Yeah, I was a bit unfair on Dido. She had two top 10 hits in the UK in 2003 too. Just felt so omnipresent in 2001 and I guess part of the motivation for this list was just being able to evoke a year with an artist.
Elastica is an interesting one - they felt like an indie act to me, rather than a mini mainstream sensation, but maybe that distinction says more about my blinkered outlook at the time. Tricky knowing which year to put them as, though: 1994 or 1995? Republica is a good shout, but 1997 seems well covered already!
― Alba, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 06:44 (six years ago) link
1984 - Nik Kershaw1985 - King1989 - Roachford?1990 - Adamski
― plp will eat itself (NickB), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 06:47 (six years ago) link
Nik Kershaw did have a couple of hits in 1985, but they were off the second of the two albums he released in '84. After that though _________________________
― plp will eat itself (NickB), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 06:50 (six years ago) link
1999 was THE year for flashes in the pan it feels
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 07:38 (six years ago) link
Terrence Trent D'arby has apparently put out about 10 lps under a new name Maitreya something.There wasan article on him in the Guardian last week or just before that.
― Stevolende, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 08:37 (six years ago) link
1989 - Lil Louis
― calzino, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 08:39 (six years ago) link
1996 - Baby Bird
― André Ryu (Neil S), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 08:46 (six years ago) link
2002 - Ms Dynamite
― Siegbran, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 08:52 (six years ago) link
1994 - Crash Test Dummies
― plp will eat itself (NickB), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 09:12 (six years ago) link
1990 - Deee-Lite
― plp will eat itself (NickB), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 09:22 (six years ago) link
1998 - Catatonia
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 09:31 (six years ago) link
1996 - Mark Morrison
― plp will eat itself (NickB), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 09:32 (six years ago) link
These are some great suggestions. Particularly like Roachford.
― Alba, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 09:39 (six years ago) link
2002 - The Vines
― Gavin, Leeds, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 10:12 (six years ago) link
1985 - Charlie Sexton
― plp will eat itself (NickB), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 10:37 (six years ago) link
1993 – Spin Doctors, Stereo MCs. I wouldn't say Apache Indian counts at all – he was more of a one-hit wonder.
1988 – Bros, The Christians. Again, Fairground Attraction had one big single and that was IT.
― Eyeball Kicks, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:05 (six years ago) link
1995/1996 – Robson & Jerome
― Eyeball Kicks, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:09 (six years ago) link
1987 - Colin Vearncombe aka Black
Only just noticed he died after a car crash last year.
― calzino, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:13 (six years ago) link
1988 - Tanita Tikaram
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:17 (six years ago) link
Feel like, to count, you need one mega-selling album that was never really followed up. And on that note...
1998 - The Corrs
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:18 (six years ago) link
2005 - James Blunt
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:21 (six years ago) link
1984 - Dead Or Alive (did have a bunch of hits besides the obvious massive one but down the dumper three years later)1988 - S Express (done within a couple of years)1990 - Betty Boo?1998 - Talvin Singh (although it seems like a disproportionate amount of the UK names that come up are BME artists :( but maybe this is too tied to BRITs/Mercury recognition)2002 - The Coral and pretty much every charting NME-hyped rock band at the time
― nashwan, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:27 (six years ago) link
Some of the Mercury Prize winners here were barely a flash, did Talvin Singh even sell that many records?
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:30 (six years ago) link
Talvin Singh's name still seems to get brought up now and again in my circle for some reason. Is he still releasing music?
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:40 (six years ago) link
Yeah, seemed unfair to say Talvin Singh because that felt like the Mercury judges really striking out on their own. Maybe ditto a bit with Roni Size.
― Alba, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:50 (six years ago) link
it seems like a disproportionate amount of the UK names that come up are BME artists
This has occurred to me too, but it seems like it's a particular kind of BME artist that the record industry gets behind in these flashes, often ones that don't get much traction with BME audiences.
― Alba, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:52 (six years ago) link
Talvin Singh seems like one of those people who stays busy with any number of projects, one or two of which occasionally intersect with the zeitgeist. Less of a flash in the pan than a slow bake.
― めんどくさかった (Matt #2), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:55 (six years ago) link
(crap analogy time)
In any case I apologise re/to Talvin and will seriously consider listening to his second album 'Ha' someday.
― nashwan, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 11:56 (six years ago) link
Feel like, to count, you need one mega-selling album that was never really followed up.
Not sure if it there has to be a mega-selling album: even a clutch of top 20 singles would work for me. Tanita Tikaram is just the kind of thing in the pre-Britpop era. That kind of respectable artist who weren't cool in the NME's eyes, were probably available in the Britannia Music Club, might be one of the 12 CDs (or cassettes) the ILM proverbial 12 CD-owning person had, you know.
Can't get my head around Tanita Tikaram being only four years older than me.
― Alba, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 12:05 (six years ago) link
I wouldn't say Apache Indian counts at all – he was more of a one-hit wonder
Yeah, you're right. Was swayed by him getting a Brits nomination for Best British Male.
― Alba, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 12:07 (six years ago) link
Someone on Facebook suggested McAlmont and Butler for 1995.
― Alba, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 12:09 (six years ago) link
"Some of the Mercury Prize winners here were barely a flash,"
maybe if Gaz Coombes had won it in '15 he wouldn't gone on to have a platinum selling hit album and become the global superstar he is now. Take note alt-J!
― calzino, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 12:10 (six years ago) link
Tanita T was in the year above me in my sixth form college; I wish I had some scadalous anecdotes to share but I got nothing
― plp will eat itself (NickB), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 12:16 (six years ago) link
iirc The Corrs still play arenas, they're prob more one for the thread that's words to the effect of 'you dgaf about them but they're actually as big as their heyday if not bigger'
― thirst trap your hare (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 13:23 (six years ago) link
I guess a lot of them still play to big crowds but on the basis of one album? It's not as if successive Corrs albums have gone top 10 and hung around all year is it?
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 13:35 (six years ago) link
yeah it is actually
― ufo, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 13:41 (six years ago) link
four of their albums have gone top two in the UK apparently
― plp will eat itself (NickB), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 13:46 (six years ago) link
The follow-up to Talk on Corners had 'Breathless' on it - a big hit!
― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 19:20 (six years ago) link
1984 - Nik Kershaw1985 - King
Absolutely yes to both of these. Although Kershaw became more of a back-room songwriter (he wrote 'The One and Only' for Chesney Hawkes) and we all know that Paul King became a VJ on MTV Europe...
― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 19:26 (six years ago) link
Corrs have a new single out, their sounds hasn't evolved much in 20 years.
1993 has a trio of Brit soul divas; Des'ree, Dina Caroll and Shara Nelson. Most sad that Shara Nelson never capitalised on the success of Massive Attack.
― Dan Worsley, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 19:28 (six years ago) link
1991 - Beverley Craven
― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 19:32 (six years ago) link
1998 Cornershop, maybe?
― "Celebration" encourages the listener to celebrate good times. (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 19:34 (six years ago) link
Also 1991 - Shakespears Sister
― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 19:35 (six years ago) link
Des'ree had a hit at the end of the nineties too with 'Life'. Think that album was quite big as well?
― plp will eat itself (NickB), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 19:36 (six years ago) link
1994 - Stiltskin1996 - Babylon Zoo
― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 19:37 (six years ago) link
Also 1994/1995 - The Outhere Brothers
― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 19:38 (six years ago) link
Shakespeare's Sister also had a bit of success in the 80s with 'You're History'
― plp will eat itself (NickB), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 19:41 (six years ago) link
1988 - Inner City
1989 - Bonnie Raitt
1992 - Arrested Development, Helmet
1995 - Drugstore (didn't sell many records but the inkies were all over them for months on end)
― jon123, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 20:42 (six years ago) link
Bonnie Raitt not even close to being a flash in the pan (at least in the US). All but one of the twelve albums she's released since 1977 landed in the top 40, and three went multi-platinum, along with numerous charting singles. In the UK she had a string of four albums that sold well. She's been popular with critics since her first album in 1971.
― Lee626, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 21:12 (six years ago) link
1998 - Air
― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 22:18 (six years ago) link
2002 - Damien Rice
― めんどくさかった (Matt #2), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 22:23 (six years ago) link
1988 - Edie Brickell (unless you're Paul Simon)― Lee626, Wednesday, October 11, 2017 9:54 PM (thirty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Lee626, Wednesday, October 11, 2017 9:54 PM (thirty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
They had a couple of hits between 'em in 2014 iirc.
― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 22:29 (six years ago) link
1987 - Curiosity Killed the Cat
― new noise, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 22:46 (six years ago) link
2016 - The 1975 (pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease)
― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 22:51 (six years ago) link
1988 - Tracy Chapman1998 - Asian Dub Foundation
― Well bissogled trotters (Michael B), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:05 (six years ago) link
one-hit wonders but never "big"
― new noise, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:05 (six years ago) link
i was gonna say damien rice but i guess he had two more albums that did okay? huge uk-usa discrepancies here; let's hear what the mongrels have to say
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:07 (six years ago) link
1996 - Los Del Rio (best selling single ever?)
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:10 (six years ago) link
1984 - Thompson Twins
― Well bissogled trotters (Michael B), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:11 (six years ago) link
Tracy Chapman had a #3 hit in 1995.
― President Keyes, Thursday, 12 October 2017 02:00 (six years ago) link
I was surprised to find out it only went to #95 the UK. It won the Grammy for Best Rock Song and was nominated for Best Song and Best Record.
― LeRooLeRoo, Thursday, 12 October 2017 02:34 (six years ago) link
2000 - Sonique
― LeRooLeRoo, Thursday, 12 October 2017 02:36 (six years ago) link
1990 - Alannah Myles
To be fair, she probably is considered a national treasure in Canada.
― earlnash, Thursday, 12 October 2017 03:05 (six years ago) link
G'night and good luck next year
― calstars, Thursday, 12 October 2017 03:28 (six years ago) link
1998 - B*Witched
I can't claim they got respect from the critics but them achieving four number one singles within 10 months to having it all be over less than a year later makes them one of the ultimate flash in the pan cases.
― kitchen person, Thursday, 12 October 2017 03:37 (six years ago) link
I'm about to fight you!
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 12 October 2017 03:46 (six years ago) link
Bing's "White Christmas" is still the biggest seller ever, but I think Macarena is somewhere in the top 10 or 20.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 12 October 2017 03:47 (six years ago) link
C&C Music Factory gotta be in here somewhere (was that 90 or 91?)
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 12 October 2017 03:49 (six years ago) link
Seems like there were a few in 1996 (along with the ones already suggested). You could include Fugees here if you forget their solo careers. Robert Miles had three big top 10 singles that year and then had just one other modest sized hit a year later. At one point you could have said Peter Andre, but for some reason the public decided to give him a second chance almost a decade later (he's had eight albums since that revival!). R&B boybands Damage and 3T were pretty big that year too. How about Alisha's Attic? Their album hung around for ages.
2002 - Daniel Beddingfield (his sister would have her own flash in the pan moment two years later), Gareth Gates, Samantha Mumba.
― kitchen person, Thursday, 12 October 2017 03:56 (six years ago) link
1996 - Los Del Rio (best selling single ever?)Bing's "White Christmas" is still the biggest seller ever, but I think Macarena is somewhere in the top 10 or 20.― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Wednesday, October 11, 2017 8:47 PM (forty-four minutes ago)
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Wednesday, October 11, 2017 8:47 PM (forty-four minutes ago)
I'm talking global, not the USA.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 12 October 2017 04:32 (six years ago) link
So was I.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 12 October 2017 04:33 (six years ago) link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_singles
I think I actually did a poll of these at some point too...
POLL: The 11 best selling singles ever
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 12 October 2017 04:38 (six years ago) link
re list of best selling singles - what a weird collection!
― skip, Thursday, 12 October 2017 06:03 (six years ago) link
1990 : EMF - Unbelievable.
surely !?
― mark e, Thursday, 12 October 2017 08:50 (six years ago) link
1998 - Air― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, October 11, 2017 11:18 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, October 11, 2017 11:18 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
LOL WUT
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Thursday, 12 October 2017 09:34 (six years ago) link
The original post is pretty obviously about *album* artists not one-hit-wonders, so I don't like Los Del Rio really counts here. Then again if Asian Dub Foundation (two albums that reached #20) are being mentioned then I'm not sure what's even being discussed any more.
I was completely wrong about the Corrs though, I guess the all-consuming hugeness of Talk On Corners wiped everything else from my memory.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 12 October 2017 11:36 (six years ago) link
Yeah, in my head it's definitely about the act's status in that year, rather than being defined specifically by an album, but one-hit-single wonders are probably not fodder for this.
I think it's a whiff of respectability that links them: Brit and Mercury approval is a big indicator, the sense that this is an important new force in the music industry. Not sure EMF really had that.
― Alba, Thursday, 12 October 2017 11:45 (six years ago) link
point taken re albums vs singles.the schubert dip' album was a hit, but didn't really dominate 1991 when it was released.
― mark e, Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:02 (six years ago) link
1997 - Natalie Imbruglia
― MaresNest, Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:05 (six years ago) link
Speaking of EMF - 1990: Jesus Jones (certainly in the UK, I recall much music press chin-stroking about their sampling and other modern wonders)
― めんどくさかった (Matt #2), Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:07 (six years ago) link
Stereo MCs and The Shamen maybe?
― starving street dogs of punk rock (Odysseus), Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:09 (six years ago) link
XP - I guess then The Wonder Stuff and PWEI too?
― MaresNest, Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:16 (six years ago) link
I wouldn't count PWEI or the Wonderstuff. They were just popular bands who were of their time. They had pretty big followings and released multiple albums and singles over a few years.
It's definitely about that thing where an act is all over the place, all over TV, talked about in ecstatic and revered tones, a huge amount of marketing and possibly a big hit single or album, but forgotten about within months with hardly a glimmer of a comeback.
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:24 (six years ago) link
in the US how about Hootie & The Blowfish?
― starving street dogs of punk rock (Odysseus), Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:25 (six years ago) link
Their flash sustained itself for four years at least, perhaps longer depending on who you ask.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:27 (six years ago) link
Would the KLF had been mentioned already were it not for their late 80s years of relative obscurity? That would rule out several other 90s acts itt tho. Also I guess people tend to think of acts that had some sort of brief mainstream acclaim without being ILM-friendly.
― nashwan, Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:28 (six years ago) link
didn't dwindle away so much as forcibly remove themselves from the picture
― thirst trap your hare (DJ Mencap), Thursday, 12 October 2017 13:01 (six years ago) link
KLF don't count as their legacy never really went away
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Thursday, 12 October 2017 13:31 (six years ago) link
I don't think these one-three hit wonders really hit the bill. Was EMF really promoted as a "career" band, or taken seriously by critics? Some of these are puzzling, like Corinne Bailey Rae, who made great follow up records but was kind of forgotten by the industry, if not by all critics.
― President Keyes, Thursday, 12 October 2017 14:02 (six years ago) link
Lisa Stansfield?
― Luna Schlosser, Friday, 13 October 2017 23:24 (six years ago) link
I was thinking her, maybe, but her songs still get played all the time on commercial radio where I'm from. Tracy Chapman? Sinead O'Connor?
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Friday, 13 October 2017 23:28 (six years ago) link
I guess this thread throws into question exactly how long the popularity of an act should last. Some acts are just so right for their time and place that they naturally enjoy a short shelf life. Most continue to release a few more albums but they never sell as well as their debut and they never get the press they had at the start
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Friday, 13 October 2017 23:30 (six years ago) link
Darius Rucker has a big career in countryI bet most of these "flashes in the pan" can still draw theater crowds that would be the envy of whatever indie rock bands are Pitchfork darlings these days
― Universal LULU Nation (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 14 October 2017 00:00 (six years ago) link
Their hit-making run started in 1983 in the UK and continued through 1985. They were still big enough in '85 to perform on the US Live Aid stage.
― Vast Halo, Saturday, 14 October 2017 16:09 (six years ago) link
Some of these are puzzling, like Corinne Bailey Rae, who made great follow up records
Her husband died a while after the release of her debut, and her career seemed to lose all its momentum while she took time out.
― Vast Halo, Saturday, 14 October 2017 16:14 (six years ago) link
I had no idea. Definitely strike her from the list.
― Alba, Saturday, 14 October 2017 17:36 (six years ago) link