Bands that should’ve been huge? Here are two, The Bees and Grandaddy.  Two immensely talented and innovative bands that didn’t get the success they deserve.

Last year Isle of Wights finest The Bees announced that they had been dropped by their record company.  This was presumably because their excellent and critically acclaimed last album ‘Octopus’ didn’t sell as well as they thought it should.  Singles ‘Listening Man’ and ‘Who cares what the question is?’ got excellent revues and sufficient, if not plenty, of airplay.  They are going to self publish their next album and good luck to them.

A couple of years ago American band Grandaddy quit music because the efforts they were putting in was not matched by their return.  In the end after much arguing and soul-searching they decided they were all better off getting jobs. 

Both these bands were talented, innovative and wrote great pop songs but seemed to be continually fighting a losing battle in achieving commercial success.  There are of course loads of others; bands that have made it, record deals, great albums, loved by critics, catchy singles but are eventually dropped because they don’t ‘shift enough units’. 

Meanwhile artist who proffer pseudo-sentimental formulaic pish are raking it in, especially singer-songwriters’ in soft focus.  Paolo Nutini supported Led fucking Zeppelin for godsake.  Can someone please tell me how this managed to happen?

The whole thing just seems a bit wrong.  Bands must feel they are hitting their head off a brick wall. They write, record then release an album they completely believe in then watch as it barely makes a dent in the radar.  Then as they ponder their next move and whether they have to go and get a real job,  they switch on the telly and watch 50,000 morons jumping around like crazy to ‘Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby’.

If anyone thinks British music is healthy at the moment they are talking out their arse.

Posted In They Shoulda Been Huge, Aug 26 2008.