Everclear

AFTER Kurt Cobain's death in 1994, record labels everywhere went looking for the next Nirvana. The search kick-started the careers of Bush, Live, Candlebox, Everclear and dozens more. Everclear was one of the bigger ones in Australia. In fact, they were bigger here than in the US. The Oregon trio burst onto the scene with Sparkle And Fade in 1995, with mainstream radio latching onto the second single, Santa Monica, and Triple J flogging Heroin Girl, Heartspark Dollarsign and You Make Me Feel Like A Whore. The follow-up album So Much For The Afterglow was also well-received here but a subsequent tour Down Under almost broke up the band. Frontman Art Alexakis lost two teeth to a flying shoe at one gig, a stage-hand was nearly blown up by a firework thrown on stage and bass player Craig Montoya had a guitar stolen. The band vowed never to return. Given that their records have bombed pretty much everywhere for the past 10 years, mostly due to changing music tastes and a same-ness to all their songs, it may surprise some people to know Everclear are still together, although only Alexakis remains since the departure of Montoya and long-time drummer Greg Eklund. Alexakis put together a new-look band in 2003 and has released three albums - Welcome To The Drama Club, a best-of compilation and the all-covers record The Vegas Years. A new album is due out this year.

Right Said Fred

NAME a Right Said Fred single other than I'm Too Sexy. Can't do it? Apparently they've had 14 other singles and six more albums. None of them have impacted on our charts, so most Aussies assume Right Said Fred were a one-hit wonder. But in Britain, the US, Europe, South America and even South Africa, the band remains a force on the dance scene. I'm Too Sexy follow-up Don't Talk Just Kiss was a success in Britain, Japan and on the US club charts, and the third single Deeply Dippy remains their only British number one. The album that spawned them - Up - sold more than seven million copies worldwide. It was at this point that Aussie music fans dropped out but the band didn't disappear from the world's music scene. Their turn-of-the-century album Fredhead yielded You're My Mate which was a top-five hit in Germany and the theme song for the South African rugby team. Last year they released another album, I'm A Celebrity, which failed to set any charts on fire.

Deee-Lite

GROOVE Is In The Heart is a landmark of '90s dance music but whatever happened to Deee-Lite? The New York trio borrowed A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip and funk bassist extraordinaire Bootsy Collins for their inspired hit, but on their own they amassed six number one hits on the US club charts across three albums. They broke up in 1996 after enjoying their last taste of success with the single Picnic In The Summertime, which cracked the British top 50 in 1994. After the break-up, Lady Miss Kier has had a reasonably successful solo career, touring Australia as recently as 2006 for the Good Vibrations Festival and playing at California's Coachella festival in 2007. Ukrainian-born Super DJ Dmitri continues to work as a club DJ but Japanese DJ Towa Tei has been more successful on the club scene and has collaborated with Kylie Minogue.

The Cranberries

BETWEEN 1993 and 1996, Irish band The Canberries had three big albums - Everyone Else Is Doing It So Why Can't We, No Need To Argue and To The Faithful Departed. In that time, there was a big string of singles, including Linger, Dreams, Zombie, Ode To My Family, I Can't Be With You and Salvation, which were loved by alternative and mainstream radio alike. During this time they sold more than 10 million albums in the US alone and all of those albums did well in Australia too. Linger and Zombie cracked the top five of the Triple J Hottest 100 but Salvation, their last good single, was the beginning of the end. As the first single off To The Faithful Departed, it marked a harder edge that the fans and general public didn't quite embrace. Their fourth album Bury The Hatchet, released in 1999 still sold well in the US and Britain but Australian radio and fans mostly gave up on The Cranberries. Another album followed but the band had diminishing returns on either side of the Atlantic and they went on hiatus in 2003. Lead singer Delores O'Riordan has been enjoying a solo career in Ireland but recently said a reunion was a possibility.