In the mid-60s WLS in Chicago (with practically a nationwide signal) had a Sunday night show where they played the top hits in England that week. IIRC a deejay from there (Radio Caroline?) was involved, but I could be hallucinating. I remember being struck by the number of songs that were big there but not here. Keep on Running by the Spencer Davis Group comes to mind. I went out of my way to special-order that one. Took weeks for my local record store to get it. And so much Cliff Richard! And how could one forget Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick, & Tich? I certainly haven't.....
The Americans were much better at exporting music around the world. The Brits have some big examples but their charts feel much more local imo. I’ve heard a ton of songs but never one by Cliff Richard lol
He did have one hit in America, in the late 1970s; I can remember it being on AM radio, along with such luminaries as the Little River Band (Aussie) and "England Dan and John Ford Coley" (which give Dave Dee + his bunch a run for their money in band naming malpractice).
In the ‘70s and early ‘80s, my brother and I used to xerox (word used deliberately) the Hot 100 at our library so we could get ahead of AT40 and Casey Kasem when it aired in our market. While doing so, I noticed Showaddywaddy at the top of the Billboard UK charts. I asked a British friend of mine who they were and he just rolled his eyes.
Similarly, I ran across Slade and Mud in Joseph Murrells’ “Book of Golden Discs” and had no idea what they sounded like until college because it’s not like you could easily get their records in the US. Same for the Move, though they had the ELO/Jeff Lynne connection.
Very interesting! Robbie Williams had one pop hit in the US in the late 90's with "Millennium". Not sure how high it charted but I recall it being played on the radio a lot around that time.
He was part of a 90's British boy band that had one minor hit in the US.
Really interesting piece, but I don’t think it’s correct to say The Clash never crossed over to the US — they just didn’t break the Top 10 here until the early 80s, by which time they were old news in the UK.
Totally. Because I boxed it by decade, we see this a few times. Like Kiss had no hits in the UK until the 1980s, so they show up on the 1970s list for American Hitmakers with no presence in the UK. Might have made more sense to look across decade
This is fascinating. I forgot all about "Zabadak!" I picked up a huge lot of 45s a while back and was pretty mind blown when I came across that one and gave it a spin. Never heard of the band before that and forgot all about them since, that record is in my stacks here somewhere though. Thanks for the memories! (I'm 28 so definitely wasn't around when that came out lol. Memories with it nonetheless though!)
Very cool analysis. Growing up in Canada I felt we had a bit of a hybrid between the US and UK music charts, some colonial influence sneaking in there... Maybe similar story in Australia? And of course in Canada we had "CanCon", Canadian content requirements for radio airplay that probably boosted some artists that were not as successful outside of Canada. But not all! I was chuffed to see Canada's Corey Hart on the list of US artists that didn't cross over to the UK.
They definitely do and when I go back to Canada I feel (but can’t quantify) that I hear them more often than I would in the US. A lot of Carly Rae Jepsen too and wait why are they playing Steal My Sunshine again…it’s like 25 years old!!
Also on the theme of the article I’d bet the Tragically Hip would emerge as one of the top Canadian bands that never really made it in the US (or the UK…)
Totally! Does Canada have a dedicated national chart? I only know The Tragically Hip because I came across them in a piece I wrote a few years ago. I liked what I heard then never returned. https://www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/p/only-the-dead-will-remembe
Ha, that's amazing that Sirius has (had?) a dedicated Hip station, I wonder if it's just because they have the same lineup in the US and Canada? They became something of a national institution which seemed to be cemented (or confirmed I guess) by an outpouring of support when their lead singer (Gord Downie) fought a pretty public battle with cancer and died in 2017. My favorite song by them is New Orleans is Sinking from '89...
As for a Canadian national chart Wiki has a page about that which looks like a data cleaning nightmare... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_music_charts - It mentions CHUM FM which was my local station (not surprisingly since around 20% of Canada's population lives in CHUM's broadcast area).
Have you ever done a piece about countries which punch the most above their weight in global musical influence? (I know it's not Canada...)
No but I would like to. It’s a common question but I don’t have the necessary data. I guess the answer is probably South Korea or Sweden. But Latin America has been throwing some big punches over the last decade.
I'll admit I want it to be tiny Jamaica but its influence has waned a lot since the 70s and 80s and is more vibey (i.e. influence of ska, reggae, dub and dancehall styles on US and UK artists rather than Jamaican artists actually hitting the charts)
I sometimes feel like Americans need a little weekly reminder that the rest of the world exists—so thank you for doing your part!
Honestly, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich deserve more recognition in the U.S., especially since their song was featured in Tarantino’s Death Proof.
And when it comes to understanding British culture, TV really plays a huge role. I know of Cliff because I love Rik Mayall. Without having seen any of the classic shows, it’s almost impossible to get a real sense of the Brits.
I'm a 60-year-old American who's lived in Europe for 20 years, and am continually amazed that I made it through the entire first half of my life having never heard anything from, or even about about, Slade and Status Quo. I’ve subsequently listened to them with an open mind, but remain genuinely mystified how they became successful at all.
As for American songs popular over here, sometimes it's such a random B-side grab bag that I developed a theory that juke box technicians must've routinely loaded hit 45s upside down.
This is highly unscientific, but as I eyeballed your charts, I thought of a few tunes from the artists on the list, and started thinking that American pop might be more generally blues-influenced, whereas British pop may have been more dance hall/skiffle/ska-influenced (with a lot more more horns). It’s probably no accident that the monster British acts in the US were bluesey (Led Zeppelin et al).
As a South African, the idea that now one in the USA know who Robbie Williams is, absolute wild to me. What’s even wilder, is seeing both tables of artists that didn’t crossover, and realising we get to see both sides, haha.
That’s interesting. I mean some artists, like Iron Maiden, aren’t unpopular here. They just didn’t have true pop hits. But, yeah, I am pretty in touch with popular music, and I had truly never heard of Robbie Williams until the biopic came out.
Only reason I know of Robbie Williams is that I’m a longtime reader of Mojo/Uncut, where he gets the occasional mention. If I’ve heard one of his songs however, I don’t recall it. Not dissing him either, lol.
The funny this is if you are a Millennial you very likely have heard him in the end credits of a film or two, but probably not singing his own songs. He sings ‘Beyond The Sea’ in the end credits of Finding Nemo, Have You Met Miss Jones in Bridget Jones’ Diary, We Will Rock You (with Queen) on A Knight’s Tale, Collision of Worlds on Cars 2, the ‘Johnny English’ theme tune, and there’s even an obscure cover he did in the background of a Friends Episode.
I bet if you re-did this analysis including European chart data you’d find the split is not just US/UK but US/Europe for many artists. But that would be a hellacious amount of data gathering.
Blur’s Song 2 becoming a US jock jam is wild given their extremely provincially English sound in most of the 90s. Unpopular opinion “The Universal” and “This is a Low” are better anthems than anything Oasis ever produced.
In the mid-60s WLS in Chicago (with practically a nationwide signal) had a Sunday night show where they played the top hits in England that week. IIRC a deejay from there (Radio Caroline?) was involved, but I could be hallucinating. I remember being struck by the number of songs that were big there but not here. Keep on Running by the Spencer Davis Group comes to mind. I went out of my way to special-order that one. Took weeks for my local record store to get it. And so much Cliff Richard! And how could one forget Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick, & Tich? I certainly haven't.....
If I’m being honest I’ve never heard one cliff richard song
Yes you have. He had a US hit with 'Devil Woman'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-i2yQ4kAOM&list=RD5-i2yQ4kAOM&start_radio=1
This is backing up my feeling because I've never heard this lol
Ah, but NOW you have! :)
Also his best song. Begging for a modern day cover.
Using this as an excuse with my UK friends for why I’m bad at the music round at our, mostly Aussie/British, pub quiz
The Americans were much better at exporting music around the world. The Brits have some big examples but their charts feel much more local imo. I’ve heard a ton of songs but never one by Cliff Richard lol
Exporting to America, not the world. A lot of the UK acts were also big in Europe, and Australia, and even South America
He did have one hit in America, in the late 1970s; I can remember it being on AM radio, along with such luminaries as the Little River Band (Aussie) and "England Dan and John Ford Coley" (which give Dave Dee + his bunch a run for their money in band naming malpractice).
Got it. It was "(It's So Funny How) We Don't Talk Anymore". 1979.
In the ‘70s and early ‘80s, my brother and I used to xerox (word used deliberately) the Hot 100 at our library so we could get ahead of AT40 and Casey Kasem when it aired in our market. While doing so, I noticed Showaddywaddy at the top of the Billboard UK charts. I asked a British friend of mine who they were and he just rolled his eyes.
Similarly, I ran across Slade and Mud in Joseph Murrells’ “Book of Golden Discs” and had no idea what they sounded like until college because it’s not like you could easily get their records in the US. Same for the Move, though they had the ELO/Jeff Lynne connection.
Fascinating stuff!
Very interesting! Robbie Williams had one pop hit in the US in the late 90's with "Millennium". Not sure how high it charted but I recall it being played on the radio a lot around that time.
He was part of a 90's British boy band that had one minor hit in the US.
He had two hit land on the top 100. But I don’t think anything got past like 58
Really interesting piece, but I don’t think it’s correct to say The Clash never crossed over to the US — they just didn’t break the Top 10 here until the early 80s, by which time they were old news in the UK.
Totally. Because I boxed it by decade, we see this a few times. Like Kiss had no hits in the UK until the 1980s, so they show up on the 1970s list for American Hitmakers with no presence in the UK. Might have made more sense to look across decade
As an interesting side one of the police officers who attended the car crash which killed Eddie Cochran was the one and only "Dave Dee".
What???
This is fascinating. I forgot all about "Zabadak!" I picked up a huge lot of 45s a while back and was pretty mind blown when I came across that one and gave it a spin. Never heard of the band before that and forgot all about them since, that record is in my stacks here somewhere though. Thanks for the memories! (I'm 28 so definitely wasn't around when that came out lol. Memories with it nonetheless though!)
I’m 30 so I also have no “memories” of it lol
Very cool analysis. Growing up in Canada I felt we had a bit of a hybrid between the US and UK music charts, some colonial influence sneaking in there... Maybe similar story in Australia? And of course in Canada we had "CanCon", Canadian content requirements for radio airplay that probably boosted some artists that were not as successful outside of Canada. But not all! I was chuffed to see Canada's Corey Hart on the list of US artists that didn't cross over to the UK.
The CanCon rules are fascinating. I think France has similar rules. Do Drake, Justin Bieber, and The Weeknd count as Canadian for airplay rules?
They definitely do and when I go back to Canada I feel (but can’t quantify) that I hear them more often than I would in the US. A lot of Carly Rae Jepsen too and wait why are they playing Steal My Sunshine again…it’s like 25 years old!!
Also on the theme of the article I’d bet the Tragically Hip would emerge as one of the top Canadian bands that never really made it in the US (or the UK…)
Totally! Does Canada have a dedicated national chart? I only know The Tragically Hip because I came across them in a piece I wrote a few years ago. I liked what I heard then never returned. https://www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/p/only-the-dead-will-remembe
Link got cut off: https://www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/p/only-the-dead-will-remember
Ha, that's amazing that Sirius has (had?) a dedicated Hip station, I wonder if it's just because they have the same lineup in the US and Canada? They became something of a national institution which seemed to be cemented (or confirmed I guess) by an outpouring of support when their lead singer (Gord Downie) fought a pretty public battle with cancer and died in 2017. My favorite song by them is New Orleans is Sinking from '89...
As for a Canadian national chart Wiki has a page about that which looks like a data cleaning nightmare... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_music_charts - It mentions CHUM FM which was my local station (not surprisingly since around 20% of Canada's population lives in CHUM's broadcast area).
Have you ever done a piece about countries which punch the most above their weight in global musical influence? (I know it's not Canada...)
No but I would like to. It’s a common question but I don’t have the necessary data. I guess the answer is probably South Korea or Sweden. But Latin America has been throwing some big punches over the last decade.
I'll admit I want it to be tiny Jamaica but its influence has waned a lot since the 70s and 80s and is more vibey (i.e. influence of ska, reggae, dub and dancehall styles on US and UK artists rather than Jamaican artists actually hitting the charts)
Another great analysis. Looking forward to reading your book!
Thank you!
I sometimes feel like Americans need a little weekly reminder that the rest of the world exists—so thank you for doing your part!
Honestly, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich deserve more recognition in the U.S., especially since their song was featured in Tarantino’s Death Proof.
And when it comes to understanding British culture, TV really plays a huge role. I know of Cliff because I love Rik Mayall. Without having seen any of the classic shows, it’s almost impossible to get a real sense of the Brits.
Yes, Top Of The Pops on TV was THE driver of chart success for decades.
No-one does TV like the UK.
I'm a 60-year-old American who's lived in Europe for 20 years, and am continually amazed that I made it through the entire first half of my life having never heard anything from, or even about about, Slade and Status Quo. I’ve subsequently listened to them with an open mind, but remain genuinely mystified how they became successful at all.
As for American songs popular over here, sometimes it's such a random B-side grab bag that I developed a theory that juke box technicians must've routinely loaded hit 45s upside down.
This is highly unscientific, but as I eyeballed your charts, I thought of a few tunes from the artists on the list, and started thinking that American pop might be more generally blues-influenced, whereas British pop may have been more dance hall/skiffle/ska-influenced (with a lot more more horns). It’s probably no accident that the monster British acts in the US were bluesey (Led Zeppelin et al).
As a South African, the idea that now one in the USA know who Robbie Williams is, absolute wild to me. What’s even wilder, is seeing both tables of artists that didn’t crossover, and realising we get to see both sides, haha.
That’s interesting. I mean some artists, like Iron Maiden, aren’t unpopular here. They just didn’t have true pop hits. But, yeah, I am pretty in touch with popular music, and I had truly never heard of Robbie Williams until the biopic came out.
Buy you’re 30, right? You ‘d have been under 10 years old when Robbie was having his Imperial Period in Europe, in the late-90s and early 2000s.
Only reason I know of Robbie Williams is that I’m a longtime reader of Mojo/Uncut, where he gets the occasional mention. If I’ve heard one of his songs however, I don’t recall it. Not dissing him either, lol.
The funny this is if you are a Millennial you very likely have heard him in the end credits of a film or two, but probably not singing his own songs. He sings ‘Beyond The Sea’ in the end credits of Finding Nemo, Have You Met Miss Jones in Bridget Jones’ Diary, We Will Rock You (with Queen) on A Knight’s Tale, Collision of Worlds on Cars 2, the ‘Johnny English’ theme tune, and there’s even an obscure cover he did in the background of a Friends Episode.
Comparing the US and U.K. albums chart would also be interesting.
I bet if you re-did this analysis including European chart data you’d find the split is not just US/UK but US/Europe for many artists. But that would be a hellacious amount of data gathering.
Fascinating stuff, thanks! A bit hard on Dave Dee et. al. I'd call out The Floaters as a worse name :-)
And for DDDBMAT I'd have picked their Mariachi classic "The Legend of Xanadu" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsExj_0IHEs
What about Frigid Pink? That's my candidate.
Blur’s Song 2 becoming a US jock jam is wild given their extremely provincially English sound in most of the 90s. Unpopular opinion “The Universal” and “This is a Low” are better anthems than anything Oasis ever produced.