Reading Tom Breihan’s Number Ones column, I’ve been exposed to a fair amount of acts that I’d never heard of that never troubled our own Top 40. Obligatory Big Hello to Eddie Rabbit!
Which got me thinking about it from the other side:
Specifically, what are the biggest British acts never to never have touched any of the Billboard charts?
It’s taken some doing, using The Official Charts website, Billboard, Wikipedia and more.
There are plenty of acts that were massive here, but barely registered in the US.
Status Quo spent 50 years rocking all over the world but their US chart legacy is two singles in 1968. This was well before they found the sound that would sustain them for decades.
Those lonely entries rule them out of this selection.
And then there are the acts where I thought: “There’s no way they crossed the Atlantic,” … but somehow: there they are.
Case in point; The Wombles got to #55 with Wombling Summer Party in the mid 70s.
It’s mind-blowing enough that out of an animated kids show about some overgrown furry litter pickers they scored 11 top 40 hits here. I assume the animated series was shown in the US leading to that one chart incursion. If it wasn’t then I have no explanation for how it came to be wombling up your charts.
In no particular order then, eyes down: Look in for Part One of:
The Biggest British Acts You’ve Never Heard Of.*
Alvin Stardust / Shane Fenton
The Singles:
Top 40 = 15
Top 10 = 7
#1 = 1
Albums:
Top 40 = 2
Top 10 = 1
Alvin / Shane’s career was marked by a series of unlikely and, in one case, unfortunate events. His was a career by accident. Twice filling alter egos created for someone else. He was born Bernard Jewry but had his first brush with success as Shane Fenton.
Here’s where it gets complicated. He wasn’t the first Shane Fenton.
Then again, the first Shane wasn’t Shane either.
He was Johnny Theakstone, who with his band The Tremeloes (not The Tremeloes that were successful later in the 60s), were looking for their big break. Bernard, as he was at that point, was a friend and helped out as roadie.
Tragedy turned into Bernard’s opportunity. Johnny died suddenly as a result of a heart problem and the band broke up – only to receive a request to perform on BBC radio. Johnny having sent in an audition tape before he died which he’d credited to Shane Fenton.
The band reconvened to take up the opportunity and Bernard became Shane. They got a record deal and as Shane Fenton and The Fentones, had a run of four hit singles trading off a skiffle sound in 1961 / ’62 all peaking between 19 and 38. After that though as The Beatles changed everything they were left behind, a string of singles through to ’64 missed the charts and they split up.
Continuing to Iive and perform as Shane Fenton, Bernard went under the radar for a decade.
Until another random opportunity fell his way.
In 1973 Peter Shelley (not the one that would shortly be part of Buzzcocks- I told you this was complicated) wrote and recorded the song My Coo Ca Choo. It owed something to the guitar sound of Spirit In The Sky fed through a glam rock filter.
For extra glam resonance, he released it under the persona of Alvin Stardust. It went straight into the charts… but with a slight problem that Shelley didn’t want to actually be Alvin Stardust, despite having already made one TV appearance in the guise. That’s where Bernard / Shane came in, his agent put him up for the role and as the song climbed to #2, he slotted into another new identity.
This identity had a striking image: black leather jumpsuit and gloves, platform heels and thick black hair with huge sideburns. He was an imposing sight on stage with a gloved fist wrapped over the microphone, looking off to the side with a curled lip.
The second single, Jealous Mind, written again by Shelley but this time with Bernard / Shane / Alvin’s voice reached #1. It retained the fuzzed up riffing guitar, but harked back to early rock n roll and vocals that had a touch of Roy Orbison about them.
There were six top 20 hits across two years. But by 1975, Alvin had stopped charting. Once again his career took a left turn, but without a name change this time. He signed with Stiff Records, home to Ian Dury and Madness, which didn’t seem an obvious fit.
Even more unlikely, Pete Waterman (yes, that one, but long before he became a super producer) suggested Alvin record Pretend, a song Nat King Cole had popularised in the early 50s and seven years after his last appearance he was back in the top 10.
Two more top 10 hits came in ’84, now with a much more mature pop sound than his 70s heyday. 1984 was the last time he would appear in the top 40. There was no fourth act to his music career, but he did branch out into acting, radio and TV presenting. He remained a familiar figure until his death from prostate cancer in 2014 at the age of 72.
That isn’t quite the end of the story as Alvin’s son has gone on to have his own successful career as producer, DJ, drum and bass label boss. He has scored four top 40 hits under the name Adam F.
Essential Track – My Coo Ca Choo
Atomic Kitten
The Singles:
Top 40 = 15
Top 10 = 13
#1 = 3
Albums:
Top 40 = 4
#1 = 2
Atomic Kitten were a three piece girl band put together in the late 90s by Andy McCluskey and Stuart Kershaw better known as part of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. They’re a tangled web of intersections. As is typical in the world of manufactured pop, members came and went. One of the original three; Heidi Range later reappeared in Sugababes. Kerry Katona left on becoming pregnant, going on to marry Brian McFadden from Westlife before divorcing him and moving onto a torrid tabloid lifestyle of drink, drugs and mental health issues. Kerry was replaced by Jenny Frost, formerly of girl band Precious.
Keeping up?
Good. Because having split in 2005…
• They reformed in 2012
• With Kerry back in place rather than Jenny
• Had to hire in Michelle Heaton, once of Liberty X to replace Liz McLarnon on overseas tours due to Liz’s fear of flying
• and then Kerry left again to be replaced by Jenny. Again.
They’re still going on the nostalgia circuit, a description that applies to quite a few of these acts.
They weren’t in the same league as Girls Aloud, more of a “girl in the pub next door” feel. There was a reliance on cover versions. Two of their three #1s were Eternal Flame and The Tide Is High.
But their calling card and high point at least was an original song; Whole Again. You’d never guess OMD were behind it. In pop music: fact is often stranger than fiction.
Essential Track: Whole Again
Ruby Murray
The Singles:
Top 40 = 10
Top 10 = 8
#1 = 1
Ruby Murray has a unique legacy. I can’t tell you much about her music. Lost in the pre-history of modern music, her chart career spanned 1954 to 1959.
She did achieve the Beatles-esque feat of having five songs in the top 20 at the same time in 1955. It’s not her music that she’s remembered for though. In rhyming slang:
Ruby Murray = curry
And over 60 years after her last hit? Her name is synonymous with Indian cuisine. Even though most of those who say it will be clueless as to who Ruby was.
Essential Track: I have no idea.
Anyone fancy a Lamb Bhuna?
JLS
The Singles:
Top 40 = 12
Top 10 = 10
#1 = 5
Albums:
Top 10 = 6
#1 = 1
Proving that winning isn’t everything JLS took the same route as One Direction. Beaten finalists on X-Factor that went onto do a whole lot better than the series winner. Male four piece vocal group JLS entered the 2008 series under the name UFO and emerged at the other end as JLS (representing a British pop influenced take on new jack swing and standing for Jack the Lad Swing).
Alexandra Burke was the series winner but JLS outdid her from the off, their debut album went 4 x Platinum and they capitalised quickly releasing four albums over four years. While sales gradually declined the final album still went Gold and made #3 and five chart topping singles over that period makes them one of the most successful reality show alumni.
They called it a day in 2013 for solo careers, TV and radio work and for JB a complete left field turn into farming. And then the almost obligatory comeback which went more successfully than many as a new album in 2021 put them back in the top 5.
Essential Track: Everybody In Love
Billy Fury
The Singles:
Top 40 = 26
Top 10 = 11
Albums:
Top 40 = 5
Top 10 = 3
He’s pretty much forgotten as far as younger generations go. But Billy was huge in his day, and possibly our first homegrown rock n’ roll star. He started life as Ronald Wycherley before having his name changed to the more dynamic and dangerous Billy Fury, a name more befitting his good looking, strong jawed and bequiffed look. He followed the Elvis Presley route of early notoriety for his performances before toning things down, having greater success with more palatable ballads that are from furious and starring in films. Unlike Elvis, he did write some of his own material.
His success crossed over with the The Beatles. Despite being replaced by the newer more exciting sounds coming out of Liverpool, he remained a chart regular into the mid 60s, having his last top 40 hit in ’66.
He released his last album in 1982 which generated a couple of songs that landed just outside the top 40.
But like Elvis, again: he died of a heart attack aged just 42 in early 1983. A jukebox musical of his hits still tours and keeps the flame alive for the devoted.
Essential Track: Wondrous Place
Girls Aloud
The Singles:
Top 40 = 22
Top 10 = 21
#1 = 4
Albums:
Top 40 = 8
Top 10 = 6
#1 = 2
The appearance of Girls Aloud here is the most baffling. How they didn’t manage to translate their UK dominance at least once is a mystery.
Born from TV show Popstars: The Rivals. The series whittled down contestants into a 5 piece girl band and 5 piece boy band to go head to head on the charts. The boys, named One True Voice, were managed by Pete Waterman and the girls by Louis Walsh, fresh from steering Boyzone and Westlife to prominence.
Louis chose Sound of the Underground for Girls Aloud which was modern, dynamic and exciting whereas Pete’s pop svengali touch went missing as he stuck the boys with a bland ballad. The girls easily won taking the coveted Christmas #1. The boys released one more ill chosen and ill named single; Shakespeare’s (Way With Words) before being consigned to history.
Girls Aloud just kept making history as the most successful girl band in the UK charts. Their first 20 singles went top 10. In total 12 of their singles made the top 3. Unlike many manufactured pop bands in the UK they weren’t just a singles act either: all five of their original albums went platinum.
They were less in your face than the Spice Girls, but achieved greater longevity and gelled together much better. Only Cheryl really stood out as a tabloid staple due to her marriage to a Premier League footballer.
They disbanded after a decade of success, after which Cheryl was the only one to sustain a successful solo career. (Which includes another five UK #1s – and still no Billboard chart entry despite (or due to) her short lived US X-Factor stint).
While there were always mentions of reunions, the death late last year of Sarah Harding from breast cancer means the chances of a comeback are unlikely.
Essential Track: so many to choose from but start at the beginning, Sound of the Underground
Hope you enjoyed the selections.
Stay tuned next week for Part 2…
…to include the absolute pinnacle of UK chart success not transferring across the ocean.
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I think I know who is going to be featured in Part 2. I have all of his/her/their albums. And the reissues with extra stuff. I won’t play spoiler.
I’ll be interested to see if you’re right and who you’re thinking of. It wasn’t an exact science, basically went through my trusty copy of British Book of Hit Singles and anyone with at least 10 top 40 hits I checked out their US credentials. Like the Wombles there were some I did not expect to find any Billboard entries for. There was one big name in particular that has been going for some time that I wasn’t sure about but who turns out to have a couple of fairly recent lowly album entries. Another reality show alumni who I didn’t think would show up but made it onto the Hot 100 and AC chart thanks to one song that was released in the US years after it was here. No spoilers on who they are either.
Possible spoilers for people who know:
There’s another band with a Beatles connection which became a worldwide sensation but, in its original incarnation, was the concurrent final lineup for another band that was popular in the UK but not here. The earlier version of the UK band shared studio time with a third (second?) band and ended up stealing their leader, who ended up masterminding the later band’s mega-success. The mastermind’s earliest band didn’t even get hits in the UK, but their stuff was quite imaginative and charming.
I know this reads like blather, but a few of you know who, who, who, and who I am refering to. And whom, too!
Intriguing! I have an idea who you may be talking about. Perhaps one of them is a band for whom there’s a whole lotta love around the world?
I don’t think it’s the one you’re thinking of, but the lemon doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Jack Lemon hit the Top 40?
{Narrator’s voiceover:}
{…and then mt, who was notoriously horrible at guessing blind items, attempted to chime in…}
I just realized that yes, I do think you got one who, and the whom.
[Archie, rocking the spoiler feature, like a boss…]
My old avatar would definitely know the answer. They weren’t alive when The Beatles were an active band, but that’s who they idolized. I couldn’t play an instrument, but I wrote lyrics. I wrote a song about spam called “Funky Luncheon Meat”, which was an ode to Prince, but once they got a hold of the lyric sheet, it ended up sounding like The Beatles. The Pakistani/English kid in Blinded by the Light was a bit like watching myself. I, too, live on an island, and a Bruce Springsteen fan, which made me a weirdo. One memorable day at an uncle’s house, I remember shouting: “Will you please listen to this?” I wish I could say it was somebody canonical like Nirvana or The Pixies. But, no, it was The Apples in Stereo.
Also, …
You could well be onto something but I couldn’t possibly confirm the rumours…..
Not that, either – but I’ll be sticking around for the second article!
I didn’t know any of these. Yankee Score: 100%!
Also, I learned that OMD started a girl group (WTF?), and some weird Ziggy Stardust knockoff dude was Adam F’s father.
And speaking of esoteric, rhyming slang can be a really hard code to crack…and I guess that’s the point!
I need a Harry…
Let’s see if you can keep up that record with part 2! There’s someone I reckon you’ll know even if only tangentially.
The OMD / Atomic Kitten thing is just bizarre. OMD broke up in 1996 and they started AK two years later. Its fascinating that for all their longevity and critical appreciation they never got a #1 hit but as soon as they moved into the pop svengali environment they created a far bigger hit single with Whole Again than they ever did for themselves.
I’d heard of most of these without hearing their material. The Girls Aloud track is better than I expected.
I’ve never heard of Ruby Murray or JLS. I knew Billy Fury from British Invasion history (though he was pre-invasion, I think), and Alvin Stardust from the Stiff Records Box Set, but his is quite a story!
Thanks for enlightening us. I mean, thanks for enlightening U.S.
Thanks! I enlightened myself researching this. I knew Alvin had gone from Bernard to Shane to Alvin but had no idea just how odd the circumstances were. From what I understand he was a decent guy so wasn’t wracked with an identity crisis or existential self doubt as to who he actually was. Then finding familar names of The Tremeloes and Peter Shelley but not the ones that were later successful makes his story all the more bizarre.
I’d say he is better known for his mid 70s glam period than the Stiff years. Discovered that My Coo Ca Choo is pretty decent even if the name suggests otherwise.
Girls Aloud were often tagged with the backhanded compliment of being the girl band it was OK to like. They were pretty well respected critically as well as commercially. The video is from when they won Pop Stars: The Rivals so it doesn’t show the polished article they became.
One thing I would love to know is whether The Wombles were shown on US TV. Any of the more mature commentariat remember mid 70s kids TV? And if it wasn’t shown any explanation as to how they made #55 on the Hot 100 would be gratefully received!
And for more trivia the man behind The Wombles musical output was Mike Batt who has quite the CV. He wrote Bright Eyes for Art Garfunkel as well as hits for Alvin Stardust (its all connected), David Essex, Cliff Richard and Steve Harley. Co-wrote the title song from Phantom of the Opera with Andrew Lloyd Webber, produced his own musicals and conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
JJ, the only thing I could find for a link as to why the Wombles would have a semi-hit in the U.S. in the summer of ’74 was a syndicated show “H R Pufnstuf” from the Krofft brothers that was normally seen on Saturday mornings.
It featured an English lad (played by Jack Wild) who was lured to Lost Island by Witchiepoo and his subsequent adventures.
The many creatures look like the Wombles and I wonder if that’s where the connection was made by American audiences.
Just a guess.
Thanks for the background. I have heard of H R Pufnstuf and those Jack Wild adventures sound vaguely familiar even though my childhood was the 80s. During school holidays morning TV was full of a mix of home made and American weirdness some of it going back to the 60s. I had many happy mornings watching The Monkees and Banana Splits, my two particular favourites.
Back to the Wombles and its not even as though it was their most memorable song that made it onto your charts. That would be Remember You’re A Womble. And yes, just about every song by the Wombles had Womble / Wombling in the title.
Thoughts?
Ah yes, Cliff. I can confidently say without checking that he has the greatest differential in success from either side of the Atlantic.
You like stats, well I’m your man. I too love a good data dive. Get ready for some truly staggering Cliff figures.
In the US he had six charting albums with a peak of 76. He fared better with singles; three top 10s and another six top 40. A high of #6 with Devil Woman.
In the UK:
64 Top 40 albums of which 46 made the top 10 and seven hit the top.
124 Top 40 singles of which 69 made the top 10 and 14 were #1s.
There’ll never be another Cliff.
The Britpop champion has to come from Blur or Oasis. Though point 6 about worldwide success could be taken in two ways. Oasis wanted to be the biggest band in the world and although they didn’t manage it they did pretty well. Whereas for some the essence of Britpop meant not fitting in anywhere else so by that standard Blur did much better.
Blur were also much more Brit-centric in their lyrics. Certainly in the three albums from Modern Life Is Rubbish through Parklife and The Great Escape. Oasis were more mass appeal. There were regional aspects to some of their work, the earlier stuff especially but they mostly dealt in broad grand gestures and the Brit element was more about pride in their roots.
I can’t come down on the side of either as the champ. Oasis take it on worldwide success but Blur fulfilled the Brit part.
There’s also an argument to be made for someone like Pulp who were uniquely British and had great critical acclaim but the true mass appeal success was really only one album and didn’t travel as well round the world.
Agreed, but then my brain took over.
What if I just drew a chart and plotted each of the bands on the chart, without trying to determine the “best”? Sort of like a “scotch chart” (which I can’t post here at school).
I still might do it…but there’s a few Britpop artists I’m not familiar with, so I’d have to dive into some obscure music…
On both sides of the Atlantic.
This was fascinating! I think Atomic Kitten is the only band you featured that I’d ever heard of, and that’s only because of discussion on TNOCS
Thanks Link. Girls Aloud will be showing up in Saint Nothing’s UK round up in the not too distant future – Sound of the Underground came out in 2002. JLS still have a bit of a wait before they’ll feature. There’s a couple of names you may be familar with in part 2, whether via Tom’s column or other means.
That headline contains an inside joke which would be applicable to one musical act whose success was mostly UK-based. But that’s not who I have slated at #1, but maybe it is.
Love reading stuff like this, so much to digest.
I too can’t find any info on the Wombles appearing on US television, unless it was syndicated oh so briefly. The mid-’70s were weird.
Shields and Yarnell.
I LOVE THIS BLOG! (Yes, I know I shouldn’t do all caps and hate it myself, but this one calls for it.)
As for the Wombles, never heard of it being imported in any way to the United States in the 1970s, not even on our public television network. Don’t know why or how, only that if something made a pretty decent showing on the UK chart at the time, a US record company could and would promote it to American audiences as a proven property. And unlike, say, Billy Don’t Be a Hero, there was no reason for any American act to cover Wombling Summer Party because it simply made no sense to do so unless you were the Wombles.
When I worked in London in the mid-90s, I was fortunate to encounter a team of female office workers that liked to administer pop culture quizzes to the auditors. These usually involved pop music and it formed my initial education into the differences in pop music tastes between countries. The ladies were rabid Cliff Richard fans and were astounded that he was not a big deal in the US. The realization was furthered when I listed from memory (pre-mass internet) Cliff’s songs that made the Top 40 in the 70s and 80s. What about Move It, Living Doll, Summer Holiday, the other hits with the Shadows???
Listening to the BBC, Capital Radio, and other UK stations, I came to appreciate the greatness of artists that were not as big in the US. Bowie immediately comes to mind. The UK also had a respect for artists that were generally snickered at back home. ABBA, the Carpenters, boy bands, and the whole dance/disco/electronic genres. Occasionally, the UK did not get things right. Prince comes to mind (1st UK #1 in, er, 1994!). The love of musical cheese still escapes me, as does the appeal of cricket and cucumber sandwiches. On the whole, I consider myself a lucky guy to have had such an experience that has exponentially expanded my music tastes and brought me immeasurable listening bliss. Cheers for your words and analysis.