Main > Everything Else

Why Are Some Bands Just Not Marketable In The USA?

<< < (6/8) > >>

RayB:

--- Quote from: Xiaou2 on March 24, 2010, 11:54:24 pm --- The stuff today on radio has always been is made to a "Generic" Formula that most people will find acceptable.  This is why almost all the new music sounds exactly the same...
cause they use the same techniques for producing it.  Same samples,
--- End quote ---
Fixed that for you. Because if you think it wasn't like this in the 90's, 80's, 70's, etc, then you are just viewing music history through rose colored glasses.

Moose13:
Thanks guys, I grabbed a couple of albums for these guys, couln't ind any Vendome yet....
The train ride will be a more enjoyable experiee tomorrow! :applaud:

HanoiBoi:
Not marketable in the USA, could just mean not marketed correctly?  If you dig a band, and they're accessible to you, enjoy the obscurity and keep listening.

I've always loved a mix of music and a lot of the bands I listen to aren't always on the top of the rock heap, or alternative heap, etc.

I was a metal head back in the day.  I was into stuff that was mainstream, like Crue, Priest, Maiden, Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Poison, Cinderella, GnR, Skid Row, etc.  But there were other bands that you could argue never really got marketed well; Armored Saint, Black N Blue, Badlands, Queensryche, TNT, MainEEAxe, 220 Volt, etc.  Marillion was a fantastic prog rock band that never broke the US, but they were (and are) on heavy rotation in my house.

With the risk of going further away from the OP, I'll stop here with a few recent bands that I'd suggest checking out.  Maybe you'll find something you like...

Gogol Bordello (Gypsy Punk...very catchy, very fun!  For you Philly boys, they're playing May 1st at the Electric Factory.  I'll be there)
Lars Frederiksen & The ---daisies--- (punk - they've got 2 albums and both are fantastic beginning to end)
Atomship (3 piece rock band with big, crisp sound - check out 'Pencil Fight' and 'Mothra')
Yo-Yo's (rock)
Backyard Babies (rock)
American Pearl (rock)
Prozzak (alt, pop)
Teddybears (alt, pop, rock)
Foxboro Hot Tubs (pop, rock - Green Day side project)

Fordman:

--- Quote from: HanoiBoi on March 25, 2010, 10:22:49 pm ---I was a metal head back in the day.  I was into stuff that was mainstream, like Crue, Priest, Maiden, Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Poison, Cinderella, GnR, Skid Row, etc.  But there were other bands that you could argue never really got marketed well; Armored Saint, Black N Blue, Badlands, Queensryche, TNT, MainEEAxe, 220 Volt, etc.  Marillion was a fantastic prog rock band that never broke the US, but they were (and are) on heavy rotation in my house.

--- End quote ---

Queensryche was HUGE in the US 1990-1993 Operation LIVE Crime was the tour to see! Funny you mention Black N Blue as their guitarist, James Thayer is currently playing with KISS as the Space Ace character. All the others you mentioned were on the Metal Blade, ATCO or Original Roadrunner (Roadracer) labels and thats why they never was marketed well.

Yes, Im an old metal head myself!

Fordman

HanoiBoi:

--- Quote from: Fordman on March 26, 2010, 04:10:05 am ---
--- Quote from: HanoiBoi on March 25, 2010, 10:22:49 pm ---I was a metal head back in the day.  I was into stuff that was mainstream, like Crue, Priest, Maiden, Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Poison, Cinderella, GnR, Skid Row, etc.  But there were other bands that you could argue never really got marketed well; Armored Saint, Black N Blue, Badlands, Queensryche, TNT, MainEEAxe, 220 Volt, etc.  Marillion was a fantastic prog rock band that never broke the US, but they were (and are) on heavy rotation in my house.

--- End quote ---

Queensryche was HUGE in the US 1990-1993 Operation LIVE Crime was the tour to see! Funny you mention Black N Blue as their guitarist, James Thayer is currently playing with KISS as the Space Ace character. All the others you mentioned were on the Metal Blade, ATCO or Original Roadrunner (Roadracer) labels and thats why they never was marketed well.

Yes, Im an old metal head myself!

Fordman

--- End quote ---

I think it's Tommy Thayer, unless that was just his stage name, but yeah, I remember he got with Kiss.  Didn't he do some producing too?  I never followed the labels, but did recently watch that Roadrunner reunion concert.  Good stuff.

For Queensryche to be big in 90-93, it took a few years and a few excellent albums; EP, The Warning, Rage For Order.  I remember seeing them open for Kiss and another time for Def Leppard.  After Mindcrime, they really dropped.

I also remember the first time I saw the video for "Queen Of The Reich".  It was the same day I saw "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".  We didn't have cable at the time and I was at my Nana's.  I thought they were awesome!  And, that was well before 90-93'.

On the marketing end, just a few weeks ago, when lokking for jukebox software and loading album art and such, after adding art for my entire music collection, I actually thought to myself (and sent an email to a friend!) that Queesnsryche has the worst album covers - aside from the Warning.  There's nothing about them that makes me want to see what's inside.  That's marketing for ya.

An argument could be made for any of these bands as far as how well marketed they were.  If Twisted Sister never recorded "We're Not Gonna Take It" along with a funny video, they would've continued to be the butt of every issue of Creem magazine, and I never would have found their earlier, rocking stuff.

You might know this....but there was a local band in the Philadelphia area called Teeze.  They had some killer tunes; Party Hardy, Hellraiser, Midnight Madness, etc.. Then, they got a record deal.  My understanding is that the name was already being used by some R&B girl group, or something like that.  So, they changed their name to Roughhouse.  I didn't mind that so much, but then the record label made them change and re-record some of their songs for their debut LP.  The changes sucked...and they flopped.  That's marketing for you.

Wrathchild's album Stakk Attakk was on HEAVY rotation for one summer.  Beginning to end, fun, fun stuff.  Still, never made it in the US.  Sadly, I never even got a chance to see them.

Another band I dug, not metal by any means, was Sigue Sigue Sputnik.  But, they never seemed to get any further than the Ferris Bueller Soundtrack.

How about Asphalt Ballet?  Another poorly marketed, talented band.

Oh!  A newer band that you should check out is Billy Talent.  The name can be misleading, but they've got good stuff.  It's a bit punky, I guess (think Warped Tour), but it's some great stuff.

I also hope that you haven't dismissed Marilyn Manson due to his imagery.  I tell my buddies, who are still locked into 80's rock, that Manson's music is the natural progression to all the old stuff we loved.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

Go to full version