Marillion get their first top 10 in 17 years

[jester1470]

Well I've just heard Marillion have just got ther first top 10 hit in 17 years !! since 1987. The single 'You're Gone' has reached no. 7, a nice 2 fingers up to the record industry and proves you don't have to be a 'hip' band if you have a dedicated fanbase

Cheers

Stuart

[Guest suicide_makeover]

awsome

[Mouse]

Thats good news, I've not been able to purchase it though as I'm still in debt to my parents for another few weeks to come

[jester1470]

well it'll be onsale this week, sell your body or something, theres some good tracks there, especially the one with the video and EPK,

Cheers

Stuart

[delboy]

but is it as good as 'incommunicado' or 'garden party' my two fave marillion songs of all time?

[jester1470]

Nah. its got a far more ambient sound to it :-p buy it and find out, I like Incommuncado but not a fan of Garden Party.

It is amazing, despite being the second highest new entry Radio 1 won't playlist it, Top of the Pops won't put them on and even Radio 2 won't play it, says a lot about how much the charts are manipulated even if you get in there !!

Cheers

Stuart

[delboy]

god thats shit that radio 2 wont play it, you'd expect that kind of snobbery from radio 1 but not radio 2 (maybe now going down the same road). but you know good on em, they don't really need radio play anyway!

[jester1470]

without radio play it'll drop out of the charts though, all the bands fans bought it first time round, they won't buy it this week, with the radio play it might manage to get some people to like it on their merit, not on the fans, I have just heard that it's gone top 10 in Holland too, no. 8, which isn't bad. I guess it shows the difference they're getting major radio play there.

I'm disappointed in radio 2, it seems silly that they're all happy to play U2 etc, but not a band like Marillion... doesn't give much hope for the future.

Cheers

Stuart

[cow tipper]

it'll be the single to drop the fastest next week.

shame they're not getting TOTP; that would've been funny.

[Frosty Jack]

But maybe radio stations aren't playing it because they don't have a very broad appeal. They've done well to sell so many, but they've been bought by a very narrow niche market, i.e. long term fans who have been urged to buy three copies each. Would they appeal to anyone outside of this group? If they would, then why haven't they? Should radio stations be playlisting them because they're in the charts, or because they think a lot of their listeners would be interested?

Shouldn't the charts be an indication of the number of people who have heard a record, liked it, and bought it, rather than how loyal their existing fanbase is?

Shouldn't bands be trying to reach people who don't already love them, rather than pushing the ones who to effectively cheat the charts?

The question is really 'why aren't they getting playlisted?'...

[jester1470]

Why would it have been funny ? They're one of the best live bands out there, would have proved to some of the other bands how you rock Yeah i think it might be the fastest drop, but I think it shows that in the Network Chart that takes into account the airplay as well as sales only put them at 21, it shows how little airplay they're getting, it's a real shame, they should have changed their name after Fish left !!

Another slightly ironic turn is that Marillion with Steve Hogarth get their first ever top 10 hit on Fish's Birtrhday !! Wonder if that was planned

Cheers

Stuart

[Mouse]

Fucking radio playing shite as usual. It's a shame because Marillion really deserve the credit. Then again to the muppets out there, bands like Busted & Outkast get more credibility.

[Anne D]

Originally posted by jester1470:

Another slightly ironic turn is that Marillion with Steve Hogarth get their first ever top 10 hit on Fish's Birtrhday !! Wonder if that was planned

Possibly, but was it not beacuse it's nearly Steve Hogarth's 45th birthday?

[jester1470]

yeah it was a birthday present from the fans.

Cheers

Stuart

[jester1470]

Originally posted by Frosty Jack:

But maybe radio stations aren't playing it because they don't have a very broad appeal. They've done well to sell so many, but they've been bought by a very narrow niche market, i.e. long term fans who have been urged to buy three copies each. Would they appeal to anyone outside of this group? If they would, then why haven't they? Should radio stations be playlisting them because they're in the charts, or because they think a lot of their listeners would be interested?

Shouldn't the charts be an indication of the number of people who have heard a record, liked it, and bought it, rather than how loyal their existing fanbase is?

Shouldn't bands be trying to reach people who don't already love them, rather than pushing the ones who to effectively cheat the charts?

The question is really 'why aren't they getting playlisted?'...

You're missing the point, how can people know if they'll like it if the radio stations aren't playing it and people aren't getting to hear it.The people who playlist do not know what people are going to like, see Bohemian Rhapsody which initially radio stations wouldn't play (except Kenny Everett on Capital) and the record company wouldn't release it, it became one of the biggest songs of all time, and was only playlisted after the reocrd company relented after the response from a few playings by Kenny Everett was huge.

Yes the fanbase have got it into the top 10, the main point of that was to get people to take note, if they won't consider playing it then theres no chance of people being able to judge it on its merits. Have you heard it ? Therefore do you know why it didn't chart ? Was it because it was genuinely crap (which I really don't think it is) or is it because it was released by a band named Marillion ?

It's been something that has been a major burden for Marillion. Q Magazine voted Afraid of Sunlight as the one of the ebst albums of 1995 and then 3 years later gave the remastered version 1 star. Over the past 10 years they've become one of the untrendiest bands around despite writing some great music, some of which is very commercial.

Its a vicious circle, who's to say people won't like the Marillion single if they get a chance to hear it, but even if they manage to get a top 10, surely they deserve the chance to be heard. If they can polarise enough of their fanbase to do this, surely they do have a reasonable appeal and they deserve a chance to be heard. They're not asking for people to like them, just that they get a fair chance,

Cheers

Stuart

[cow tipper]

You DON'T think it would be funny seeing Marillion on a programme sandwiched between 4-5 dorks sitting on stools, mimining another covered ballad, and faceless club hits? It was funny when Fountains Of Wayne were on looking very baffled, and it would be funny with Marillion too.

"Q Magazine voted Afraid of Sunlight as the one of the ebst albums of 1995 and then 3 years later gave the remastered version 1 star"

No, one journalist gave it one star. I don't think Q have board meetings to decide what marks to give each album.

[Mouse]

Fucking journalists, sometimes can't even make their minds up!

[Biz]

I think Marrillion are PISH,but....I once interviewed Fish AKA Derek Dick ,and he was an excellent guy,I wouldn't hear a bad word against him,he is not the fool he is portrayed to be in the media,and as an ex journo type managed to illustrate his sense of humour,seriousness and intelligence,quit clearly with a rather lengthy interview which was broadcast on radio,personal bias apart, GOOD ON EM, it beats working 9 to 5 and being a statistic.

Fish had bad feelings about Marillion at that time,has anything changed?.

[jester1470]

Yeah Fish and the band get on OK nowadays, theres still the odd bit of needling in the press but on the whole they seem to be on better terms. I know Fish very well, and yeah if you get him on a good day he is a genuinely brilliant guy to be around with some amazing stories, course you get him on a bad day and he can be the opposite entirely. Fish always has a lot of time for his fans and usually tries to find out where the fan meet is before a gig and joins them for a quick drink and hello, something that still impresses me. I do have a lot of time for him. Marillion, i also know reasonably well, I had the fun of touring for a week with Steve Hogarth when Jo McCafferty toured with him, and I know they're manager Lucy very well and have met all of them several times. Steve Hogarth is a bit more aloof and not as personable as fish but is a different sort of singer. The band have recently released their first material with Fish (Live shows) for almost 17 years so the rift has been healed a fair bit. Steve Hogarth and Fish have even sung duets in Switzerland, and I'd still love to see the day when they tour again, maybe as a joint show. Fish is always an entertaining guy to interview or chat to, i think he's a typical Scotsman, very passionate, occassionally arrogant, and very funny.

Cheers

Stuart

[madmanmoon]

"Q Magazine voted Afraid of Sunlight as the one of the ebst albums of 1995 and then 3 years later gave the remastered version 1 star"

No, one journalist gave it one star. I don't think Q have board meetings to decide what marks to give each album.

This is an interesting point though. Do any of us actually know what decisions are made behind the scenes at a magazine like Q?

What we do know is that they do have a certain group of "approved" artists, as do most magazines. It won't come as any surprise to know that Marillion, as a band that is associated with the genre known as ... dare I even say it ... progressive rock .... is not one of those approved artists.

When Afraid of Sunlight got an excellent review in Q, the journalist, Dave Henderson, stated: "It's not yet possible to be sacked for showing an affinity for Marillion, but has there ever been a band with a larger stigma attached? It's sad to say, had Afraid of Sunlight been made by a new, no baggage of the past combo it would have been greeted with open arms, hailed as virtual genius."

Steve Hogarth later made the comment in an interview with Classic Rock magazine that most Marillion albums - for many years - received at least 3/5 reviews in Q and a couple, Misplaced Childhood (when reissued) and Afraid of Sunlight, got 4 stars, yet the magazine would NEVER interview the band.

The only way to rationalise that is that the reviewers were allowed to write good reviews but that the magazine's editorial line was that the band didn't fit the image of the magazine or didn't sell enough albums to bother covering.

[Stichman]

[jester1470]

Wow this is a blast from the past... Is this the oldest thread to have been brought back 6 years later ?

I guess not much has changed since this thread was written except the singles charts mean even less now, and it isnt even worth trying to get a single in the charts like this. The media perception of the band has changed slightly and tbh I'm not the fan I was back then, certainly not of their newer stuff as i can't get on with the singers vocals anymore, however still a great live band and always worth going to see.

Revviews will, I guess, rightly or wrongly always be bias towards the likes of the reviewers, and in recent years I've started tothink they should be given top people with a bias towards a certain genre to review, ie those who like a bit of prog should review prog, those who like metal should review metal etc, because that way a review will at least be moe accurate towards what someone into that kind of genre, ie the person buying the album/single will like.

[Bigsby]

Actually, I understand that "singles" sales ie downloads are actually quite high these days and it's not as easy to get a Number 1 as it was in the days when CD singles were dying out. I don't really follow the singles chart at all these days but when I do get a glace at it I'm amazed to see that singles are still on months after they've been release, Sex On Fire for example, and then you get the slow burners, stuff like Journey that hangs around at the bottom of the chart for ages before making a climb, in that respect it's more like a return to the pre CD single days.

[Pierre Von Mondragon]

Have you just broken through from a parallel universe, it sounds strange and alien there.

Edit-Nae wonder, tis the past, do they have toothpaste back then?

[jon]

I was listening to Radio 1 in the car on the way to work this morning (I know, I know) and as much as it pains me to admit it, I laughed heartily at Moyles as he ripped into a plugger over some crap autotuned shit, live on air. "We're not playing it, because it's rubbish." "But it's playlisted!" "It's rubbish." etc

Damn, I hate siding with Moyles.