independence of Britain's music scene (esp. in comparison to the completely corporately controlled American system) is how little chart music of actual value has gotten made (or reported on) in the last twenty-five years. A little sad don'tcha think.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

hey what happened to Daphne & Celeste anyway? they were choice.

― , Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

apparently they're making a comeback with new material and uk live dates this year.

― Wyndham Earl, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sorry Alex, I was incredibly pissed when i wrote the reply so it was a bit more mangled than I intended it to be.

It seems that US music is about total consumerism whereby no one seems to be allowed to make up their own minds what they actually like. Youre right about British music too, the difference being that. (1) We are in a position where we are able to actually hear all this stuff.(2) We don't keep banging on about how wonderfully superior music is in the "land of the free" and how totally pathetic everyone elses is just because it doesn't sell over there.

It just winds me up, thats all.

And I hate pissy white boy indie as much as you evidently do. Dur!

― Kris England, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Kris, I saw nothing wrong with your first reply. Especially in oppostion to the premise of the original question, that Americans are continually being force fed silly Euro pop!?! I wish. I'd gladly trade the hype we're subjected to for some of yours. The fact is, it's has been depressingly hard to hunt down all kinds of UK and Euro stuff, good and bad, ever since America rejected punk back in '77.

― Curt, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

four weeks pass...

And it isn't getting any better for UK acts.

― Billy Dods, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yeah but as I just said on NYLPM it's getting better all the time for UK listeners:

"But thinking idly about this it struck me again how lucky we are in Britain (unless you work in the record industry, oh well). The US- Europe cultural crossroads means that our charts get everything in the US charts bar crossover country, plus every huge-in-Europe disco hit, plus more UK-specific hits and trends (UK Garage, bootleg mixes), plus all the stuff that the rest of the world test-hypes here (The Strokes, Andrew WK, Electroclash). It's no wonder the Top 40 moves so fast - it has to to keep up!"

i.e. what possible advantage is there to being an American currently (in the limited sense of pop-music listening)? Our charts get everything good in yours and loads more too.

― Tom, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"hip hop"

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

More rap & more r&b -- we get specialization!

― Sterling Clover, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Tracer: The big disadvantage of the UK Top 40 was no hip-hop until about 2-3 years ago when it suddenly blew up here and now it's in the charts all the time. The only really big hip-hop hits I know of last year that we didn't get were "Where The Party At?" (actually I think that did get a release here) and "Oochie Wally" (no idea why that didnt come out).

Sterling: specialisation can be left to the specialists, this is the charts!

― Tom, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

In fact the main thing preventing the UK charts from being utterly bogglingly awesome currently is our near-total spazness at two things we used to do quite well, i.e. hair-pop and arty alt-pop.

― Tom, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

hair pop?????

― Billy Dods, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

UK charts fail because you have COLDPLAY and STARSAILOR and BOB THE BUILDER.

Specialization is good sometimes, for example if we haff a station just to party to or just to do silly 80s dances to or just to get yr. groove on to.

― Sterling Clover, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

From Simon Le Bon to Gareth Gates...

― Tom, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Bob The Builder points up another advantage - our charts are all-ages affairs! (The flipside of this is G.Haskell but he adds to the gaiety of the nation I s'pose. And better him than Santana.)

Coldplay and Starsailor discussed above under spazness of alt-pop.

― Tom, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's hard to gauge these things Tom but I'm pretty sure we have stuff that you guys would have to dig for awhile to hear... Big L, Camp Lo, Memphis Bleek, Three-6 Mafia, M.O.P...? That's off the top of my head, and not all those guys are good but they're visible here, and they chart, even the non-certifiable-smashes..... but!! what's more interesting to me is this sudden new influx of a radically different type of pop into your charts! We don't have anything like this here... I dunno, like if suddenly dancehall was half the chart or something - it would be pretty bonkers!

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yeah this is what Sterling means by specialisation - the whole second layer of hip-hop hits we pretty much miss out on because there's no room for them (and because hip-hop as a saleable hit thing here is quite new) - but they'll all be on Westwood (our specialist national hip-hop show) so anyone into the music will be hearing them. I like the UK chart because it has so much breadth, and then I think Radio 1 does a pretty good job of expanding that outward, so to speak, so that anyone who hears hip-hop or garage or trance or indie rock or pop on the charts can find a show that will tell them more and is broadcast country-wide. Whereas with the US charts the decision, as it were, of what to focus on - hip-hop, R&B/pop, alt-rock - has already been made, you get increased specialisation whether you want it or not.

We should have more dancehall in our charts too, though.

― Tom, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

but sterling, the number one song in the us last year was by LIFEHOUSE. also in the top 20: train, matchbox 20, staind. those are some huge black marks against the US right there.

also, the increasing trends towards specialization of chart stations in this country results in many more different ideas of 'charting' than in the uk, no?

― maura, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I like being in THE BIG COUNTRY.

Is the Staind one the one with the rapping? Coz I like that.

Also, it is named after a failed Who rock opera = it isn't that bad.

― Sterling Clover, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The one with rapping = Linkin Park. Staind = the only palatable Pearl Jam clone.

― Dan Perry, Tuesday, 23 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

two years pass...

I suppose we can add the Scissor Sisters to this list now.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 7 June 2004 12:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Classic or Dud: Stupid American/ London based people who confuse England with the UK?

― C-Man (C-Man), Monday, 7 June 2004 13:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Won't someone please remove the Black Eyed Peas from music? Keep their dancing and occasional fashion item.

― Crickets Dance On Tequila Booty (Barima), Monday, 7 June 2004 21:00 (twenty-two years ago)

How are Muse doing in the US? I would have thought they'd do well with the Tool/Incubus brainy metal crowd.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Monday, 7 June 2004 21:43 (twenty-two years ago)

You'd think that.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 14:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Aren't Muse the biggest band in Russia at the moment?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 14:55 (twenty-two years ago)

The US has enough of its own crappy bands -- though the UK's offer to send some of their own is appreciated, at this time we have to graciously refuse the offer. Thanks!

― jack cole (jackcole), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 15:03 (twenty-two years ago)

i dont think muse has been benefiting well from the media onslaught they've unleashed here.. at least in la. i think they play them sometimes on indie 103, but thats about it. havent met anyone who said 'HEY, HOUBOUTTHATMUSE?'

i think being mediocre has something to do with it...

and w/r/t scissor sisters: didnt you see the nme today? THERE WAS MAYHEM LAST NIGHT. MAYHEM.

― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 16:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Keane. To me (US) that record sounds just like coldplay sounds like travis.

― 57 7th (calstars), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 16:41 (twenty-two years ago)

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