Exactly how "big" are/were The Wildhearts?

[nuno75]

I'm an American, so you have to understand that where I'm from, literally no single person that I have ever met has even heard of this band. Other than one lone copy of Earth Vs., (bought on a whim because I liked the song-titles, my first introduction to the band) and one airing of the Suckerpunch video on MTV's Headbanger's Ball, I have never seen an album or a tee-shirt or any mention of them of any sort anywhere at all outside of the internet, when I went searching for exactly that.

But I understand that this isn't the case in other areas of the world... or at least there have been times in the past where it was not the case.

So I'm wondering if someone could give me an idea of exactly how "big" they had made it in places other than the US. Is there some place in the world where you might actually hear a Wildhearts song on the radio? Or a video on some music channel or other? In August will you guys be able to just walk down to the corner record store and see copies of Chutzpah! on the shelves right next to Linkin Park and System of a Down? If not that particular album... was it like that for Earth Vs. or PHUQ?

Maybe someone could offer me a comparison? Something like.. "back in '96 The Wildhearts were about as big a deal as <so and so> is today".

Not that it really matters or anything. I'm mostly just curious to know if they've always been generally "underground/cult following"... or if they were pretty much a one-hit-wonder as far as most people are concerned, or if they actually had a moment where they were kind of all the rage.

[Damian]

In 1995 they reached number 6 in the UK album charts. They were on Top of the Pops a few times, which is kind of like getting to play the music slot on The Late Show, in terms of stature. My first time seeing them was in Bristol when they sold out a 1000 capacity hall. They got written about quite a bit in NME and Melody Maker, usually favourably and they were never out of Kerrang!... one year the Christmas special had a retrospective on the year and at the bottom of each month was a section entitled "Meanwhile, back on Planet Ginger..."

So never Beatles-huge, but it was good. After reforming in 2001, sometimes the crowds were quite small but now they're noticeably getting bigger again. The "fashionable" press largely skips them now but Kerrang! are big on them again.

[percy]

Right, ok...

I would say that they were reasonably to very sucessful in the early to mid '90s. I remember that Chris Evans had "I Wanna Go..." as record of the week when it was released (can't remember if that was Radio 1 or Virgin Radio though) and subsequently played it at the same time every morning for a week.

They were live on Top of The Pops quite often too, along with a few other appearances. Chris Moyles of Radio 1 plays "Cheers" now and again.

I live in the midlands, and there has always been a large / loyal fanbase in the midlands, so they've definately always seemed popular to me. Of course, you generally don't get a casual WH fan though do you?!

I'd imagine / hope that there will be plenty of exposure for Chutzpah! when it's released, especially with the K! award finally being given to them. The award winners usually have stickers plastered all over the albums, so it should get a bit more exposure from that. I remember going to a signing session in HMV with Andy B & Giv, and there were walls of WH cds. That was pretty cool.

Crowd wise, I'd guess that the typical size of venue they'd play is / was around the 2 - 4 thousand capacity. They've played smaller venues on tours over the last decade, but I can't see that happening for much longer judging on the Chutzpah! clips.

I'm sure I've probably gotten some of this wrong, but that's how I saw it. Oh, and they're pretty big in Japan too from what I know, although I'm not gonna commit any further than that!!

Hope that helps a bit!

P

[melx]

Hi mate, It's quite a hard question to answer because when you like a band you think they are bigger than they are sometimes, I'm in the UK and got into the band when I saw the TV Tan video on a music programme on TV.. must have been 1993. I went into my local record shop and bought 'Earth Vs' on vinyl...but this was a small independent record shop that only stocked metal/punk/indie/alternative etc..... not HMV. I can remember going to 'student nights' at clubs and going mental to 'caffine bomb' .....I saw them at Reading Festival 1994.

here's the line-up from that year

http://carlingfesty.com/1994-lineup/

as you can see the WH's were on the main stage between Helmet and the Afghan Whigs....and about the same place on the bill as Hole and Terrorvision on the other days.....so that gives you some idea. I'd say anyone who was into any kind of 'alternative music' back then would have been aware who they were.

[nuno75]

Well... I guess that's good to know then. Maybe they might be comparable to a band like Helmet or The Toadies then? Insofar as they did have a big moment and a couple of big hits for a while, but then kind of faded into the background.

So... if Chutzpah! does take off the way we're all hoping it will, it would be seen more as the return of a once notable band, and not so much the unheard-of return of a one-hit wonder... like, if Helmet or Candlebox smashed back onto the scene with a big hitter, it wouldn't be that surprising to anyone, but I doubt that any of us expect Harvey Danger to pull another one out of their hats at this stage.

[Jason_scorching_past]

From my experience I have rarely met anyone who has heard of them (outside of rock circles), so even though they had relative success they have never been a household name.

As previously said though, if you were into alternative/rock in the 90s you would know who they are and one year around the PHUQ-era they dominated Kerrang!'s year end reader polls (along with Bon Jovi). Around this era they were getting very popular with rock fans and it spilled over into the mainstream to a degree.

I think if they have commercial success with this record most mainstream music fans won't even remember their previous success. They also probably won't see it as a return of a one-hit wonder because the Wildhearts never really had a hit- no.14 being their highest single chart position. They always had respectable chart positions considering the lack of record label support and the fact most poeple back then were buying records by Oasis, Blur and all the other dull bands around at that time.

[nuno75]

It's just so weird to me, how different things are over there. I've said for years that I wish I lived in England.

See... you mention Oasis and Blur. Over here, Blur seriously was a one-hit-wonder. "Song 2" was a big hit and still get played to this very day... but that might as well have been the only song they ever recorded because I've never heard even the slightest peep about them in relation to anything else.

As for Oasis, they're obviously much bigger than Blur, but I've always found that the talk about them far surpasses the actual material that's out there. And not in terms of quality, which is up to the listener, but mostly the quantity. I can think of three songs off the top of my head... yet I've heard them compared to the Beatles.

For me... the 90's area that generally coincided with The Wildhearts peak is mostly associated with bands like Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Green Day, Soundgarden, etc.

[Sam]

Around the time of Phuq they were pretty well known in indie circles too as I Wanna Go... was a crossover hit. Even my Mum loved it after hearing it on Radio 1!

Around this time I saw them at Southampton Guidhall which had sold out with a capacity of about 1750. This is one of the South coast's biggest non-arena venues and hosts gigs by bands around the size of Eagles of Death Metal and Jimmy Eat World.

Wildhearts were all set to headline the second stage at Phoenix festival 95 above Biohazard and Dog Eat Dog but pulled out (my 14 year old self was furious!). At Phoenix 96 they were upped to the main stage and played above Beck, The Flaming Lips and Fun Loving Criminals! The equivalent bands on other days included Genius and the Gza (from the Wu-Tang Clan) and Coolio.

It's hard to make comparisons between Wildhearts at the height of their popularity and current American bands as rock was much less widely accepted in the UK back then. I think the Helmet comparison is good though, or perhaps Rocket From The Crypt if they were to reform.

[Jason_scorching_past]

For me... the 90's area that generally coincided with The Wildhearts peak is mostly associated with bands like Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Green Day, Soundgarden, etc.

Well those bands were pretty popular here too, particularly Nirvana, but during the 90s "Britpop" was quite a big deal and the Wildhearts never fit into that scene. You can hear Ginger sarcastically say on a live recording at that time "Buy the single and put us into the realms of The Bluetones and Pulp" who were both Britpop bands enjoing success back then.

I was wondering the other day whether it is unique to The Wildhearts or whether fans of other bands feel it too, this sense that the band they follow is so under appreciated and derserve far greater success.

This is quite an interesting site if you are interested in the perfomance of their releases in the UK charts, it shows weeks in the chart, highest position etc -

http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=6933

[melx]

For me... the 90's area that generally coincided with The Wildhearts peak is mostly associated with bands like Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Green Day, Soundgarden, etc.

To me 'Grunge' peaked here in 1992 When Nirvana headlined Reading Festival (also on the bill were Mudhoney, Melvins, Screaming Trees, Smashing Pumpkins) going strong into 1993 .....when the WH's gain attention with earth Vs and I hear them for the first time!

...I'd say Wildhearts were at the peak (of that period anyway) around 94-95 ... so it was almost after the whole grunge thing...Kurt was dead and 'Britpop' was the talk of the town and like people have said it was Blur and Oasis who were big.

Green Day were just starting to breakthough over here in '94 with the single 'longview' but they were still pretty much off the radar for people outside of the 'alt/punk scene' Dookie got them noticed by 'alternative' music fans but they really weren't that big.....no bigger than Rancid or NOFX. etc.

this is how I saw it anyway ... obviously in other areas and in other groups of people in other towns and cities it might have been seen differently.

[melx]

or perhaps Rocket From The Crypt if they were to reform.

yeah the RFTC is a good comparison.... in the UK anyway, I have no idea how big RFTC are/were in the US.

With all this talk of music in the early mid '90's I do feel very lucky to have lived through it and got the chance to see all these bands. The atmosphere at gigs and festivals around that time were really good too.

It was always a right mish/mash of people at gigs and everyone seemed to like all sorts of music, it seemed a lot less fragmented than it is now.... it was just a bunch of indie kids who listened to everything from ...I dunno Mazzy Star to Soundgarden. I don't about anyone else but I really did feel like I was part of something special.

XL t-shirts, Reading festival, 'Sounds' and Deadline magazine...... good times!

(ok, and now I feel really old!!)

[mochy]

From a Japanese perspective I can't speak for the 90s, but I first saw the Wildhearts at Zepp Tokyo in 2003 which seemed sold out or close to it, and that venue holds 2700. Most Japanese rock fans I speak to tend to have at least heard of the Wildhearts. The guy that runs a little bar near me presented me with a flyer for the SilverGinger shows here from around 2001.

When Yoni went on sale I couldn't find it under Wildhearts or Ginger in HMV so thought it might be delayed/have a limited number of copies. Then I noticed the CD had its own stand at the end of the row. So, yeah, probably relatively more popular here than anywhere else

[mochy]

Oh I should also add that I Wanna Go is on the playlist at all the karaoke bars as well!

[nuno75]

Is it weird that I just briefly considered moving to Japan after reading that?

If only for the superior taste in music. You guys get all the great bonus tracks too.

[Keith Richard]

For me... the 90's area that generally coincided with The Wildhearts peak is mostly associated with bands like Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Green Day, Soundgarden, etc.

To me 'Grunge' peaked here in 1992 When Nirvana headlined Reading Festival (also on the bill were Mudhoney, Melvins, Screaming Trees, Smashing Pumpkins) going strong into 1993 .....when the WH's gain attention with earth Vs and I hear them for the first time!

...I'd say Wildhearts were at the peak (of that period anyway) around 94-95 ... so it was almost after the whole grunge thing...Kurt was dead and 'Britpop' was the talk of the town and like people have said it was Blur and Oasis who were big.

Green Day were just starting to breakthough over here in '94 with the single 'longview' but they were still pretty much off the radar for people outside of the 'alt/punk scene' Dookie got them noticed by 'alternative' music fans but they really weren't that big.....no bigger than Rancid or NOFX. etc.

this is how I saw it anyway ... obviously in other areas and in other groups of people in other towns and cities it might have been seen differently.

Yep, I never got to grips with grunge. I always leant towards the glam style rock n roll. The Wildhearts were often in Kerrang and Sounds pre earth vs, but like a pratt, I never used to buy EPs so missed out on Mondo and Dont be happy. I bought earth vs the day it was released and never looked back until EN was release. Just could not, and still cannot get into that album. 94 and 95 was the peak including the legendary performance at Donington.