Countdown 100: Bands that got megahyped that failed spectacularly...

transvision vamp were huge in australia

(and also kinda underrated these days - the first album belongs alongside the primitives and darling buds as great buzzsaw pop records)

I somehow have two Transvision Vamp albums but remember nothing of them now other than the singles.

i remember wendy james

first album was successful enough generally, wasn't it? then they fell off so hard that the third album was ONLY released in Australia, where it also flopped

haha Nymphs fucked up when Inger Lorre took a piss on the desk of the MD of their record label.

These days the only way they could fuck up by doing that is by not shooting video of it and then posting it on YouTube!

Bis? Iirc they hit their high point in terms of visibility before they released anything (their TOTP performance).

Also, while we're repping failed "next U2s of the 80s": In Tua Nua.

before they released anything (their TOTP performance).

not really true, they had 3 singles out by that point, including the secret vampire soundtrack 45 which is what they were on TOTP in support of

oh man i missed the end of the countdown so i missed out on adding:

Big Pig
Saigon Kick
Enuff Z'nuff

Transvision Vamp - These guys were gonna be huge. So far as I can remember the album flopped bigtime.

They did have a number of hits. Plus they are also one of the most important influences on more recent teenybopper punkpop.

re Bis: and a split on a Spanish label iirc?

quite a few of the recent examples saw dece success in non UK/US markets tho. bis were colossal in japan for a while, big pig had a top 5 album and a handful of hit singles in Aus (though the album probably didn't do much better than 100k overall)

the acuarela one wasn't a split but they did a split on guided missile (or was it slampt) too i think

last bit xpost obv

whoops no, got confused: first single was on an actual spanish label, split (4-ways!) was on a UK label with a we no speak americano name

x-post too! split was on Ché

ah yes

"buy Intendo CD from CDNow"

solitary links that effortlessly sum up the late '90s

Rubber Rodeo

I'm always suprised US ppl even mention Big Pig - they were known of outide of Oz? What next, Boom Crash Opera, big in Hungaria?

God, I do remember Drum Theatre though, haha. I had "Eldorado" taped off the telly, thought it was awesomepants, then they disappered from sight.

But then again I was an Alarm fan so what would I know.

Transvision Vamp - These guys were gonna be huge. So far as I can remember the album flopped bigtime.

They did have a number of hits. Plus they are also one of the most important influences on more recent teenybopper punkpop.

Guessing this is a regional thing, what with Jim telling of their Australian success as well. Over here in North America I think they sputtered out almost immediately after a pretty big push.

Both Big Pig and Boom Crash Opera got some play in Canada...not tons, but they got a release and some attention. Also there seemed to be a very short-lived "hey look at this!" about Weddings Parties Anything.

their very last single (if looks could kill) has been recently resurrected for tv commercial music here too, i'm sure that's making a buck or two for mr sayer

xpost

wavves

I wish I grew up with those 60's/70's full page record release ads with lot's of text and witty (but often sexist) hyperbole.

like that "Wouldn't you like to "Rip her to shreds" " sort of thing?

Please stop talking about Big Pig

XP Mark, more like this
http://posterscene.com/images/items/full/jonifull.jpg

Although I doubt if what is written there is witty. My point being that it's something that isn't done anymore. I wonder if the record companies got straight-up ad agencies to do their work.

See, I sort of think it's a shame that there aren't any Music Newspapers anymore.

Back when, it was 'black and white' like it was The Times, or something.

Now, they're just magazines with thinner paper, just about.

(and also kinda underrated these days - the first album belongs alongside the primitives and darling buds as great buzzsaw pop records)

Transvision Vamp, Darling Buds, and the Primitives would be an amazing nostalgia tour. I would book them for my county fair in a heartbeat.

PAS/CAL, heard of 'em?

Guessing this is a regional thing, what with Jim telling of their Australian success as well. Over here in North America I think they sputtered out almost immediately after a pretty big push.

Regional as in making it big in the UK and then the rest of the Western World outside America following:

UK singles chart stats are as follows:

5 Transvision Vamp I Want Your Love Jun 1988
30 Transvision Vamp Revolution Baby Sep 1988
3 Transvision Vamp Baby I Don't Care Apr 1989
15 Transvision Vamp The Only One Jun 1989
14 Transvision Vamp Landslide Of Love Aug 1989
22 Transvision Vamp Born To Be Sold Nov 1989
30 Transvision Vamp (I Just Wanna) B With U Apr 1991

But I think there are a lot of examples of acts being hugely hyped in the US and still not making the US market, yes. Robbie Williams, for starters?

Soft Pack

THE RAPTURE

next U2s: might Diesel Park West count?

THE RAPTURE

Not quite, I think they received quite a bit of indie love.

For a bit, but what now.

I still wouldn't call it "failed spectacularly."

Grant Lee Buffalo

your right....agreed.

a possible current contender : Hurts

re chakk : honestly. no.

the band shot their load with the early 12" records (Out of the Flesh and They Say 12") which were great distorto-funk.
but, as an album of its time, i still play the odd track when in the mood.

― mark e, Thursday, 23 September 2010 16:11 (1 year ago)

just to contradict myself.

the final CHAKK 12" that they released themselves on FON post MCA chaos, 'Time Bomb' was fucking amazing.
just wanted to set the record straight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kBctZrz-5s

is grime a band

hahaa

voxtrot!!

― markers, Sunday, September 26, 2010 5:07 PM (seven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That EP is still eerily good for a band that never did anything else.

They’re like my favorite band that doesn’t really exist.

Guardian is still hyping up The Horrors and people stopped paying attention more than a decade ago.

Personally I hyped THE BOOKS so hard a decade ago and so did Pitchfork and several other indie zines but it never worked like it should have. Their 3 most famous albums where in so many top 10 EOY lists and yet it seems like most people forgot about them. They should be huge but they ended up disbanding and being a cult underground band to discover in 20 years when indie + folktronica goes through a reappreciation phase.

I’d argue Arcade Fire and Sigur Ros fall in this description. After Funeral and Agaetis Byrjun had everyone charmed in the early 00s, it seems like they’ve both experienced diminishing returns and they haven’t received the same loving consensus ever since.

Mum is another one which I remember was super hyped 15 years or so ago and I can’t remember the last one I read or heard anything about them.