No'1 U.K., A Flop In The U.S. | 80s Edition

Since the U.S. is the hardest music market to break in, I've included only the songs that missed the Top-40.
N/E = released as a single, but failed to enter the chart (No Entry)
I didn't include songs that weren't released as a single in the U.S.

[@mikewidyk4186]

Bee Gees You Win Again should have had more success in the U.S. It’s a great catchy song, definitely underrated. Glad it was number one for a whole month in the U.K.

[@667neighborofdabeast]

I actually still hear it on the radio regularly to this day.

[@danmccarthy4700]

It was probably the anti-disco backlash still going strong in the US. It's obviously not a disco song but I think the Bee Gees had such a strong association with the genre that many radio stations were afraid to play it. Of course a couple of years later they had a Billboard Top 10 hit with "One" so I may be off on this.

[@TheRealBlueSwan]

Such an amazing song, I agree. For some reason I wasn't a huge fan of it back in 1987, but these days it is one of my favourites from the entire decade. Funny how that goes.

[@jeremynv89523]

Are you kidding? The BeeGees were superstars in the US, although it's true that they didn't do so well post-Disco. Now if you want to talk about ABBA, you'd get different response.

[@TheRealBlueSwan]

@@jeremynv89523 He said that the SONG should have had more succes in the US, not that the Bee Gees weren't big in the US prior to that song.

[@dmhandy]

Thank goodness for Smash Hits magazine. I discovered a lot of great British hit songs that never received any airplay in the US!

[@joshmaclean3179]

wow. it is obvious here in Australia we followed the British charts. Pretty much all of them were also No 1 here or made a top 10 appearance.

[@dockerdave]

We've always had the best of both worlds.

[@zombiedodge1426]

Some of these were hits in Canada, too.

[@Tatai805]

Brazilian radio stations followed UK charts too.

[@th8257]

Another difference between the UK and US charts back then is that it was much easier to get a song in the UK charts than the American ones. The UK was a smaller market and very densely populated, so much less marketing expenditure was needed. As a result, the UK often got a lot of songs quite a long time before the USA did, and that went on well into the 1990s. A classic example was "Believe" by Cher. It hit #1 in the UK in October 1998 but didn't reach #1 in the USA until around 5 months later in March 1999.

[@SWalkerTTU]

The chart scoring formula was also different: the UK’s was based purely on sales, while the US was 50/50 sales and radio airplay, which meant that radio programmers could either lift up a song or sink it.

[@75aces97]

One example of this that comes to mind is Wham. Just seeing some documentaries this past year about Wham and George Michael, they were already a hit act in the UK and Europe for almost 2 years before most of us in the States first heard of them. One aspect of 1980s music in America that I personally disliked, related to your point, was the cynical commercialization. By the 80s record companies figured that instead of angling for penny wages and allowances of kids, they could squeeze real money out of baby boomers who were now in their 30s. So they doubled down on aging stars who were still good back when the grownup record buyers were teenagers. So US airwaves played tons of Genesis, Don Henley, Chicago, and Steve Winwood, but not a lot of young up and comers. So while the UK saw a new crop of good bands, these were largely stifled in the US for lack of exposure.

[@toughbutsweet1]

I noticed that radio stations controlled which songs received airplay when I started listening to the LA and San Diego stations an hour from where I lived. There so many songs I never heard on our local stations. So lame.

[@user-sp6jk3zz5b]

The US accounts for the majority of overall album sales in the world. It is a huge, important market and tough to break into. It seems as if Europe hangs onto artists long after their shelf life in America. It's not that America doesn't embrace the artists like Europe because most of them had huge hits here( Donna Summer,Madonna , .... . We know when they aren't cutting it anymore. The Michael Jackson hit on this list seems to have been off a 1970s album that was never meant to be a single. After songs like Rock With You ,this one was very underwhelming and A - typical for Muchael

[@MATTY110981]

One point of note that in the 80’s there was not many radio stations in the UK. BBC Radio One was the only national station to play pop music and Capital was the only commercial pop music station in London. These stations played a wide variety of music and held a huge influence.

[@KristineMaitland]

What gets me is that I remember many of these songs being on the Canadian charts.

[@zombiedodge1426]

Jennifer Rush's "The Power of Love" hit #1 in Canada, which might be why Queen Celine covered it.

[@hirsch4155]

I remember China in your hand and Japanese Boy as a kid , not sure if they were huge hits but they were played on top 40 radio when we had long car rides in Canada.

[@jonleibow3604]

I'd be interested in a "No'1 Canada, a Flop in the US". Though, the opposite would be much harder to compile. Pretty much everything that hits the US charts, also hits the Canadian charts.

[@hirsch4155]

@@jonleibow3604 thing is that Canadian radio had rules (the government ) about having to play a certain percentage of Canadian music content.

[@owenbloomfield1177]

I was thinking the same thing how I'm sure a few of these were on the charts in Canada. I remember loving that Midge Ure album and seeing that song on the charts.

[@newtonduck1]

The Bee Gees and You Win Again was a big US miss. I remember they played the song on VH-1 fairly often but it never caught on. It's still one of my favorite songs. Interesting to see songs that I remember and thinking they were bigger hits here in the States.

[@cohenaaronm6]

The Anti-Disco backlash was probably a big contributor to the Bee Gees having trouble charting in the US in the 80s.

[@zombiedodge1426]

@@cohenaaronm6 I think that’s part of the reason “Chain Reaction,” written by and prominently featuring the Bee Gees, underperformed so badly in America.

[@orlandodiaz6224]

China in Your Hand by T’Pau. Loved that song when I lived in the UK. I played it recently at work and a colleague, asked me if it was a new song. I told her no it’s from ‘87 and she loved it.

[@Franeeky]

Did she tell you it was China in your hands?

[@zombiedodge1426]

"Heart and Soul" was a hit in the US. Actually, several of the artists in this compilation, like Eddy Grant and Paul Young, had *other* songs that caught in America.

[@hirsch4155]

Loved the line as a kid don’t wish too hard because they might come true … I understood it to mean you’ve created a monster

[@jasonchace494]

Explains a lot! I play song pop and there's so many UK hits on there. I followed the charts all through the 80s and I assure you that barely any of these songs were ever played in the US. The UK usually gets it right, I always said...ashes to ashes, fantastic song!

[@themotownboy1]

Even though I grew up in the US, I know most of these songs and have many of them because I listened to shortwave broadcasts from Europe and I went to record stores that would carry imports. I am so glad I was able to look and listen beyond the border.

[@raygrooves2666]

The biggest selling UK single of 89 was Black Box - Ride on time, there was no way the US could get their heads around Italian House music, it was just the begining, the 90's UK and US charts were completely different.

[@zombiedodge1426]

Black Box's "Everybody Everybody" went to #8 in the US in 1990, and "Strike it Up" went to #8 (again) in the US the following year.

[@TheGustavitou]

Maybe the single wasn't even released in USA because the song was heavily sampling a well respected American soul singer, while Black Box made everybody else believe that the model on the video was singing it... but well, the same thing could be said about the following singles too

[@raygrooves2666]

@@zombiedodge1426 I think dance music was about to take take off in America with C and C music factory but then one of them died and well that was that for 20 + years over there.

[@FriendofDorothy]

Black Box was very big in the gay dance clubs here in L.A. That album was fantastic. "Ride on Time", "Strike it Up", and "Everybody, Everybody" all got played a lot but radio never seemed to play them.

[@vahvahdisco]

This brought back many memories of my teen years ! And I still have all these songs on vinyl from way back then !

[@johncady9780]

One small radio station in my hometown of Fairmont, West Virginia was very much in tune with the UK music scene. WTCS AM 1490 played a lot of the wonderful songs from across the pond during the period from 1977 to 1987. Those were great times.

[@guksack]

If you click on to any song on Wikipedia I love how different the US placing is on the charts compared to EVERY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD

[@JCesar-xf2bk]

I'm so glad you made the video. I was curious to see the other ''side''. So many great songs were ignored in America. That said, entering the US charts was extremely difficult, so kudos to all the artists that managed to get '''minor'' hit.

[@ExplorHits]

Yeah, It's stunning to discover how many iconic songs couldn't break into the Top-100.

[@JCesar-xf2bk]

@@ExplorHits True!

[@chrisnemec5644]

Very nicely done. I hope there will be a sequel of this set in the 90's.

[@WonderWhatHappened]

Candy Girl was popular in the US surprised it didn't chart any higher. I remember singing that song just as well before my voice changed. That song brings back some of the best memories for me in the 80's

[@user-ki3cf6yi1s]

Candy Girl went to number one on Billboard US R&B charts selling over half a million copies here in America.

[@swtv1754]

​@user-ki3cf6yi1s That's what I was going to say. They played all the time on R&B radio stations

[@some.random.baldie2111]

The strangest is Jennifer Rush's 'The Power of Love'. The best selling single of 1985 here in the UK, a staple on radios and at some weddings and funerals...yet limped in across the pond at #57. Yes Celine's version was a big hit there, but still. It's Jennifer's song, yet everyone knows Jennifer's version here in the UK. It's baffling. Some of these are probably more 'Brit only', but seeing some big artists flop with these songs (especially natives of the US) is a shock. They had sense with Jive Bunny the Americans did.

[@josephwest124]

If I'm remembering correctly, part of the problem for Jennifer Rush in the US is that Air Supply recorded and released a cover of the song at about the same time (the summer of 1985) that Jennifer Rush's version was being released in the UK (the song, incidentally, had originally been released in Germany in late 1984 but didn't get released in the UK until the summer of 1985). And Air Supply's version met with "flop status" as well (peaking at #68 on the Hot 100) largely because of that OTHER "Power of Love" song by Huey Lewis and the News from that minor cult film, "Back to the Future." American DJs are reluctant to play two songs with the same title (even if the lyrics and music are completely different) and the Huey Lewis song was getting all the airplay and MTV play. And, by the time Jennifer Rush's version was finally released in the States, her version was largely viewed as a "cover" of the Air Supply song (she did fare better on the Hot 100 but AC radio didn't pick up her take--Air Supply's version made it to #13).

[@briannicholson5205]

"Power of Love" by Rush was the #1 song of 1986 in Canada. I recall seeing it played quite heavily on MuchMusic (Canada's MTV) back then. I was always suprised that it never made the AT40. I believe Laura Branigan had a top 40 hit with it later in the 1980's. Rush's version is superior to Branigan's IMHO, and I do like Laura Branigan's overall body of work.

[@meteerbil2078]

Jennifer Rush co-wrote the song so its really hers (bought it on maxi-single when it came). And Celine did a cover of it and had a huge hit.

[@abinashmishra329]

@@meteerbil2078I always call it t Jennifer Rush’s Power of Love (not to mix it up with the Huey Lewis from BTTF). But my favorite cover is the Laura Branigan version.

[@ticketyboo2456]

Yeah I hated Jennifer Rush's one hit wonder and assumed she was an American diva. Had no idea she was unknown in USA. That song stinks of America.

[@PtolemyJones]

I think Stand And Deliver and Candy Girl are the only ones I remember hearing at the time. With the advent of KZbin, I have heard a few more, like the Abba tune, and Buck Fizz

[@Tatai805]

New Edition, Diana Ross and others FAILING to achieve better positions in their home country, how is this possible?

[@ccgrey8731]

Because that's one song by them. They had other songs that were much more popular.

[@user-sp6jk3zz5b]

Super Trooper by Abba was a great song. I have no idea why they were not as huge in the US as Europe. Their only #1 here was Dancing Queen. Some of those were remakes of songs that were already hits in the US.Spirit In The Sky by Norman Greenbaum (1970) is considered one of the top 500 rock songs of all time in the US. Caravan of Love by The Isley Bros was a 1985 hit. Shakin Stevens never caught on in the US and I think its because he was singing the wrong style of music. We were done with rockabilly Elvis Presley music by the 1960s. I will also add that Bee Gees You Win Again should have been bigger. here After 1979 they did have hits collaborating with other American artists. Islands in The Stream was a hit for Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers Also Barry did a duet with Barbara Streisand Little brother Andy was a huge star in US and Canada but not Europe. He had 3 #1 hits and 2 top 5 hits

[@Hillers62]

The Firm's Star Trekkin' was a big hit on Dr. Demento's weekly show...he played nationwide crazy songs from everywhere...so it was a hit there...

[@Damian-sn2sx]

1987-1991:Stock Aitken & Waterman era❤

[@adamshaw5975]

SAW: The nadir of 80's music.

[@oscarvanschijndel4989]

UK: 1987-1991: Stock Aitken & Waterman era. Actually SA&W were around before 1987 (Hazell Dean, Divine, Dead or Alive). The UK was also the nation that brought House music into the charts (Farley Jackmaster Funk, Steve Silk Hurley, Ten City, Inner City, D Mob, Beatmasters). US: 1987-1991: hair metal era. Warrant, Poison, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Guns 'n Roses...

[@heeeeeresrossy]

@@oscarvanschijndel4989 also, Pete Waterman got into the house/dance music scene presenting alongside Michaela Strachan on 'The Hitman and Her'

[@johnord684]

Thats when music went down hill for me

[@Damian-sn2sx]

@@heeeeeresrossy I loved Michaela's single Take A Good Care....that was one of the best SAW productions

[@pythonfan1]

Some of these songs that were big in the UK, particularly "First Time" by Robin Beck, sounded like they would have had some potential in the US.

[@debm3041]

The Robin Beck song was from a coca cola advert and thats how it got to number one, it's surprising how it didn't chart in the USA

[@tinkler4]

Jason and Kylie’s Especially For You, should be on there?

[@zombiedodge1426]

Britain: gloats about having much better taste in music than Americans Also Britain: makes "Shaddap You Face" a #1 hit

[@ericforsyth]

It's a good, fun song. Should it have kept Vienna by Ultravox from the #1 spot? Probably not. Vienna didn't even chart in the US, though. And loads of utter rubbish was charting in America at the time. What even is "I Love a Rainy Night"?

[@jeremynv89523]

Love the Brits, but they can be silly sometimes. Some British groups (America, for example) had more success here.

[@owenbloomfield1177]

I remember it being a bit hit in Canada too.

[@ericforsyth]

@@jeremynv89523 I had no idea America were part-British. Sort of minor part, though, which explains why they were bigger in the US

[@jameshefferan773]

Oh no they didn't. Joe Dolce was Australian. From the country that also gave you Air Supply. P.S. We also claim the Bee Gees as they became the Bee Gees in Oz.

[@knockshinnoch1950]

Michael Jackson's One Day In Your Life was originally released in 1975. It flopped in the UK where it got zero airplay and was a minor hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Diana Ross achieved 2 solo No1s in the UK, both of which flopped in the USA where she had 12 No1s with the Supremes between 1964-69, only the Beatles and Elvis scored more US No1s during the 60s. She had 4 solo No1s in the 70s and 2 in the 80s.

[@gardenplots283]

I had the album the song came from. I loved the song.

[@FriendofDorothy]

As I recall Diana Ross did an album called "The Force and the Power" (which I bought) that did not really catch fire in U.S.A. I had it and it was full of med. tempo fluff and big, rather bombastic ballads. The best track on the album was "If We Hold On Together", a song written for a movie about animated dinosaurs (I think). James Horner of "Titanic" fame co-wrote it. The Stevie Wonder-penned title track was a good song but the arrangement was too heavy-handed for my taste. I see "Chain Reaction" did very well in UK but not quite as well here. It's a decent track but sounded too derivative of some other song to be of much interest as I recall.

[@clarkvaughan]

As an American, I'm shocked that Diana Ross had any hits after 'Missing You'. We're extremely myopic here.

[@knockshinnoch1950]

@@FriendofDorothy When You Tell me That You Love Me from that album reached No2 in the UK, held of the No1 spot by Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen which had been rereleased due to lead singer Freddie Mercury's death. Diana would reach No2 again in 2005 with the same song recorded asa duet with the Irish Boy Band Westlife.

[@abbagodz]

Thank you for making this. I tried to buy as many 45's of big U.K. hits that were released here in the U.S. and had a lot that were on this list. I had all the singles from Chess which included 'I Know Him So Well'. Typical that U.S. radio wouldn't play a song like that, sounded too much like ABBA, which we were never big on. 'One Night In Bangkok did make it to #3, but that didn't sound anything like them. lol

[@tsitracommunications2884]

Mores the pity. The critics' loss

[@Thatssomebadhatharry1]

Yeah the US never really developed taste hey avoiding ABBA until well after their break up. Still they rediscovered them and their newest album sold like hot cakes (voyage)

[@tsitracommunications2884]

@@Thatssomebadhatharry1 Also Americans didn't like a steady diet of England's share of the new romantic and two tone/Ska genres. But then Brits felt american genres like C&W along with hip hop and rap weren't their interest

[@Thatssomebadhatharry1]

@@tsitracommunications2884 yeah funny how countries can have such differing tastes isn’t it, and yet a small few break through both sides eg Adele , Taylor swift

[@Hillers62]

I'm American ..and I remember Odyssey's song...I loved it...I bought the 45...

[@seeker1432]

Thats one good thing about the internet. The US are getting to hear music they where deprived of for some reason . Many still havent heard of some great bands we have had. Take That is a good example. Not well known there i believe.

[@calvinguile1315]

I love Ashes to Ashes, it was from my favorite 80s Bowie album Scary Monsters, also A Town Called Malice was a great song too

[@OnlyGoodMusic_]

Europe has better taste than the USA, Ashes to Ashes was top 10 in almost all European countries, and Scary Monsters was number 1 in the UK, France, Australia, New Zealand, fantastic album!

[@jeffreylasky2737]

Honorable mention should also be The Communards with Don’t Leave Me This Way #1 in the UK #40 in the US Should have been a bigger hit in the US

[@CurioByBSpokeDesigns]

Gets better by the year! Loved it in the 80 but think I play it more then ever now

[@zombiedodge1426]

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" topped the chart in Britain, Canada and most of Western Europe but only made it to #13 in the US. Though that's still higher than it charted in France, where it only reached #34!

[@pepsiq11965]

I am from NYC and we had a lot of Dance music and Synth-pop played on the radio unlike the rest of America all except for L.A. of course. The British are always more openminded to new music as a whole and start new music trends even though a lot of the new music Genres start in the USA. Thank God for the U.K. for being so damn COOL

[@lazarusxtc]

The UK market is a lot smaller than the US so more niche,faddy or quirky songs can top the chart by selling much smaller amounts.

[@Leftatalbuquerque]

A few of these were Canadian hits - radio and club/disco. Not in the US...

[@BaddogSports]

These video are very original and interesting. Thanks for putting them up

[@peteince]

The Ferry Aid cover of The Beatles Let it Be, was a charity song to raise money for the relatives of the victims in the Herald of Free Enterprise Ferry disaster in 1987. The ferry capsized shortly after leaving the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium. Most of the passengers were British. Ferry Aid was made up of several singers and musicians, who were popular in the UK at the time. I doubt the song was ever released in the US.

[@-Birgit]

Awesome 👌what a nice time and great music ~ Thank you very much for that 🤩

[@ExplorHits]

Thanks for watching it!

[@RLucas3000]

Frankie’s Two Tribes was big on MTV, and The Bee Gees ‘You Win Again’ (totally forgot about this great song!) was all over VH1. And Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes, because it had a video, was all over the local syndicated video shows before MTV premiered. But other than those, I want to listen to so many of these, especially the first few years of the 80s!

[@KristVladic]

I'm genuinely surprised in most of the examples...Big hits in Britain, and Europe in general, didn't even make it to the Hot Hits 100 in the US!!

[@Dr.Quarex]

It is just infuriating in hindsight that we were denied "Star Trekkin'" but I suppose we did not allow nerdy things to be popular until at least 15 years later

[@KristVladic]

@@Dr.Quarex Interesting sentence, comment on the matter. :)

[@levibachiller1410]

It didnt release in the u.s.

[@jeremynv89523]

I was in my 20s in the 80s. I can shed a little bit of light on this. Many on this list had already been hits in the US, performed by other artists. Others were performed by artists that had other hits in the US. (The BeeGees, ABBA, D'Pau, etc.) Still others were in a genre that just didn't catch on much in the States (the Eurodisco/techno stuff). Still others just weren't catchy enough. The one that puzzles me the most personally is Supertrouper. I still do think it deserved a top spot on our charts.

[@Lukecash2]

@@Dr.QuarexStat Trekin’ was actually quite popular on Dr. Dementos radio show, which was big on playing novelty songs. Doctor Who was popular enough to become a standard in clubs and is sampled to this day at sports events.

[@patrickkelmer6290]

I find it interesting that the video for Power of Love is probably Jennifer Rushs most american of all her music videos, yet the song was barely noticed over there.

[@erics9511]

This was really interesting! I clearly remember seeing videos for "Ashes To Ashes" and "Stand And Deliver" on US MTV back in the early 80s, so it's surprising that they weren't actually hits. Also, I think some more of the Stock Aitken Waterman artists (like Mel & Kim and Jason Donovan) could have done well over here considering Rick Astley's success. I only heard about them by reading the British music press like Select and Q. By the way, that "Star Trekkin'" song -- what the heck were you guys in the UK thinking?? Lol.

[@alonso1050]

The teletubies intro was a hit in 1998

[@talesofawhovian9690]

@@alonso1050And don’t forget Bob The Builder having three UK #1s to his name. 😄

[@TheOldTapeArchive]

"If I Was" by Midge Ure of Ultravox (an underrated band) was one of my favorite songs of 1985. It was featured on the "Rock Over London" syndicated radio show, which fortunately our local station carried. American radio largely ignored it, of course, because most program directors preferred the same formulaic schlock, especially toward the end of the 80's. It was fun comparing the Hits of the World page in Billboard to the US Hot 100. Most of the best UK hits failed to hit #1 there (same in America, where many of the best didn't even crack top 10, or even top 40).

[@trumpsta4759]

Can you do a similar one for Australia ..the US missed many hits by Australian legends such as Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil, The Angels, Australian Crawl, Skyhooks, Mondo Rock etc and NZ legends such as Split Enz.

[@ExplorHits]

I'll need to check it out, maybe it would be more efficient to make one about Australian acts that had success in the US cause I believe most weren't released as a single in the States.

[@trumpsta4759]

@@ExplorHits or change the title for this one eg hits in Australia vs flops OR unreleased in the US?

[@DJohRicky1]

Artists are marketed differently around the world. So even though the first Jason Donovan album was released in the States, he didn't have the soap following in the States with Neighbours as he had overseas. Therefore he didn't translate as a Rick Springfield over here but merely as a good-looking kid with some pop records. So he may have had to go up the likes of Rick Astley with the same S/A/W sound.

[@derricklogan2058]

There are quite a few groups or singers here that I never heard, but even if Eddy Grant didn't make #1 with that particular song, I enjoyed it! I still have that album right now and absolutely NO SCRATCHES OR KNICKS of any kind on it ANYWHERE!! Also, I burned a copy of that song on a CD with other songs I like so I can listen to when I am driving! I was about 23 or 24 years old when that song was being played on the radio years ago! But Electric Avenue was his BIG HIT here in America!

[@ianferguson3840]

Incredible. Still can't believe that Kelly Marie, Sonia, and Jason Donovan never had a hit in the USA, although although all three were big in the clubs here. I think Americans were burnt out in terms of Bee Gees by the late 80s, which is why "You Win Again" (and "Alone") never caught on hee, and that may also explain partially why Diana's BeeGee-produced "Chain Reaction" didn't click either. Biggest disappointment though was how little attention Shakin' Stevens and the Jam got over here. I'm a die-hard fan of both (Paul Weller is a bloody genius)

[@allisons3663]

I can understand many of the songs not charting in the US as many of those artists had no real presence in America before or after those songs reached #1 in the UK, but somebody like Diana Ross or even more, The Bee Gees, not getting a Top 40 placement on those songs is really a shame.

[@Tatai805]

Native American singers FAILING in the charts of their country, what a shame!

[@NoahBarzel]

Probably a case by the late 80s, MTV played a big part what became a hit and sometimes older artists didn't register on MTV

[@Britpop938]

What I loved about the chart toppers in the UK vs the US is they didn’t spend so long in the top spot. You saw more variety, yes, and some were silly but some were really great and completely ignored in the US. Definitely different markets.

[@rmscr7ronald]

👍 🇧🇴 Fans n1 Bolivia 🇧🇴 del techno eurodance 90 y la musica 🎶 del pasado 70-80-90 y parte del 00 00.01.02.03.04.05 👍 xsiempre waoo presente aquí waoo 💯 waoo 💯 waoo maravillosos y legendarios temasos músicales 💯 saludos cordiales desde sudamerica santa cruz Bolivia 🇧🇴 excelente recuerdaso qué viva xsiempre la música 🎶 del pasado 70-80-90 y parte del 00 00.01.02.03.04.05 👍 xsiempre waoo las mejores épocas de la música 🎶 💃 🎶 y de la vida 👀 💃 💜 💃 💚💃💜💃💛💃🎶💃👍💙💙👀😄😁

[@zombiedodge1426]

Most of these are obscure in Canada, too, but some of them were hits (or at least appeared regularly on MuchMusic) when I was growing up: Doctor and the Medics' "Spirit In The Sky," Midge Ure's "If I Was," JFeargal Sharkey's "A Good Heart" and (sigh) Jive Bunny. I remember a couple of Shakin' Stevens songs on the radio when I was young, but he's likely best remembered to Canadian Gen-Xers for his music being advertised on television.

[@gnu_andrew]

I enjoyed seeing this side of it. I was starting to wonder which UK #1s actually *were* a hit in the US, because there seem to be so many in here. I guess the Madonna & MJ songs, plus the 2nd British Invasion with things like Culture Club & Human League. I was surprised that Kylie wasn't in this video, but then the late 80s was one of the few times she did have some US success. I would love to see the same for other decades. I would expect the 90s would be quite short, as we in the UK had some very long running #1s and most of the differences would be further down the chart. The 70s & 2000s I expect would be very different, as little glam rock crossed over to the US in the 70s and there was a lot of here-today-gone-tomorrow reality TV stars in the 2000s (plus 40-odd #1s in 2000 alone!)

[@ColinsCity]

I was thinking that but then checked the chart position for i should be so lucky and it was 28 which is quite good

[@gnu_andrew]

@@ColinsCity oh yeah that and her "Locomotion" cover were the success I was thinking of. But there's then a gulf between 1988 and 2002 where she never made the Billboard charts again: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6jInnyGbd2laZY So she'd certainly be in a 90s version of this.

[@ColinsCity]

@@gnu_andrew oh definitely, I’m surprised Especially For You wasn’t in this. She can also be in a 2000s edition too

[@gnu_andrew]

@@ColinsCity that one should have been, I think. It was #1 here (and now a million seller) but didn't even chart stateside.

[@splintercast8092]

I was surprised that Kylie wasn't in this too although I think she only had 3 No1s including Especially For You with Jason Donovan. Surprised that Hand On Your Heart was a hit in the US though as it has to be one of her more forgettable songs.

[@MikeCee7]

Some of these are surprising they didn’t chart higher, here in the USA. Like the Michael Jackson song. 1:27 & “Candy Girl” 2:19 FYI: Adam Ant, FGTH, were huge here in America on MTV. Them, “The Jam”, and the “House Martin’s” were played a lot here, on MTV & on college radio.

[@oscarvanschijndel4989]

Thanks for the video! Quite a number of songs were hits in the U.S. in a different form: 1:02 that is only one of 20 hits Shakin' Stevens had. Many of his songs were covers of American hits. 1:10 Bucks Fizz also had 20 hits, "The Land Of Make Believe" also made it to No. 1 (also here in the Netherlands). I especially like this version: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5DJl2SbaKeHhbs 1:39 Lesley Gore's original was No. 1 in the U.S. in 1963. 1:58 version by The Tokens was No. 1 in the U.S. in 1961. 2:11 follow-up "Electric Avenue" was No. 1 in the U.S. 2:42 cover by Whitney & Cissy Houston was a big hit in the U.S. 2:49 cover by Marilyn Martin was No. 1 in The U.S. 3:28 Norman Greenbaum's original was No. 3 in the U.S. in 1969. 3:36 original by Isley-Jasper-Isley was a U.S. No. 1 R&B hit. 4:03 original by The Beatles was No. 1 in the U.S. in 1970. 5:22 Brian Hyland's version was No. 3 in the U.S. in 1962. 5:37 Jive Bunny's hit was a medley of American rock 'n roll songs.

[@ExplorHits]

Thank you so much for this in depth & detailed comment, very interesting!

[@duduche6]

Really surprised by 'You win again' flop. And not surprised that Stock Aitken Waterman sound didn't appeal US ears. Even if some hots like 'Never gonna give you up' did it and I don't know why this last one more than others.

[@perseusjoppa426]

Stock Aitken Waterman acts that did have hits in the US: Rick Astley (five Top 10 hits, two of them #1), Bananarama (#4 with I Heard a Rumour and previously #8 with Cruel Summer), Dead or Alive (#11 with You Spin Me Round Like a Record and #15 with Brand New Lover), Kylie Minogue (#3 with The Loco-Motion) and Donna Summer (#7 with This Time I Know It's For Real).

[@duduche6]

@@perseusjoppa426 Compared to the rest of the world it wasn't that much. In those days we had so many SAW productions in the charts. I thought 'Cruel summer' wasn't a SAW production

[@rdmtimpaz]

@@perseusjoppa426 Cruel Summer was produced by Tony Swain and Steve Jolley; it predated Bananarama's work with SAW.

[@perseusjoppa426]

@@rdmtimpaz Fair enough.

[@lindaeasley5606]

There are hits in the US that flopped in the UK. For instance ,Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark had more hits in the US than UK.Their 1988 song Dreaming was top 10 in US but I believe failed to chart in UK The Fixx Secret Seperation peaked at 19 in US , flop everywhere else . Secret Seperation was #1 on hot rock tracks chart in US As an American ,listening to these songs my reaction is I can understand why they were flops here.A good number of them sound so awful

[@isabeld.paredes4923]

OMD's actual US Top 10 hit was If you leave, from the 1986 movie Pretty in pink. Dreaming actually made the Top 20. Unfortunately, by then few UK pop acts were making hits as consistently in the late 1980's as it happened in the mid-1980's. In 1988, US Top 40 audiences were more attuned to American pop and R&B and somewhat leaning towards HR/HM. Then came the 1990's and alternative rock and hip hop led the way, in terms of music-chart popularity

[@zombiedodge1426]

Escape Club's "Wild Wild West" was the first (and might still be the only) song by a British artist that hit #1 in the US and failed to chart at all in the UK. Bush (known as "Bush X" in Canada because another band was already using the name) were much bigger in North America than in Britain, too.

[@joebloggs396]

Their better work was in the first half of the 80s. After that (like some other British musicians) they sought to appeal to the lucrative US market by going for smoother US radio fare.

[@Hillers62]

OK...Tight Fits version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was always on MTV in the early 80s..I loved it! How was this not a hit here?

[@brianfinlay756]

would love to see a 90s one

[@elsongs]

A LOT of Stock, Aitken and Waterman-produced tunes in the late '80s...

[@neilwaldock6272]

What about Kylie Minogue's Hand on your Heart, and Especially for You (with Jason)? And I should should be so lucky wasn't exactly a hit in the US.

[@ExplorHits]

'I Should Be So Lucky' peaked at No'28 which is very respectable I think any song that could crack the american Top-40 was considered as a success in that huge market. As for 'Hand On My Heart' / Especially For You' - both of them weren't released as a single in the States.

[@elilevineg]

@@ExplorHitscan you add songs that weren’t even released as a single in the US? This is also a big difference from the UK

[@skymuffn]

@@ExplorHits…a big thank you for these snippets of history in regards to music. It gives an insight on how music is taken on both sides of the pond (Europe too). Growing up in the 70’s-80’s shuttling between US (SF), London, Tokyo and Luxembourg/Germany (1978-80) has given me a taste of it all. Regarding US release, Bucks Fizz was not, so was the single “Begin The Beguine” by Julio Iglesias. Or did they?

[@williamwilkinson6665]

Wow i never knew Star Trekin' was a hit anywhere . I just remember it from Dr. Demento Show

[@dubmoyet]

Love the new content

[@ExplorHits]

Thanks for watching it!

[@WendyCR72]

I have heard of some songs here that ended up as remakes (Everything I Own, Sealed With A Kiss, etc.) but I never knew they *were* remade because most - as shown - didn't even make a dent in the US. The rest, including from marquee names like Michael Jackson, Abba, etc., I never even knew of these particular songs at all. It really is wild just how different the US/UK charts are/were. (I will say I did hear of "Two Tribes Go To War" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood as MTV gave it some airplay, but "Relax" was their only big US hit here.)

[@lo_souza]

@2:43 "I Know Him So Well" is from "Chess" - the concept album (1984) and subsequent musical (1986) by ABBA (Bjorn & Benny) and Tim Rice - it was the #2 best-selling single in 1985 in the UK. ✌️ "One Night in Bangkok" fared much better - #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also hitting the Billboard Hot Black Singles. 😂

[@miali9393]

Whitney Houston and her mom did a decent remake of this for her 2nd album, which was my intro to it. Love Whitney, but for me Elaine & Barbara's version is superior. I thought mom butchered the ending 😂.

[@AtheistOrphan]

A lot of American videos refer to The Proclaimers as a one-hit wonder band, because their only success over there was ‘500 Miles’, whereas they had more hits over here.

[@brianfinlay756]

Madness and spandau ballet are also considered one hit wonders in America.

[@AtheistOrphan]

@@brianfinlay756 - Really? I didn’t know that! Do you know what their respective hits were over there by chance?

[@SR-vk3fv]

Our House and True

[@AtheistOrphan]

@@SR-vk3fv - Thanks very much!👍

[@newjoel18]

"Letter from America" was actually a bigger hit than "500 Miles" in the UK

[@rng72]

Im 51 so I remember the 80s. This list is pretty mellow compared what I listened to in Canada. Interesting.

[@knockshinnoch1950]

Great video- I've been a chart nerd since the early 70s. It has always fascinated me to see how many monster hits on one side of the Atlantic fail completely on the other. There are hundreds of No1s that have failed to make the same impact on the other side. Sometimes cover versions by native citizens take the crown. You should do the 60s and 70s too and the US No1s that flopped here! Some fascinating facts that will shock many folks. Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 is the perfect example- one of her best loved records and a big US No1 failed to make the UK Top 40!!!!!

[@trickygoose2]

9 to 5 is an interesting one as it is a very well-known song here in the UK.

[@knockshinnoch1950]

Ask most folks int he UK and they think it was a massive hit here- it's only one of many hundreds of records that have achieved lasting success here that when released were flops on the UK charts- Donna Summer- Last Dance & On The Radio are two of her most well know hits but both failed to make the UK Top 30. Journey's Don't Stop Beleivin' also flopped in the UK when it was first released in the early 80s. @@trickygoose2

[@trickygoose2]

@@knockshinnoch1950 Donna Summer is unusual as an American artist whose commercial peak in the UK came earlier than in the US. I can't remember hearing Don't Stop Believin' on British radio on its initial release, although I had heard it a few times before Glee triggered it becoming a hit here in the late 2000s. I would say that when it first came out, Journey were one of a number of US stadium rock type bands that regularly charted in the US but were largely out of step with what was happening in the UK. There was the odd exception, such as REO Speedwagon having some hits, but the likes of Journey, Asia and Styx tended to miss the top 40 even they made the top 75.

[@knockshinnoch1950]

Love To Love You Baby reached No2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1976- when it also reached No4 in the UK despite the BBC banning it here. She had her 1st No1 in the UK with I Feel Love in 1977. Several of her biggest UK hits failed in the US- Love's Unkind & Theme From the Deep, of course like most US artists she was far more successful in the US breaking a number of chart records@@trickygoose2

[@zombiedodge1426]

I just realized that the song about Star Trek, an iconic American show, didn’t chart at all in the US. But the song about Britain’s Doctor Who, which wasn’t widely shown in America at the time, actually made it to the middle of the Hot 100.

[@JustMinx]

Shaddap You Face was #1 with the Dr. Demento crowd. ❤

[@benjaminparkinson5255]

That is acutely realy sad I loved all those songs

[@psmaia82]

the billboard charts in the USA in the eighties and nineties were completely different compared to the charts in the UK and Europe, Americans were always more conservative with little openness to pop music produced in Europe, always more focused on Rock Pop music from bands made in USA, black funk soul R&B music, later the Hip Hop boom. despite many number 1 hit tracks in the UK they are a real disgrace lol.

[@spankynater4242]

I don't know what alternate dimension you were in in the 80s, but british, Australian, and Canadian new wave were the 80s in America.

[@psmaia82]

@@spankynater4242 but the new wave synth pop groups from England and Canada were categorized in the underground scene and not in the commercial or mainstream scene, the big gothic synth rock pop groups were only promoted on alternative TV channels or radio stations in the USA. Bands like Bauhaus, Ultravox, Skiny Puppy, among many others did not enter the Billboard sales charts or even reached the top 40! There was only one exception, Depeche Mode! And this is the point I want to get to, you understand?

[@trainrover]

interesting -- knowing that hits from nearby stateside needn't influence our own tastes much, I hadn't realised how much we'd been following GB trendings..fuck! because much if not in fact most of these stateside N/E's had become popular hereabouts

[@bitchsalad]

This was FASCINATING. Thank you for making!

[@WienerVL]

All this songs i can hear in my country on a daily basis on the radio!

[@BaoLe-ee6ed]

Stand and Deliver by Adam Ant may night have been high on the charts but I remember the video being repeatedly played on Night Tracks and maybe even in MTV.

[@Demetri450]

Some of these were considered underground music, which only were through word of mouth and found at selected music stores.

[@aries7839]

Especially for you and Hand on your heart were no 1`s that didn`t chart at all in the U.S., probably a few others that weren`t included.

[@ExplorHits]

They didn't get a U.S. single release, that's why they're not on this video.

[@aries7839]

Ok , strange Jason Donovan did .

[@dominewimbury2039]

I give the yanks credit for largely ignoring Shaddap You Face, Star Trekking, Doctoring The Tardis and Jive Bunny! Wish we'd had the same sense! 🤦🙄

[@80sandretrogubbins25]

Scarcely believable that a *Coca-Cola advert song* didn't even blip in their main chart. It's like the most American late-80s sounding song you could think of. Did copyright/legal issues thwart it or something?

[@ExplorHits]

I read there was a feud between Coca Cola and the record company over this song, so it got very little promotion in the US.

[@80sandretrogubbins25]

@@ExplorHits Exactly as I thought.

[@rickcole349]

A couple of those singles did well in Canada.

[@lancekerslake2488]

I'm surprised by some of these as about half of them screamed America

[@heidifedor]

I remember hearing most of these on the radio.

[@perseusjoppa426]

Half nice songs that could've been bigger in the US, but at least the other half are terrible songs, honestly.

[@MYTHOUGHTS46]

First of All I love these uploads I'm surprised that chain reaction by Dan Ross didn't do better in the USA how nice to know that Frankie by sister'slabs had a wonderful run in the UK It is interesting that Ace of Base had a number one hit in America with They're cover of don't turn around And I don't know what What's going on with the UK making candy girl number one to this day that is 1 of the worst songs ever recorded.

[@juggler64]

"Frankie" by Sister Sledge has been one of my favorites ever since I heard it on the radio, which happened exactly once. I've never heard it on any Oldies stations. It's mind-blowing to me that a song that was number one for four straight weeks in the UK could get so little love here in the artists' own country.

[@antheabrouwer3258]

I'm so surprised! I thought Australia would have more in common with the UK than the US. There were only 3 songs in the first post that were hits in the US that weren't here. But there was a whole lot here. I either never heard of them, and in the case of Jason Donovan, the only chart hits he had here were the ones he did with Kylie!!

[@adamlevenberg]

Fascinating how songs that made it to UK #1 but no U.S. charting have a lot in common: Novelty songs and covers of old popular songs by current famous artists.

[@user-ki3cf6yi1s]

New Edition Candy Girl. Yeah it on hit #46 on the US Pop charts, but it was a number one smash on the US R&B charts.

[@josephwest124]

One of the things that should be remembered is that the US does have other music charts and some of these songs did fare a bit better on them. Sister Sledge's "Frankie," for instance, made it to #32 on the R&B chart and S'Express's "Theme from S'Express" topped the dance club-play chart for 2 weeks (and made it to #4 on the 12-inch single sales chart). And New Edition's "Candy Girl?" It topped the R&B chart .

[@montyb10009]

Exactly!!!

[@MrMulrine83]

The Only Way Is Up made it to #2 on the Dance Charts 🎉

[@lo_souza]

@0:46 ABBA’s "Super Trouper" combined with "Lay All Your Love on Me" and "On and On and On" hit #1 on the Billboard US Dance Club Play chart in 1981. ✌️

[@knockshinnoch1950]

Using the r&b chart is comparing apples and oranges.

[@montyb10009]

@@knockshinnoch1950 How is that exactly.

[@atrac88]

I bought the Chess album in 1989 and I Know Him So Well reached Number One on my chart.

[@NPGLAMB]

A lot of the upbeat, synth pop, or disco esque songs did well on the dance charts

[@alyzu4755]

Midge Ure may not have had a huge hit in the 80's in the U.S, but I listened to the album "The Gift" every day when it was released. ❤️

[@_B.M_]

Surprisingly, some were by US artists so you would have expected them to have chart success in the US. The charts are a strange thing!!

[@redluis369]

Todd in the shadows was right, the UK 80's was even weirder than the US 80's

[@zombiedodge1426]

Did you come here from the subreddit, too?

[@matheusjoaopaulocorreia1010]

🇧🇷fantástico 🇬🇧fantastic 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@Hillers62]

Doctor's version of Spirit In the Sky was big on MTV and the radio...how was this not a hit?

[@vpolite1]

It was a huge hit about 20 years earlier.

[@zombiedodge1426]

I don't think MTV counted for the Billboard Hot 100.

[@BridgLondon]

No mention of Nicole’s 1982 Eurovision winner and UK number one. I can’t imagine that it sold many Sophie’s stateside 😵‍💫😊

[@ExplorHits]

Nicole's single didn't get a release in the US.

[@Redsleather]

Or the dreadful ‘Seven Tears’ by the Goombay Dance Band and ‘Save Your Love’ by Rene and Renato 😂

[@Impromac]

Candy Girl was New Edition's first real hit in the US. I would start looking on the R&B charts in the US for more hits.

[@ruicastro7930]

Tpau first single" heart and soul" went to #4 in america, never undrstood why "china in your hand" didnt reach top 100.

[@oscarvanschijndel4989]

Maybe "Heart And Soul" went big because of the remix? kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZfNY3Z5idOFsJI

[@robertwwylie1443]

Odd to learn ashes to ashes didn't even break the top 100 here great tune

[@chriseagle51]

Remarkable how many covers made it to no. 1 ... From Jerry Lee Lewis to Beatles and beyond.

[@jwb52z9]

Some of these are a surprise for not being more popular in the US or never in the US at all.