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Post by SharksFan99 on Mar 18, 2018 9:19:45 GMT 10
We have a thread based on worldwide hits which did not achieve success in the US. However, I thought it would be interesting if we had a thread based on successful worldwide songs, that did not perform well in countries such as the UK, Australia or New Zealand.
"Keep Their Heads Ringin" was a worldwide hit and achieved Top-40 success in many countries around the world back in 1995. It peaked at #3 in New Zealand, #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #25 in the UK. Yet, the song was a complete flop in Australia, peaking at a measly #93 on the ARIA Chart. For reasons which I don't know, Australia never truly embraced Gangsta-Rap. In fact, none of Dr Dre's singles charted within the ARIA Top-50.
Bush are quite renowned for never truly achieving success in their native UK, and this song is an excellent example of it. Despite peaking at #5 in Australia, #28 in the US, #31 in New Zealand and #38 in Canada, "Glycerine" did not chart at all in the UK.
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Post by #Infinity on Mar 18, 2018 10:17:01 GMT 10
This song marked a huge comeback for Imagine Dragons and did quite well in most countries and spending roughly a whole year on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, however, it failed even to crack the top 40. This surprises me because considering it came out in 2017, it sounds relatively left of the dial (not that that says too much). Perhaps its lyrics are just a bit too narcissistically spiritual for UK listeners, in contrast to the bolder and more egotistical listeners in America?
“Thunder” also didn’t chart particularly high in the UK, but it did at least reach #20 and was also on the UK Singles Chart for a very long time.
In places such as Australia, North America, Spain, Israel, Belgium, and the Netherlands, “This Is Your Night” was a serious deal around the turn of 1997. In regions like the UK, Scandanavia (Iceland excluded), Switzerland, and even Germany, where Amber hails from, it didn’t chart at all. This is because unlike areas like North America and Oceania, where eurodance was still huge, central Europe, Scandinavia, and the British Isles had moved completely beyond classic eurodance by late 1996 and were instead getting into more progressive dance songs by musicians like Sash! and DJ Quicksilver.
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Post by SharksFan99 on Mar 18, 2018 12:44:00 GMT 10
Speaking of Eurodance, here is another good example of this thread. Considering that this Eurodance track was released back in 1993, i'm actually really surprised that "Give It Up" (a Danish cover of the KC and the Sunshine Band song) performed so poorly in the UK, where it peaked at just #61. I honestly can't think of any reason as to why it didn't achieve greater success, especially given the fact that the single wasn't just released to certain markets. Interestingly enough, this actually topped the charts in Australia and stayed at #1 for four weeks. In other parts of the world, it peaked at #5 in New Zealand, #6 in both Austria and Germany, as well as peaking within the Top-40 in the Netherlands and Switzerland. What's most interesting about it's success, however, is that the song didn't even chart in Denmark, the country where the band originate from. This song marked a huge comeback for Imagine Dragons and did quite well in most countries and spending roughly a whole year on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, however, it failed even to crack the top 40. This surprises me because considering it came out in 2017, it sounds relatively left of the dial (not that that says too much). Perhaps its lyrics are just a bit too narcissistically spiritual for UK listeners, in contrast to the bolder and more egotistical listeners in America? “Thunder” also didn’t chart particularly high in the UK, but it did at least reach #20 and was also on the UK Singles Chart for a very long time. That's interesting to read. I wasn't actually aware that "Believer" never reached the Top-40 over in the UK! I guess it's possible that the lyrics might have something to do with the song's chart performance. Although, the song itself (in a broader sense) just might not have appealed to the British public and there may not be an apparent reason for it.
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Post by SharksFan99 on Mar 20, 2018 15:29:42 GMT 10
I really don't understand how "Basket Case" peaked at just #85 on the ARIA Chart. It's such a great song and the country has always been very receptive of pop-punk, so why did this perform so poorly? In contrast, "When I Come Around" managed to peak at #7 and stayed on the charts for 17 weeks. It's a good song, but it's not one of Green Day's better songs and I personally don't think it deserved to be a Top-10 hit.
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Post by #Infinity on Mar 22, 2018 2:20:39 GMT 10
In a fair number of countries, including the US, “Lights” is one of Ellie Goulding’s signature songs, up with “Burn” and “Love Me like You Do”. In her native UK, though, it was a flop, peaking only at #49 (#48 in Scotland). This is all despite the fact that Goulding has far more hit singles in the United Kingdom than she does abroad.
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Post by #Infinity on Mar 23, 2018 15:03:20 GMT 10
Though still a hit there, the UK was the only major country where "One Night in Bangkok" failed to make it into the top 10. Even in America and Canada, it peaked at #3, while it reached #1 in numerous other countries.
The reason for this, if I had to guess, is that in the UK, it was "I Know Him So Well" that instead became the centrepiece of Chess, the musical soundtrack it came from, thus overshadowing Murray Head's number. "I Know Him So Well" was absolutely enormous in the UK, hitting #1 in February 1985 and becoming the 24th best-selling single of the 1980s for that country. Its two performers, Elaine Paige and Barbra Dickson, were already very famous there beforehand, both having previous hit singles, even if most were from other musicals.
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Post by SharksFan99 on Mar 26, 2018 9:12:20 GMT 10
After noticing this song in the post #Infinity made in this thread, I decided to research how it performed on the charts, simply out of curiosity. "If Your Girl Only Knew" was a legitimate chart success back in 1996, peaking at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, #15 in the UK and #20 in New Zealand. However, it didn't even chart at all in Australia. In fact, "Back & Forth" and "One in a Million" were her only singles from the 1990s which charted here, and they peaked at just #100 and #69 respectively. I wonder why Aaliyah was so unsuccessful here? Even her self-titled album released in 2001, which contained the worldwide hit "Try Again" (albeit, it did chart at #8 here), only peaked at #41 on the ARIA Album chart, and that's despite the fact that the album topped the Billboard 200, peaked at #5 on the UK Album chart and #25 in New Zealand. One In a Million also charted, but it peaked at just #93 on the ARIA Album chart. Considering how successful Linkin Park were in the UK, it's surprising that "Leave Out All the Rest" peaked at just #90 back in 2008. The single wasn't a success in the US either, only managing to peak at #93 over there. I realise that "Leave Out All the Rest" was released as the final single off Minutes to Midnight, however it wouldn't have been unreasonable for it to have been a moderate Top-50 hit. In a fair number of countries, including the US, “Lights” is one of Ellie Goulding’s signature songs, up with “Burn” and “Love Me like You Do”. In her native UK, though, it was a flop, peaking only at #49 (#48 in Scotland). This is all despite the fact that Goulding has far more hit singles in the United Kingdom than she does abroad. "Lights" was her first worldwide hit as well, which makes the song's lack of success in the UK even more surprising. Although, at least it was a Top-50 hit over there, even if it only peaked at #49. "Lights" didn't even chart here in Australia!
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Post by SharksFan99 on Apr 17, 2018 14:01:33 GMT 10
I only found out about this a few hours ago. Incredibly, "Hanging by a Moment" did not chart at all in Canada, despite the fact that No Name Face peaked at #4 on the Canadian album chart. I'm really surprised by this, especially considering how successful the song was in the United States, Australia (where it reached #1) and New Zealand. "Hanging by a Moment" wasn't too successful in the UK either, however it at least managed to peak at #25 on the UK charts, even if it did only stay on the chart for just one week.
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Post by #Infinity on May 2, 2018 2:01:59 GMT 10
It turns out, this song bombed in Spain. It peaked at #1 in several countries and at least reached the top 10 of most others, but it could only muster #43 on the Spanish singles chart (Promusicae). I think there mat have been a few other European countries where it didn’t chart at all, based on its Wikipedia page, but its explicitly terrible performance in Spain is still noteworthy, regardless.
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Post by SharksFan99 on May 6, 2018 20:14:24 GMT 10
Despite being one of the most well known pop-punk songs of all time and a worldwide hit at the turn of 1999, "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" did not chart at all in New Zealand, which I think is incredible. Even in America, where the band had no previous Billboard Hot-100 hit, it at least managed to peak at #53. At first I considered the possibility that the song wasn't released as a single in New Zealand, but "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" was the first single off Americana and it was given a worldwide release, so it rules out that theory. It turns out, this song bombed in Spain. It peaked at #1 in several countries and at least reached the top 10 of most others, but it could only muster #43 on the Spanish singles chart (Promusicae). I think there mat have been a few other European countries where it didn’t chart at all, based on its Wikipedia page, but its explicitly terrible performance in Spain is still noteworthy, regardless. Looks like the Spanish had a good taste in music at the time.  I personally think "You're Beautiful" is one of the worst songs of the 2000s.
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Post by longaotian on May 7, 2018 15:21:08 GMT 10
Despite being one of the most well known pop-punk songs of all time and a worldwide hit at the turn of 1999, "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" did not chart at all in New Zealand, which I think is incredible. Even in America, where the band had no previous Billboard Hot-100 hit, it at least managed to peak at #53. At first I considered the possibility that the song wasn't released as a single in New Zealand, but "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" was the first single off Americana and it was given a worldwide release, so it rules out that theory. Yep, I've seen you mention that song before and up until that time I had never even heard of it, so it doesn't surprise me that it didn't chart in New Zealand, but it's not a good song anyways so meh.
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Post by SharksFan99 on May 19, 2018 23:49:28 GMT 10
Yep, I've seen you mention that song before and up until that time I had never even heard of it, so it doesn't surprise me that it didn't chart in New Zealand, but it's not a good song anyways so meh. Fair enough.  It's pretty strange though, because The Offspring had a few Top-40 chart hits in New Zealand before "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy") was released. New Zealand must have bad taste in music, I guess. I think it's a really good song!
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Post by #Infinity on Aug 10, 2018 3:59:48 GMT 10
This dance song by Belgian singer Lara Fabian was a worldwide smash in 2000, even becoming a top 40 hit in the dance-resistant United States. However, it was an enormous flop in the UK in particular, peaking only at a dinky #63 on the UK Singles Chart. It was recently covered by British pop group Steps, who were at their commercial height back when the original was released, but the song’s underperformance in the British Isles is nonetheless quite strange.
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Post by Telso on Aug 11, 2018 10:34:22 GMT 10
This catchy Pop-Rock tune was very popular in Europe in the mid-2000s, but is nowhere to be found on the US charts (and apparently did not do very well in general outside of Europe).
Also, that clip is ultra cheesy but what do you want.
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Post by SharksFan99 on Aug 11, 2018 10:39:20 GMT 10
This catchy Pop-Rock tune was very popular in Europe in the mid-2000s, but is nowhere to be found on the US charts (and apparently did not do very well in general outside of Europe). Also, that clip is ultra cheesy but what do you want. I actually remember that song! It peaked at #23 here in Australia, but I remember it was quite popular at the time and received a lot of radio airplay. I haven't heard that song in years, so thanks for sharing it. 
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I personally think "You're Beautiful" is one of the worst songs of the 2000s. 
It's pretty strange though, because The Offspring had a few Top-40 chart hits in New Zealand before "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy") was released. New Zealand must have bad taste in music, I guess. 
