Marillion were only a big deal for Brits?

I am in a prog community in Second Life. One of the people is a huge Marillion lover, loves everything from them, their solo works, spin-offs etc. One is a Marillion hater. The lover is... American! The hater is... English! Go figure!

BrufordFreak wrote: Their debut album in '85 was a big deal among our prog loving community in Michigan--and I remember "Kayleigh" being an MTV 'hit.' I, personally, never really caught onto them. They toured as warmup of Sylvian-Torn-Isham in 87--my friend met the massive man that is Fish at the bar--but I was much more into Sylvian, Torn and Isham than the "Gabe-era Genesis revivalists."  Never knew anything of their demise and transition into "Hogarth era" until I joined PA in 2008!

Debut was Script for a Jester's Tear in '83. The '85 album that featured Kayleigh was their third.

Hercules wrote: So they never broke the US. So what? Cracking America is not the be all and end all. And no US prog band has ever really cracked the UK. Did Kansas ever chart in the UK? No. And it doesn't matter.

Carry on Wayward Son charted in the UK, and all the Fish-era albums charted in the US but you're right, that doesn't validate a band, nor does lack of commercial success invalidate one.

Personally I loved all the Fish-era Marillion albums and considered them a refreshing departure from a lot of the tripe that was being pushed out in the early 80s on both sides of the pond (you can't blame us for Kajagoogoo or Flock of a Seagulls).

Marillion didn't achieve popular success here but I personally know several people who own some of their albums so at least they appealed to some with discerning taste.   

Blacksword wrote: Hercules wrote: Frankly, what any other country thinks of them is irrelevant. They have a large cult following in Britain which has kept them in business for nearly 40 years. 8 top 10 albums including a no 1, 4 other top 40 albums. That's a good start. And they sold well in Germany and other European nations too. So they never broke the US. So what? Cracking America is not the be all and end all. And no US prog band has ever really cracked the UK. Did Kansas ever chart in the UK? No. And it doesn't matter. I was going to say pretty much the same. They were pretty big across Europe. I think they suported Rush around the time of Fugazi, in the US/Canada to a rather lukewarm reception, especially in the US. The Real to Reel live album was recorded in Montreal, and that sounded like quite a well recieved gig.

The band still have a strong Canadian following, and, in line with other 80's survivors, do well in Eastern Europe. They also seem to be breaking into Latin America.

"Kayleigh" definitely got airplay on MTV in the US and on some rock radio stations, and even some alt rock stations. I was getting into prog at around this time and a local station had a prog program on Sunday nights and the DJ played full sides of Misplaced Childhood. My college roommate wasn't into prog but had heard of them because of MTV. I saw them when they toured to support Misplaced Childhood in 86 and Clutching At Straws in 87, and they did pack, but these were 1,000 to 2,000 capacity clubs. Thinking back to that time, the type of rock music that my peers listened to was mostly new wave/alternative or hard rock/hair metal, and Marillion did not fit in either space.

I don't entirely agree. Sure, Marillion can probably sell out 10-15,000 seat venues in the UK and probably nowhere else but I wouldn't say they aren't well known anywhere else. In the US they have mostly a cult following and not much more than that. I live in the US and when I saw them late last year they played to an almost completely full 1,300 seat venue. I would say in the eighties they were just about the only current prog(neo or otherwise)band to get any airplay or recognition over here. I don't think even IQ were known(or hardly at all)among most prog fans in the US in the eighties. Marillion at least did get some attention. I think  a lot of their US fans these days aren't even really prog fans but just fans who happen to like Marillion(you could probably say the same about Tool, Mars Volta, PT/SW, Dream Theater and a host of other bands). To answer the question I would say no not really. From what I have heard they are apparently big in South America.

They were known and rather popular in the Netherlands since the release of their debut album.

^I doubt very much Marillion were "frightened".

More likely they were subject to the ever limited nature of the vinyl format unlike the later bands mentioned. Secondly they had to have a certain amount of material on a record to generate concomitant royalties (as this form of income was still possible for a while yet). Thirdly they had to please a record company who were very aware that (thanks to the awful punk thing a few years before) that a rock band had to demonstrate song man ship - general public don't care about musicianship. Fourthly the had material that could be extended - unusual for a prog band as most either did not improvise then had pieces (such as what KC when they rear their head) is have pieces which are improvisations. Marillion know their audience and also had to break through to the public imagination hence the visual aspect.

And the reception in the UK was also subject to mindless popular perception. I once got a book about Marillion out from a library. The librarian (female) sneered at my choice of reading matter. I just thought the word then and now is still fugazi.

twosteves wrote: there were some acts that were huge successes in Britain--Marillion and even XTC---but never caught on in the USA----the British always had better taste in music than AMericans---with a much broader sense of good sound

I can say that I had never heard of Marillion until I started listening to Transatlantic and decided to check out The Flower Kings, Spock's Beard and Marillion since I had never heard those bands before.  I was later surprised to find out that Marillion had toured with Rush (but this was prior to my Rush listening days) and that they had had a "hit" on MTV with Kayleigh.  I watched MTV quite often back in the day and discovered a lot of new bands that way, but I don't recall ever seeing the Kayleigh video.