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What It Takes To Be An Overnight Success

It has always appeared that if you are a musician you must make it in America to be worth anything. Musicians from around the globe all strive to land in America and see their faces on the once credible Rolling Stones magazine.

But that is not always the case in the music world. Sometimes bands have to travel overseas to gain a fan base before they can be recognized in the US. The all girl band of the seventies, The Runaways, hit their stride after they went to Japan. Apparently they struck a cord with the little Japanese girls that didn’t resonate here in America.

Some bands head to Europe to regroup and pick up new sounds that they can incorporate into their music. Iggy Pop and David Bowie headed to Germany together in the late seventies for a little R&R and to discover with some new sounds. While they were over there, they recorded one of David Bowies biggest songs that was written by Iggy Pop called “China Girl”.

Sometime it does seem that foreign groups try their hardest to make it in the States. Groups like Abba and The Bee Gees could not wait to get their visas and tour America. Even lesser known groups like Germany’s Einsturzende Neubauten eagerly awaited their visas only to be denied and had to cancel their tour in the States last year.

Heading the other way you will always hear stories of bands losing their United States Passports and being stranded in some third world country. It happened a lot to punk bands in the eighties and nineties with many books written to document their struggles, but it is not as prevalent today. If Lady Gaga and her group lost their United States Passports, they probably would find away to continue their tour.

One of the countries that do not hand out visas regularly is China. The government is not too happy to have bands touring their country. Even the Beatles had trouble obtaining China visas in the early seventies and the Door never toured China for many reasons, but one would have to do with the fact that their Chinas visas were denied.

So it seems in today’s musical world everyone still wants to make it in America, but must start their journey abroad. Places like Australia, England and Scotland all have booming music industries and are welcoming to American bands. Once the fan base is solid, coming back to America with a tour lined up will be more likely. Not everyone can just jump on the stage at the Viper Room and have a successful record deal the next day. Fans don’t always see the sweat and blood that goes into tours across Europe only to come back home and be called an overnight success.

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