Most of the bands I liked have never been heard of again, as it were.

PS. Am I the only person to linger over to the right to send the post?

Do you mean local bands Joe? I used to play in a band and we saw lots of bands when we were touring. Some of them were excellent but never got anywhere. The world was obviously waiting for Olly Murs, Matt McCardle and as many crap boy/girl bands as you could throw at them, each more awful than the last.

The first band I ever saw, at my local town hall, had as the singer a rather young Mr Paul Rogers.

Cologne - I LOVE that.Thank you xxxx

Suppose it's a whole multitude of factors. Never been in a band Prom but as long as I had laid down some respected tracks I think I'd be quite happy. Lots of one or two hit wonders in my collection






Be happy with either of these.

Alan McGee touted The Railway Children as the next big thing, they released one wonderful pop song and disappeared.

Bands that are heard of but should have been/should be bigger: Alkaline Trio, The Chapman Family, Maximo Park (do they spend their lives doing festivals? Where's the next albumin?)

Dolly Mixture - Everything & More

They were signed to Weller's (then new) Respond label, had a support slot on the farewell Jam tour - and aside from that, gigged relentlessly. The single was a staple on evening Radio One... but somehow it failed to chart during that synthesized summer of 1982.

The band continued for a further couple of years - but i think the above was about as close as they came to a breakthrough. Given that a box set of their material has recently been released - it cannot be said that they didn't give it a good try!

Chapman Family and Maximo are local.

I forgot that I could quote now

Izzy, you're welcome.  

I'm a bit stuck in the 60/70 era Prom. I think that we all have a soundtrack to a certain time of our lives, all of us, no matter what age, and we all like our own time. Yet I don't think my time has ever been bettered. Bit of a guitar obsessive m'self, the more guitars, the more solos, the more key changes, and time signature changes, the better.

Velvet   Love and Money, oh yesss,and good old Gardner Street and Glasgow landmarks in that video.

 You've got to sneak them in somehow Triggs  

    

I know what you mean but there's a bit more to it than that for me. As a teenager towards the end of the 70s I actually preferred the 60's (The Beatles) and the 80's (too many bands to mention) to the 70's. It was a sort of transitional period for me with the exception of The Pistols  though I suppose if you're a guitar lover the 70's would be a treat

Some great songs on this thread. I really hate that some bands who were destined for greatness never got there but hey ho that's life etc.

Spent most of his growing up in my kitchen, my daughter's first boyfriend. He deserves to be properly reckognised. I know it's an acquired taste and he had a try at being better known, but it seems to have stalled.

Frank Turner!  I am a proper big soppy fangirl over him.

Cologne, I've heard Seth Lakeman's name before but never heard any of his music. He's good, I like. (and anyone who likes Seth would like Frank, I reckon, similar stuff)

Oh, loads of bands over the years that I was sure would be massive, but never were.
However, if I had to pick a particular song that I was certain would be a hit, it would be the following from '86. I'm not sure that it really fits with the OP's intentions, as they actually did get a proper contract. However even supporting Alexander O'Neal and a remix featuring a Courtney Pine solo couldn't get them into the Top 40. Oh, well...

Skingames had a proper contract with RCA which you would think would be the end of it and they're 'made' but they disappeared without a trace. One of the bands I was in supported them on tour and they were brilliant and their debut album was phenomenal too yet...nada... I noticed they hardly appeared on TV at all which is unusual for an RCA signing

A record deal doesn't guarantee anything as I found out for myself heh.

Just had a listen leccy. Love it, I must expand. I've decided to start listening to radio6.

There's an urban legend that goes:U2 and Echo And The Bunnymen, recording TOTP. U2 are just starting to become big time players, Bono goes up to Ian McCulloch and says "Us and The Bunnymen, me and you Ian...if we join forces we could rule the world."*

And McCulloch goes "Nah, no thanks mate" gives Bono a withering look and strides off.

*Probably not true and that's just the gist. But still, wouldn't it be ACE if it was true?

God, it so would be.

Try "The Road" then if you are feeling dead angry at the police/government/establishment try "Sons Of Liberty"...He also has a very sweary one about Thatcher that I can't repeat the title of here...but it's worth googling He does life the universe and everything.

He sounds better and better and what's more, on topic again. I definitely will leccy.
PS, I'm still veering off to the right to send.

Oh, very true. Another band I wanted to include here was "The Indian Givers", but I couldn't find any of the particular tracks I wanted on YouTube. They got an album out on Virgin, and everyone thought they were going to be huge. However as the NME once pointed out, there used to be an old industry joke to which the punchline was "Virgin can't promote a new band to save their f***ing lives", and unfortunately TIG became one of the many bands to prove that correct. Oh well...

Like the music press know anything. Melody Maker had us down as the next big thing. We sat and waited. Nothing happened 

I know most of you will absolutely hate this, but this girl brings a little bit of joy into my heart

But where's the Melody Maker now, eh?

The only one that springs to mind...    





I think things like youtube have given more power to new bands.
Not so reliant on radio play and DJ politics, nowadays.

Exactly. I've never believed anything I've read since 

Listening to 1980s Red Wedgers, The Redskins who mixed socialist anti Thatcher sentiment with the sweet sound of horns and soul.  More articulate and better musicians than so many others.  A better band than The Style Council, in their day!

Big Sound Authority - This House (is where our love stands)

The aforementioned Melody Maker introduced them as The Wall of Sound for a September 1984 interview. With a growing fan-base, positive Live reputation and a contract with MCA records; BSA seemed on the verge of a breakthrough.

The debut single (above) arrived in January 1985 and sounded perfect for the time; a slick, brassy arrangement with a sassy female vocal delivery. Most importantly; Aunty seemed to like it, and play-listed it! However, the record stalled at No.21 and momentum was quickly lost. Three further singles and an album faired even less well and in 1986 the band called it a day.

For a moment, at the beginning of 1985, there was a buzz surrounding this band... and then it was gone.

Not a band but a singer/songwriter who went largely unrecognised during his short life.  The lyrics of this song (which is about the fragile nature of fame) are especially poignant given that Nick killed himself at the age of 26.



Safe in the womb
Of an everlasting night
You find the darkness can
Give the brightest light.
Safe in your place deep in the earth
That's when they'll know what you were really worth.
Forgotten while you're here
Remembered for a while
A much updated ruin
From a much outdated style.

I loved(and still love) this band, they should have been huge but were only a tiny part of the 90s indie scene:

Big (ish)   but I'd like to have seen them get a bit more recognition. What a voice Danny!

Captain - Glorious (2006)

While several emerging UK bands during the mid 00's were using introspective post-punk bands such as Joy Division and Gang of Four for idea's and inspiration, Captain seemed to draw from brighter, more pop orientated sources such as Prefab Sprout and Deacon Blue.

Following their debut single for an independent label they were signed by EMI early in 2006. With a major label behind them and Trevor Horn producing their album they appeared to be on the verge of success. Unfortunately, sales failed to match expectations - and the expectations of this major label were set unrealistically high. Glorious proved to be Captain's high water mark, commercially at least, peaking at No.30. Mutterings of failure could be heard and comparisons to Deacon Blue were being applied in a negative manner.

A new single, Keep an Open Mind, emerged during the Spring of 2008, as a lead up to their second album and garnered some positive reviews. However, the single failed to reach the Top 50 and EMI immediately dropped Captain. A proposed summer release for the second album was cancelled and, sadly, it remains languishing in EMI's vault unreleased to this day. Not too surprisingly, the band broke up during 2009.

I bought Captain's album, expected them to be big. Glorious is my fave track!

Here's another band, The Cinematics: