James Reyne had a hit once in Boston and Miami

James Reyne may have never cracked America but he certainly cracked Boston and Miami once.

The Australian rock legend tells Noise11 that at one time they thought he would do well in the USA.

“I had a record deal with Capitol Records in America for the first two solo albums.” James Reyne tells Noise11.com. “I was managed by Roger Davies and living in America at Roger’s place. That first solo album was released in America when it was all about radio adds. I remember the week before it was released they said we’d get 300 adds on American radio and it got 25. They said the second week we’ll get 150 and it got another 25 and that was it. But it went Top 10 in Boston and in Miami for some reason. I figured there must have been an A&R guy in those cities that liked the record and really pushed it. They then thought it might break out of Boston or break out of Miami but it never really did”.

Being famous in Boston and Miami had its benefits … in Boston and Miami. “We did an American tour with Robert Palmer,” James says. “People were finding their seats while we were playing except for Boston and Miami. People were there early to see us. It was amazing watching people sing along. We had some success as well in Germany”.

The song was ‘Fall of Rome’. The song was a Top 5 hit in Australia. “The single at that time was ‘Fall of Rome’, that got played on radio in Boston and Miami. Back then it came down to having a local song plugger who really liked it and they could get something on the radio because of their relationships. That happened a lot”.

That OS fame paid off, but not much. “I get royalty cheques, they aren’t for a lot of money. Sometimes I look at them literally and it is $4.75 from Poland and I’m thinking what happened in Poland?”