why was dokken not one of the biggest selling bands of the 80's?

[razoredge]

They released Breaking the Chains in '83 (same yr as Holy Diver) so there wasnt many of the more popular bands that preceded them, Crue by 1 yr, Def Leppard, Quiet Riot, Ozzy and VH... Ratt had only released their Ep in '83 while Dokkens EP was '79. 10 million albums is not shabby. Honestly I think they just ran out of good songs. The song Breaking the Chains is still a staple around these parts for old school metal bands that still play the handful of bar gigs left. Always gets everyone up on their feet. I wouldnt cut them too short for the value of thier first three albums. Ironically their fourth and last (for years) sold the best

Only the unknowing would judge a band as trying to be "glam" by a photo of spandex and "big hair", it was the style of the times... shit Ozzy even had "big hair" and wore makeup, Queensryche had the hair & spandex and their early albums were anything but "glam" or pop metal, it was just a fashion trend, came with the territory... blame it on The New York Dolls & Kiss

 

[Assault_Attack]

... shit Ozzy even had "big hair" and wore makeup,

+ he snorted ants, LOL...............

 

[ramses]

Yeah, some bands that wore make-up, but weren't commercial, in the 80's Glam era were talked into it by management, and their record label PR. They assumed that it would garner more attention, and sell more albums, and concert tickets.

 

[Assault_Attack]

You guys ever listen to some of the later cd's by Kingdom Come? Good stuff imho. "Twilight Cruiser" & "Hands Of Time" are worth checking out.

 

[Bryant]

How right you are brother.....

Don has a lazy eye, George looked old at 26 years old. How bands look made a big difference in their popularity as far as the general population is concerned. There are exceptions, but a "look" was marketed in the 80's big time. It still is that way today. It is always about getting a "casual" music fan to go to shows, not a dedicated metal-head.
We (metal-heads) are too much in the minority and do not create enough income. The same thing still happens in popular music. If you look at pop music artists.... especially female, most are quite attractive looking. As usual, there are still exceptions as Celine Dion wasn't much of a looker, but even though I don't like "pop" I even thought that woman could sing her ass off.

Bryant

My girl cousins, their friends, and my sister somewhat liked them. But, I remember most of them talking about how "nobody in the band is cute." Laugh all you want, I did then. It's a shame, but the 80's were definitely about image, and it was glam metal. I looked at Dokken like you guys did, good songwriting, and strong musicianship. No, they weren't "huge" if compared to Ratt, Crue, Poison..etc., but they did very well. And girls then were more than half the reason glam did so well. They're the ones that bought the albums, and posters.

 

[razoredge]

I dont know who talked who into what all I know is it was a way of the times. The big hair and spandex regardless of what kind of metal you played, except maybe thrash but I wouldnt be surprised to find photos of those guys in their youth garnering the hair of the times, or if you didnt play at all you might still have at least 50% "big hair" . The girly makeup was another thing... now your getting closer to glam. Im sure they all wore "stage makeup" for videos and photos, no different than actors do. You can go back into the early 70's and find guys with big fros or poofy hair, no different, in some cases it was natural, I had a buddy that wouldnt grow his hair long after the first time because he looked like he had a big red fro.... lol. I think many of these players today dye their hair black and iron it because I recall few of us that actually had "straight" hair let alone black. I had the jew curl thing going on and if I brushed it out after it dried or worst yet dryed it with a blow dryer... guess what... puff. People make too much of the "big hair" today, I've seen the damndest bands listed as "hair bands".... like WTF... long hair and ROCK has always gone hand in hand, whether you had it layered and blow dried it, let it do its own thing or iron it... BFD

today we're all half to nearly........ bald.......... lol

 

[Mxgonzo]

Pun intended?

Glad someone caught that!

 

[ramses]

Oh, it's not about the hair. It's definitely the spandex, makeup, and in cases like Poison, and Motley Crue: ladies underwear. You're right, bands like Maiden, Queensryche, and Dokken weren't in it to "get laid", but were at times referred as hair metal, simply because they took care of their long hair. The record companies then, and some still do, only think of "in the now" moment, where they want to sell their bands as quickly as they can, and they'll convince those bands to do things that they really don't want to do. And then, when the "trend" dies out, they turn their backs....unless years later, there's a muched talked about "reunion". Then, those record companies appear again, as if out of nowhere.

 

[Old Man Metal]

Right Ramses, Even Pantera had a Glam Band phase.

 

[razoredge]

I still dont consider any of the bands glam unless they did the girly makeup thing, which I dont put the spandex or hair into, rock artist attire was always flamboyant, no! I did not ever nor would ever wear spandex, Ive been Mr Bluejeans since the early 70's and plan on dyin in em

Hey it was 80's WTFC, good times

We did a multi band gig back around 90 and this one band that got us involved was in their late teens, it was their creation. They seemed pretty cool when we went to audition, which they were. The guitar player asked me who my influences were and I was tongue tied and just said "I date back to Hendrix man theirs dozens of them"... he went on to say the (silly guy there) from Poison ? I didnt think much of it at the time. So we show up, play, other bands play, everything is "normal". Now its their turn to get set up and play, then they dissappear for 15 minutes and come flying out....... yep, you guessed it... all glammed up... we had a hard time maintaining our composure.... lol They rocked the place though.

like I said... Good Times

 

[ramses]

Right Ramses, Even Pantera had a Glam Band phase.

Yeah, if you dig hard enough, Alice In Chains were a little glam-ish before their first album came out. Remember when Lynch's hair was blond on top, and dark on the bottom? That was unique, to say the least. I love his solo album, and the work he did with Tony Macalpine, and he played guitar on the Rush tribute album, on the song Anthem.

 

[Old Man Metal]

Ramses, which solo album you talking about? First Lynch Mob?

Yeah man, Layne Staley was in Sleeze. A glam band with Bassist Jim Sheppard from Sanctuary/Nevermore. Talk about six degrees of separation.

 

[ramses]

No, his solo album that came out in 93', called Sacred Groove. You must track it down! he has Ray Gillen, from Badlands guest vocal on a song, along with Glenn Hughes! About half of the album is instrumental, including Tierra Del Fuego, an awesome (well all the instrumentals are great) instrumental...acoustic, no less!

 

[Old Man Metal]

Thanks for the tip brother! If I can find a copy, I'll get it.

 

[mdmatt4ever]

No, his solo album that came out in 93', called Sacred Groove. You must track it down! he has Ray Gillen, from Badlands guest vocal on a song, along with Glenn Hughes! About half of the album is instrumental, including Tierra Del Fuego, an awesome (well all the instrumentals are great) instrumental...acoustic, no less!

don't forget mandy lion roaring through a song on that album, that dude has a crazy voice

 

[Platinum Maze]

No, his solo album that came out in 93', called Sacred Groove. You must track it down! he has Ray Gillen, from Badlands guest vocal on a song, along with Glenn Hughes! About half of the album is instrumental, including Tierra Del Fuego, an awesome (well all the instrumentals are great) instrumental...acoustic, no less!

Good stuff dude. I'm a huge Lynch fan as well. The solos on Maximum Security are god-like.

 

[Priest of Evil]

I think everyones covered the points quite well. I liked a few of the glam/metal bands of the eighties I remember buying the live Dokken double album and I didnt find it to appealing. It wasnt poorly played by any stretch of the imagination but it came off a a little soft and I was more of a headbanger and thrash maniac. I do love my staples like Crue, Sister, WASP etc, I liked the debut Cinderella & Poison albums and Ratt but they all seemed vastly heavier than Dokken... I do like that Breaking the Chains track though

I've got nothing against them or their music and to my perception I thought they'd done well for themselves. But since the question was raised I thought I'd add my two cents

 

[ramses]

I'll give you that. I don't like Crue, and Poison, but they did sound heavier. But not musically, or lyrically talented as Dokken though!

 

[Wheezer]

My girl cousins, their friends, and my sister somewhat liked them. But, I remember most of them talking about how "nobody in the band is cute." Laugh all you want, I did then. It's a shame, but the 80's were definitely about image, and it was glam metal. I looked at Dokken like you guys did, good songwriting, and strong musicianship. No, they weren't "huge" if compared to Ratt, Crue, Poison..etc., but they did very well. And girls then were more than half the reason glam did so well. They're the ones that bought the albums, and posters.

That would be my opinion as well. What about Tesla? Why weren't they bigger? Are there any good looking dudes in Tesla? Now, I'm quite hetero and secure in my manhood so my opinion of what makes a good looking guy would be suspect.

To stir the mix, are there any good looking dudes in Guns and Roses?

 

[mdmatt4ever]

That would be my opinion as well. What about Tesla? Why weren't they bigger? Are there any good looking dudes in Tesla? Now, I'm quite hetero and secure in my manhood so my opinion of what makes a good looking guy would be suspect.

To stir the mix, are there any good looking dudes in Guns and Roses?

tesla was more popular than dokken and is still more popular than dokken