Sgt. Pepper is still the best selling studio album (that isn't a compilation) of course. If you are going to buy an ABBA album you'd always plumb for their 'Greatest Hits' - same with Queen. So, by that logic, the best selling Beatles album should be 1 (or one of their earlier compilations), but it isn't. So that's still a huge achievement. Adele is very close behind though.
Hope I'm not talking out of my derriere here but I;m sure I read somewhere that the sales figure for Sgt Peppers is controversial on account of EMI suddenly 'finding' 1 million extra sales for it recently? I hope I haven't dreamt this. :D
I've discovered all of Abba's studio albums because of Gold and I'm very impressed. A lot of the album tracks are in my opinion better than some of the single choices. Songs like The Piper, Eagle and Tiger are brilliant.
Eagle is in my Top 3 songs of all time. It is majestic in every way
So is More Abba Gold. I wish more people would listen to/buy that as a companion to their Abba Gold. Has Angel Eyes, The Day Before You Came, So Long, I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do and many album tracks and lesser hits.
Eagle is in my Top 3 songs of all time. It is majestic in every way
To get the best out of that song you really should wear a good set of earphones.
The fadeout guitar playing is brilliant and really does paint a picture of an Eagle soaring in the sky.
The thing about their album tracks is that they prepared to experiment and try so many different styles of music using a vast array of different instruments.
Some worked and some didn't, but even when they didn't work i can still appreciate them because they prepared to take risks and have a go.
They also didn't take themselves too seriously, and wrote stuff like the King Kong Song. Very silly, but good fun all the same.
Even at the end they wrote Two For The Price Of One, which is about a guy replying to a lonely hearts advert but ends up being a threesome with a mother and daughter.
For a commercial pop band, they really were quite unusual when you hear all what they were about.
In May 1978, 'Eagle' was released as a Single, in several
Countries, reaching the Top 10 in 6 of them. It was edited
down from 5.51 to 4.25, for Single release. (Its 'B' Side was
'Thank You For The Music').
For some inexplicable reason, Epic Records decided not to
bother to release 'Eagle' in the UK, or Ireland. A real shame,
as ABBA ended up stuck on 19 UK Top 10 Hits, & it would
have been 20.
Instead, The UK & Ireland, just got a long gap between
'Take a Chance On Me', & 'Summer Night City', when 'Eagle'
should have filled that gap. (In the USA, Atlantic Records not
only did not release 'Eagle', but they did not release 'Summer
Night City', either....).
Of course 'Gold', does not even have all of ABBA's UK
Top 10 Hits on it. 'Summer Night City', was left off it, even
though it was a Global Hit, in 1978. (No.5 in the UK). It
was replaced on 'Gold', by 'Thank You For The Music', as
that was considered ABBA's 'Theme Song'. So 'SNC' got
put on 'More Gold'.
'Thank You For The Music' was a UK Single in late 1983,
but it only reached No.33, as it already been on 2 UK Million
Selling Albums - 'The Album', (1978), & 'Greatest Hits Vol.2',
in 1979. (The 'B' Side was 'Our Last Summer', & as that
is excellent, & had only been on one huge selling ABBA
Album, ('Super Trouper'), it would have made more sense
if that had been the 'A' Side).
In 1979, ABBA had a Double 'A' Side UK No.3 Hit, with
'Angel Eyes'. But, there was no room on 'Gold' for it, &
it was put on 'More Gold'. The other 'A' Side - 'Voulez-Vous'
is on 'Gold'.
'GOLD' - A UK BASED TRACK LIST
The 'Gold' CD is really based on their UK Top 10 Hits.
That's why 'Lay All Your Love On Me' is on it, when it
was not released in most Countries.
THE AUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND VERSION
From 1992 to 2007, Australia & New Zealand got a
slightly different 'Gold' Track List, than anywhere else.
1. Dancing Queen
2. Knowing Me, Knowing You
3. Take a Chance on Me
4. Mamma Mia
5. Lay All Your Love On Me 6. Ring Ring(No.7 Hit in Australia) 7. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do (No.1 Hit in Australia) 8.The Winner Takes It All
9. Money, Money, Money
10. S.O.S
11. Chiquitita
12. Fernando
13. Voulez-Vous
14. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
15. Does Your Mother Know
16. One of Us
17. The Name of the Game 18. Rock Me ('B' Side Of 'I Do'...No.4 Hit in Australia) 19. Waterloo
Tracks 6, 7, & 18, replaced 'Super Trouper', 'I Have A Dream',
& 'Thank You For The Music. In 2008, this version was
replaced with the same one that the UK etc. got.
THE SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES VERSION
Spanish speaking Countries, did not have the English
'Fernando' & 'Chiquitita', on their version of 'Gold'. They
were replaced with the Spanish versions, instead.
THE EUROPEAN 2 CD VERSION
In 2003, some European Countries got a 2nd CD added
to 'Gold'. The 2nd CD had 10 Tracks on it - but, that 2 CD
Edition was not released in the UK or Ireland.
1. Summer Night City
2. Angel Eyes
3. The Day Before You Came
4. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
5. So Long
6. Honey, Honey
7. The Visitors
8. Ring Ring
9. When I Kissed The Teacher
10. The Way Old Friends Do
THE 2 UK VERSIONS WITH AN ADDED DVD
In 2004, 'Gold' was re-issued, in the UK with a different
cover. Instead of 'ABBA Gold' being shown in black, on a
gold background, it was shown in black, on a gold background.
The 2004 Edition also had a DVD added - of the Video
clips, of the Songs on the CD. But, for some reason, the
DVD had 18 Videos, as 'The Name Of The Game' Video
was not included.
In 2010, 'Gold' was re-issued again - with a DVD added. The
cover was back to its gold lettering on a black background.
This time 'The Name Of the Game' Video was on the DVD,
so both the CD & DVD had the same 19 Songs.
And the 2010 DVD also had these Video Clips added to it:,
20 Money, Money, Money (cartoon version)
21. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) (split screen)
'Gold' is the biggest selling Album in Switzerland, (500,000+ sold), & 4th in Germany, (2.5 Million
sold). It is 4th in Australia, (1,120,000 sold - equal 4th, with Michael Jackson's 'Thriller').
It is in the Top 20 Best Sellers in many Countries. It has sold around 31 Million, to date. It keeps
being given 28 Million Sales, but that has not been up-dated since 2005.
The BPI, (British Phonographic Industry), have given it 13 Platinum Awards. That's 13 x 300,000
= 3,900,000 sold. It got its 13th Award in February 2005. It should really have 17, (17 x 300,000
= 5,100,000). It is up to Universal Records to apply for the extra 4 UK Awards.
'Greatest Hits', by Queen, should have at least 19 BPI Platinum Awards, (19 x 300,000 = 5,700,000)
- so, with 5,900,000 UK Sales, it is only 100,000 off a 20th Award. However - it only has 11 Awards.
(11 x 300,000 = 3,300,000). It got the 11th in January 1992, & it needs at least 8 more Awards. EMI
never bothered to apply for the other 8.
'Sgt Pepper', by The Beatles, should have 17 Awards - like 'ABBA Gold'. It has Zero Awards, as it came out in 1967, & The BPI did not start giving out Awards until 1973, & until the 1980's,
an Album only got 1 Platinum Award, no matter how many times it had sold multiples of 300,000.
Sgt. Pepper is still the best selling studio album (that isn't a compilation) of course. If you are going to buy an ABBA album you'd always plumb for their 'Greatest Hits' - same with Queen. So, by that logic, the best selling Beatles album should be 1 (or one of their earlier compilations), but it isn't. So that's still a huge achievement. Adele is very close behind though.
The reason for The Beatles not having a huge compilation hit being that they have so, so many classic songs that all the compilations have massive omissions, and 1 isn't well looked upon by the fandom either as it's only the most mainstream and inoffensive stuff for the most part. Nothing from Sgt Pepper on it and hardly anything from Abbey Road/Revolver/White Album.
It's a bit like Bowie - so many classic songs that no compilation can be perfect for everyone, like Abba Gold is. So he's got a million and one compilations, none of which quite hit the spot, just like The Beatles (although Best of Bowie makes a very good stab at it).
Some might say it stands on its own merit as a definitive 'greatest hits' package; although there were always at least two anomalous omissions for me. Firstly, the abridged version of Name Of The Game (although maybe this has since been corrected on later reissues?). Secondly, the inclusion of every top 10 bar Summer Night City - with Thank You For The Music seeming to have made the cut as a substitute. Whilst it technically met the criteria as a single release, it's a bizarre choice for them to have revived given that it was released after they had split up, it was about seven years old at the time, and it only got to #33. Ironically enough - or maybe it was the intention all along - that 'revival' of the track subsequently cemented it at the forefront of ABBA culture and nostalgia.
Niggles aside, well done to ABBA Gold and its continued success. Imagine being B&B and the revenue stream they must have :eek:
'1', by The Beatles, was a huge seller for them, in the UK.
It was No.1, for 9 Weeks, (2000 to 2001), & has sold over
3 Million now. (About 33 Million to 35 Million Globally).
THE UK's BEST SELLING 'HITS' ALBUMS
(W/E 28th July 1956 To W/E 25th May 2013)
1) GREATEST HITS (ONE) - QUEEN - (1981) - 5,900,000 2) GOLD - ABBA - (1992) - 5,100,000 3) GREATEST HITS II - QUEEN - (1991) - 3,900,000
4) THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION - MADONNA - (1990) - 3,580,000
5) LEGEND - BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS - (1984) - 3,200,000 6) 1 - THE BEATLES - (2000) - 3,000,000 7) GREATEST HITS - ABBA - (1976) - 2,610,000
8) LADIES & GENTLEMEN : THE BEST OF - GEORGE MICHAEL - (1998) - 2,415,000
9) CROSS ROAD : THE VERY BEST OF - BON JOVI - (1994) - 2,300,000
10) SIMPLY THE BEST - TINA TURNER - (1991) - 2,200,000
QUEEN - THEIR 2 ENTRIES IN THE TOP 10
The 2 Queen Albums in the List, have each had 560,000 to
575,000 Sales added to them, from the Double CD 'Set'
'Greatest Hits I & II', (No.37 in 1994), & the 3 CD 'Set'
'The Platinum Collection'. (2000 - No.2 in 2002). Without
those added Sales, 'Greatest Hits II' would be 4th, &
Madonna's Album would be 3rd. (In the UK's Top 100
Albums, (any type), Madonna's Album would rise from
11th to 10th, & the Queen Album would fall from 10th
to 11th). THE BEATLES - THE 'RED' & 'BLUE' HITS ALBUMS
It is estimated that the 2 Beatles Compilations - '1962 - 1966', & '1967 - 1970',
have sold around 1,700,000 each, in the UK. They are also called the Red & Blue
Albums. Neither were No.1 Hits. The Red Album was No.3 in 1973, No.3 in 1993,
& No.6 in 2010. The Blue Album was No.2 in 1973, No.4 in 1993, & No.4 in 2010.
Some might say it stands on its own merit as a definitive 'greatest hits' package; although there were always at least two anomalous omissions for me. Firstly, the abridged version of Name Of The Game (although maybe this has since been corrected on later reissues?)
Yes I think later remastered versions have it as a slightly longer track.
Obviously this was always going to sell a lot.
Hen nights don't soundtrack themselves you know.
Unless it's only been ladies over a certain age getting married in the time, I'd wager that the soundtracks of hen nights over at least the past ten years have predominantly consisted of generic and/or plagiarised elctro/'hip hop'-beat shite 'featuring' some moronic rapper.
The reason for The Beatles not having a huge compilation hit being that they have so, so many classic songs that all the compilations have massive omissions, and 1 isn't well looked upon by the fandom either as it's only the most mainstream and inoffensive stuff for the most part. Nothing from Sgt Pepper on it and hardly anything from Abbey Road/Revolver/White Album.
It's a bit like Bowie - so many classic songs that no compilation can be perfect for everyone, like Abba Gold is. So he's got a million and one compilations, none of which quite hit the spot, just like The Beatles (although Best of Bowie makes a very good stab at it).
"1" is the collection of The Beatles No. 1 singles, either in the UK or America, so unless those albums contained tracks that went to the top of the chart when they were released as singles they wouldn't be included.
Comments
Hope I'm not talking out of my derriere here but I;m sure I read somewhere that the sales figure for Sgt Peppers is controversial on account of EMI suddenly 'finding' 1 million extra sales for it recently? I hope I haven't dreamt this.
Eagle is in my Top 3 songs of all time. It is majestic in every way
So is More Abba Gold. I wish more people would listen to/buy that as a companion to their Abba Gold. Has Angel Eyes, The Day Before You Came, So Long, I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do and many album tracks and lesser hits.
To get the best out of that song you really should wear a good set of earphones.
The fadeout guitar playing is brilliant and really does paint a picture of an Eagle soaring in the sky.
The thing about their album tracks is that they prepared to experiment and try so many different styles of music using a vast array of different instruments.
Some worked and some didn't, but even when they didn't work i can still appreciate them because they prepared to take risks and have a go.
They also didn't take themselves too seriously, and wrote stuff like the King Kong Song. Very silly, but good fun all the same.
Even at the end they wrote Two For The Price Of One, which is about a guy replying to a lonely hearts advert but ends up being a threesome with a mother and daughter.
For a commercial pop band, they really were quite unusual when you hear all what they were about.
Countries, reaching the Top 10 in 6 of them. It was edited
down from 5.51 to 4.25, for Single release. (Its 'B' Side was
'Thank You For The Music').
For some inexplicable reason, Epic Records decided not to
bother to release 'Eagle' in the UK, or Ireland. A real shame,
as ABBA ended up stuck on 19 UK Top 10 Hits, & it would
have been 20.
Instead, The UK & Ireland, just got a long gap between
'Take a Chance On Me', & 'Summer Night City', when 'Eagle'
should have filled that gap. (In the USA, Atlantic Records not
only did not release 'Eagle', but they did not release 'Summer
Night City', either....).
Of course 'Gold', does not even have all of ABBA's UK
Top 10 Hits on it. 'Summer Night City', was left off it, even
though it was a Global Hit, in 1978. (No.5 in the UK). It
was replaced on 'Gold', by 'Thank You For The Music', as
that was considered ABBA's 'Theme Song'. So 'SNC' got
put on 'More Gold'.
'Thank You For The Music' was a UK Single in late 1983,
but it only reached No.33, as it already been on 2 UK Million
Selling Albums - 'The Album', (1978), & 'Greatest Hits Vol.2',
in 1979. (The 'B' Side was 'Our Last Summer', & as that
is excellent, & had only been on one huge selling ABBA
Album, ('Super Trouper'), it would have made more sense
if that had been the 'A' Side).
In 1979, ABBA had a Double 'A' Side UK No.3 Hit, with
'Angel Eyes'. But, there was no room on 'Gold' for it, &
it was put on 'More Gold'. The other 'A' Side - 'Voulez-Vous'
is on 'Gold'.
'GOLD' - A UK BASED TRACK LIST
The 'Gold' CD is really based on their UK Top 10 Hits.
That's why 'Lay All Your Love On Me' is on it, when it
was not released in most Countries.
THE AUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND VERSION
From 1992 to 2007, Australia & New Zealand got a
slightly different 'Gold' Track List, than anywhere else.
1. Dancing Queen
2. Knowing Me, Knowing You
3. Take a Chance on Me
4. Mamma Mia
5. Lay All Your Love On Me
6. Ring Ring (No.7 Hit in Australia)
7. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do (No.1 Hit in Australia)
8.The Winner Takes It All
9. Money, Money, Money
10. S.O.S
11. Chiquitita
12. Fernando
13. Voulez-Vous
14. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
15. Does Your Mother Know
16. One of Us
17. The Name of the Game
18. Rock Me ('B' Side Of 'I Do'...No.4 Hit in Australia)
19. Waterloo
Tracks 6, 7, & 18, replaced 'Super Trouper', 'I Have A Dream',
& 'Thank You For The Music. In 2008, this version was
replaced with the same one that the UK etc. got.
THE SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES VERSION
Spanish speaking Countries, did not have the English
'Fernando' & 'Chiquitita', on their version of 'Gold'. They
were replaced with the Spanish versions, instead.
THE EUROPEAN 2 CD VERSION
In 2003, some European Countries got a 2nd CD added
to 'Gold'. The 2nd CD had 10 Tracks on it - but, that 2 CD
Edition was not released in the UK or Ireland.
1. Summer Night City
2. Angel Eyes
3. The Day Before You Came
4. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
5. So Long
6. Honey, Honey
7. The Visitors
8. Ring Ring
9. When I Kissed The Teacher
10. The Way Old Friends Do
THE 2 UK VERSIONS WITH AN ADDED DVD
In 2004, 'Gold' was re-issued, in the UK with a different
cover. Instead of 'ABBA Gold' being shown in black, on a
gold background, it was shown in black, on a gold background.
The 2004 Edition also had a DVD added - of the Video
clips, of the Songs on the CD. But, for some reason, the
DVD had 18 Videos, as 'The Name Of The Game' Video
was not included.
In 2010, 'Gold' was re-issued again - with a DVD added. The
cover was back to its gold lettering on a black background.
This time 'The Name Of the Game' Video was on the DVD,
so both the CD & DVD had the same 19 Songs.
And the 2010 DVD also had these Video Clips added to it:,
20 Money, Money, Money (cartoon version)
21. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) (split screen)
22. Mamma Mia (split screen)
23. Dancing Queen (split screen)
24. The Winner Takes It All (split screen)
25. Money, Money, Money (split screen)
sold). It is 4th in Australia, (1,120,000 sold - equal 4th, with Michael Jackson's 'Thriller').
It is in the Top 20 Best Sellers in many Countries. It has sold around 31 Million, to date. It keeps
being given 28 Million Sales, but that has not been up-dated since 2005.
The BPI, (British Phonographic Industry), have given it 13 Platinum Awards. That's 13 x 300,000
= 3,900,000 sold. It got its 13th Award in February 2005. It should really have 17, (17 x 300,000
= 5,100,000). It is up to Universal Records to apply for the extra 4 UK Awards.
'Greatest Hits', by Queen, should have at least 19 BPI Platinum Awards, (19 x 300,000 = 5,700,000)
- so, with 5,900,000 UK Sales, it is only 100,000 off a 20th Award. However - it only has 11 Awards.
(11 x 300,000 = 3,300,000). It got the 11th in January 1992, & it needs at least 8 more Awards. EMI
never bothered to apply for the other 8.
'Sgt Pepper', by The Beatles, should have 17 Awards - like 'ABBA Gold'. It has Zero Awards,
as it came out in 1967, & The BPI did not start giving out Awards until 1973, & until the 1980's,
an Album only got 1 Platinum Award, no matter how many times it had sold multiples of 300,000.
The reason for The Beatles not having a huge compilation hit being that they have so, so many classic songs that all the compilations have massive omissions, and 1 isn't well looked upon by the fandom either as it's only the most mainstream and inoffensive stuff for the most part. Nothing from Sgt Pepper on it and hardly anything from Abbey Road/Revolver/White Album.
It's a bit like Bowie - so many classic songs that no compilation can be perfect for everyone, like Abba Gold is. So he's got a million and one compilations, none of which quite hit the spot, just like The Beatles (although Best of Bowie makes a very good stab at it).
Niggles aside, well done to ABBA Gold and its continued success. Imagine being B&B and the revenue stream they must have :eek:
It was No.1, for 9 Weeks, (2000 to 2001), & has sold over
3 Million now. (About 33 Million to 35 Million Globally).
THE UK's BEST SELLING 'HITS' ALBUMS
(W/E 28th July 1956 To W/E 25th May 2013)
1) GREATEST HITS (ONE) - QUEEN - (1981) - 5,900,000
2) GOLD - ABBA - (1992) - 5,100,000
3) GREATEST HITS II - QUEEN - (1991) - 3,900,000
4) THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION - MADONNA - (1990) - 3,580,000
5) LEGEND - BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS - (1984) - 3,200,000
6) 1 - THE BEATLES - (2000) - 3,000,000
7) GREATEST HITS - ABBA - (1976) - 2,610,000
8) LADIES & GENTLEMEN : THE BEST OF - GEORGE MICHAEL - (1998) - 2,415,000
9) CROSS ROAD : THE VERY BEST OF - BON JOVI - (1994) - 2,300,000
10) SIMPLY THE BEST - TINA TURNER - (1991) - 2,200,000
QUEEN - THEIR 2 ENTRIES IN THE TOP 10
The 2 Queen Albums in the List, have each had 560,000 to
575,000 Sales added to them, from the Double CD 'Set'
'Greatest Hits I & II', (No.37 in 1994), & the 3 CD 'Set'
'The Platinum Collection'. (2000 - No.2 in 2002). Without
those added Sales, 'Greatest Hits II' would be 4th, &
Madonna's Album would be 3rd. (In the UK's Top 100
Albums, (any type), Madonna's Album would rise from
11th to 10th, & the Queen Album would fall from 10th
to 11th).
THE BEATLES - THE 'RED' & 'BLUE' HITS ALBUMS
It is estimated that the 2 Beatles Compilations - '1962 - 1966', & '1967 - 1970',
have sold around 1,700,000 each, in the UK. They are also called the Red & Blue
Albums. Neither were No.1 Hits. The Red Album was No.3 in 1973, No.3 in 1993,
& No.6 in 2010. The Blue Album was No.2 in 1973, No.4 in 1993, & No.4 in 2010.
I'd add Goffin/King to that list.
Yes I think later remastered versions have it as a slightly longer track.
Great username by the way!
Ta lol... reassuring to know at least one other person in Wales knows of the film!
A sweeping statement. Yes, they're all great songwriting teams, but certainly no greater than Leiber/Stoller, Goffin/King and Holland/Dozier/Holland.
Hen nights don't soundtrack themselves you know.
Unless it's only been ladies over a certain age getting married in the time, I'd wager that the soundtracks of hen nights over at least the past ten years have predominantly consisted of generic and/or plagiarised elctro/'hip hop'-beat shite 'featuring' some moronic rapper.
"1" is the collection of The Beatles No. 1 singles, either in the UK or America, so unless those albums contained tracks that went to the top of the chart when they were released as singles they wouldn't be included.