not too "shabby"

billyboy2674 · Post by **billyboy2674** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 7:27 am

seems like our unsung hero has had his share of the spotlight.I for one,was thrilled albeit amazed by these numbers(100 million records sold!):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_selling_musicians

RinghioStarr · Post by **RinghioStarr** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 8:31 am

More than Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Backstreet Boys etc.?

It sounds strange to me.

Post by **BlueChair** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 8:46 am

Yeah, and I love Neil Young, but I have a hard time believing he's the 10th highest selling.

migdd · Post by **migdd** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 11:18 am

Elvis and Neil must be billionaires!!!

billyboy2674 · Post by **billyboy2674** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 11:42 am

not quite-it's not like record sales leave that much money in the artist coffers.
anyways,they have the album rankings as well at wikipedia which is where I got the link from so they do seem to know what they're saying.

sweetest punch · Post by **sweetest punch** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 1:29 pm

I really can't believe those numbers. 100 million sold seems totally impossible to me.

For instance, it is generally known that Bob Dylan has sold an incredible amount of 90 million albums in his whole career. But Bob has been selling records since the early sixties (more than 40 years) and he has a backcatalogue that is selling very well.

Our hero has only been releasing records since 1977 and his best selling album is My Aim Is True, which went platinum (1.000.000 milion copies sold) in the USA in 1991. Most of his other records have only sold a few hundred thousand copies worldwide.

EC has released approximately 30 albums in his career (counting also his 'Best Of's and other compilations). If we take an average sale of 500.000 copies for each album, the total would be 15 million copies. I think that would be a much better guess than 100 million albums sold.

Also, if EC would have sold 100 million albums, record compagnies would be fighting for his signature for a new record deal. But this doesn't seem to be the case...?!

billyboy2674 · Post by **billyboy2674** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 3:50 pm

I cant believe those numbers either to be quite frank.Be it 15 or 100 million;I dont listen to costello's records because of their popularity anyways,so it's not as if it's that relevant to me.
I posted this because I couldnt believe the numbers;I wouldnt mind them being true however.
If anybody else can find any corresponding information on the internet or anywhere else that can shed light on this topic,it would indeed be nice.

anjabro · Post by **anjabro** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 5:51 pm

In an attempt to shed light on this matter, I googled

"Elvis Costello has sold"

...only to find this odd page...

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/02/16/234206.php

lawngnome · Post by **lawngnome** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 6:43 pm

I lay it on the corrupting influence of Burt Bacharach - working with him would make anyone sell out.

haha! I think that made my day.

Mike Boom · Post by **Mike Boom** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 7:05 pm

Spike and Imperial Bedroom and King of America aren't even early Elvis at all. They're from a middle period where he was starting to experiment but had not yet gone completely crappy.

There are basically four Elvis periods

When Elvis was Elvis
-My Aim is True
-This Year's Model
-Armed Forces
-Get Happy

Elvis on Cruise Control
-Trust
-Almost Blue
-Imperial Bedroom
-Punch the Clock
-Goodbye Cruel World
-Blood and Chocolate
-Spike
-Mighty Like a Rose

Elvis Goes Crappily Experimental
-The Juliet Letters
-Brutal Youth
-Kojak Variety
-Deep Dead Blue
-All This Useless Beauty
-Painted from Memory
-For the Stars

Elvis Makes a Feeble Comeback
-When I Was Cruel
-The Delivery Man

Unless the next release is good, the feeble comeback might fall back into the crappy experimental category.

Dave

What a fucking idiot.

Whats experimental about Brutal Youth?
Imperial Bedroom, Blood and Chocolate, Spike, Trust - on cruise control?

Sheesh there really are a lot of morons about.

billyboy2674 · Post by **billyboy2674** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 7:18 pm

LOL-I agree totally Mr.Boom.

whar · Post by **whar** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 8:14 pm

Lets not forget that Armed Forces and Spike both went Platinum as well.

*EDIT: well, Armed Forces went UK platinum, whic hwas 300,000 copies at the time. Spike may have only went gold, upon further researching.

Extreme Honey · Post by **Extreme Honey** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 1:31 am

Mike Boom wrote:
Spike and Imperial Bedroom and King of America aren't even early Elvis at all. They're from a middle period where he was starting to experiment but had not yet gone completely crappy.

There are basically four Elvis periods

When Elvis was Elvis
-My Aim is True
-This Year's Model
-Armed Forces
-Get Happy

Elvis on Cruise Control
-Trust
-Almost Blue
-Imperial Bedroom
-Punch the Clock
-Goodbye Cruel World
-Blood and Chocolate
-Spike
-Mighty Like a Rose

Elvis Goes Crappily Experimental
-The Juliet Letters
-Brutal Youth
-Kojak Variety
-Deep Dead Blue
-All This Useless Beauty
-Painted from Memory
-For the Stars

Elvis Makes a Feeble Comeback
-When I Was Cruel
-The Delivery Man

Unless the next release is good, the feeble comeback might fall back into the crappy experimental category.

Dave
What a fucking idiot.

Whats experimental about Brutal Youth?
Imperial Bedroom, Blood and Chocolate, Spike, Trust - on cruise control?

Sheesh there really are a lot of morons about.

I feel like slapping this guy...

I will never rest in peace until all the idiots who disregard post-Trust are silenced...This Dave is my perfect nemesis.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 3:47 am

I think 100 million records sold is a bit optimistic. Mind you, it feels like I've bought My Aim Is True 20 times. So if I multiply this by each of his albums I have bought 1000 albums. Now if there are 1000 fans like me then that means he's sold 100 million albums. Easy really

And Elvis being a "silly dilettante" is my favourite quote from one of the members of the "sinister cabal of superior bloggers".

lostdog · Post by **lostdog** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 4:54 am

verbal gymnastics wrote:I've bought My Aim Is True 20 times. So if I multiply this by each of his albums I have bought 1000 albums. Now if there are 1000 fans like me then that means he's sold 100 million albums. Easy really

Think your sums are a bit off there VG! He would have sold a mere 1 million albums. Anyway you look at it, I think 100 million is a bit out of our EC's grasp. Thank God!

sweetest punch · Post by **sweetest punch** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 7:29 am

This has been covered before, but here are some links to EC sales awards:

http://www.ukmusicawards.co.uk/costello.html

http://www.riaa.com/gp/database/search_results.asp

Title Cert. Date Label (Award) (in the USA)

MY AIM IS TRUE 09/05/91 COLUMBIA (Platinum)
BEST OF 10/12/01 COLUMBIA (Platinum)
ARMED FORCES 02/23/79 COLUMBIA (Gold)
MY AIM IS TRUE 09/04/81 COLUMBIA (Gold)
SPIKE 06/27/89 WARNER (Gold)
BEST OF 11/10/89 COLUMBIA (Gold)
THIS YEAR'S MODEL 07/22/91 COLUMBIA (Gold)

So there's still a long way to go to reach 100 million albums sold...

lawngnome · Post by **lawngnome** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:44 am

The link's farked, so I can check, but I do remember it saying something about album and single sales. Could the single factor in? I'm sure with his many "hits" like Veronica, he's sold quite a few, and they wouldnt count towards normal album sales.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 9:37 am

lostdog wrote:
verbal gymnastics wrote:I've bought My Aim Is True 20 times. So if I multiply this by each of his albums I have bought 1000 albums. Now if there are 1000 fans like me then that means he's sold 100 million albums. Easy really
Think your sums are a bit off there VG! He would have sold a mere 1 million albums. Anyway you look at it, I think 100 million is a bit out of our EC's grasp. Thank God!

That was part of my joke! I figured someone has added a couple of noughts somewhere along the line.

I haven't actually bought My Aim Is True 20 times either

But yes, the figure includes singles and albums. He must have sold a lot of singles in his time but I still think 100 million records is pushing it.

Mind you, I've bought Watching The Detectives 10 times. So if I multiply this by the 500 singles he's released etc

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 9:37 am

And then add up the number I first thought of...

...100 million.

Easy when you know how.

Anyone need an accountant?

billyboy2674 · Post by **billyboy2674** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 10:15 am

I dont know-I can accept the fact that they're wrong about their stats;but there are major differences of opinion as far as to what we fans think he has sold and 100 million copies.So I figure:could they be wrong by THAT many records?
Could it be,therefore,that most of us have underrated E.C's commercial power all these years?Even if the figure were closer to 50 million,I'd have to say that YES.And maybe they are taking into consideration singles/reissues/etc.
As far as the moron who divided costello's career into sections,all I have to say is that Costello seems to be getting better at this age,and I cant honestly think of too many people I can make that claim about.He's a better singer than when he started,he's much more versatile as a composer,and even his non-prodigious guitar skills have improved....

whar · Post by **whar** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 12:19 pm

I agree with the link, myself.

Extreme Honey · Post by **Extreme Honey** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 5:12 pm

billyboy2674 wrote:I dont know-I can accept the fact that they're wrong about their stats;but there are major differences of opinion as far as to what we fans think he has sold and 100 million copies.So I figure:could they be wrong by THAT many records?
Could it be,therefore,that most of us have underrated E.C's commercial power all these years?Even if the figure were closer to 50 million,I'd have to say that YES.And maybe they are taking into consideration singles/reissues/etc.
As far as the moron who divided costello's career into sections,all I have to say is that Costello seems to be getting better at this age,and I cant honestly think of too many people I can make that claim about.He's a better singer than when he started,he's much more versatile as a composer,and even his non-prodigious guitar skills have improved....

Stop before you make me cry!

This is exactly what I think! Some People (like Dave and NoiseRadio) just don't understand Costello at all and go about saying that he's nothing but a past-hero. F*ck them all, they're wrong, Elvis is 30 times better than his teen days.

Post by **BlueChair** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 7:32 pm

Huh?

This isn't an issue of how much we like Elvis, this is an issue of whether or not we think it's true that he sold as many records as this list suggests.

Personally, I don't believe it to be true. That doesn't make me any less of an Elvis fan.

And why are you ripping on Noiseradio? And who's Dave?

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 4:19 am

Could it be they're counting all "various artists" compilations and soundtracks that included a song by Elvis ?
There were a few of those that sold very well indeed (like Notting Hill OST, I suppose) and in that case the 100 million copies would seem more credible.

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 4:31 am

Maybe they're adding everyone called Elvis together.