Good shouts for Matrix & Futurebound and especially Wilkinson. He now has two top 20s though with Dirty Love, but considering the drum n bass success of Rudimental, Sigma, DJ Fresh & Chase and Status, he should be bigger!

Edited October 20, 201410 yr by ML Hammer95

Going back a few years, The Polyphonic Spree had the potential to be big but never quite made it.

Good shouts for Matrix & Future bound and especially Wilkinson. He now has two top 20s though with Dirty Love, but considering the drum n bass success of Rudimental, Sigma, DJ Fresh & Chase and Status, he should be bigger!

Ahh I didn't realize 'Dirty Love' was a Top 20 hit as I hadn't checked out the charts for last week yet but that's great news though I can just imagine how quick it's gonna fall off the chart :(

TBH! She's had so many setbacks in her life,she deserves to be handled well!

But she isn't sadly

 

Also Esmée Denters and Eva Simons anyone? I'm still waiting for that 2nd and first album from them!

 

OMG YES! I actually really enjoyed her debut album! She had two top 10 hits with 'Outta Here' and 'Until You Were Gone' with Chipmunk, yet sadly 'Admit It' and 'Love Dealer' didn't really do anything :( 'Admit It' is such a tune as well! I was really surprised that she didn't take off properly, especially with the JT backing.

Going back a few years, The Polyphonic Spree had the potential to be big but never quite made it.

Their first album was wonderful with some great tunes but perhaps a little OTT for many people's taste.

Oof, so many examples so this is going to be loooon.. Some of these regard all of Europe and not just the UK..

 

Karmin (Honestly expected them to be huge after 'Broken Hearted' and especially after hearing 'Hello' but nope. 'Acapella' is also amazing and they have such great chemistry.)

Mike Posner (So much potential flushed down the drain after 'Cooler Than Me' .. 'Please Don't Go' was a masterpiece ahead of its' time!)

Skylar Grey (Lent her voice to so many projects yet most people don't know her for shit and her solo material continually flops .. criminal!)

Tegan & Sara (both 'Closer' and 'I Was A Fool' deserved to smash!)

I completely agree with all of these! Love them.

Some examples though not very recent

 

Speaking for the UK, I am surprised that Modern Talking never did anything over there. They are absolutely huge where I live (Malta) despite them being German, and had extremely catchy songs in the 80's and late 90's/early 2000's.

 

Another one is Gigi D'Agostino... L'Amour Toujours, La Passion, The Riddle, Elisir, Bla Bla Bla, Another Way ... Don't know whether they were simply never released, or if they just failed to chart.

 

Ultimately before Counting Stars came around, I would have mentioned One Republic... Many of their songs post-Apologize are a masterpiece, and IMO far better than CS

 

 

Also forgot The Gossip! I always thought that 'Heavy Cross' was huge in the UK because how big it was here in Iceland (and we tend to borrow big hits from the UK) but nope doesn't look like it was. Also their last album was rrrreally good!

 

Same goes for Amy MacDonald. I always thought that she was big in the UK and am still shocked that 'This Is The Life' peaked at No. 28 an 'Don't Tell Me That It's Over' at No. 48 with only one week on the tally! Both were very big in Iceland.

Amy MacDonald sold A LOT of albums in the UK too

Oh okay that's good to know, didn't realize she was only a big album artist! Glad she didn't flop all around even though she did single-wise! (guess she's similar to London Grammar then in a way)

This Is the Life (the song) really helped the album the sell in the UK but the peak position on singles chart is pretty low, it was big hit in Europe on its own though

Neon Hitch.

I think most country artists would fit this thread, they're huge in America but haven't happened here, the UK just doesn't take to country sadly. :(

 

I think it's also due to them not coming over here and making an effort to promote as well. I mean Lady Antebellum had 3 top 10 albums (and another top 20) and Carrie Underwood sold out gigs at the Royal Albert Hall and her album managed to peak at #11 with a little promotion. I'm sure a good handful of country artists could crossover here if they properly went about it. It's just that most tend to stick to the US/Canada as far as I can tell.

Edited October 25, 201410 yr by Envoirment

Not sure if it counts but Owl City is my fav artist obv but he had a massive single Fireflies and Good Time so...

Also Armin van Buuren, Knife Party and Matrix & Futurebound. tbh Armin was #1 in DJ magazine so hardly what you call someone who 'never happened' but in terms of chart success, he only reached a best of #6 peak last year :o

 

Knife Party only scored a top 40 hit alongside SHM but they are fairly recognised in the EDM dubstep industry. M&F definitely deserve more attention; they're work is. Amazing! :wub:

I think it's also due to them not coming over here and making an effort to promote as well. I mean Lady Antebellum had 3 top 10 albums (and another top 20) and Carrie Underwood sold out gigs at the Royal Albert Hall and her album managed to peak at #11 with a little promotion. I'm sure a good handful of country artists could crossover here if they properly went about it. It's just that most tend to stick to the US/Canada as far as I can tell.

 

I think this is possibly a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation though - country acts don't do well outside the US and Canada, so they don't bother promoting there, so they don't do well there, etc. etc.

Doesn't help that Radio 1 and Capital probably wouldn't support them regardless and would leave them to Radio 2 instead. See: Kacey Musgraves.

Find it baffling how some of you are listing people with #1 singles and albums?

Find it baffling how some of you are listing people with #1 singles and albums?

 

I did in the opening post with Orson. Just because they've had no.1 singles and albums doesn't mean their success met your initial expectations. It's not as if anyone has posted Britney Spears, Madonna, Elvis and the Beatles is it?

Not sure if it counts but Owl City is my fav artist obv but he had a massive single Fireflies and Good Time so...

Also Armin van Buuren, Knife Party and Matrix & Futurebound. tbh Armin was #1 in DJ magazine so hardly what you call someone who 'never happened' but in terms of chart success, he only reached a best of #6 peak last year :o

 

Knife Party only scored a top 40 hit alongside SHM but they are fairly recognised in the EDM dubstep industry. M&F definitely deserve more attention; they're work is. Amazing! :wub:

Armin is one of the most popular DJs of all time though! He could get more chart hits if he wanted to anyway, he just wants to stick to making his kinda music. I thought this with Tiesto too a few years ago and look what happened when he released Red Lights/Wasted (both were top 10s). I'm glad Armin isn't going down to Tiesto-levels of selling out though anyway, that would probably do more harm to his career than good.

 

Matrix & Futurebound I agree with. Don't Look Back should've been a big top 10 not a #38 flash in the pan "hit" :(

I'm gonna delve back into the late 2000s/early 2010s with some of these.

 

Mini Viva - I was never expecting them to have a lengthy career or anything, but I was hoping they'd at least get the chance to release their album.

 

Natalia Kills - I was expecting her to make quite a splash in 2010/2011 but she only ever made a chart appearance as a feature on a flop LMFAO single. :(

 

I Blame Coco - 'Self Machine' is still one of my favourite songs of the past few years, at the time I was expecting it to go top 15/top 20 but it just went horribly wrong, and then she fizzled out not long after.

 

Sky Ferreira - I know she's reinvented herself as an 'indie' artist now, but I remember we were all expecting 'One' to be a top 10 hit in 2010 and like the above it limped in at a disappointing #64. 'Obsession' is still a JAM for me, and 'I Blame Myself' is definitely one of this year's finest.