Bonnie Raitt "You"

Fun Fact: 

Bonnie Raitt only cracked the Top 40 in the UK once and she did it with her longing tune, "You", in 1994. Barely a blip on the radar in the United States, "You" peaked at #15 on the Adult Contemporary Chart.

Rick Astley "Together Forever"

Imagine retiring at the ripe age of 27. That's exactly what Rick Astley did in 1994. The eternally baby-faced Astley was just 19 years old when his first hit, "Never Gonna Give You Up", topped the charts in 1987. Over the next five years, he charted eight Top 10 hits in the UK with five in the United States, and he needed a break. Astley stepped out of the public eye, raised his daughter and lived a relatively "normal" life for the first time. He later released a couple of albums in the 2000s and then there was the whole Rick-rolling thing, but it was a chance encounter with Dave Grohl that re-introduced him to the world in 2017. The two met briefly at a music festival in Japan before Grohl brought Astley on stage and launched into a version of "Never Gonna Give You Up" in the style of "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The crowd went nuts and now the 52 year-old Astley is hitting the road again for his first world tour since the 1990s. He's playing Chicago's House of Blues on April 26th.

Celine Dion "Think Twice"

If you need further proof of the varying tastes between US and UK audiences: aside from Celine Dion's signature ballad "My Heart Will Go On", Celine's biggest hit in the UK is the 1994 song "Think Twice". Barely a blip on the radar in the United States, the song peaked on the Hot 100 at a lackluster #95 and only managed to hit #21 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. By comparison, it went to be one of the UK's biggest selling records and topped the charts in the UK for seven weeks and even longer (9 weeks) in Ireland .

Paolo Nutini "New Shoes"

Being a successful pop artist in the U.K. doesn't always translate into success over the pond. Enter Exhibit A: Paolo Nutini (who was once dubbed "Scotland's biggest musician"). His biggest hit stateside was the catchy "New Shoes" -- a song tailor-made for Payless or Kinney Shoe Stores -- the song barely cracked the Billboard Pop 100 in 2007.

Elton John & Kiki Dee "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"

In a song originally intended for Dusty Springfield, Elton John teamed up with Kiki Dee in "Don't Go Breaking My Heart". While Dee never was known for much in the United States other than this duet, her musical career flourished in the UK (where she was born). Dee put out 12 albums--including one as late as 2013.

Rod Stewart "Forever Young"

"Forever Young" rates as one of Rod Stewart's personal favorites. The song pays homage to Stewart's oldest children who grew up while Rod was out on the road touring. The song reached #12 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in 1988 -- becoming a staple on Adult Contemporary radio stations for the remainder of the 20th century. The one place "Forever Young" never became a hit...is Rod's home. Strangely, the song never found success in the U.K. (only peaking at #57).

The Escape Club "Wild, Wild West"

Can you name the only British band to have a #1 song in the US while never charting a song back home in the UK?  Hint: you're reading a blog post about the song.  "Wild Wild West" hit #1 for The Escape Club at the end of 1988 resulting in this factoid (bonus: the look on that guy's face in the video).

Robyn "Do You Know (What It Takes)"

Swedish pop singer Robyn has been making music much longer than you might know.  The poppy "Do You Know (What It Takes)" charted way back in 1997.  Robyn continued to crank out hit songs in Sweden and the UK, but never seemed to be able to crack the US market.  Fans of the song "Dancing on My Own" from Calum Scott know that it was originally performed by Robyn in 2010.

The Bee Gee's - "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?"

A song that failed to chart in the UK for The Bee Gees proved to be their first #1 song in the United States.  The somber "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" topped the Hot 100 in 1971 (peaking at #4 on the Adult Contemporary Chart).  A handful of years later, Florence Henderson covered the song during an episode of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.

S Club 7 - "Never Had A Dream Come True"

After finding success with the Spice Girls, mastermind Simon Fuller formed S Club 7.  The septet found success in the UK, but struggled to find an audience in the US.  Their 2001 song "Never Had A Dream Come True" was their only US Top 10 hit.  Despite being a group of seven, the song featured lead vocals by just one member, Jo O'Meara.

Newton Faulkner - "Dream Catch Me"

My old Dell laptop has been dying a slow death for the past handful of years now.  Last Christmas, I made the switch to a new Dell meaning I was no longer running on the Vista platform and now had the much-ballyhooed/maligned Windows 10.   While my day-to-day computer work moved to my new Dell, I left iTunes untouched on my old laptop because, frankly, I knew that it would be a complete clusterfuck.  The straightforward directions from Apple made the process appear simple and seamless.  The reality was quite different.  After doing exactly what Apple.com suggested, my music transferred over successfully.  The problem was that only about one-third of my massive music collection made the trek.  I don't know why the other songs decided they didn't want to join the party.  So, I tried again only to have my playlists not transfer.  A third attempt yielded my entire music library making the trek including multiple copies of the majority of my songs, but again no playlists.  So, I manually deleted well over 1,000 duplicates of songs.  Next up, go in and trim the audio and recreate all my playlists.  (Why the hell haven't I just make the switch to Spotify, you're asking.  Again, I don't have a reasonable answer.)  I did discover many songs I thought I deleted years ago.  One such song came from English singer-songwriter Newton Fulkner.  Newton made the lunchtime concert circuit back in 2007, and I was graced with a free lunch, music, and a shiny new CD called Hand Built By Robots.  "Dream Catch Me" achieved success over the pond, but never really found an audience in the States.  Now, back to the clusterfuck known as iTunes...

Bonnie Tyler - "Holding Out for a Hero"

It's a strange history for Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero".  Originally recorded in 1984 for the Footloose Soundtrack, the song later was included in Bonnie's 1986 album and then it again re-charted in the UK in 1991.  For whatever reason, the song once again re-charted in 2016, but this time it was on the Polish Airplay Top 100 (insert joke here).