Quote: Chappers @ 11th July 2016, 11:30 PM BSTSingles that would've been hits 10 years later were overlooked by stuff like the Chapman/Chinn stuff. American "superstars" never got hit singles in the 1970s but after Michael Jackson and MTV came then hit singles became more universal.
Not sure about that, Dave.
The 1970s had loads of US artists/"superstars" in the UK charts, and plenty of chart-toppers. For starters, you had all the Motown lot (huge stars, some of them) inc. Michael J. Then, off the top of my head, you had Simon & Garfunkel (and as solo artists), David Cassidy, Osmonds, Creedence, Alice Cooper, Carpenters, Lou Reed, America, Donna Summer.
Okay now I'm going to check my 10 record Readers Digest box-set that I picked up for a fiver 7 years ago - The Sensational 70's
https://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Sensational-70s/release/495301
Lots of non-Motown soul stuff on there from the States.
"Haitian Divorce" got to #17 in the UK. What I do remember is that the more "serious" bands/artists looked down on singles, as did "serious" music fans, so that created a division of sorts, which would have influenced the attitude of the corresponding US acts - Zappa, Grateful Dead, Allman Bros.
Anyways, undoubtedly MTV was a game-changer in terms of music marketing.
Moving on to the 1980s, you might find this 3 cd collection interesting. Borrowed it today from my local library. Still have quite a few of the original tracks on 12" vinyl. Thankfully my 12" singles are the only part of my collection I didn't sell off chunks/donate to charity, and that part of my collection remains 100% intact.
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/comp/various_artists_f2/12_80s_2/
