Soundcheck
Posted June 20, 2008 — in Music News
Many reading KOAR are fans of bands that they think should make it big more often than not, these bands don’t achieve the level of success that we expected. Whether they just don’t get picked up by a major and end up disbanding after years of not being offered a record deal, or, among other situations, signed to an indie label and never reached the audience you thought they deserved. In this version of Soundcheck, I’m going to talk about a few bands that I felt had the talent and the songs to make it big, but for some reason didn’t. Check out the songs in Soundcheck Myspace player at http://www.myspace.com/soundcheckkoar
First off, Orson from Los Angeles, CA. After Maroon 5 had big hits in 2003 and 2004, I thought that this funky pop/rock band had a sure hit in the states with their single “No Tomorrow”. After a few years in Los Angeles and a minor amount of buzz, these guys went over to the UK and quickly got a deal from Mercury. “No Tomorrow” reached #1 on the UK singles chart in 2006 and the debut album “Bright Idea” debuted at #1 on the UK album chart in the spring of that year. In my opinion, American pop stations missed out on this one.
Boston-based pop/rock band Averi released two full-length albums before parting ways with lead singer Chad Perrone in 2006. “The Bones Underneath” is a track that defines what this band is about with a good mix of saxophone and radio friendly melodies. They opened for bands like Matchbox Twenty, Eve 6, and Gavin Degraw, but were never offered a record deal.
Florida rockers Waking Season seemed poised to take rock radio by storm a few years ago with tracks like “I’m Sorry” and “Cold Day in Hell”. The success never came and the band has seemingly disappeared in recent years.
Adelayda signed w/ indie label Superkala Records in 2004 and saw minor radio success with their single “Not Tonight”. They had the vocals and the power ballad, but they disbanded a few years ago and haven’t been heard from since.
MrNorth is a very talented rock band from New York, via Ireland, who signed to indie label Uninhibited Records for 2004’s “Lifesize”. They’ve opened for The Who, Van Halen, & Fuel to name a few big acts. Their first single “Speak No Evil” hit at a perfect time for it’s politically charged lyrics to make an impact during the 2004 election year. A catchy rock single that should have done much better than it did. They’ve since released a follow-up album on indie label Rock Ridge Music.
This also isn’t all about bands that major labels didn’t pick up, this can also be about labels not releasing singles you thought could be big hits, as I did when “Vacuum Bag” by Stroke 9 was not released as a single and the band was dropped later that year by their label, or when Butch Walker’s “Mixtape” failed to resonate at radio.
Now, that you’ve heard my picks, I’m curious what bands or artists you felt suffered from the same fate as these bands. Who do you think had the potential to be huge and just didn’t make it? What band didn’t have the right single released? & most importantly why do you think these bands didn’t explode onto the scene?
Soundcheck is written by Dallas who currently attends San Francisco State University and works on the Live 105 (KITS) Action Team.
The Films’ Don’t Dance, Rattlesnake was never released by Warner Bros, even though it was a hit in Germany on 7Hz Records. And even though Black Shoes & Beltloops were both hit songs. The band waited well over a year, then got dropped & put the record out themselves. It’s one of my favorite records of all-time.
They’re in the studio with Butch Walker right now, though, recording album #2. Maybe they’ll have better luck.
Comment by Jon Cole — June 20, 2008 @ 8:31 am
Man i remember Adelayda from waaaaayyy back in the day!! I always thought that song was good but the record never stuck for some reason. Just seemed kinda shallow and didnt resonate. Now Mr north on the other hand. We did a few shows with these guys and I have to say they were an awesome live band and had great songs. They are still playing.
Comment by Cris — June 20, 2008 @ 9:37 am
Promise To Burn from Missouri should get a record deal. They have a song called “Head” that would be huge on modern rock radio.
http://www.myspace.com/promisetoburn
Comment by Carlos — June 20, 2008 @ 9:45 am
This is sort of a stretch, because they got a major record deal, but I think Thrice missed the boat. I love them, and they were on Island for 2 major label release, but it never hit the way it should have. The label chose the wrong singles, and put all their money on Thrice and Thursday leading the wave to making post-hardcore popular. Then the “dream team” jumped ship and the two bands subsequently left and have yet to have the same impact they did on Island (and even then, it wasn’t as big as it should have been). Now they’re releasing amazing albums that aren’t reaching out because they missed the bandwagon.
Comment by Adam — June 20, 2008 @ 10:22 am
Averi was an excellent band. Lead singer Chad Perrone is releasing his 2nd solo album tonight at the Paradise in Boston. http://myspace.com/chadperrone
Averi drummer Matt Lydon is now playing with Portland, ME rising star Pete Kilpatrick, who has an album coming out later this summer. http://myspace.com/petekilpatrick
Comment by BostonMuzak — June 20, 2008 @ 10:38 am
I always imagined David Cook belting out that last part of “Not Tonight” on American Idol, thought it woulda been fitting for him.
Comment by Dallas — June 20, 2008 @ 11:07 am
Ah, I miss Adelyada so much.
The Excentrics out of Washington, DC could have been huge. Lead singer Todd Wright (www.myspace.com/orangepopsongs) is now songwriting for various artists across the country. I hope he makes it big one day. One of the nicest and hardest working songwriters around.
Comment by Greg — June 20, 2008 @ 11:43 am
Whether someone hits it big or not has little or nothing to do with the quality of the music. If some coked out record executive know it all wants to put 2 million dollars behind an act he has a one in 5 chance of making a hell of alot of money. And if there’s some left over the band will get some too.
Comment by Brett — June 20, 2008 @ 12:28 pm
There are the bands, Down and Above, Shirock, Dropout Year, and lots more. These bands pull and have a commercial sound. Down and Above has been around for a while, Shirock draws and has a great rock/electronic sound and Dropout Year draws extremely well with a different pop/punk sound.
Comment by Luke — June 20, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
A few great bands were Erase the Grey ( http://www.myspace.com/erasethegrey ) from Cleveland that got picked up and dropped in a year by Universal, they had a great song called Rain….
same label had a band called Minus.Driver who was an amazing act from Atlanta that was around for a long time and released an excellent EP with a hit single InHuman that never really did anything… ( http://www.myspace.com/minusdriver )
another amazing band was Shenoah ( http://www.myspace.com/shenoah )
I used to love this band called Shun way back in the days of mp3.com but I am not even sure where to find any of their stuff anymore.
Comment by Gustavus — June 20, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
Adam, do you think Thrice could have had better singles than “All That’s Left” or “Stare at the sun” from TAITA? In my opinion, “Stare at the sun” should have been absolutely huge.
As far as what Atlantic did with “Vheissu”…The single choices from that were 2 of my favorites on the album…what do you think woulda done better?
Also, if you like that kinda Thrice & Thursday - check http://www.myspace.com/firekills - “Closer To Me”
Comment by Dallas — June 21, 2008 @ 12:57 am
First, hasn’t Orson gotten some U.S. airplay for ‘Ain’t No Party’ recently? Have heard that on XM and elsewhere and love it. Isn’t in iTunes, at least stateside.
And, a band that belongs on this list: Spymob, and their excellent Sitting Around Keeping Score. 2040 was the should-be hit. They were the touring band for N.E.R.D., I think–don’t know if they’re still together.
Comment by profB — June 21, 2008 @ 11:59 am
some good choices in here
shun, down and above, erase the grey
minus.driver paled in comparison to early minus material though
also,
logic 34 (had that maverick deal that never amounted to anything)
humanlab (signed to atlantic, dropped before album release)
quitter (signed to atlantic as well, but broke up shortly thereafter)
amazing device (turned down a few deals then couldnt get one to save their life)
brings back memories.
Comment by hah — June 21, 2008 @ 8:23 pm
I think this applies to bands that did get picked up by a major label as well as the writer said. I think The Juliana Theory had great potential they had the songs, they had the singles, they had the musicianship, and the touring abilities. After being picked up by Epic the label did nothing with the record, not even a video or single. It was sad to see them fade away because they had sooo much potential, soo much to offer, and it just never happened.
Comment by Echo — June 22, 2008 @ 10:24 am
wow i forgot about logic 34!!!
great band…
also stutterfly was another decent band that i thought had potential but was another maverick victim i think…
Comment by Gustavus — June 22, 2008 @ 5:17 pm
minus.driver = victim of the major label.
Comment by longino — June 24, 2008 @ 10:48 am
Former Waking Season Guitarist and co-songwriter B.G. Simpson has put together another band!!! They are Called Bleeding Black. It’s a change from the W.S. stuff. He recruited Dark New Day, Evanescence, and Skrape drummer Will Hunt, Skrape bassist Pete Sison and Lennon Guitarist Mikey Mayhem for his new band! They ave a new myspace up! Just launched 3 weeks ago! GO CHECK IT OUT! http://www.myspace.com/itsbleedingblack
Very riffy and rockin sound! If you like the new Shinedown, Rev Theory, Motley Crue… You’ll LOVE this!
Comment by Sleeper — July 30, 2008 @ 7:11 pm