New Wave Outpost Forum

Why wasn't this band as big as U2?

I read that the guitar player gave the EDGE tips on playing the guitar?!?!?!?!

Don't get me wrong I am not knocking U2 but WTF? COMSAT was awesome but why did they never make it? It still amazes me today when I contemplate who made it big and who happens to be a mention on our HUB chats!

I have to admit that I never even heard of the Comsat Angeles before I found this board.

I don't know what they never went anywhere.

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Fluffy bunny sez: Kill Hutter, kill Hutter...

I don't get it either. Luck of the draw, I'd suppose. I thought they were going to be huge after "Independence Day". Could it have been the fault of a bad publicist, or the lack of one? They made quite a few albums throughout the 80's, so I doubt it had much to do with any internal problems with the band on why they didn't make a bigger mark.

[quote][i]Originally posted by Jimbo[/i]
<br>I have to admit that I never even heard of the Comsat Angeles before I found this board.

I don't know what they never went anywhere.

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")
Fluffy bunny sez: Kill Hutter, kill Hutter...
[/quote]

If they are new to JIMBO then you see what I mean. JIMBO is a wealth of 80's knowledge and yet...he came here to here of the COMSAT ANGELS....like hutter says...luck of the draw!

In the U.S.? Well, the usual reasons. No promotion... U.K.-only releases... MTV wouldn't touch their videos... the word "Comsat"... etc., etc.

"I'm Falling" was the first track of theirs I heard, and I think it could have been a modest hit here had it gotten the chance.

They did get the one song "Falling" into the [i]Real Genius[/i] soundtrack. Good song. It's the reason why I bought the album, [i]Seven Day Weekend[/i]. "You Move Me" has a real schweet little guitar solo on par with the memorable Power Pop stuff like Squeeze.

I see people cite the 1980-82 string of Waiting for a Miracle, Sleep No More, and Fiction as being among the best consecutive albums ever, but I just don't buy it. As good as those albums were from front to back, none had a wealth of the immediately catchy or anthemic tracks like U2 had in abundance. It was a bit of an aquired taste or a "grower". That doesn't spell good mass appeal. Is it any more complicated than that?

The first song I heard of them was Falling ,and I didn't like it very much, it was just another boring pop tune, but when I heard Independence Day, Waiting for the Miracle and You Move Me, I was quite attracted to their music. Today I think they are a real 80's treasure, although the never managed to score a hit.
Sadly they had to give up their name later, because of the satellite communication company that was also called "Comsat". I think, they then went under the name The Headhunters had one gig and that was the end.
Let's hope this message board will keep'em long in our hearts and in our lives.

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"We are nowhere and it's now"

[quote][i]Originally posted by popreactor[/i]
<br>The first song I heard of them was Falling ,and I didn't like it very much, it was just another boring pop tune, but when I heard Independence Day, Waiting for the Miracle and You Move Me, I was quite attracted to their music. Today I think they are a real 80's treasure, although the never managed to score a hit.
Sadly they had to give up their name later, because of the satellite communication company that was also called "Comsat". I think, they then went under the name The Headhunters had one gig and that was the end.
Let's hope this message board will keep'em long in our hearts and in our lives.

_________________________________________________
"We are nowhere and it's now"
[/quote]

I'm pretty sure they used the name CS Angels for a time as well.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/dbince/eight.gif"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/dbince/number6.gif">

When "Land" -- their first US release -- came out, they had to change their name in the US to C.S. Angels due to a potential copyright infringement brought upon by the Comsat Satellite company. My original Jive vinyl actually has the OM and AT scratched out on the spine (apparently a last minute alteration to the original printing plate).

I think an overall reason for the the Angels' lack of success in the US was that many people were exposed to them first through "Land" and the very poppy single "Will You Stay Tonight." When casual fans went back to the earlier import albums, they were disappointed to hear a drastically different sound. (Many UK fans had the opposite reaction: they thought "Land" was a sellout.)

I think Rewind has hit the nail on the head. I remember some folks being *extremely* critical of Will You Stay Tonight because it was "such a pop song". I liked it for precisely that reason, but I liked their older stuff as well. (The original Independence Day blows the doors off the remake, though.)

It seemed that the rest of their days were spent either trying too hard to have a hit record or swinging too far in the opposite direction (Chasing Shadows is a good example.) Ultimately, they lost both their old fans and their new fans.

Incidentally, there's a label in the UK putting out their old records at the beginning of April. They've also put out excellent reissues of The Sound's catalog...here's the link:

http://www.renascent.co.uk/pages/home.html



-Sean
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If I HAD to choose, it would be Comsat Angels hands down over U2 for me, and like U2 very much so. I always likened Comsat Angels and The Sound as two bands that could and should have at least been as big as U2. I'd also give up my U2 easily before parting with The Sound.

Unfortunately, the masses missed out on two 80s treasures that left a world of gems behind.

The world's loss is our gain. If the general populace is too stupid to appreciate quality music like Comsat Angels', it won't be a first.
I like a lot of U2's music as well, but they were lucky to break big (as they deserved to, thankfully). More often than not, the drek gets the bigger push. Look at the music scene today. There's a lot of great music still being made, but you won't find it on Mtv or most radio stations. You gotta dig for it. It was the same story in the 80's (though not as bad as today).

I also like these guys, and actually heard them back in the day, but they had absolutely no promotion in the US, it seemed. Among my small circle of friends who were into this type of music like me, we just found them by accident (they were played on the college radio station KAOS 89.9 FM Olympia, WA). hard to find elsewhere.

p.s. I always thought of them as kind of gothy. Not the swoopy, atmosphere, moan-and-groan kind of goth, but the rock-out kind of goth.

[quote][i]Originally posted by Blir[/i]
<br>I see people cite the 1980-82 string of Waiting for a Miracle, Sleep No More, and Fiction as being among the best consecutive albums ever, but I just don't buy it. As good as those albums were from front to back, none had a wealth of the immediately catchy or anthemic tracks like U2 had in abundance. It was a bit of an aquired taste or a "grower". That doesn't spell good mass appeal. Is it any more complicated than that?
[/quote]

Bingo...and I consider myself a Comsat Angels fan.

Now why bands like Endgames, Fashion, Cook Da Books, and The Pookah Makes 3, all of which were making VERY catchy and VERY commercial records didn't make it is totally beyond me.