Artists/bands that were once quite popular, yet nowadays are mostly ignored in canonical history books

I always wondered if Nana had a track or two in an Aphrodite's Child or Xenakis vein, research isn't turning up anything other than tourist ballads though

Nah, that would be Irene Pappas.

Imagine Nana doing that Aphrodite's Child "Infinity" track

Good one here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHDru5mxlzg

Another one of those: Julio Iglesias.

thanks josefa, kind of a skiffle thing going on in that song

Three ways Chicago left their footprint on the 1990s:

• “Saturday In The Park” was sampled in the De La Soul’s “Roller Skating Jam Named “Saturdays”” (I could swear the intro was sampled in some other well known track, but WhoSampled says no)

• Their 1979 track “Street Player” was transformed into the 1995 house classic “The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall into My Mind)” by the Bucketheads.

• The Babyface-produced Az Yet cover of “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” was a big international hit in 1997.

In conclusion: middlebrow is no way into the history books.

• Their 1979 track “Street Player” was transformed into the 1995 house classic “The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall into My Mind)” by the Bucketheads.

this is a tune

roger whittaker.

Kinda like Roger Whittaker too tbh.

Does Liberace get much historical coverage?

there is no excuse, in this day and age, to design a cover that is so catastrophically bad

― It is my great honor to post on this messageboard! (Karl Malone)

there's plenty of excuse - you're an untalented hack and you know the right people. isn't that how most things get done in 2019?

man that Brotherhood of Man "Angelo" clip is a real abomination

My favourite bit is where they cheerfully sing about a double suicide, just a year before Jonestown

There was a parody track by unfunny 70s Brit comedy troupe The Barron Knights called "Ann & Joe", can't bear tracking it down to link it though. I haven't read any canonical history books but would guess that the Knights aren't mentioned in any of them.

I'm sure they're a footnote..

I'm only familiar with Nana Mouskouri from this duet she did with Michel Legrand that gets me every time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuKR-MR-g-4

The above mention of The Beautiful South made me think of Erasure. Both bands had a run of hit singles followed by a popular compilation album that had all the singles, then they both seemed to deflate and vanish. I learn from the internet that Beautiful South's Blue is the Colour and Quench both came out after Carry on Up the Charts, and Erasure's I Say, I Say, I Etc came out after Pop: The First 20 Hits, so my recollection isn't quite 100%, but the two bands went fairly abruptly from being major chart acts to has-beens.

I'm surprised to learn that Erasure has been putting out an album every few years from 1995, but I can't name any of them. The most recent album debuted at number 6 and then fell out of the charts the next week. That's the Gary Numan fan-buying model, whereby the fans buy it in the first week and no-one buys it in the second week.

My hunch is that Erasure is just a footnote nowadays because there's a perception they were an inferior imitation of the Pet Shop Boys, and The Beautiful South tend to be overlooked because they feel like a Paul Heaton side project, essentially an extension of The Housemartins with other people, so it's hard to think of them as a distinct entity. Black Grape had the same problem. They were huge for one summer but they're generally written off as a footnote to the Happy Mondays. Who are themselves often written about in passing whenever The Guardian runs a feature on Factory Records, but apart from "Step On" none of their music is ever played on the radio.

One thing linking all these bands is that they didn't much of a commercial impact in the United States. The Beautiful South had two top twenty singles in the Billboard Modern Rock chart and nothing else. The internet is written in the United States. It's written by them, not us. The kids on Reddit, the Youtube commentators, the tastemakers, they're all American. They roll the nickels, they are lords of the game. It will be their future.

I think the millstone that was Love Is All Around has unconsciously dented Wet Wet Wet’s long term appeal beyond the many who followed them in the late 80s/90s....it’s one of the last things non fans remember from them and yet it was no 1 in the UK for weeks

(xp) People never thought Erasure were an inferior imitation of the Pet Shop Boys because they're nothing like the Pet Shop Boys - and let's not forget Vince Clarke is one of the main inventors of the whole synth pop genre. Also the Housemartins are a footnote to the Beautiful South not the other way round. The Housemartins are far more ignored than the Beautiful South, this in spite of having a drummer who turned out to be an axe-wielding homicidal maniac.

I learn from the internet that Beautiful South's Blue is the Colour and Quench both came out after Carry on Up the Charts, and Erasure's I Say, I Say, I Etc came out after Pop: The First 20 Hits, so my recollection isn't quite 100%,

The Beautiful South became much more successful on the charts, in raw sales, and as a touring act after Carry On Up The Charts. It having sold a copy to vastly more people than had ever bought any Heaton record before, a notable proportion of those now considered themselves part of the band's audience, rather than just recognising a song or two on the adverts.

but the (band) went fairly abruptly from being major chart acts to has-beens.

They went from top twenty to #1 and #2 placings. Their fortunes started to decline seven years later; their first single had only come out five years before Carry On.

in spite of having a drummer who turned out to be an axe-wielding homicidal maniac.

His later activity certainly adds a delightful frisson to the early videos after he left the band, in which he repeatedly stalks and attempts to kidnap his replacement.

"Blue Is The Colour" and "Quench" were the Beautiful South's biggest selling albums!

How's Billy Idol's stock these days?

The Lemonheads went from being talk of the town to whisper of the village

xp His 2014 album was well-received, and earned him his highest-ever Billboard 200 debut (#34). He also actively tours.

Evan Dando showed up in a Rick James story on Disgraceland where they were both stuck in a studio during the LARiots and went up on the roof to fire machine guns into the air

Disgraceland is in Liverpool though

Rick James Style is on Come On Feel The Lemonheads, right at the peak of their talk of the town days

Chicago’s “I’m A Man” is fucking awesome

Billy Idol is well-liked among women over 35 ime.

The Lemonheads were never that big of a mainstream phenomenon (although there was a lot of talk): they had two albums that went gold after a few years and no real chart activity outside the modern rock chart. Idk what kind of historical record one would expect. They probably get mentioned in histories of alt/indie rock of the time? (I still like "Into Your Arms" fwiw!)

XP Also, when the weather gets cooler, Facebook is flooded w/a meme baring his image.

The kids on Reddit, the Youtube commentators, the tastemakers, they're all American. They roll the nickels, they are lords of the game. It will be their future.

― Ashley Pomeroy

The Lemonheads also had a freakishly high number of covers among their best known tracks. At the risk of getting all Geir-ish, that might not be the best way of cementing a Serious Rock Music Legacy.

I think that was part of the Fat Boys' problem too.

The Lemonheads also had a freakishly high number of covers among their best known tracks. At the risk of getting all Geir-ish, that might not be the best way of cementing a Serious Rock Music Legacy.

hey that's not fai--

(I still like "Into Your Arms" fwiw!)

re Wet Wet Wet/Love Is All Around:

it’s one of the last things non fans remember from them and yet it was no 1 in the UK for weeks

??? it's the first thing I remember, it's what I think of when I see the name, and off the top of my head I can't remember anything else by them (I'd probably remember other songs if I saw the titles)

Yeah, the same, I don't think I've ever heard anything else by them besides "Love Is All Around".

"Angel Eyes" of course !

You lucky people

xp after I posted that I did actually think they had a song called Angel Eyes, but I can't remember how it goes

Wishing I Was Lucky u savages.

^ still like that one tbh

sweet little mystery was their other big tune, that was bloody awful though

They had another #1 in the 90s with 'Goodnight Girl' which was about as bad as LIAA.

xp sorry wasn’t clear, I meant “last” in the sense that LIAA came towards the end of their run of hits; obviously it’s one of first things anyone asked will remember from them

There was a whole run of these "soul music for white suburban Brits" bands - WWW, Simply Red, Lighthouse Family (yes I know they weren't all white but their audience was). Level 42 before that I suppose, and maybe Hot Chocolate in the 70s? All huge in their day.

the other big www song in the uk was 'with a little help from my friends', that charity single they did (originally for the nme sgt pepper lp)

I think it was the and yet it was no 1 in the UK for weeks that threw me off, thought it implied that people ought to remember that one in particular yet didn't