Bands who got a 'lucky' break ?

[NogbadTheBad]

Doubt it , they were more of a novelty band & aside from the Pet Shop Boys & The Human League all the 80's electro pop bands soon crashed & burned . The Buggles second album didn't even chart !

Throw in Depeche Mode, Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark, ABC, Japan, Ultravox & Gary Numan & you'd have a better list.

[Rufus]

Throw in Depeche Mode, Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark, ABC, Japan, Ultravox & Gary Numan & you'd have a better list.

ABC electro pop ????
Gary Numan went onto guitar based
Ultravov & OMD crashed & burned until recent reunion tours in small theaters
Japan -well you tell me what happened to them ?

[NogbadTheBad]

ABC electro pop ????
Gary Numan went onto guitar based
Ultravov & OMD crashed & burned until recent reunion tours in small theaters
Japan -well you tell me what happened to them ?

ABC listed under synth pop on RYM so yes.
Gary Numan - 3 number 1 albums while playing electronics
Ultravox - 5 top 10 albums
OMD - 5 top 10 albums
Japan - 4 top 50 albums, John Foxx & David Sylvian went on to very interesting solo careers.

There is a music world outside the USA.

[ronmac]

Spinal Tap.

If not for the movie, nobody would ever have heard of them.

[strawberrybrick]

the Rutles?

[trurl]

the Rutles?

It was the trousers.

[klothos]

ABC had a quite long career. They became an electro-pop duo in the late 80s (they were technically a duo as early as the "How To Be a Zillionaire..." album, flanked only by two other "prop" members) and released albums into the 90s and a few in the 00s

Depeche Mode has consistantly released albums through the 90s and 00s and have a new 2013 album as well (I dont like it)

OMD has released albums into the late 90s. They released a new one in 2013 (this one is excellent)

Pet Shop Boys have released new material in the 90s and 00s

Erasure have released new material in the 90s and 00s

A-Ha has released new material all the way into the early 2000s

...I can keep going

....I do not understand where everyone who is saying "most 80s electro-pop crashed and burned"...If you dont stay familiar the genre, its easy to make that assumption-- the same way people not into Prog may believe Yes last album came out in the 80s

[ThomasKDye]

There is a music world outside the USA.

You gotta give us a break. Most Americans think of Madness as a "one-hit wonder" without realizing how much of a phenomenon they were in Britain.

[klothos]

How about a ban like The McCoys? They were the house band at The Scene in New York, which was owned by Johnny Winter's manager, Steve Paul, who suggested they be Johnny's backing band. They became Johnny Winter And and made a great studio album and KILLER live one. After that, Johnny went into rehab and Rick Derringer began working with Edgar and doing his own thing.

Why I think it's a lucky break, is because The McCoys were only know for one song, "Hang on, Sloopy," which they didn't write, was not who they were and pigeon-holed them as a bubblegum band. Hooking up with Johnny changed all of that.

I did not know that - Thanks

I do know The Lemon Pipers story, which is similar: they were a psychedelic-rock band that were roped into the "bubblegum-pop-thing" as well. I had read a story (in the booklet of one of my Buddah box sets) that they supposedly complained about Green Tamborine to both management and label (Buddah) all the way to #1 (US)....they, unfortunately, never recovered

[GuitarGeek]

Ya know who else got a lucky break? Ed King, when his first band, Strawberry Alarm Clock, broke up. He moved to Florida and joined a band who were getting ready to record their first album. The name of that band? Lynyrd Skynyrd.

[ronmac]

Okay, here's one form the outer stretches:

The Standells got their break by performing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on "The Munsters."



Don't even ask how this one even got into my head.

[JIF]

Ya know who else got a lucky break? Ed King, when his first band, Strawberry Alarm Clock, broke up. He moved to Florida and joined a band who were getting ready to record their first album. The name of that band? Lynyrd Skynyrd.

More importantly, Ed got that break because Leon Wilkinson had decided to quit the band for a while, and they needed someone to take his place. The band had known Ed for a while, and he said he would love to join the band if there was an open spot. I guess Leon changed his mind about quitting the band when they got the deal with MCA.

[GuitarGeek]

More importantly, Ed got that break because Leon Wilkinson had decided to quit the band for a while, and they needed someone to take his place. The band had known Ed for a while, and he said he would love to join the band if there was an open spot. I guess Leon changed his mind about quitting the band when they got the deal with MCA.

The story I remember hearing was they actually had already signed with MCA when Leon quit. I'd have to dig out the Guitar Player magazine from 87 with the initial reunion lineup on the cover (back when it was really gonna be "just the one tour), but I believe he's described as getting cold feet.

Ed has said in a couple interviews that he was "hurting" to be in this band, because he thought they were that good and he wanted to a part of it. So when Leon quit, leaving the band in a lurch just as they were about to record (Pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd), Ed volunteered to take over on bass. At least as the credits read, Ed played bass on every song except Tuesday's Gone (on which Al Kooper insisted on playing bass and keyboards) and Mississippi Kid.

Now, the story Ed that I remember telling in a couple interviews was that after they were done making the album, Ronnie had a talk with him. Basically, Ronnie told Ed that he was a terrible bass player, but the guys liked him as a person and as a guitarist. So they talked Leon into rejoining and Ed switched over to guitar to give the band it's classic three guitar lineup (up until then it had been just Collins and Rossington).