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Subject: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
During the past few years I've managed to pick up some recordings from 60s UK Groups that in my opinion should have made an impact in the States during the Brit Invasion but are virtually unknown on this side of the pond. Here are a few:
Merseybeats
Ivy League
Rockin' Berries
Poets (Scotland)
Feel free to add on and/or comment!
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
I'm not sure if these groups made any impact in the USA, Johnyaa but they were big groups in the UK.
The Viscounts - Who put the Bomp (in the bomp bomp bomp)
Emile Ford and The Checkmates - What do ya wanna make those eyes at me for?
The Bachelors - Diane
Freddie and The Dreamers - I'm telling you now
Scaffold - Lilly the Pink
Bonzo Dog doo-dah band - I'm the urban spaceman
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
Quoting:
I'm not sure if these groups made any impact in the USA, Johnyaa but they were big groups in the UK.
The Viscounts - Who put the Bomp (in the bomp bomp bomp)
Emile Ford and The Checkmates - What do ya wanna make those eyes at me for?
The Bachelors - Diane
Freddie and The Dreamers - I'm telling you now
Scaffold - Lilly the Pink
Bonzo Dog doo-dah band - I'm the urban spaceman
End Quote
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Bobby,
Freddie & the Dreamers and the Bachelors certainly made a big impact in the States but "Who Put The Bomp" was a big hit in 1961 for Barry Mann. If you mention the Viscounts over here it would refer to the American instrumental band that had a hit with "Harlem Nocturne".
I have had the opportunity to listen to "Lily the Pink" and "I'm The Urban Spaceman" and they are enjoyable tunes; but either they didn''t get marketed here or American record-buyers weren't interested at the time.
Have a good day!
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
Bobby,
Freddie & the Dreamers and the Bachelors certainly made a big impact in the States but "Who Put The Bomp" was a big hit in 1961 for Barry Mann. If you mention the Viscounts over here it would refer to the American instrumental band that had a hit with "Harlem Nocturne".
I have had the opportunity to listen to "Lily the Pink" and "I'm The Urban Spaceman" and they are enjoyable tunes; but either they didn''t get marketed here or American record-buyers weren't interested at the time.
Have a good day!
End Quote
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Forgot to mention that the Emile & the Checkmates song is terrific. I was really taken with that one.
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
Quoting:
---------------------------------------
Bobby,
Freddie & the Dreamers and the Bachelors certainly made a big impact in the States but "Who Put The Bomp" was a big hit in 1961 for Barry Mann. If you mention the Viscounts over here it would refer to the American instrumental band that had a hit with "Harlem Nocturne".
I have had the opportunity to listen to "Lily the Pink" and "I'm The Urban Spaceman" and they are enjoyable tunes; but either they didn''t get marketed here or American record-buyers weren't interested at the time.
Have a good day!
End Quote
Hi Johnyaa!
Interesting fact about The Viscounts. I don't know whether it's the same group but they also did the song 'Shortnin' bread' (that could have been a cover as well) - I will look up 'Harlem Nocturne'.
Some songs are so decidely linked with one country that another may not fully understand it. Scaffold did a song called 'Liverpool Lou' and I couldn't imagine anybody out of the UK listening to it.
As for Emile Ford and The Checkmates, they did others including 'Counting Teardrops'. 'Them there eyes' is o.k but a little irritating.
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
Hi johnny...
...yes, some very good groups listed there - all of whom had a modicum of success here in the UK...it was, of course, no guarantee that any UK beat act would have conquered the US outright after the wake of The Beatles, but many should have had some deserved success - whether that was down to bad promotion I couldn't say...
A few others I could mention...
The Move (yes, I have mentioned them a few times before!) - a great Birmingham band with beat/psych leanings who later metamorphosed into ELO...
The Small Faces - had only one reasonably sized hit in the US ("Itchycoo Park"), but did fare better a few years later when they became known as the Faces - with Rod Stewart attached...
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich had an enviable run of beat/pop successes both here and on the continent - but they never sold in the US...
This concept of what was successful and what wasn't has, for a long time, always fascinated me...and it wasn't all one way traffic, of course...once again, with a long run of hits in their homeland, neither Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Johnny Rivers, Paul Revere & The Raiders, or The Association ever really meant much here - puzzling...
Good stuff, nonetheless...
All the best...
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
Hi Paul!
I've also been amazed at some of the artists who were big hits in one country or region but had no success elsewhere. There were several groups in different regions of the U.S. in the 50s & 60s who produced some great music but were unknown nationally. I guess you might attribute that to poor or no marketing, too much of a regional sound to catch on in other areas or perhaps the right palms didn't get greased with the old payola. The fact that Paul Revere & Gary Lewis had little notice on your end certainly points out that it was not confined to the States. (Though I might wonder if the name "Paul Revere" might have conjured up some negative vibes from British record-buyers! LOL)
Thanks for the input!
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
Quoting:
Poets (Scotland)
End Quote
I may have heard a song by the Poets, but am not sure whether its really them as I downloaded it by mistake and quite liked it! It's called 'What Difference Does It Make' and I only got a hold of it beacuse I thought it was a Smiths cover!! Can you verify that it is the same group you're talking about, beacuse I really don't have a clue!! I don't know whther they sound that 60sish to be the group you're refering to! :)
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
Quoting:
I may have heard a song by the Poets, but am not sure whether its really them as I downloaded it by mistake and quite liked it! It's called 'What Difference Does It Make' and I only got a hold of it beacuse I thought it was a Smiths cover!! Can you verify that it is the same group you're talking about, beacuse I really don't have a clue!! I don't know whther they sound that 60sish to be the group you're refering to! :)
End Quote
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Check out the link below! The band your referring to is a Swedish group.
http://medlem.spray.se/abekat/poets.html
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
"Diane" by the Bachelors was definitely a hit in Miami in 1964. I spent that summer in Maryland (where I live now) and I think I remember hearing it here too. They also did "Marie (The Dawn is Breaking)". Any others you can remember? I wuold say they were anything but unknown on this side of the Atlantic.
Quoting:
I'm not sure if these groups made any impact in the USA, Johnyaa but they were big groups in the UK.
The Viscounts - Who put the Bomp (in the bomp bomp bomp)
Emile Ford and The Checkmates - What do ya wanna make those eyes at me for?
The Bachelors - Diane
Freddie and The Dreamers - I'm telling you now
Scaffold - Lilly the Pink
Bonzo Dog doo-dah band - I'm the urban spaceman
End Quote
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
You couldn't exactly call The Swinging Blue Jeans "unknown," as their "Hippy Hippy Shake" rose as high as #4 in some markets, but their success in the US never matched their talent.
RE: Freddy and the Dreamers: I knew a great guitarist, Dave Widelock, flatpicker, rock lead, and eventually jazz virtuoso, an extremely private and serious musician, who exactly resembled Freddy, down to the eyeglasses. Of course it drove him nuts. Not that his no-talent look-alike was appearing on Shindig and Hullabaloo, but that his double was such a clown, that he made a mockery out of an art. If you wanted to set Dave off, all you had to do was say something and tag it with "I'm telling you now."
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
Quoting:
"Diane" by the Bachelors was definitely a hit in Miami in 1964. I spent that summer in Maryland (where I live now) and I think I remember hearing it here too. They also did "Marie (The Dawn is Breaking)". Any others you can remember? I wuold say they were anything but unknown on this side of the Atlantic.End Quote
I can remember they did a song called 'Charmaine' which was similar in structure to 'Diane'.
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
I remember another one - "No Arms Can Ever Hold You".
I wouldn't have known they were British if they hadn't
been identified as such by the DJs. To an American, I thought their accent sounded standard American. You may disagree, of course.
Quoting:
I can remember they did a song called 'Charmaine' which was similar in structure to 'Diane'.
End Quote
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
Quoting:
I remember another one - "No Arms Can Ever Hold You".
I wouldn't have known they were British if they hadn't
been identified as such by the DJs. To an American, I thought their accent sounded standard American. You may disagree, of course.End Quote
I think you're right, Sioux Denim. They did sing in an Americanised way - I guess that was quite the norm at the time.
Subject: Re: Favorite UK Groups but Unknowns in the States
Quoting:
I remember another one - "No Arms Can Ever Hold You".
I wouldn't have known they were British if they hadn't
been identified as such by the DJs. To an American, I thought their accent sounded standard American. You may disagree, of course.
End Quote
Well, not strictly true Sioux Denim, they were actually from Ireland - Dublin, to be precise...I suppose a lot of people assumed they were British as their major flush of success occurred right alongside the "British Invasion"...
Their first batch of records were produced by two Americans - Mike Stone and Shel Talmy who were based here at the time...Shel went on to produce The Kinks and The Who - quite a world apart from the ever-smiling Bachelors...!