3 Legendary British Rock Bands That Never Made It Big in the United States

Americans don’t mind an invasion if you arrive with mod looks, guitars, and good tunes. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who all recycled American roots music, but their Englishness also offered an exotic appeal. Yet many British rock bands never quite break in the U.S. They may fill arenas or even stadiums back home, but are resigned to opening slots or small to medium-sized clubs while trying to navigate the 50 states.

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So in the spirit of trying to land hits on both sides of the Atlantic, here are three legendary British rock bands that never made it big in the U.S.

The Jam

It’s not that The Jam are completely unknown in the U.S., but the mod legends never achieved the commercial success of fellow first-wave punks like The Clash or Sex Pistols. Yet “Town Called Malice”, “That’s Entertainment”, “Going Underground”, and many others were working-class youth anthems that paved the way for Britpop. When the band toured in America, they were the opening act. However, they were superstars in the U.K. When The Jam broke up in 1982, Polydor Records reissued the band’s 16 U.K. singles and every one reentered the charts at the same time.

Suede

In the early 90s, when Brett Anderson landed on American shores with camp, swinging hips, and a bare midriff, many Yanks didn’t get it. It didn’t help when a trademark kerfuffle forced Suede to release its U.S. albums as The London Suede. Some bands are just too British, perhaps. But Anderson helped ignite Britpop, and his band’s success even inspired Damon Albarn to reinvent Blur. If you’re unfamiliar, the first three albums, Suede, Dog Man Star, and Coming Up, are Britpop classics. Think of “Animal Nitrate” as Britpop’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

T. Rex

When Suede convened to begin work on Coming Up, Anderson used T. Rex’s 1973 album Tanx as the blueprint. Marc Bolan’s glam and soul album reached the U.K. top 10 but only peaked at 102 in the U.S. Of course, American audiences know “Get It On” and “20^th Century Boy”, but even T. Rex’s lone U.S. hit was renamed “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” to avoid confusion with a jazz-rock tune of the same name. Still, Bolan, a superstar in Britain, inspired David Bowie and pioneered glam rock.

Photo by Neal Preston