View Full Version : Musical acts who were really big at on time but eventually vanished from mainstream p
I was actually thinking about Susan Boyle the other day and how she was all the rage back in 2009-2010 and still even managed to reach #1 with her third album in late 2011.
Although she recorded and released 4 further albums during the rest of the 2010s (plus her last one that's a semi-'greatest hits' release titled 'Ten' in 2019), she seemed to pass largely unnoticed post-2013.
According to Wikipedia, she still remains active overall as a singer/performer, but hasn't actually recorded or released any new material since 2019.
I also remember Frankie Goes To Hollywood, who were mega popular and successful during 1984-early 85 suddenly dying a death when they released their second album in 1986, and they were barely heard of again after. Ditto for Paul Young whose first 2 albums were mega successful back in the mid 80s, was already mostly forgotten about from about 86 onwards when he released his third album.
Can anyone think of any others over time?
This could end up a very long list Lencoboy.
Especially as bands split, music taste changes, musicians get older.
It's good to see some bands are still going like Madness, The Rolling Stones, PIL, Blondie, Tom Jones and many more.
Some bands take a break or go solo.
Here's some that have disappeared from the limelight...
Leona Lewis
Cheryl Cole (or whatever her sir is these days)
Kylie Minogue
Celine Dion
But Cliff Richard still going and with a new single, lol.
This could end up a very long list Lencoboy.
Especially as bands split, music taste changes, musicians get older.
It's good to see some bands are still going like Madness, The Rolling Stones, PIL, Blondie, Tom Jones and many more.
Some bands take a break or go solo.
Here's some that have disappeared from the limelight...
Leona Lewis
Cheryl Cole (or whatever her sir is these days)
Kylie Minogue
Celine Dion
But Cliff Richard still going and with a new single, lol.
Actually Kylie has had a bit of a resurgence recently, including a Top 10 hit single during the summer of this year called 'Paddam-Paddam'. She's always been a bit hit-and-miss for me generally; some of her stuff has been OK, other stuff of hers rather unmemorable.
IIRC Leona Lewis and Cheryl Cole were both part of the X-Factor thing, so hardly surprising they were both dropped like hot potatoes by the pop music-buying public by about late 2009 and beyond.
As for Celine Dion; again, she's always been a bit hit-and-miss for me, and I recall her popularity suddenly seemed to wane rapidly after that mega smash theme tune from Titanic she did in 1997. I also remember Mariah Carey being really popular from around 1993-96 with big hit singles and mega million selling albums and then largely pooh-poohed thereafter, apart from her 1994 festive smash which seems to be what she's best known and remembered for of late.
ISTR a lot more acts back in the 90s in particular who were mega successful and famous for just a couple of years then pooh-poohed off the face of the earth in favour of the next big 'sensation', of whom also often ended up going the way of the dodo in terms of high chart positions and general commercial success, ad nauseum.
On a similar note, I also remember quite a few albums from more 'established' acts that were released during the first half of the 90s that were mega successful at the time but are hardly ever discussed these days nor are the big hit singles from those albums played on the radio very often either nowadays.
Some of those albums are as follows, although I don't have all of them in my collection as I weren't overstruck on every single one of them.
Michael Bolton 'Time, Love And Tenderness (1991).
Enya 'Shepherd Moons' (1991).
Simply Red 'Stars' (1991).
Genesis 'We Can't Dance' (1991).
Def Leppard 'Adrenalize' (1992).
Sting 'Ten Summoners Tales' (1993).
UB40 'Promises And Lies' (1993).
Mariah Carey 'Music Box' (1993).
Meat Loaf 'Bat Out Of Hell II; Back Into Hell' (1993).
Pink Floyd 'The Division Bell' (1994).
The above titles are to name but a few.
Some of those releases I quite enjoyed myself at the time but would probably consider a borefest if I listened to them now.
It depends what radio station you listen to.
I tend to go for non mainstream, only because I don't like the current music.
Good to hear Kylie still going.
I know Celine Dion is poorly.
UB40 are still performing. I love that track by the way.
I noticed your list was during the 90s. Is that your preferred era Lencoboy?
I noticed your list was during the 90s. Is that your preferred era Lencoboy?
Not necessarily. More the 80s for me, especially as most of the acts whose monumental 90s album releases I listed above were largely hangovers from the 80s despite some of them actually having their roots in the 60s and 70s.
Generally speaking, I actually struggled to gel with much of the popular cultural trends that were more specific to the 90s, let alone those of today, be it musical and otherwise.
A lot of it seemed to be largely about brashness, outrageousness and excessive OTT-ness (especially the hellraising antics and general challenging attitudes of the Gallagher Bros of Oasis and many others of similar temperament) plus seemingly endless competitions of raucous debauchery on live TV (a la TFI Friday, Brit Awards, etc), plus the serial binge drinkers and associated late-night disorder plaguing our town/city centres really seemed to explode as the decade wore on; sometimes even infiltrated by career criminals/ gangsters'. Some of those things have continued into the present day, though the likes of the Brit Awards is reportedly tamer these days and I don't think the nightlife thing is as big now as it was in the 90s and 2000s, hence lesser opportunities for booze-fuelled late night aggro in public places.
Once again, as for the albums I mentioned above (which is mostly an arbitrary list of some popular albums of that era) there's no real right or wrong as to whether or not they're more overlooked today than at the time of their original release, especially as people's tastes can change over time (including my own).
While I still sometimes listen to and enjoy about a third of those releases today, the one other third (like I said upthread) I rather enjoyed at the time but not really too bothered about nowadays, while the remainder (those that I've never owned copies of) I couldn't really care less.
Agree with previous posts. The list could be pages and pages. I also agree about living in the past based on the subject matter of the threads. What was compared to what is. It really doesn't matter as we can't change the past nor predict the future :shrug:
FMP
Jessie J is a mother now, but she was huge about 10 years back.
Jessie J is a mother now, but she was huge about 10 years back.
Yes, I recall her name being bandied around a lot back in the early 2010s, but seems to be more low key of late.
There were quite a few rap artists (ouch) whose names were in lights back then (e.g, Tinie Tempah, Kid Cudi, Professor Green, Plan B, etc); most of whom seem to have faded into relative obscurity of late.
Going back to the 90s once again, ISTR Robson & Jerome being really massive around 1995-96, but suddenly going the way of the dodo from around 1997 onwards, and feeling mega disappointed that their then-current debut album kept The Beatles Anthology Vol 1 from the top spot in the UK album charts. Ditto over on the singles charts for Michael Jackson's 'Earth Song' keeping 'Free As A Bird' from #1 at the same time.
That period must truly have been the absolute heyday of 'bought' CDs, especially as it was at least another 2-3 years or so when CD-Rs and burning devices first entered the consumer mainstream, and then of course, online piracy.
I remember a band called T'Pau who were massive around 1987-88 (probably best known for their late 1987 mega hit single 'China In Your Hand'), who seemed to had vanished from the pop mainstream by the early 90s and beyond.
I also remember Belinda Carlisle being really popular around that same era whose mainstream success lasted into the very early 90s, but then also rapidly faded into obscurity thereafter.
I was more 'take them or leave them' about both acts; neither mad on them nor disliked them.
Fleetwood Mac also released a studio album back in 1987 called 'Tango In The Night' (following a bit of a 'wilderness' period) that was mega successful at the time, but now seems largely forgotten compared to the evergreen 'Rumours' that was released a decade earlier, and I'm sure I've heard that 'TITN' has become much maligned by many 'Mac fans over more recent times, who believe the band were trying to 'sell out' a bit too much to the MTV Generation at the time, especially with all the lavish dress and make-up of the time.
Mind you, there's no doubt also a certain proportion of longer-term 'Mac fans who probably in turn feel that 'Rumours' is vastly overrated and over-represented compared to many of the band's earlier efforts that came before it.
What about that Crazy Frog thing back in the mid 2000s?
That started off as a ringtone around 2004, then ended up being a hit single; a dance remake of the 1985 hit 'Axel F'.
I recall this one staff member some 5 years earlier playing on the computer there this still image of a racing car with what eventually became the Crazy Frog sound (A dingdingdingding, blah blah blah) superimposed over it, which I thought was dead funny and amusing at the time, but the creator and supplier of the Crazy Frog ringtone (Jamster, I think they were called) obviously stole and hijacked the sound, and eventually it did my nut in, plus it was also a reflection of the increasingly dumbed down culture of that era.
More recently (at the end of 2021), Crazy Frog released a comeback single 'Tricky', which bombed spectacularly (thank God)!
So much for 2000s nostalgia then, unlike the decades that came before, in the context of the typical 20-year cycle!
The Beatles having a number-one in 2023 was heartwarming. This feat happened some 50 years after their last chart-topper.
The band will always be influential.
The Beatles having a number-one in 2023 was heartwarming. This feat happened some 50 years after their last chart-topper.
The band will always be influential.
Absolutely, even though said single 'Now And Then' only managed just one solitary week at the top.
Though chart wise it still outdid 'Free As A Bird' and 'Real Love', both of which failed to top the UK singles charts and only managed #2 and #4 respectively back in 1995-96, and were also much maligned at the time.
Probably one of the longest-running gaps between #1 hits by given artists releasing technically 'new' material.
Going back to the very late 80s there was a duo called London Boys who seemed to be mega-massive in 1989, had about 3 or 4 smash hit singles and a big selling album called 'The Twelve Commandments Of Dance', which incidentally my mom bought me as a present (on vinyl) for my 12th birthday that year, but I haven't played it for donkeys years. Then after 1989 they suddenly faded into obscurity, despite still recording and releasing further albums and singles right up until both members tragically died in a car crash in 1996.
There was also another act who also had a very brief spell of commercial success that same year (1989) with about 2 or 3 hit singles who were incidentally on the same label as the London Boys. They were Fuzzbox, a West Midlands-based girl group whose lead singer Vix Perks now actually lives near us in Tamworth, who I have actually met a few times, and is a truly lovely lady.
They also suffered the same fate as the London Boys after 1989 where they still recorded and released material, but it bombed spectacularly.
1989 was a rather interesting but 'mixed' year for popular music as far as I was personally concerned at the time.
I seem to recall it as SAW's 'swansong' period, as their hits still continued to heavily dominate the charts during the first half of that year, especially as the then-Neighbours superstars Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan were battling it out on both the singles and album charts, especially in the wake of their colossal duet smash 'Especially For You' at the end of 1988.
Also as the year of 1989 wore on, the influence of rave music (aka acid house) was also rapidly gaining traction and of course rap music was also starting to rear its head in the UK charts by then too (a la Double Trouble and the Rebel MC, De La Soul, etc). All of which genres never really appealed to me at the time and still don't now 35 years later.
Personally as far as popular music was concerned, I think the 90s, style-wise, actually began rather prematurely during the very late 80s as I already noticed certain sounds and styles that went on to become staples of typical 90s pop (and still even in the decades that followed) had started appearing during the latter half of 1988, even though many of the keyboards, drum machines, etc, that they originated from no doubt actually predated 1988.
I am very fond of music released in 1980 up to 1985. My mate hates the 80s, but even he agreed that this is the best years of that decade.
Plus, look at the endless amount of cool movies this era boasts of. Whether that's action, horror, comedy or whatever. The 80s was otherwise rather drab, with all the political crap that went on, and John Lennon was killed. AIDS was a thing. The fashion was kind of embarrassing, but I guess acceptable at the time. Hence that cheesy song about it.
I am very fond of music released in 1980 up to 1985. My mate hates the 80s, but even he agreed that this is the best years of that decade.
Plus, look at the endless amount of cool movies this era boasts of. Whether that's action, horror, comedy or whatever. The 80s was otherwise rather drab, with all the political crap that went on, and John Lennon was killed. AIDS was a thing. The fashion was kind of embarrassing, but I guess acceptable at the time. Hence that cheesy song about it.
Yes, 1980-85 is one of my favourite eras for popular music, despite only being 3-8 years old for the duration of that time.
Technological developments were rapidly advancing during that same time period, especially as the very first ever CDs and players started appearing at the end of 1982, even though vinyl remains the most enduring physical music format of all time, still even today.
However, I always thought the 90s was (and still is) a vastly overrated decade that I generally struggled to gel with, in terms of both its popular musical trends and its popular cultural aspects in general, nor did I think the 2000s and 2010s were much cop either for pretty much the same reasons.
However, I always thought the 90s was (and still is) a vastly overrated decade that I generally struggled to gel with, in terms of both its popular musical trends and its popular cultural aspects in general, nor did I think the 2000s and 2010s were much cop either for pretty much the same reasons.
While on the subject of the 90s, I recall it being a decade full of short-lived fads and fashions, both musically and in general popular culture.
Said decade seemed to have several 'micro-eras' scattered throughout that were quite distinctive, though some overlapped others by about a year or two.
Although music-wise, dance-pop was pretty constant throughout the entire decade, around 1995-96 Britpop was all the rage, then in 1996-98 it was Girl Power (Spice Girls, All Saints. etc), then at the end of the decade (1998-99) I recall acts like The Corrs and Shania Twain being mega massive with a couple of albums and a flurry of hit singles from them but then both suddenly dropped like hot potatoes by the popular music-buying public from around 2000 onwards.
My sister used to have the official Boyzone dolls. Seriously! :D
My sister used to have the official Boyzone dolls. Seriously! :D
Yes, the late 90s did seem to be a vintage era for Irish pop acts.
Boyzone, B-Witched, The Corrs, Samantha Mumba, Westlife, to name but a few.
Although I wasn't necessarily crazy about most of said acts myself (they were just OK IMO), those names just evoke a certain sense of nostalgia nonetheless, and now take me back to what seemed like more innocent and carefree times, even though they probably weren't in actual reality.
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