Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

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Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby ` » 13 Feb 2020, 16:49

Am sure such artists still make records, they just don't get mentioned that much

Any advance on

Maria McKee...

Terrence Trent Darby...

Almost added Leo Sayer but far from fizzling out, the crapper the records he made after the first couple of albums, the more and more he seemed to sell.

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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby soundchaser » 13 Feb 2020, 17:16

Powehi wrote:
Almost added Leo Sayer but far from fizzling out, the crapper the records he made after the first couple of albums, the more and more he seemed to sell.


I think you’re being a bit hard on Leo. For me, his third album, Another Year, was easily his best: still a great listen. This was the last of his singer-songwriter records and it was the fourth album, Endless Flight, where he took the Rod Stewart route into disco. But even that was an enjoyable listen, though perhaps a guilty pleasure these days.

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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby naughty boy » 13 Feb 2020, 18:00

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby Brickyard Jack » 13 Feb 2020, 19:16

Tracy Chapman
Julia Fordham
Tanita Tikaram

Any any number of female singer-songwriters.

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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby Geezee » 13 Feb 2020, 20:36

Positive Passion wrote:
Any any number of female singer-songwriters.


?

Firstly I wouldn't call at least Tracy Chapman fizzling out (I know less about the other two) - she seems to me to have carved out a pretty enviable career and has a huge following still. I'm not a big fan but accompanied some friends to a concert at the Royal Albert Hall a few years ago which was completely sold out. May not have hit the highs of the early part of her career but who does? Might as well call Pearl Jam or pretty much anyone as fizzle-outers to the point where it basically loses meaning.
Secondly perhaps i'm missing something but I don't see anything specifically about female singer-songwriters that make them fizzle out compared to male counterparts.
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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby Rorschach » 14 Feb 2020, 07:28

How about Peter Perret?

Another Girl is a perennial favourite with our sort (never been that impressed myself) but I have no idea if he ever even did anything else.

And Kula Shaker. They had a number 1 album in the UK and several hit singles but disappeared after the NME clutched its pearls and expressed moral outrage over some daft comments Crispian Mills made.

I did read that they reformed and are touring again but they really looked like they were going to be huge for a while.

And don't get me started on The Stone Roses ...
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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby ChrisB » 14 Feb 2020, 08:58

Badly drawn boy

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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby soundchaser » 14 Feb 2020, 09:18

Rorschach wrote:And Kula Shaker. They had a number 1 album in the UK and several hit singles but disappeared after the NME clutched its pearls and expressed moral outrage over some daft comments Crispian Mills made.


Yes, they got shafted. And unfairly, too. That second album, whilst not as commercial as K, was just as good.

A darker turn.

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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby soundchaser » 14 Feb 2020, 09:21

Positive Passion wrote:Tracy Chapman
Julia Fordham
Tanita Tikaram

Any any number of female singer-songwriters.


I thought Tamsin Archer was going to be much bigger than was actually the case.

And Judie Tzuke, for that matter.

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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby trans-chigley express » 14 Feb 2020, 09:37

soundchaser wrote:
And Judie Tzuke, for that matter.

She seems to have a small but loyal fanbase and releases albums frequently but she never came close to matching her very fine debut unfortunately.

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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby Geezee » 14 Feb 2020, 09:42

slightbreeze wrote:Badly drawn boy


There was another band from that turn of the century era that were everywhere it seemed...is it Gomez I'm thinking of? I think so. Completely disappeared as far as I know.

Another one that I think fits this description is Evan Dando. I thought he was set for a mid-career turn as a successful solo artist after Baby I'm Bored, which to my mind is an incredibly underrated album - but he just gradually faded from view.
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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby ` » 14 Feb 2020, 09:57

Geezee wrote:
slightbreeze wrote:Badly drawn boy


There was another band from that turn of the century era that were everywhere it seemed...is it Gomez I'm thinking of? I think so. Completely disappeared as far as I know.

Another one that I think fits this description is Evan Dando. I thought he was set for a mid-career turn as a successful solo artist after Baby I'm Bored, which to my mind is an incredibly underrated album - but he just gradually faded from view.


Gomez is an excellent example. iirc they got Uncut or Mojo album of the year for their first or second without ever really translating their early critical appeal into any kind of career.

Re female singer songwriters, anyone remember Michelle Shocked (now some kind of homophobic bible-bashing bigot) or Sad Straw? Both are artists at least one of whose early albums I still possess without feeling the slightest inclination to play

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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby Brickyard Jack » 14 Feb 2020, 22:41

Geezee wrote:
Positive Passion wrote:
Any any number of female singer-songwriters.


?

Firstly I wouldn't call at least Tracy Chapman fizzling out (I know less about the other two) - she seems to me to have carved out a pretty enviable career and has a huge following still. I'm not a big fan but accompanied some friends to a concert at the Royal Albert Hall a few years ago which was completely sold out. May not have hit the highs of the early part of her career but who does? Might as well call Pearl Jam or pretty much anyone as fizzle-outers to the point where it basically loses meaning.
Secondly perhaps i'm missing something but I don't see anything specifically about female singer-songwriters that make them fizzle out compared to male counterparts.


Maybe. I think the concept of fizzling out relates more to profile than whether or not they make records or play concerts, even sold out ones. I doubt many, or even more than a handful of posters on here could name more than two of her albums or more than two songs that were not on her first album. I can only name one pearl jam album and none of their songs, but I expect a lot of posters on here could name a fair bit of their work. As for the gender thing, that shows my age - there was a period in the late eighties/early nineties when it seemed like every week a new album by a new female ssw was coming out, selling in truckloads and the quickly consolidating into a comparatively small but loyal set of fans. One of my faves was Gail Ann Dorsey, who released a couple of ace albums but then made a living as a sidey.

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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby Brickyard Jack » 14 Feb 2020, 22:52

soundchaser wrote:
Positive Passion wrote:Tracy Chapman
Julia Fordham
Tanita Tikaram

Any any number of female singer-songwriters.


I thought Tamsin Archer was going to be much bigger than was actually the case.

And Judie Tzuke, for that matter.


Yes indeed, and Gail Ann Dorsey, Lina and even Macy Gray, really.

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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby Jimbly » 15 Feb 2020, 00:01

Rorschach wrote:How about Peter Perret?

Another Girl is a perennial favourite with our sort (never been that impressed myself) but I have no idea if he ever even did anything else.
...


Perret finally got himself off of the drugs, and returned to writing songs. Two solo albums in the last three years, and started touring again. The two albums are excellent. I saw his first solo tour in Glasgow, fantastic gig. Had tickets for the second tour but stuff got in the way.
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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby Rorschach » 16 Feb 2020, 18:05

St Jeemo the Humourless wrote:
Perret finally got himself off of the drugs, and returned to writing songs. Two solo albums in the last three years, and started touring again. The two albums are excellent. I saw his first solo tour in Glasgow, fantastic gig. Had tickets for the second tour but stuff got in the way.


Thanks for the update.
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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby Moleskin » 16 Feb 2020, 20:14

Tanita Tikaram's last album a couple of years ago was lovely.

Maria McKee has a new record in a couple of months, though she's said on twitter she doesn't want you to buy it if you aren't queer (like Philip Schofield she's just come out after a long marriage).

TTD is Sananda Maitreya now. Plenty of self released albums if you're interested.
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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby Tactful Cactus » 01 Mar 2020, 12:43

slightbreeze wrote:Badly drawn boy


BDB did come to mind aswell. He seems to be the case study for this. I don't think he fizzled out as much as being pitched too high. His career as the "new Neil Young" vanished and he was reset back to mid-size venue performer which he's been trading at ever since.

Sly & the Family Stone seemed to fizzle out. Weaker and weaker albums, band disarray and growing lack of interest and relevance from fans into the 70's and 80's. No triumphant reunion boost in the 90's or 00's.

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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby Geezee » 02 Mar 2020, 11:52

Might not perhaps be quite the right fit for this topic, but I heard Texas on the radio yesterday and thought of this thread. Not sure their career "started out well" but they certainly had that mid-career period in the sun - and then really fizzled out through diminishing returns. I'm aware the lead singer became very ill but by then they were already long gone.
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Re: Careers that started out well and just seemed to fizzle out

Postby Matt Wilson » 02 Mar 2020, 15:59

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