Bands you thought were gonna be big ... but then nothing happened

[Trane]

And you really don't need to post the band's entire catalog, either. Just pick the best one song and post that. If anyone is still interested after listening to that song, they can do Youtube themselves and look for more.

To be honest, only two A Foot in Coldwater links would've been enough (the band's not that good... and that's an understatement >> king of mid-tempo pre-AOR tracks)... same thing with Red rider or others

Did Ian just post words or a litany of videos that completely slows down the thread? I can't believe you're on the offence, you'd read repeated posts to stop what you did. As a fellow Canadian, let's not embarrass ourselves. Take this constructively.

Yeah, I must admit that I hadn't realized I slowed the thread down myself, when I posted the Streetheart stuff, but the harm was done beforehand anyway... OK, settled now...

Weatherwise - Hey, I'm fine, when I was new here it took a while to get the feel for the place, I'm sure you'll be a great addition to the membership, you clearly love & know your stuff. I was trying for dry humor but being English it probably just came of snarky. Welcome aboard.

Yeah, welcome aboard too.

[jkelman]

I'm still very surprised you guys didn't hear too much of Tom Cochrane in the US, considering he's been honored in every possible way in Canada, is in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and has been bestowed the Canadian equivalent of British knighthood. 30 singles combined charted from Red Rider and from his solo career. 22 Juno Award nominations, seven wins.

Have you heard of Blue Rodeo? Also members of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/20...hall-fame.html

If they didn't get distribution or push in the US, it's unlikely many Americans would know of them, and for fair enough reasons. Let's not forget Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, etc had to leave Canada for the US for greater fame & fortune.

I'm Canadian, but my approach is the opposite of yours. When someone tells me they know an artist whose fame rested largely here, I"m surprised and happy to hear it....no disrespect, just saying because there's no reason why Americans should know Tom Cochrane, just because he was huge here, any more than Canadian Jazz fans should be aware of German jazz pianist Michael Wollny's [em], just because they won Germany's Echo Jazz award

[Scott Bails]

Spermswamp

Dude, where do you find this stuff?!!!

[Guitarplyrjvb]

I second the love for the Producers. The first two albums were great. Nice crunchy guitars, great Beatley harmonies, hooks galore, and two great lead singers. The third album, "Run for Your Life", was released after Kyle Henderson left the group and was replaced by Tim Smith of Sheryl Crow fame. I never heard that album and don't think it's been released on CD. They had a 4th album called "Coelacanth" which features the return of Kyle Henderson on a couple of tunes. One of 'em "Renaissance" is great! The rest of the album is so-so. Van Temple has sung with the Steve Morse Band on "Stand Up" if memory serves.

[trurl]

I had Run For Your Life- went to the release party in fact. It was good, but a bit slicker. Not as good as the first two. A couple tunes turned up in other projects; I know one was on the Kansas "Power" album...

[GuitarGeek]

If they didn't get distribution or push in the US, it's unlikely many Americans would know of them, and for fair enough reasons. Let's not forget Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, etc had to leave Canada for the US for greater fame & fortune.

Well, Life Is A Highway did get a big push on MTV (as had Lunatic Fringe) and I remember seeing him perform the song on one of the talk shows (I'm thinking it was The Tonight Show, but I can't remember if the host at the time was still Johnny Carson or if Leno had hijacked the show by then). But for whatever reason, apart from those two songs, Tom Cochrane/Red Rider never got that much a push here. Lunatic Fringe still gets played regularly on VH-1 Classic (Light In The Tunnel/Human Race was getting played there at first, but then they ditched all the more obscure 80's stuff to make way for crappy 90's music as they began their "network decay" phase of their existence).

But I agree, I don't find it so surprising that a certain performer is famous in Canada (or anywhere else in the world, for that matter) but mostly unknown Stateside. That's like expecting Americans to know about The Beachcombers, which most of us haven't because we've never seen the show.

[GuitarGeek]

I second the love for the Producers. The first two albums were great. Nice crunchy guitars, great Beatley harmonies, hooks galore, and two great lead singers. The third album, "Run for Your Life", was released after Kyle Henderson left the group and was replaced by Tim Smith of Sheryl Crow fame.

But that would have been before he was in Sheryl Crow's band, right? As far as the third album not being released on CD, that's ok, because the first two were only just barely released on CD. As I recall, they were reissued on a twofer CD somewhere around 1999, but the label went out of business just months later, so the CD is actually much scarcer than either of the LP's.

[Jefferson James]

Tim Smith gets around! Big fan of his from his stint in Jellyfish to a great power-pop band he had called Umajets.

[Wisdomview]

Speaking of Canadian artists, how about Alannah Myles?

[WeatherWiseCDC]

Well, Life Is A Highway did get a big push on MTV (as had Lunatic Fringe) and I remember seeing him perform the song on one of the talk shows (I'm thinking it was The Tonight Show, but I can't remember if the host at the time was still Johnny Carson or if Leno had hijacked the show by then). But for whatever reason, apart from those two songs, Tom Cochrane/Red Rider never got that much a push here. Lunatic Fringe still gets played regularly on VH-1 Classic (Light In The Tunnel/Human Race was getting played there at first, but then they ditched all the more obscure 80's stuff to make way for crappy 90's music as they began their "network decay" phase of their existence).

But I agree, I don't find it so surprising that a certain performer is famous in Canada (or anywhere else in the world, for that matter) but mostly unknown Stateside. That's like expecting Americans to know about The Beachcombers, which most of us haven't because we've never seen the show.

It is disappointing because Red Rider's best material was released in the mid-to-late 80s, in my opinion. The band's biggest hits were recorded around that time. It's a bit baffling that such musicians and bands as Tom Cochrane and Blue Rodeo can be regarded as Canada's greatest treasures and not be heard of at all in the US.

If they didn't get distribution or push in the US, it's unlikely many Americans would know of them, and for fair enough reasons. Let's not forget Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, etc had to leave Canada for the US for greater fame & fortune.

I'm Canadian, but my approach is the opposite of yours. When someone tells me they know an artist whose fame rested largely here, I"m surprised and happy to hear it....no disrespect, just saying because there's no reason why Americans should know Tom Cochrane, just because he was huge here, any more than Canadian Jazz fans should be aware of German jazz pianist Michael Wollny's [em], just because they won Germany's Echo Jazz award

I think any good music should be recognized, and I think we should take pride in our musicians when they record something great. I'm not particularly a fan of having certain kinds of music be contained within certain niches. If a band records good music, it should be heard, in my opinion. I would love to hear Michael Wollny's music. The more exposure we have to all sorts of music, and the more songs and bands we have to choose from, the better.

It's still surprising Blue Rodeo received no attention in the US. Their third album, Casino, apparently received outstanding reviews from US critics but never prompted the attention of American listeners. Each of their first six albums were certified multi-Platinum in Canada, and 1993's Five Days in July went 6x Platinum. "'Til I Am Myself Again" reached the US Mainstream Rock chart, but they achieved limited success outside of Canada. They're one of the country's most cherished bands.

[Beetlebum]

Indio - Big Harvest

Gordon Peterson's project with appearances by David Rhodes, Larry Klein, Joni Mitchell, L. Subramanian, Van Dyke Parks

Great 1st album and never another, strongly influenced by Peter Gabriel.

http://gordonpetersonindio.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1tVvQUAcf4

[presdoug]

I thought Gravy Train, Cressida, Indian Summer, Spring, and Home could be great. But alas, they all missed the chance.

i think the world of Indian Summer.

[presdoug]

Another Canadian band i thought was going to be huge was Teaze. When i saw them at my high school in 1977, they were EXCELLENT, and could do no wrong! Fairly soon after there was a sold out live tour of Japan, and resultant live album, but their star was not in the ascendant for long, unfortunately. They sure did play a good time, hard rocking sound.

[Sputnik]

Well, I hoped Anomaly would make it, but alas they broke up

So I'd never heard of this band before this thread. Based on the videos you posted, I grabbed this album cheap on e-Bay. It arrived last night and I gave it a first spin. Wow, super album. I dislike Prog Metal, but I can stomach some Prog Metal elements if it's mixed with other stuff, and Anomaly do just that. This is really a Prog Fusion album with Metal elements. Great playing, and the writing is surprisingly accessible. Too bad they didn't make it, good band with a nice take on the modern Prog sound.

Bill

[Rarebird]

So I'd never heard of this band before this thread. Based on the videos you posted, I grabbed this album cheap on e-Bay. It arrived last night and I gave it a first spin. Wow, super album. I dislike Prog Metal, but I can stomach some Prog Metal elements if it's mixed with other stuff, and Anomaly do just that. This is really a Prog Fusion album with Metal elements. Great playing, and the writing is surprisingly accessible. Too bad they didn't make it, good band with a nice take on the modern Prog sound.

Bill

Well, I did my best to promote them. When I first read a short review of a concert, I thought it would be right up the alley for the magazine I was writing for, so I looked for a contact. Interviewed 2 members at my house and was invited for a concert they gave with 2 other groups. Also was backstage with them. Did some more writing and was invited for another concert.

[Chris Kemp]

I never thought much about obscure Canadian rock before now and I never want to again! Talk about hijacking a thread!

[presdoug]

I never thought much about obscure Canadian rock before now and I never want to again! Talk about hijacking a thread!

It's what some of us grew up with-live with it. And if you can't, chill out.

[Digital_Man]

In the late eighties I bought an album called "from the green house" by a band I never heard before called Crack the Sky. Based on hearing that album and playing the crap out of it I thought they were going to get big. I was wrong. Turns out they already had a cult following for years. To this day they still never quite made it big.

Other than Crack the Sky:

The Flower Kings
Spock's Beard
Echolyn

At some point in the early 2000's I started to realize that prog bands with the retro symph sound didn't have much of a chance to make it big. This was confirmed for me after Porcupine got pretty big while the other bands never quite got there.

Another one that comes to mind is Pure Reason Revolution. They changed their sound a bit apparently after their first album but I still don't think they ever got very big. Does anyone know if they are still around?

Yet another one for me might be Blow Up Hollywood(similar to SD and LS era Porcupine Tree).

Pineapple Thief (speaking of PT )might also qualify for discussion here.

As for Porcupine Tree, I really thought they were going to get big about four or five years before they did. They should have gotten really big around the time of SD, LS and especially by IA. The ones that followed, when they did get big, were in my opinion not as strong. I guess it's arguable as to whether they got huge or not(they don't have any gold albums afaik for example)but I don't think they would qualify for the most part.

[SteveSly]

In.

Another one that comes to mind is Pure Reason Revolution. They changed their sound a bit apparently after their first album but I still don't think they ever got very big. Does anyone know if they are still around?

They are broken up unfortunately. I kind of thought they had a shot at making it bigger too. Their debut album got some publicity and airplay, but not much after that did that I am aware of.

Steve Sly

[Wisdomview]

Damn the Machine. I still love that record.

[Trane]

I never thought much about obscure Canadian rock before now and I never want to again! Talk about hijacking a thread!

You know, it can't be worse than some of that same obscure US AOR shit that never made it north of the 49th ;o)))

[Lopez]

I know they are not progressive, but one band I thought was going to be consistently huge was Beaver Brown, the Springsteenish band from Rhode Island. They hit it really big with the soundtrack to Eddie and the Cruisers. Flashed real bright for a moment then there was no real followup.

[trurl]

I know they are not progressive, but one band I thought was going to be consistently huge was Beaver Brown, the Springsteenish band from Rhode Island. They hit it really big with the soundtrack to Eddie and the Cruisers. Flashed real bright for a moment then there was no real followup.

I think God directly intervened in that one. One Bruce is enough.

[Wisdomview]

I think God directly intervened in that one. One Bruce is enough.

Yes, God showed mercy on us.