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

All the number 1 hits of the 80s in the U.S. Top-100 that failed to make a real impact on the UK market.
"A Flop" = charting below the Top-20, low sales in real time and spending few weeks inside the Top-40.
Some real shockers in there

[@zeddeka]

Particularly in the later part of the 80s, chart music in the UK really diverged from America. It was the era of Rave in the UK and the charts featured a lot of pretty heavy dance music. People like Debbie Gibson and Paula Abdul were for the most part a very long way away from what British youth was listening to. That part of the market had been more or less saturated by Kylie Minogue, who got special traction because she'd appeared in the Australian soap "Neighbours" which was shown in the UK and became popular.

[@ExplorHits]

You're bringing some great points I've never thought of!

[@zeddeka]

@@ExplorHits looking back on the late 80s, that kind of mainstream pop was really burning out on both sides of the Atlantic. Paula Abdul and Debbie Gibson were a bit of an end point in the USA too. Things like grunge were just a couple of years away. Looking back, that kind of mainstream pop went into cold storage until the late 90s when it returned with the likes of Britney. Even Kylie Minogue moved away from it for almost the whole 90s.

[@Damian-sn2sx]

Absolutely agree! I'm a huge Kylie fan since 1987 and when Pebbles, Tiffany, Debbie Gibson or Paula were dominating pop culture in the US, the UK was living the Stock/Aitken/Waterman fever, which was leading by Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley, Bananarama, Sonia and many more

[@knockshinnoch1950]

The UK & US charts have always had massive disparities since day dot- cultural differences and a very different ethnic diversity ensured that.

[@AK-nj8gd]

@@ExplorHits Hi, could you do the same video for the 90's? Would appreciate it.

[@julianaylor4351]

The UK was into electronic pop and our own pop and rock bands. Depeche Mode, Culture Club, George Michael, Duran Duran, Iron Maiden, etc, etc....

[@perseusjoppa426]

Culture Club, George Michael/Wham! & Duran Duran were all huge in the US pop charts!

[@julianaylor4351]

@@perseusjoppa426 We had and in some case still do loads more acts, in the eighties, you never heard in the US.

[@TheAikenHead]

I think all the songs from 1980-85 were HUGE "radio hits" in the UK, and were well-known despite underperforming in the charts.

[@imbrod]

I agree. "Owner of a lonely heart" by Yes - in fact I thought they were British band. "She's a maniac" from Flashdance - who in Europe didn't know that hit?

[@rtp5768]

That could explain things. Even in the US the charts don’t always seem to match watch kids were listening too the most on radio and in general.

[@trickygoose2]

Yes were British. Although they had a lot of line up changes and may have had some non- British members at some stages of their career.

[@knockshinnoch1950]

So many of these tracks that failed in the UK had a very distinctive stadium rock sound that wasn't very popular here in the UK at that time. It was regarded as uncool by UK fans and the music press. Janet Jackson did have a string of big sellers in the UK but never achieved the elusive No1. It always amazed me that Hall & Oates never really had the kind of success here in the UK their music deserved- it was radio friendly- only Maneater & I Can't Go For That went top 10 in the UK.

[@mat5379]

Hall and Oates were (and still are) boring MOR..... Maneater & I Can't Go For That had a bit more to them and deserved the higher chart positions

[@spankynater4242]

It's not that y'all thought it was uncool, it's just that y'all didn't understand it.

[@starfish232]

There were lots of big stadium rock number ones here in the 80s. Starship, Queen, Bowie, Phil Collins, Foreigner, Europe, Robin Beck etc. And I don’t think the U.K. record-buying public were swayed by what the press thought was “uncool” - or else Bucks Fizz, Nick Berry and the Bee Gees wouldn’t have had number ones in the 80s either! Sometimes it comes down to pure luck, sometimes songs get more heavily promoted in certain regions, sometimes the artists themselves don’t do enough (Hall and Oates played just a single live concert in the UK in the 80s). I think its very simplistic to simply say that stadium rock music was uncool here!

[@ukbliss79]

@@spankynater4242yeah agree, the UK audience has always been more Pop oriented than Rock which the American is.

[@colino72]

@@spankynater4242Nah, he’s right. Much of it was bland shit. Some US acts did very well, of course. What appeals to the mid west US just doesn’t really do that well in the UK. But there’s a lot that does. The flipside is also true of a lot of UK acts and their reception in the US.

[@zombiedodge1426]

"Wild Wild West" was the first song by a British artist to hit #1 in the US while not charting at all in the UK.

[@veddyveddygood]

Didn't know they were from the UK.

[@Leftfield71]

Up to the end of 1984 I'd say "UK, what were you thinking they were great songs.", but from around 1985 onwards I'd say "USA, what were you thinking, they were crap songs." 😀

[@official_rown]

I agree with that except Janet Jackson should've done better

[@spankynater4242]

I saw this exact same comment, with the countries flipped on the counterpart video. Get some new material.

[@zombiedodge1426]

1983-84 were two of the greatest years ever for popular music. It had to go downhill from there.

[@zombiedodge1426]

The Brits were smart enough to pass on "The Pina Colada Song," though. (I've read that even Rupert Holmes himself hates it!)

[@Beckford4000]

Fun fact: nearly all of the singles released from Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" album reached #1 in the USA, none of them reached the top 10 in the UK, "Black Cat" was the biggest, peaking at #17.

[@mcst4917]

And the british say they have a better taste in music than americans… i’m nor even american but this is an overstatement

[@GravelordNito150]

Man, the Brits really missed the bus on Hall and Oates.

[@franohmsford7548]

Nope, they were just medicore Middle of the Road Soft Rock!

[@miztre83]

Australia too. I'd never heard of them until I started watching YT list videos

[@MICHAELJAMESBAYNE]

@@franohmsford7548 Says someone who knows squat about music

[@MICHAELJAMESBAYNE]

@@franohmsford7548 I bet you can't name even one better artist of that genre! Hall and Oates is the biggest selling duo in rock history for Pete's sake!

[@franohmsford7548]

@@MICHAELJAMESBAYNE OMD, Cutting Crew, U2, Simple Minds, Giorgio Moroder, ELO.....I could go on and on! And biggest selling means nothing....Madonna and Beyonce have both sold tonnes of records and singles....All utter trash!

[@safsd6358]

I guess The British music managers didn’t want Debbie Gibson to break into the UK and steal the teenagers attention from Kylie & Jason 😂

[@ExplorHits]

Haha poor Debbie

[@stereohype1]

I could be wrong but wasn't she the opening support act for Bros's stadium tour though? I also think that maybe her label Atlantic dropped the ball. They didn't enlist PWL aka S/A/W (who had the UK youth market eating out their hands) to remix her tracks for the UK market until her 3rd album Anything Is Possible in 1990. Had they done it for her Electric Youth era she could have been even bigger there but by the time she did team with PWL their brand of pop's appeal had already started to wane.

[@Damian-sn2sx]

Kylie and Jason were the dream come true for every teenager who loved pop music at the time

[@Glamking1]

Her real name now is Deborah Gibson, but she did okay being a singer, but when she played a scientist in that budget shark film in the 2000s came to the actress’ attention, same with other 80s female star Tiffany being in Mega Piranha, which was another budget movie similar to the mockbuster shark flicks. Also she did okay at West End theatre work in 1993 by playing Sandy Horowitz in Grease alongside Neighbours star Craig McLachlan playing Danny Zuko and they did have a hit cover called You’re the One That I Want in 1993 where it failed to reach the top 40, which was released as a single.

[@anndeecosita3586]

Jason who?

[@miztre83]

Since Australia seems to have the best of both worlds, most of the US and UK no 1s were hits here, it'd be great to see an Aus vs UK & US list!

[@veddyveddygood]

yep inded songs like "Diana Ross - Chain Reaction" and "Cliff Richard Living Doll" which were #1 in UK/AUS but didn't go anywhere in the US.

[@billk9856]

Especially up to the time Countdown finished. Thanks Molly.

[@stereohype1]

America rarely made non-US acts chart in the 80s yet other markets would be a cornacopia of acts from local + USA and other regions (eg Europe/Australia) so there was a lot more songs jostling for postion in the UK back then. Plus of course Stock/Aitken/Waterman dominated the UK charts in the late 80s which resulted in USA acts having less room left in which to land a higher chart position.

[@ExplorHits]

Good points!

[@zeddeka]

I think you also have to factor in that the late 80s into the early 90s was the era of Rave in the UK. The British charts had a lot of very heavy dance music that America did not.

[@Damian-sn2sx]

Loved S/A/W❤

[@zombiedodge1426]

The US charts were absolutely *packed* with non-American artists, especially between 1982-84, a period when UK new wave music was so popular it was called the "second British invasion." Several of the songs featured in this very video were from British artists. I was legitimately surprised to find out "Owner of a Lonely Heart" wasn't a huge hit in Yes' home country.

[@anndeecosita3586]

Wham, Culture Club, Police, Duran Duran, INXS, Olivia Newton John, Police. Seemed like I listened to a lot of non American artists as a little kid in the 80s.

[@supertuber120]

What's interesting is that with the songs that were No.1 in the US and flopped in the UK often at least charted in the UK. On the other list, No.1 in the UK and flopped in the US they often didn't even chart in the US. I know the US charts are a combination of sales and airplay whereas the UK charts is purely sales. Not sure if that could somehow have something to do with it.

[@martinhughes2549]

If you got on Top of the Pops in the UK or the Radio 1 playlist you'd get a chart placing most of the time. In the US you had to break each market through touring and promotion. This changes with the start of MTV. Then a lot of British artists had US hits. I temember the Pina Colada song, it was played to death in the UK. There was just much better stuff to buy in the charts. Certain UK musical trends, like Ska,Reggae, the Mod revival had no traction in the US. Some excellent records just didn't fit US marketing categories. They where niche. Top of the Pops in the early 80s covered the US charts for a couple of years, which meant millions of the UK record buying public heard or where aware of most of the US number 1s. It didn't work in reverse though!

[@ericforsyth]

It stands to reason songs in the American charts hung around longer (overstayed their welcome), and/or country songs took up a lot of spots.

[@safsd6358]

Kim Carnes- Bette Davis eyes charted „poorly” at #10 while being #1 almost everywhere.

[@anndeecosita3586]

I love that song.

[@josephrowe849]

I hate that song. Overplayed and very annoying.

[@BaddogSports]

Damn. No love for Richard Marx across the pond? He’s a legendary talent! Surprised he wasn’t bigger over there

[@ddemaine]

Hazard and Right Here still get plenty of play on the radio in the UK.

[@BaddogSports]

@@ddemaine Good stuff! Both great songs!

[@josephrowe849]

Who cares. It's just generic radio crap.

[@alistairrodgerfairbrother2479]

next one should be the other way around No'1 U.K, A Flop In The U.S.A | 80s Edition

[@ExplorHits]

That's the plan 🙂

[@jeanoboyle2439]

You Win Again (Bee Gees): #1 UK/#75 USA is a fine example.

[@ExplorHits]

@@jeanoboyle2439 and Jennifer Rush - The Power Of Love: UK's best selling single of 1985, only #57 in the US.

[@alistairrodgerfairbrother2479]

@@ExplorHits I'm glad we are on the same page I love your channel so much

[@NickSamon]

China in Your Hand, The Chicken Song, Don't Turn Around, I Owe You Nothing, Too Many Broken Hearts, And many more!@@alistairrodgerfairbrother2479

[@trickygoose2]

I think there are a few songs here that in the UK tended to appeal to people who were more likely to buy albums than singles. An example would be Steve Winwood's Roll with it which probably mainly encouraged people to buy the album of the same name. Also worth remembering that, unlike the US chart, the UK one doesn't have an airplay element, so if a song that gets played a lot on the radio is by someone who is more of an albums artist there is a good chance it won't chart even if it is quite well-liked. Wild Wild West by the Escape Club is one of the few US number 1s by a British act that never charted here. I do remember it getting some airplay, buy it was mainly in the context of it doing well in the US.

[@ExplorHits]

Great in-depth post, but I'm not sure that the airplay aspect was so huge in the 80s vs. the singles sales in the US

[@stanguy4491]

Airplay definitely has an impact on US charts. It the artist song is not played on radio, then the song is unlikely to chart on US Hot 100. An example of an 80s artist who became eventually more popular in UK than US was Belinda Carlisle. She had great translantic hits until her 4th album 'Live your life: Be free'. US radio stations played very little songs from her 4th album. Only one lowly chart hit the top 100 'Do you feel, like I feel'. which peaked at 73. It would have been better if she swapped the first single with 'You are nothing without me' which is more memorable. The previous song was the weakest, even though it had a great video, on the album. All great songs written by Rick Nowels too. It was shocking the album did not sell well in the States but had a decent showing in the UK charts. UK tastes in genres are definitely wider than in the States. Belinda would agree with this too.

[@bry6080]

I really love these videos, not only because I like knowing the differences in musical tastes, but because I'm reminded of songs I may have forgotten about, or, more rarely, songs I haven't heard. Imo, most of today's music isn't great. I love all genres from all decades, but there's seldom a new song that comes out these days that I'll still be interested in a month from now. I listen to 70s, 80s, 90s & early 2000s music all the time. Newer than that, not so much. (Ok, so I might've listened to Padam Padam a hundred times, but who hasn't? 😁) I'd love it if you could do chapter breaks for these, or even list the songs in the description. Otherwise I'm coming back to FF through till I find the songs I need to add to my playlist. Just a thought. 😎

[@irina1296]

Most of all I feel sorry for Heaven (Bryan Adams), 9 to 5 (Dolly Parton) and Cold Hearted (Paula Abdul). I adore these songs

[@BillGraper]

The Flame & Lost In Your Eyes surprised me as well.

[@ddemaine]

Byran Adams made up for it in the 1990s, by having a 16-week run at #1-- a record stretch that still stands today.

[@josephrowe849]

@@BillGraper Both songs are crap especially the former.

[@some.random.baldie2111]

Now the reverse video. Surprised '9 to 5' limped in below the 40s here. It's very well known. The Yes one always baffles me same with Bryan Adams 'Heaven'. Both are very well known songs and played a lot on radios. Ouch at Sheriff's low placing here. I think here it was Guns N Roses / Bon Jovi and Aerosmith that dominated the stadium rock quota in the UK.

[@75aces97]

The Sheriff one felt really out of nowhere in the States too. That song came and went quietly in 1983. Then it was reissued 5 years later and became a #1 hit. Odd thing was it wasn't in a recent movie soundtrack, there was no renewed interest in the band, and it hadn't been covered by some other act. Meanwhile Guns and Roses and Def Leppard hit the height of the crossover capabilities, so there was no particular reason to expect some forgotten song by an obscure Canadian bamd to shoot up the charts, but it did.

[@rjmcallister1888]

The fragmentation of formats on radio (especially in the US) led to a lot of songs that were quite good getting put to the side on both sides of the water. There also was a decline in the amount of time and effort labels put into promoting what they thought would be 'marginal' records. I saw that firsthand as a radio programmer in the late 70's and 80's.

[@ExplorHits]

The fragmentation of formats is a very good point!

[@nicholasharvey1232]

P.S. New Zealand seems to have been country music's largest market outside North America in the early 80s at least. Lots of pop-country crossovers had modest success there, including Eddie Rabbit, Juice Newton, Ronnie Milsap, Mac Davis, the Oak Ridge Boys... Even Sylvia's 1982 hit "Nobody" got to #2 there. The 1980 film Urban Cowboy, I can assume, was responsible for an early-80s country craze in NZ.

[@danielramoncompte7222]

😊😊😊😊😊saludos cordiales desde Argentina gracias por compartir el chart los sigo siempre excelentes vídeos Janet Jackson Paula Abdul hicieron furor en los 80 y parte de la década del 90 y luego nada...Milli Vanilli era uno de mis grupos favoritos lástima el fraude en conclusión MADONNA sigue siendo la mejor del mundo la Reina del pop por siempre..❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@zombiedodge1426]

"Look Away" was actually the number one song of 1989, according to Billboard. And now it's completely forgotten, even by people who apologize for post-Terry Kath Chicago. The video for "Cold Hearted" (Paula Abdul's best song, IMO) was directed by a young David Fincher. He also made Madonna's "Express Youself" video around this time.

[@ExplorHits]

Nice info, thanks!

[@BillGraper]

That was a travesty! "Look Away" was #1 for the year because it spent 1 or 2 more weeks on the chart than the other songs. That's where Billboard wasn't fair. There were songs that were bigger hits in 1989. You could argue for Straight Up, Lost In Your Eyes, Like A Prayer, Right Here Waiting & Miss You Much, among others... ALL of them were clearly more popular than Look Away!!! Back then the points system was so close, an extra week or two on the chart was sometimes enough to make a song look bigger than it actually was.

[@MaximumEfficiency]

I remember hearing the "Rainy Night" on K-ROSE radio!

[@JonnyInfinite]

That's where I know it from

[@zombiedodge1426]

A lot of country songs crossed over to the US pop charts in the early eighties. But from the mid-eighties to the mid-nineties there were almost none aside from "Achy Breaky Heart," even though country music was booming and Garth Brooks was the biggest-selling artist on earth. Shania Twain kicked the door back open.

[@TheRealBlueSwan]

Love these videos, good job. One very minor complaint is that I wouldn't regard a song hitting the UK top 30 a flop. Infact, I would probably only include those songs that missed the UK top 40, as there was always such a focus on hitting the top 40 in the UK, because this gained access to the chart shows on radio and Top Of The Pops.

[@ExplorHits]

Yeah, I've changed that to under Top-40 only on the other videos of this series. Thank you so much for watching it and taking your time to comment!

[@HattersMatter]

I completely agree. Top 30 is not a flop. Especially at the time when the competition was strong.

[@SigiOhaion]

Magic / 9 to 5 / Sailing / The one that you love / Who can it be now? / Maniac Owner of the lonely heart / Out of touch / Heaven / Sara Seasons change / Lost in your eyes all should have been top 10 hits imo!

[@nicholasharvey1232]

American here. Journey, John Mellencamp, Rick Springfield, Air Supply, and Huey Lewis & The News were generally not as popular outside North America. I've always known that, having done a lot of research on 80s pop charts from around the world. But I didn't realize that some of Hall & Oates' biggest hits were relative flops abroad as well! I guess Richard Marx, Expose, and Lisa Lisa didn't make quite as big of a splash overseas either. (Marx may well be known as a 1HW in much of the world for 1989's "Right Here Waiting".) And of course the hits that cross over from the country genre are rarely going to make a big impact internationally, with Kenny Roger's being one major exception in the 70s/early 80s ("Coward of the County" and the Bee Gees-penned Dolly Parton duet "Islands in the Stream" seem to have been big hits everywhere).

[@ExplorHits]

Richard Marx was huge in the US with 9 Top-10 hits (3 of them peaked at No'1) but in the UK he only had 2 Top-10 hits: 'Right Here Waiting" that peaked at No'2 and 'Hazard' that peaked at No'3.

[@667neighborofdabeast]

The Hall and Oates confuses me because I know all these songs and it’s not just from being a young fan of 80s music, they are legitimately still played on the radio here. I think we liked listening to them but nobody could be assed buying the records at the time. That’s likely what it was. There is no airplay element in the UK for the charts but I can tell you most Brits will know most of those Hall and Oates songs.

[@robertparry4929]

Air Supply were huge back home in Australia...still are

[@nicholasharvey1232]

@@667neighborofdabeast Many H&O hits probably didn't become popular in the UK until a while after their US heyday, since songs that are a few years old often turn up in movies, TV, and ads. Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" similarly was not a big international hit in the early 80s when it came out, but by the 2000s the entire world knew it due to its use in various other media. The reverse happened for Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now"-- it was not a top 40 hit at all in the USA in the late 70s, only finding fame here in the 2010s or so when it began to be featured in TV shows and ads.

[@WonderWhatHappened]

At least in the early 80's seems like more than few Australian acts charted as #1 in the US but failed to gain any momentum in the UK. Where as, during the same time the UK acts charted so well in Australia.

[@667neighborofdabeast]

But if you look to the end of the decade it’s the opposite. Kylie and Jason did extremely well in the UK, in fact even more so than in Australia but were virtually unknown in the USA.

[@zombiedodge1426]

Americans went crazy for all things Australian in the mid-eighties, thanks to Men at Work and Crocodile Dundee. It's even referenced in the legendary Simpsons episode where they visit the country. (Also Air Supply and Rick Springfield, but they weren't considered as uniquely "Aussie." Springfield has been in the US for so long, he barely even has an accent anymore.)

[@mikekaraoke]

I really liked your video of flop in US/number one in UK as them songs were outside the top 40 or didn't chart! However the first song got to number 23, so was a top 30 hit-so not a flop! Same as Jack + Diane got top 30. A top 30 I don't consider a flop at all, and spending a few weeks in top 40 not like they spent less than a week there And a few of others got in to 40 but others listed were flops!

[@ExplorHits]

First of all Thanks for taking your time to watch the video and comment on it. As I've responded before: I'd generally agree that a Top-40 hit isn't a flop, but we are comparing it to a Number 1 hit in the U.S. To have such huge success in the U.S. and not being able to enter the Top-20 in the biggest European market - for me it's a flop.

[@stevendimmock4791]

To be fair, Hall and Oates got a lot of airplay in the U.K. with all of Their records, right from 'Rich girl'.

[@ExplorHits]

Then it's even more baffling how they scored only two Top-10 hits in the UK while having 16 Top-10 hits in the US.

[@trickygoose2]

I think people in the UK tended to think of Hall & Oates' songs as something pleasant and catchy to hear on the radio but they didn't want to rush out and buy them. They were probably a little too middle of the road for the teens, a little too pop for the adult music fans and not quite soulful enough for the soul/r&b crowd.

[@mat5379]

Hall and Oates were (and still are) boring MOR..... awful - like many of these US number 1's

[@d.p9974]

I have to see which two charted. (Trots over to Wiki discography) "I Can't Go for That" and "Maneater". How did the UK sleep on "Sara Smile" and "Rich Girl".@@ExplorHits

[@Damian-sn2sx]

Love this section of the channel! A hit and a flop! ❤ Watching from Argentina

[@ExplorHits]

Thanks for watching, I'm really happy you like the content :o) P.S. Even 30 years later I'm still in love with Andrea Del Boca

[@Damian-sn2sx]

@@ExplorHits woww! Thank you for your kind words! Really Andrea Del Boca? She's huge in Argentina. The so called queen of soap operas. I still have her 2 cassettes she recorded in the late 80's. Last Soap she did was 3 yrs ago with her daughter Anna Chiara. Where are you from?

[@stevebills5716]

I'm a subscriber to the Professor of Rock channel and enjoy his videos, but being a Brit myself, sometimes his (US centric) version of music in the 80s seems wildly divergent to anything I recognise. It's like we lived through different decades 🙂 This helps to explain it, thanks.

[@ExplorHits]

I'm happy the video added some information for you :o)

[@kyrkosekaterinaris1328]

Surprisingly, many of those flops were from British artists, and also Australian (who generally tend to better in the UK than USA).

[@riofest8893]

"Don't forget to remember"(1969) by Bee Gees UK : number two Ireland, Netherlands and Denmark : number one single each US Billboard Hot 100 : number 73

[@ticketyboo2456]

3:34 I didn't realise that the bloke from The Room had a music career😂

[@davidnicholson6680]

UK missed out on Hall & Oates. They were great.

[@HattersMatter]

We didn't miss out. They got plenty of air play. I am surprised by some of the chart positions. They definitely weren't flops.

[@larrycj4382]

Some of these #1s were not promoted much in the UK and the rest of Europe.

[@heeeeeresrossy]

This yet Kiss radio, Greatest Hits radio, and Radio 2 have always played these classics. I'm really surprised by some of them.

[@feroldreymichaeloregencia3344]

Do you happen to have a video on number 1 in the US and number 1 UK 80s edition?

[@ExplorHits]

Gonna work on it soon!

[@feroldreymichaeloregencia3344]

@@ExplorHits Thank you. Just subscribed to your channel now.

[@oscarvanschijndel4989]

In the reverse video, I concluded that many UK hits that flopped in the US were covers from US originals. In this video, I see that Europe plundered some of the tunes and made them hits later. 0:14 cover version by Funky Ninja "Vacation Escape" was a hit in the Netherlands in 1991. 0:56 cover version by Anita Meyer was Top 10 in the Netherlands in 1982. 1:18 song sampled in Jessica Simpson "I Think I'm In Love" which was a European hit in 2000. 1:47 cover version by Uniting Nations was a big European hit in 2004. 1:55 cover version by DJ Sammy & Yanou ft. Do became a European hit three times: dance version, Yanou's candlelight version and Do's acoustic piano version. Even Bryan Adams liked it! 2:03 cover version by Angel City "Love Me Right" was a hit in Europe in 1999. 2:31 re-issue from 1991 became a hit in the Netherlands. Cover version by Marco Borsato "Emozioni" became a hit in 1992. 3:37 re-issue from 1990 became a hit in the Netherlands (promoting "The Heart Of Chicago" compilation).

[@unioncityman63]

Lot of sappy power love ballads in late 80s.

[@anndeecosita3586]

Seemed like a mix to me. Paula’s songs were slow or sappy.

[@terrykemp1876]

Americans are definitely into their ballads more.

[@laurabailey1054]

@@anndeecosita3586 yeah right? I remember a lot that weren’t

[@pepper1dancer]

Glad I live in the USA

[@LadyArachnea]

I love so much Paula Abdul & Janet Jackson ... I feel sad for them .. but in the 80's and 90's there was in Europe the Synthpop wave & the Euro Dance ... we have quite different taste than the americans ... For example, Anastacia is adored in Europe but she never really made it in the US .. In France we did a bit better than our Brit Friends for some songs ^^ Who can it be now peaked at Top 20 Maniac peaked at Top 3 Owner of a Lonely Heart peaked at Top 6 Kokomo peaked at Top 6 Forever your girl peaked Top 12 Cold Hearted peaked top 33

[@MrLgtm]

most of the songs did well in us are "yacht-rock" songs. so it seems there is no yachting culture in UK :D

[@667neighborofdabeast]

Course there’s not, it’s bloody freezing! Maybe “Barge Rock” but that sounds naff 😂.

[@zombiedodge1426]

Kind of ironic, for the world's greatest seafaring nation.

[@jetfan925]

I would find this very difficult for this in the 90s, Noughties and the 2010s.

[@hamishpaterson2413]

Jeez not heard of most of these! 😮

[@gnu_andrew]

I'm not surprised most of these were not hits here in the UK. Most of them come across as bland and not very memorable. Where artists like Paula Abdul & Janet Jackson did have success over here, it was with more upbeat songs.

[@dominewimbury2039]

I wouldn't call any song that got in the Top 50 in our charts a "flop" thank you!

[@zeddeka]

The numbers they sold would have been absolutely tiny

[@dominewimbury2039]

They still charted! 🤷​@@zeddeka

[@pepsiq11965]

Looking back growing up in NYC. We had our own Top 40 music. In the early 80;s it was mostly towards Synth-Pop and HiNrg music, and Break-Dancing Electro Music and early HipHop .Mid 80s was mostly Free-Style music and late 80's still Free-Style along with House, Techno and Hip-House. The best years of my life living in NYC

[@667neighborofdabeast]

It felt in the 80s NYC was almost bordering Europe in their musical tastes with the obvious hip hop influences from The likes of the bronx and Brooklyn added in. For how American it is, New York feels far more European than most US cities.

[@rtp5768]

None of the big top 40 radio stations out of NYC reflected that at all though. WPLJ, Z100 were the two biggest mainstream radio channels and didn’t play anything like what you mention.

[@pepsiq11965]

@@rtp5768 Guess you weren't listening to 92KTU, KISS, WBLS and my favorite 103.5 KTU Americas first all dance station after Disco fell off the earth playing Electro Music mostly from Europe and HiNrg Music mostly from NYC and SF and FreeStyle the Nuyorican music out of this city. They also had live DJ's on the weekends playing Acid House, House, Techno after 12am in the late 80s early 90s. I never listens to WPLF OR Z100 horrible and boring mainstream music they would play

[@West.Ham1964]

I know the majority of the early-mid eighties hits here. They still get played on various radio stations here in the UK. I really thought sailing had charted much higher, a gerat song and a few of the Hall & Oates hits charted much lower than I thought too.

[@ExplorHits]

Yeah, shockingly Christopher Cross only had 1 Top-40 hit in the UK: 'Arthur's Theme' that peaked at No'7. In the US he had 4 Top-10s and another 3 Top-20 hits.

[@CIMAmotor]

Massive.

[@josephrowe849]

England's not missing out on Chris Cross. Very generic crap.

[@nmgscp]

The songs that I know coincide more with those in "no 1 in UK, flop in US" version

[@mammyewok]

my takeaway is that hall and oates werent big in england

[@ExplorHits]

Indeed, they had 16 Top-10 hits in the U.S. vs only 2 in the U.K.

[@MephProduction]

@@ExplorHits But their songs are still all over uk radio stations.

[@jonathanlandau-litewski7405]

*UK

[@667neighborofdabeast]

It’s a very weird situation because I honestly still hear all these songs of theirs. I’m sure the radio station I had on in work played private eyes a couple of weeks ago.

[@anndeecosita3586]

I wanted to see them in concert but the tickets were too expensive for my blood.

[@ELEKTRARE]

Paula & Janet are just Iconic ❤❤

[@Damian-sn2sx]

Absolutely, but the queen in UK was and still is, Kylie Minogue

[@antoniomarruecos9429]

@@Damian-sn2sx You mean MADONNA

[@Damian-sn2sx]

@@antoniomarruecos9429 nope mate, in UK, Kylie is bigger than Madonna

[@antoniomarruecos9429]

@@Damian-sn2sx No honey, you should think before write. Madonna has sold 20 million albums and singles more than Kylie in UK. Madonna has 13 number 1, 64 top 10s and 72 top 40s, Kylie has 7 number 1, 35 top 10s and 53 top 40s. Also in Spotify streaming Madonna only in London has 600.000 listeners and Kylie 300.000. Check the numbers, Madonna is the queen and bigger than Kylie in UK.

[@Damian-sn2sx]

@@antoniomarruecos9429 no talking bout numbers fella, talking about love. British love Kylie as her pop queen since 1987! Nobody cares bout grandma! That's a fact daaaaaarling

[@nicktaylor2657]

The reason At This Moment reached number one was it's inclusion on Family Ties an American sitcom Makes sense it wasn't big in the UK

[@tundrajt]

I have to wonder if Brits watching this feel the same way about our music that I feel when I hear their music from that time. Some of it familiar, much of it new. All of it, awesome! I knew every one of these songs growing up, so they were all familiar to me, but to the average Brit, any one of these may have opened a whole new world! It sure did for me when I started exploring 80’s British music!

[@sunshinemand]

Can’t believe Milli Vanilli’s Blame it on the Rain flopped in the UK. Never mind, the miming and all that, it was still a great song.

[@ncexnyc4466]

This shocked me as well as Milli Vanilli was huge in Europe.

[@totsaguila8236]

If I'm not mistaken Amanda by Boston and Head to Toes were both No.1 for 3 weeks in the US.

[@satstatchannel]

Clearly the UK didnt appreciate Hall & Oates at first. Also 'Maniac' not charting higher is a shocker

[@johnmoon7028]

I'll never understand why the singles from Janet's Rhythm Nation 1814 album didn't perform better in the UK. 4 US number 1's and 7 Top 5 hits sounds about right for a such a legendary album. Yet in the UK, Black Cat was her highest charting at 15. Unbelievable.

[@ExplorHits]

Yeah, very weird!

[@gipgap4]

She had the American market sown up. Her songs, whilst decent and well produced weren’t really that outstanding from someone in the U.K. Michael remained the No.1 Jackson.

[@sampa2nyc]

In retrospect, the charts can get it wrong.

[@gipgap4]

@@sampa2nyc that’s an odd thing to say since the Uk charts were based on sales alone at the time. It’s not like Radio plays were counted towards the weekly chart.

[@sampa2nyc]

@@gipgap4 I don't think it's odd considering her popularity decades later.

[@rtp5768]

Wow, this one was beyond nuts so many ultra iconic songs that defined the 80s nothings in the UK! Meanwhile they had chicken nuggets singing about Star Trek number 1s. Man, what is with the UK. This also goes a long way as to why so many of the top hits of the 80s by week or month videos feel so off at times, few list what charts they are based on and almost hide it but many are actuallly based on UK or Euro/world charts, bu many younger gens in US are watching them and reacting thinking they were US chart based and getting all sorts of misled or surprised.

[@ExplorHits]

You're absolutely right! That also explains why MTV Europe ignored so many 80s hits that were huge in the US For example: I was addicted to their 'Greatest Hits' 80s show, and never saw 90% of the hits that are on this video. If I'll break It down: Debbie Gibson: Electric Youth (maybe saw it twice in 5 years) Paula Abdul: Only 'Straight Up' Flashdance: Only Irene Cara, Never Michael Sembello

[@youreright3664]

With the exception of Hall and Oats, this list speaks volumes about the American public of the time, shit taste in music.

[@dhenderson1810]

It is the UK who refuses to be more open minded with your music.

[@youreright3664]

@@dhenderson1810 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. You should be a comedy writer.

[@manthony225]

Magic ,Who Can It Be Now, and Maniac surprise me.

[@BillGraper]

The Flame was the biggest surprise!!!

[@josephrowe849]

@@BillGraper Not really. That song is a piece of shit.

[@axepagode4321]

Miss You Much by Janet Jackson is a shock. The UK wasn't a fan of her Rhythm Nation Album at all. The highest charting single was Black Cat at 15. She literally had no Top Ten songs from that album in the UK. That is astounding given the popularity, the videos, and sales everywhere else.

[@antoniomarruecos9429]

Everywhere? You mean USA and Canada, Janet was not popular in other countries

[@ExplorHits]

True, I really can't understand what happend there with that album.

[@JCesar-xf2bk]

Back in the day, a song that charted between the top 20 and the top 40 was still considered a ''hit'', although a minor one. A ''flop'' would only be a song that fell short of reaching the top 40. In the UK, I think DJ Paul Hardcastle got the ''trophy'' for the highest amount of #41 singles: 3 or 4 ( I don't remember well). Poor guy! You should perhaps do a video on songs that were #1 in the UK and flopped in the USA. Diana Ross's ''Chain Reaction'' comes to mind straight away. It was #1 there for several weeks, yet stopped at #99 in the USA.

[@ExplorHits]

If this video will be successful enough I'll make what you suggested. As for the "flop" angle: I also took into account the sales and how many weeks the songs spent inside the Top-40. I think the main thing here is the strong contrast between reaching the number 1 spot in the US and not being able to crack the Top-20 in the UK.

[@JCesar-xf2bk]

@@ExplorHits I understand what you say. However in general people take more in consideration the position a single reaches than the actual sales. Back in the day, Madonna sold 750,000 copies of 'like a virgin' in the UK, which was ''only' a top 3 song. I have no doubt that some of her #1's there didn't sell as much, but are praised for having reached the top. Another good video of yours. Well done!

[@ExplorHits]

@@JCesar-xf2bk I totally see your point as well, It's more complexed than a 'dry' number, but I think the best way for me to explain it is through the MTV Europe days: In their 80s show ("Greatest Hits") I never saw 95% of the songs that were in this video. MTV Europe was based in London and they always reflected what was successful in the UK and Europe. I never saw them playing 'Lost In Your Eyes', 'Maniac', 'Sara' etc. Heck, the only Debbie Gibson I ever saw on MTV Europe was 'Shake Your Love' and even then it was super rare. Anyways thank you so mcuh for your support, I'm very happy to receive your feedbacks!

[@JCesar-xf2bk]

@@ExplorHits That's interesting! To be frank, I've never really liked MTV... They have the habit of playing the same (few) videos over and over again. It's very difficult for a new artist or someone with a lesser following to break through. I've always wondered if money (payola) had to do with this policy... Back to your video, there were some really huge surprised... ''Magic'' (ONJ) and ''Maniac" (MS) were HUGE hits worldwide, except for the UK... How come!: :-)

[@ExplorHits]

@@JCesar-xf2bk At first I thought that 'Magic' & 'Maniac' failed cause maybe more went to buy the soundtrack albums, but I saw both 'Xanadu' & 'Flashdance' sold 100k copies in the UK (which is kinda low in 80s standards). Maybe the songs received zero promotion, but It's still very weird. Same goes for the band 'Air Supply' who only had 1 Top-40 hit in the UK while scoring 9 Top-10 hits in the US.

[@vincentruvo6988]

Really surprised because the UK like American artists but they had to compete with UK artists with different sounds.

[@ExplorHits]

True, but some songs here should've been huge in the UK as well, really strange outcome.

[@vincentruvo6988]

@@ExplorHits In Canada, these American songs were also big hits.

[@ExplorHits]

@@vincentruvo6988 Yeah, Canada's charts were always reflecting pretty much a similar taste of the American audience.

[@vincentruvo6988]

@@ExplorHits We also enjoyed popular UK acts like Culture Club and Bananarama.

[@johnb.dambrosio2286]

Not the group or singer, it is the songs, I found 18 that I thought worthy of being on both charts thst did not hit #1 in UK?

[@deanodeano8604]

In fairness, considering they weren't huge hits, most of these songs are very well known and popular to this day in the Uk. Great list though

Yes, N⁰28 ! Competition was though then.

[@WendyCR72]

Shocked that "The Flame" by Cheap Trick and "Heaven" by Bryan Adams didn't do well in the UK! I guess musical tastes sometimes really don't translate "across the pond"!

[@josephrowe849]

Because both of those songs are corporate shit and sound very generic. The Brits knew what they were doing by avoiding such commercial crap.

[@ownyourcrazy8734]

Is there a reverse video to this one? No 1 in the UK flopped in the US?

[@ExplorHits]

Will air in 3 hours

[@ownyourcrazy8734]

@@ExplorHits Thank you

[@gregoryreed4866]

Wow!!!!!

[@imbrod]

1983! 1984! I can't believe it! Not only that I can't believe those weren't hits in UK, I thought those were British artists!

[@ericforsyth]

Yes were. But as a progressive rock band they were more of an album band. Almost all their albums charted higher in the UK than in the US. One of few exceptions was this one (90125), which was a huge and less than well-received departure from their earlier styles. Also: In the US, airplay influenced charts, and people may have gone out to buy the single, so it could have done much better there even if the album had sold roughly as well in both countries (which, again, it didn't).

[@kleptrep94]

Looking at both sides of the fence (the US songs that flopped here and our songs that flopped in US) and I’m surprised that Frankie wasn’t a big hit considering how y’all were apparently giving every other named song a #1 hit (Jessie’s Girl, Oh Sheila, Sara, Amanda).

[@ExplorHits]

haha nice observation :D

[@robtyman4281]

Not enough variety in these songs - they're all from just a couple of 'genres' ; but then, Americans are totally obsessed with genres! Us Brits don't care what genre something is from: if it's good it's good!! Whether it's a ballad, reggae, new wave/new romantic, soul, rock, folk, house, acid jazz etc. Why are the Americans so preoccupied with genres??! ....never understood this myself - by then I'm a Brit.

[@spankynater4242]

Can you back that up? Because I saw the flipped version, and except for "Candy Girl",, there was little deviation.

[@robtyman4281]

@@spankynater4242 ...we don't have 'segregated' charts in the UK. Just one - the national Top 40. None of this 'Rn'B chart, folk/country chart, pop/indie chart, rock/metal chart, soul chart malarkey. At the end of the day music is music - who cares really about 'what type of music it is, and who should be listening to it'. The US is divided along these musical lines. In a way other countries aren't. I think it dates from the era of 'segregation' in the 50's and 60's, when white teenagers were steered towards rock n roll, and country; while black teenagers listened to Motown, RnB, and Gospel. It's kind of stuck, musically.... you guys never moved on in that respect. We didn't have this kind of parallel music environment going on in the UK - never have had it. As a result Americans love to 'pigeon hole' groups and solo singers. And if they can't, they get rejected by America as a whole. Look at Kate Bush, Roxy Music, The Police, Eurythmics, Alison Moyet.....even Abba ffs! All of these people should have been a success in America - yet none of them were because they all changed their styles over time. And this threw the American public, and radio stations - as they didn't know what to do with them. It wasn't until the Mamma Mia films in the 00"s and 10's that America finally 'understood' Abba. It only took you guys 30 odd years to do this! Americans are slower to adapt, than people from other countries. Once a group or singer gets given a label, they're stuck with it - even if they no longer make that style of music.

[@spankynater4242]

@@robtyman4281 I'm sure those charts are there, just not well-known. Even in America, all those charts, except for maybe country, are widely unknown. It's really just the pop charts, I don't even know if it's still called Billboard actually, that is widely known.

[@deanosmith7523]

The British didn’t seem to get Hall & Oats, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, or Paula Abdul. Ha!

[@spankynater4242]

Their music is very simplistic, they couldn't wrap their heads around the complexities of those artists.

[@667neighborofdabeast]

Tbh Lisa Lisa would have done well here if she had been promoted and SAW didn’t claim their monopoly on the charts at the time.

[@ericforsyth]

@@spankynater4242 This has to be satire, no? Paula Abdul and Hall & Oates, complex?

[@veddyveddygood]

Neither did us Aussies. Only 1 #1 hit between the 3 of them - Opposites Attract by Paula Abdul

[@splintercast8092]

SAW for all their faults do seem to have helped the UK dodge some absolute guff at the end of the decade.

[@yuri_nazarenko]

And 6 of these 50 best selling albums of all time were released in 1987.

[@austybreezy9164]

Who is the guy in the thumbnail?

[@ExplorHits]

Singer / Actor Michael Damian.

[@Mancaveman1969]

After having seen this and the number 1's from the UK that flopped in US video, my biggest takeaway is how much blander and similar to each other the US songs are than the UK ones.

[@spankynater4242]

Hard disagree, both charts don't vary that much. It's just a hit or miss.

[@markhunt7121]

Great songs gone forever 😮

[@garysimmons4323]

I never knew David Essex's nassive 70s hit Rock On, was covered and because a US no1..Davids is miles better though

[@jonesyboy69]

Essex’s original was also a US hit. Got in the top 10. It’s the only hit Essex had in the US.

[@JonnyInfinite]

Def Leppard do an excellent cover of _Rock On_ - this version I've never heard, and with good reason

[@benjaminmarker]

I'm from Denmark. Our chart was much more influenced by the UK, which is a huge surprise to me, as we were stuffed with American propaganda culture in the 80s.

[@spankynater4242]

Do you know what propoganda means?

[@benjaminmarker]

@@spankynater4242 I do.. Do you not know how the US has spread their propaganda since WW2? It's the world order we live in.. For now.

[@franohmsford7548]

Pina Colada - #23 isn't really a "flop". Magic - Should definitely have charted higher than #32 9 to 5 - HOW? Seriously, HOW did that not chart!?! John Cougar - #25 seems a bit high frankly for a mediocre song from an unknown artist. Maniac - Like with 9 to 5 this one shocks me! Definitely deserved to at least reach the Top 40 and probably much higher. Owner of a Lonely Heart - A Great song but can't really say it "flopped" at #28 when that still made it their 3rd biggest hit ever until Max Graham's remix in 2005 went to #9. The Flame - Cheap Trick weren't big over here - I Want You To Want Me was their ONLY Top 40 single and even that only went to #29 - It's an absolute travesty is all I can say! Kokomo - Got to #25, again gonna say this wasn't a "flop". Forever Your Girl - Got to #24, Not a "flop". Miss You Much - A mediocre single from Janet that still almost made the Top 20 - Absolutely NOT a "flop". Blame It On The Rain - Now that's a shock given Girl I'm Gonna Miss You went to #2 two months later. - Absolutely not surprised at any of the others in this vid - Way too many boring middle of the road soft rock ballads when the UK was into New Wave, Synth Pop and High NRG. Hall & Oats are the epitome of what was wrong with US Pop Music in the 80s!

[@petergasper6593]

I don't know if some of these can be truly considered flops?!?!

[@ExplorHits]

It's relative to the huge success in the US, so if a song is reaching the top spot in the biggest music market in the world, and can't crack the Top-20 in the second biggest music market in the world - It's a flop there.

[@davidguy209]

I counted 27 tracks I don't think I've ever heard before- and 80s was my era! 😅

[@ExplorHits]

haha, you know them now tho! It's never too late :0p

[@Bret121]

Criminal charted so low but the music is still so good and can remember nearly all those great underated tracks here in the UK

[@rachelharrison7961]

A lo of those “flops” were in the Top 40, I even saw one #22.

[@henrikechers9995]

Lisa Lisa, is an American thing. Never heard of her until I was grown up, and started KZbin. MTV Europe never showed her

[@anndeecosita3586]

I love a lot of these songs, but then I’m American 😂😂 But no Dolly Parton 9 to 5 or Hall and Oates? You guys across the pond missed out.

[@ericforsyth]

9 to 5 was alright (she has much, much better songs, though), but at that time, Vienna by Ultravox was held off the #1 spot by Joe Dolce's Shaddap You Face - and Vienna apparently didn't chart at all in the US, which is a bigger travesty. Hall and Oates are milquetoast. They could've charted above other milquetoast music, but they made little effort to market themselves in Europe, where exciting and (at least sometimes) challenging post-punk and new wave music ruled the waves (along with vapid but still more exciting/upbeat dance music), anyway.

[@stephanefrere5702]

the American sound is quickly recognizable, not the same that the UK ONE, more elaborate

[@sandraweilbrenner67]

As a brit , we can be snobs

[@RosalindBurridge-dg6cy]

Starship sara is the best single they ever did. Pure 80,s classic and less cheesy than the other two hits they had in England.

[@louispks]

All these songs are essentially soft rock us Brits had the Stone Roses, The Smiths, and The Happy Mondays proper music.

[@terrykemp1876]

Some of these did quite well in Australia. We’re more into UK for sure, but we definitely made more of these hits.

[@mjsicinski]

It’s true, arena rock dominated this period in the US and it wasn’t popular in the UK. One thing I’ll never grasp though is Status Quo. They seem so suited to 70s and 80s US album-rock format but they couldn’t get arrested over here.

[@jl453]

UK and US 80s music was so good.

[@alexandersanchez8995]

Many are unknown singers or one hit there

[@magikhands21974]

Lots of classic rock on top in the states. UK charts show more innovative artists. Surprised, that Yes didn't made it in the UK.

[@kirilvelinov7774]

This is why US hates Eurodance

[@heidifedor]

A lot of these bands charted pretty well.