As in every other genre, there are those unlucky acts that sadly never matched the success of their counterparts. While bands like Westlife, BSB, NSYNC, 5ive, Another Level and Blue ruled the charts and teenage girls', these bands had very modest success, sometimes none at all. All that's left of them though are short Wiki entries, a few videos on YouTube, some members in reality shows trying to 'redeem' themselves and hardly any of their albums online.
Here's a look at 5 amazing boybands that never had a top ten album in a major music market(which means UK, US, places like that..) or even an album at all but certainly deserved to have one or two. They may have had singles as well, and they may have been successful(like in the top ten or something..), but that's not what I'm counting. Heck, one of these bands didn't even get to release a single! haha.
1. Northern Line were a boyband I discovered while making my '1999 in Boyband Land' post and after hearing their 2000 offering All Around The World on YouTube, I've made it my mission to one, know everything about them and two, give them at least a bit for credit for this utterly amazing pop song(you just HAVE to watch this, the song is beyond words!):
How much better can it get? It seems a little too ahead for 2000 but that's the point, IT'S BRILLIANT, That's the simplest way to put it. It's nothing like what the other boybands were releasing at the time. Westlife were at Coast To Coast and boybands simply didn't do this type of songs, they were stuck with Max Martin/Steve Mac songs. Whoever wrote this song deserves to be worshiped. They released three singles during their time together but all of them failed to reach the top ten and there's no record of them ever releasing an album. Shame though, they seemed to have it all, the dancing ability, the vocals and the sooooongs! haha.(Note: Northern Line was also the inspiration for this post. After seeing the video above, I just HAD to write about it!)
2. I've discovered a lot of artists via Westlife, so it's no surprise that I'd discover a few boybands in the process. I was really bored one day so I decided to scour YouTube for Childline performances of the lads. So while I was watching I came across a performance from the 2007 show(hosted by Brian and Stephen from Westlife and Boyzone respectively!) by this boyband called Streetwize.
They're very Westlife-y, mainly because they sang a cover of a ballad, AND they're wearing white suits(see: Westlife performance of My Love for the 2000 Record Of the Year or the 2000 Royal Variety Performance of What Makes A Man) and there are five of them. After some research on my part, I found out that they were from the UK, Ireland, the US and Venezuela and apparently, two members formed a new band called Stateside. A single release never materialized for this line up, let alone a single. Darn it.
3. Now MyTown are very similar to Westlife, they're Irish, they were in the 1998 Smash Hits Tour and were nominated for the Best New Tour Act Award that Westlife went on to win. Though Westlife did go on to become the most successful boyband ever and two members of MyTown formed The Script. As far as I know, Party All Night was the only single released from their debut album.
They're so unknown, I don't even know if the single or album charted if it did at all. The album itself is floating around online, it's on some music blogs(and maybe even the blogs I've listed on the sidebar..) but I have no idea if you can get a physical copy of it at present.
4. C21's debut album may have been the most successful debut boyband album in Denmark and they may have been kind of big in South East Asia but in the UK or the US, they're practically unknown. I think that's enough to qualify them for this post. Plus the fact that their album here sold for practically nothing at a CD sale(think 5-10 cents in $, haha.) and Wiki doesn't display their chart positions.
They had two albums and after their second album(which I think most likely flopped..) they just disappeared. The last time I looked, their official site is still up but it isn't being updated and I haven't heard anything new from any of the members so I guess it's over for those three.
5. I found this next band, C-Note out of curiosity, but I'm glad I did. They released an album back in 1999 and had a top 40 single(coming in at number 33..). After a long lul in releases, they released an album in 2007 and another one last year. From what I'm seeing, it flopped or was given absolutely no promotion because I would've seen the album somewhere around the internet if it did even slightly well. Crappy video, but amazing song!
I have a soft spot for Spanish songs, if you don't already know. I think the language makes the song more melodious, better in other words! There's also an English version if you wanna hear it.
See? I told you they were amazing, they should be given credit where credit is due. Whether it be amazing vocals, mind-blowing melodies or just being the ultimate boyband but failing to hit it big. Amazing stuff!
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C-Note! Ah! I thought they were related to Menudo in some capacity? Maybe I'm wrong. I also thought they were at one point in cohoots with Lou Pearlman, who screwed over BSB and *NSYNC...or maybe I'm thinking of someone eles entirely. Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteThat Northern Line song is pretty dancey. I agree, it doesn't sound like the 2000 pop stuff...maybe that's why it didn't work? Unfortunately?