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

Looking at the wikipedia page, it looks like the record company tried everything they could launch them, but not one top 40 hit. Support slots for U2, Simply Red & Tina Turner, appearances on the Wogan TV show etc...

iirc 'Candybar Express' mentions both sugar and candy in the chorus.

James Grant couldn't sing and wasn't very good looking - no competition for Sharleen Spiteri basically

So, what positions did those moderately successful albums get to?

Their first album didn't chart. I'd be surprised if any of the others reached higher than the arse end of the top 40. 'Dogs in the Traffic' was 30th in the Scotsman's top 100 Scottish albums thing that I think we discussed on ILM at one point.

Did Jonathan Fire*Eater srsly have seven figures chucked at them?? That seems like next level madness if that's true. In the UK they were exactly as big as you'd expect ie a cult band who had a good rep among indie kids and got played on the Evening Session (think Lamacq released their records in fact?)

Did Jonathan Fire*Eater srsly have seven figures chucked at them??

That was the story:

In early 1997, Jonathan Fire*Eater signed with David Geffens nascent Dreamworks music label. It was a million dollar contract with unusual clauses including full creative control for the band and a generous dental plan for their nearly toothless manager Walter Durkacz.

The front man had a big drug habit and the band collapsed, but (most of) the rest of the band put the money into their own studio (and re-formed as The Walkmen).

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/101581.jpg

^ remember seeing these cocknozzles all over Smash Hits when I was a kid. Never heard a note though.

Whozat?

The mighty Drum Theatre

It was a good era for preening buffoons in post-'Wild Boys' pyjamas

Detective

were Das Psych-Oh Rangers hyped?

2x Hayzee Fantayzee + self-promotional linkidge

Managed a couple of hits though, and Jeremy Healy has been pretty successful since.

Yeah, two big hits in the UK, which is twice as many as Toto Coelo ever had.

The Gufs

Tin Machine?

Oy Vey, Baby still boggles the mind.

Radish! Another group what got tons of money thrown at them by Mercury. Think Ben Kweller saved a little bit of it, maybe and has ended up making a few records that for some reason sound nothing like Radish.

Oh, ellaguru! I've been trying to think of them ever since I remembered Symposium being on the NME 'bratbus' tour (lol). I bought the Radish album...I...I dunno...

wait, did anyone mention Vanessa Hudgens?

Yeah, I guess Disney is guilty of spending money on people whose talents they later shifted - Lohan? Panetierre, Duff etc.

hey onimo you remember Slide and The River Detectives?

shitloads of these shitbands got hyped by billy sloan/daily record/sunday mail. Each one shitter than the last.
Love & Money were by far the worst.

The mighty Drum Theatre

Was about to mention them. "Eldorado" was actually a great pop song. But surely no hit. Not that one either.

I saw Slide a couple of times supporting people at the Barrowlands, can't remember what they sounded like.

hey onimo you remember Slide and The River Detectives?

shit yes :(

I think I saw the Silencers once, supporting The Alarm maybe.

billy sloan really had a malign influence on scottish music

haha Why isn't There A Thread For Scotlands Top Music Journalist ..... BILLY SLOAN?

lots of youtubing from this thread the last couple days and it's apparent why the vast majority of these bands failed spectacularly...

Nancy Boy.

Dan Reed Network

In terms of post-Nirvana major label cash hemmorhaging, Jonathan Fire*Eater probably had the most high-profile trajectory of "a MILLION dollar contract --> total flop album --> drugs --> cautionary tale --> obscure footnote." It's a really great album, though.

You forgot the absolute nadir of the trajectory:

Million dollar contract --> total flop album --> drugs --> cautionary tale --> obscure footnote --> The Walkmen.

that Bingo by Catch is incredible, it's like the Motherbanger of Britpop

Oh ILY ilxor. Madly.

Oh man, there was this band called Zeno who apparently had a "million pound deal" (whatever that actually means) with EMI around 1986. They made it to the front cover of Kerrang, the album flopped and everyone had forgotten about them 2 weeks later. The main guy was Uli Jon Roth's brother btw, didn't help much though. Here's what they sounded like :

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

Would Pink Lady qualify for this thread?

was that Jonathan Fire Eater album ever any good?

I thought so. Better than the Walkmen, which might be damning them with faint praise.

In fairness, though, 99% of bands are better than the Walkmen...

O-Town

Atanas

(this will make sense only to the Detroiters out there)

I'm surprised no one mentioned Terence Trent D'Arby. He was mega successful during his first album run, then went bat shit crazy afterwards. Even changed his name to something horrible.

i thought of mentioning him, but then i thought maybe his was more a case of self-hyping? also iirc i think there is big ilx love for him, and given the way ppl reacted when i tried to suggest los lobos, listing terence might have resulted in death threats

Saigon
The Replacements (Don't Tell a Soul era--Remember the "Last Best Band of the 80s" ads?)

Would Pink Lady qualify for this thread?

I'm not really comfortable listing them given how popular they were in their native Japan.

xxxxpost to pfunkboy,

Did Kix have a long lasting successful career?

First there was a late period rock radio, pre-MTV domination moment where "Body Talk" got some airplay. Then I worked with a guy who was ex-army and possibly east coast origin that unironically loved Kix. By that I mean in his Mustang, he had multiple Kix tapes. A few years later, they had one of their biggest hits,and, unrelated I started reading a prominent writer upping their stuff.

I don't know. It was cool to read about someone hyping a band I liked but barely knew, and that band had big fans, and the big moment was really good.

(barely related) - When Johnny Cougar acts like a tired old man, I want to tell him "Shit dude, you are rich. We bought your records and those suits ripped you off. You are better off than Kix, but Kix rocked too. They got paid and still exist in some form. Just like the Johnny Cougar band. Why are you dragging me."

So Kix, were small time famous, and got full label push once or twice, but they earned it with fan base, and people that like them after the fact, just kind of get off on rockin out etc.

very similar to Kula Shaker.

Cherie

And here's more on Carly Hennessy

Ryan Adams?

he didn't "fail spectacularly" but he was heavily hyped as the hope of cornball mainstream rock - call him the Lone Justice of the early 2000s

I'm surprised no one mentioned Terence Trent D'Arby. He was mega successful during his first album run,

.. and you have just answered yr own surprise, as TTD didn't ..

.. oh I suppose he did 'fail' megaspectacularly, but then he did succeed megaspec as well...