Many reading KOAR are fans of bands that they think should make it big more often than not, these bands don’t achieve the level of success that we expected. Whether they just don’t get picked up by a major and end up disbanding after years of not being offered a record deal, or, among other situations, signed to an indie label and never reached the audience you thought they deserved. In this version of Soundcheck, I’m going to talk about a few bands that I felt had the talent and the songs to make it big, but for some reason didn’t. Check out the songs in Soundcheck Myspace player at http://www.myspace.com/soundcheckkoar

First off, Orson from Los Angeles, CA. After Maroon 5 had big hits in 2003 and 2004, I thought that this funky pop/rock band had a sure hit in the states with their single “No Tomorrow”. After a few years in Los Angeles and a minor amount of buzz, these guys went over to the UK and quickly got a deal from Mercury. “No Tomorrow” reached #1 on the UK singles chart in 2006 and the debut album “Bright Idea” debuted at #1 on the UK album chart in the spring of that year. In my opinion, American pop stations missed out on this one.

Boston-based pop/rock band Averi released two full-length albums before parting ways with lead singer Chad Perrone in 2006. “The Bones Underneath” is a track that defines what this band is about with a good mix of saxophone and radio friendly melodies. They opened for bands like Matchbox Twenty, Eve 6, and Gavin Degraw, but were never offered a record deal.

Florida rockers Waking Season seemed poised to take rock radio by storm a few years ago with tracks like “I’m Sorry” and “Cold Day in Hell”. The success never came and the band has seemingly disappeared in recent years.

Adelayda signed w/ indie label Superkala Records in 2004 and saw minor radio success with their single “Not Tonight”. They had the vocals and the power ballad, but they disbanded a few years ago and haven’t been heard from since.

MrNorth is a very talented rock band from New York, via Ireland, who signed to indie label Uninhibited Records for 2004’s “Lifesize”. They’ve opened for The Who, Van Halen, & Fuel to name a few big acts. Their first single “Speak No Evil” hit at a perfect time for it’s politically charged lyrics to make an impact during the 2004 election year. A catchy rock single that should have done much better than it did. They’ve since released a follow-up album on indie label Rock Ridge Music.

This also isn’t all about bands that major labels didn’t pick up, this can also be about labels not releasing singles you thought could be big hits, as I did when “Vacuum Bag” by Stroke 9 was not released as a single and the band was dropped later that year by their label, or when Butch Walker’s “Mixtape” failed to resonate at radio.
Now, that you’ve heard my picks, I’m curious what bands or artists you felt suffered from the same fate as these bands. Who do you think had the potential to be huge and just didn’t make it? What band didn’t have the right single released? & most importantly why do you think these bands didn’t explode onto the scene?

Soundcheck is written by Dallas who currently attends San Francisco State University and works on the Live 105 (KITS) Action Team.