Basically artists that were too gay friendly or not country rock/hardcore rap did poorly in USA.

Abba had one top 10 with Dancing Queen yet in the UK they had 9 Number ones, and 12 more Top 10s (In addition to the #1s)

Another group is Scissor Sisters, two number 1s in the UK and 3 big hits there as well.

Elton John, yes he had some huge hits in the USA up until October 1976 nearly every song between 1972 and 1975 a number 1 smash, then he said he was bisexual and it wasn't until 1980 that Little Jeannie got to #3, but he would only a couple more Top 10s for universally great songs, but never a number one.

And Grace Jones, yes, she never hit Top 40 in the USA, but being a cult artist with a HUGE gay following, her success was limited. In the UK, she had, 10 hits with 3 Top 20s, Private Life got to Number 17 and both Slave to the Rhythm and Pull up to the bumper/La Vie En rose (Double A side) peaked at 12, not super hits, but still hits.

Boney M a German based disco supergroup were massive in the UK with 2 big number ones and 8 more Top 10s and a total of 17 hits, had one entry in the US chart, Rivers of Babylon reached the lower part of the Top 40.

Yes Queen had two number ones with another one bites the dust and Crazy little thing, but american response were fickle, only Waynes world put them in the top 10 after 1982, the drag videos for I wanna break free and Its a hard life were two challenging for Americans and between 1984 and 1990 they flopped in the USA.

Two token gay friendly artists hit big in the USA, Kylie Minogue hit big with I should be so lucky and Can't get you out of my head in 1988 and 2001 respectively, but in Britain and Australia, she dominated the charts for 15 years with at least 6 number ones and 20 or so Top 40 hits.

The other token hitters were Pet Shop Boys whose West End girls was US number one, but have precious few hits since then, whereas in the UK many Top 10s and Top 40s.

Biggest surprise was Culture club, whose American career outstripped their British one with 2 number ones (Karma Chameleon was #1 for 7 weeks) and 6 more Top 10 hits right up to "Move Away" in 1986. It may have been tokenism, but many Americans honestly thought Boy George was a straight guy who loved wearing strange clothes, and he did conceal his gayness at the time.

David Bowie had a lot of US success, but generally, he was up and down, with his sexuality, when he was his straightest in the mid 80s, he had the biggest hits with Lets Dance and the like. Whereas songs like Sound and Vision and Heroes nearly flopped.

Cliff Richard was another British artist who had monstrous success in the UK and Europe between 1958 and the mid 2000s, has had 12 UK number 1s and about 60 Top 10 hits (I stopped counting about 1970), yet only Living Doll (1959) and Devil Woman (1976) were Top 10 hits and the latter mostly due to the Neil Sedaka connection.

For the record I have always been more British in my musical tastes. But the only British bands that did well in the states wee the Beatles (Deserved too) and standard meat and potatoes groups like the Rolling Stones and Oasis.

Also, R&R Hall of Fame artist and overall legend Patti Smith hit the US Top 40 just once: Because the Night hit #13 back in 1978.

The Ramones NEVER had a Top 40 hit.

And another legendary band - Talking Heads - only made it 3 times in the US top 40:

Take Me to the River (26)

Burning Down the House (9)

Wild Wild Life (25)

Their most famous song, Once in a Lifetime, didn't come close to hitting the Top 40, nor did classics like Psycho Killer, Life During Wartime, And She Was, Road to Nowhere, etc.

NoVideo said:

Also, R&R Hall of Fame artist and overall legend Patti Smith hit the US Top 40 just once: Because the Night hit #13 back in 1978.

The Ramones NEVER had a Top 40 hit.

And another legendary band - Talking Heads - only made it 3 times in the US top 40:

Take Me to the River (26)

Burning Down the House (9)

Wild Wild Life (25)

Their most famous song, Once in a Lifetime, didn't come close to hitting the Top 40, nor did classics like Psycho Killer, Life During Wartime, And She Was, Road to Nowhere, etc.

Growing up before I knew about a Billboard chart, I assume folks like Tom Petty, the Ramones and the Talking Heads were having hits on the ass. In a way they did but it just didn't hit the trade papers.

Jeff Beck, the guitar hero. His biggest solo hit if you will was a cover of "People Get Ready" that featured Rod Stewart on vocals. It made it to #48. It was on the album FLASH.

As an album artist he has 2 RIAA platinum albums and 7 gold albums, 2 gold DVDS and 1 platinum DVD, plus 8 Grammys.

He has had three charting singles in the UK.

NoVideo said:

JoeTyler said:

pretty much British superstars ignored by the USA

Roxy Music - huge in Europe and western Europe, ignored in the USA other than "Love is the Drug" and "More than This/Avalon", moderate hits...

Iron Maiden - huge band worldwide, virtually ignored by the radios/lists; hit albums, not hit singles...

T.Rex - did Marc Bolan even play in the US? I don't know...at least Bowie had some huge hit-singles in 75/76 and 83/84...

Queen - other than "We Are the Champions/We Will Rock U" and "Another 1 Bites the Dust/Crazy Lil Thing Called Love" they weren't that big in the USA, were they?

Simple Minds - an excellent band remembered only by a mid-80s hit, "Don't U Forget About Me"

Sade - I don't know if she (they) had many US hits...

Seal - I think his only US hit was "Kiss From a Rose", I could be wrong...

[Edited 11/18/12 6:31am]

Seal had 4 Top 40 hits in the US: Crazy, Prayer for the Dying, Kiss from a Rose, and Fly Like an Eagle

Sade had 5 Top 40 hits in the US: Smooth Operator, Sweetest Taboo, Never as Good as the First Time, Paradise and No Ordinary Love.

But both of them had numerous hits on the US R&B and AC charts

Queen had numerous Top 40 american hits:

Killer Queen

Bohemian Rhapsody (charted twice)

You're My Best Friend

Somebody to Love

We Are the Champions

We Will Rock You

Bicycle Race

Fat Bottom Girls

Crazy Little Thing CAlled Love

Another One Bites the Dust

Under Pressure

Body Language

Radio GaGa

and several that barely missed the Top 40

[Edited 11/18/12 15:14pm]

thanks for that info!

Timmy84 said:

JoeTyler said:

pretty much British superstars ignored by the USA

Roxy Music - huge in Europe and western Europe, ignored in the USA other than "Love is the Drug" and "More than This/Avalon", moderate hits...

Iron Maiden - huge band worldwide, virtually ignored by the radios/lists; hit albums, not hit singles...

T.Rex - did Marc Bolan even play in the US? I don't know...at least Bowie had some huge hit-singles in 75/76 and 83/84...

Queen - other than "We Are the Champions/We Will Rock U" and "Another 1 Bites the Dust/Crazy Lil Thing Called Love" they weren't that big in the USA, were they?

Simple Minds - an excellent band remembered only by a mid-80s hit, "Don't U Forget About Me"

Sade - I don't know if she (they) had many US hits...

Seal - I think his only US hit was "Kiss From a Rose", I could be wrong...

[Edited 11/18/12 6:31am]

T. Rex had an American following but I think it stopped growing because Marc got sick before he was to perform at Madison Square Garden or something... this was around 1973 just right after he tore the stage up at the Midnight Special. Queen was big on albums here in the '70s and early '80s but not much afterwards.

so, T.Rex never did a proper US tour ?

[Edited 11/18/12 18:19pm]

JoeTyler said:

Timmy84 said:

T. Rex had an American following but I think it stopped growing because Marc got sick before he was to perform at Madison Square Garden or something... this was around 1973 just right after he tore the stage up at the Midnight Special. Queen was big on albums here in the '70s and early '80s but not much afterwards.

so, T.Rex never did a proper US tour ?

[Edited 11/18/12 18:19pm]

I don't think they did...

JoeTyler said:

pretty much British superstars ignored by the USA

Roxy Music - huge in Europe and western Europe, ignored in the USA other than "Love is the Drug" and "More than This/Avalon", moderate hits...

Iron Maiden - huge band worldwide, virtually ignored by the radios/lists; hit albums, not hit singles...

T.Rex - did Marc Bolan even play in the US? I don't know...at least Bowie had some huge hit-singles in 75/76 and 83/84...

Queen - other than "We Are the Champions/We Will Rock U" and "Another 1 Bites the Dust/Crazy Lil Thing Called Love" they weren't that big in the USA, were they?

Simple Minds - an excellent band remembered only by a mid-80s hit, "Don't U Forget About Me"

Sade - I don't know if she (they) had many US hits...

Seal - I think his only US hit was "Kiss From a Rose", I could be wrong...

[Edited 11/18/12 6:31am]

Simple Minds had quite a lot of top 20 hits in the UK, Alive And Kicking, Sanctify Yourself, Belfast Child, Waterfront ect, all the way into the mid 90's. But yeah, criminally ignored in the US.

Toofunkyinhere said:

JoeTyler said:

pretty much British superstars ignored by the USA

Roxy Music - huge in Europe and western Europe, ignored in the USA other than "Love is the Drug" and "More than This/Avalon", moderate hits...

Iron Maiden - huge band worldwide, virtually ignored by the radios/lists; hit albums, not hit singles...

T.Rex - did Marc Bolan even play in the US? I don't know...at least Bowie had some huge hit-singles in 75/76 and 83/84...

Queen - other than "We Are the Champions/We Will Rock U" and "Another 1 Bites the Dust/Crazy Lil Thing Called Love" they weren't that big in the USA, were they?

Simple Minds - an excellent band remembered only by a mid-80s hit, "Don't U Forget About Me"

Sade - I don't know if she (they) had many US hits...

Seal - I think his only US hit was "Kiss From a Rose", I could be wrong...

[Edited 11/18/12 6:31am]

Simple Minds had quite a lot of top 20 hits in the UK, Alive And Kicking, Sanctify Yourself, Belfast Child, Waterfront ect, all the way into the mid 90's. But yeah, criminally ignored in the US.

After Simple Minds struck it big with "Don't You Forget About Me", their next album, Once Upon A Time, blew up sort of big here in the USA, landing them hits like "Alive and Kicking", "Sanctify Yourself", and "All the Things She Said." They had another hit in 1987 called "Promised You A Miracle" but faded away soon afterward in America.

As for Sade, they had a few hits in the top 40 since they were an adult contemporary act as well as a jazz/R&B act, but it only seems like they didn't have many hits because Sade took so much time off between albums. After Love Deluxe in 1993, Sade didn't have another album until 2000 with Lovers Rock, and Soldier of Love came out ten years later.

Gunsnhalen said:

yanowha said:

Jimi Hendrix only had 1 US pop top 40 hit.

true!

His remake of All Along The Watchtower was his only hit....

I'm still shocked by that.

yeah, that's unbelievable. i thought foxy lady, fire, and purple haze would've easily made the top 40. turns out fire wasn't even released as a single, but i still don't know how the other ones didn't make it.

Timmy84 said:

NoVideo said:

Also, R&R Hall of Fame artist and overall legend Patti Smith hit the US Top 40 just once: Because the Night hit #13 back in 1978.

The Ramones NEVER had a Top 40 hit.

And another legendary band - Talking Heads - only made it 3 times in the US top 40:

Take Me to the River (26)

Burning Down the House (9)

Wild Wild Life (25)

Their most famous song, Once in a Lifetime, didn't come close to hitting the Top 40, nor did classics like Psycho Killer, Life During Wartime, And She Was, Road to Nowhere, etc.

Growing up before I knew about a Billboard chart, I assume folks like Tom Petty, the Ramones and the Talking Heads were having hits on the ass. In a way they did but it just didn't hit the trade papers.

yep, talking heads is the group that immediately came to mind for me. they had great melodic hooks, so i thought more of their songs would've made it. the fact that once in a lifetime didn't make the top 40 is absurd.

SuperSoulFighter said:

^Jazz is a whole different ballgame. I don't think it falls in this category, which is about hit singles.

Fair enough.

Peter Gabriel

Kate Bush

The Smiths

Sonic Youth

New Order

Violent Femmes

The Housemartins.

[Edited 11/19/12 9:16am]

Ramones (as mentioned above)

Sex Pistols

While the Ramones never had a Top 40 hit, their "Hey Ho, Let's Go" has been a staple at sporting events for decades. I'd wager that song (or a part of it) has been heard by as many people as would a song that hit, say, number 38 on the Top 40 chart.

I don't think the pre-trio Genesis had any hits (in the US) other than I Know What I Like.

[Edited 12/29/12 16:55pm]

I think Devo only had 2 big hits on the chart, yet they had dozens of great songs. They were Whip It (1981) and Beautiful World (1986), are there any others that hit big.

Also the B52s only had a few hits before their 1989/1990 smashes with Love Shack and Roam, their only other big hit was the novelty themed Rock Lobster from about 1980ish?