A very interesting post there Strange [[Your Post #190).
I'd be very interested to know where I can find the stated cumulative figure for U.S. singles sales in 1964 of just 99 Million.
To me this figure seems astonishingly low, especially set against the U.K. figure you state of just under 73 Million [[which is close to my guestimate of 80 Million).
I would have thought that U.S. singles sales in this period would have been much higher and I've been busy googling trying to find some clues.
The nearest I've come to any success is an article I've found about Japanese Sales in Billboard, dated 19th December 1970.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=m...page&q&f=false
In this it states that in 1969 "singles sales in Japan were 0.7 units per capita, whereas in the U.S. and U.K. they were about 1.0.
So, if Billboard in 1970 is to believed the total sales of singles in the U.S. in 1969 were around the 200 Million figure and in the U.K. they were around the 50 Million mark.
This seems broadly speaking correct with the U.K. figures you quote of between 46 and 47 Million, so it seems logical to assume their U.S. estimate is correct as well.
However, something seems wrong here as this 1969 U.S. figure is double the amount you state as being the total for 1964, yet the consensus of opinion is that in 1960s America they were in steady decline! Are we all wrong?
I also found this interesting article on the breaking of THE BEATLES in the U.S. which occurred in 1964 ..
http://www.pophistorydig.com/?p=3421
An interesting comments in this is that ..
"They [[The Beatles) had 15 separate recordings in 1964 - nine singles and six albums - that each sold 1 million or more copies, representing total Beatle sales in the U.S. that one year of more than 25 million copies".
Which means that at the absolute minimum THE BEATLES sold 9 Million singles in 1964, and as the article states figures for "I Want To Hold Your Hand" as 3.4 Million by the end of March, with "Can't Buy Me Love" selling 2.1 Million at that time it looks like the cumulative total for Beatles singles sold in the U.S. in 1964 is much higher.
It doesn't leave much for everyone else does it, though the article does state that in the first quarter of 1964 THE BEATLES accounted for a staggering 60% of U.S. record sales.
One BEATLES record that could give a pointer to the sales of "Baby Love" is THE BEATLES last hit prior to "Baby Love" .. "A Hard Day's Night" which the article states was certified gold for exceeding sales of more than 1 million copies on 25th August 1964.
Now, in terms of Billboard Chart numbers "A Hard Day's Night" was a lesser hit than "Baby Love" .. here are the figures for their respective Billboard Hot 100 chart runs.
"Hard Days Night" .. 18th July 1964 .. 13 weeks on the charts, 2 at #1 .. 1st August and 8th August.
"Baby Love" .. 3rd October 1964 .. 13 weeks on the charts, 4 at #1 .. 31st Oct, 7th Nov, 14th Nov 21st Nov.
It seems to me incredibly unlikely that a record that was at #1 for two weeks in August of 1964 actually sold significantly more than one that was #1 for virtually all of November 1964, so on that basis alone I would be astounded if "Baby Love" hadn't reached the Million mark in the U.S. by the end of 1964.
Which brings me back to the original subject of this thread .. the U.S. sales of "Stoned Love" in 1971.
If the Billboard assertation that singles sales per Capita in the U.S. and the U.K. in 1969 were approximately the same then it seems likely that there was little divergence by early 1971 and maybe we could use my "proportioning" idea to interpolate U.S. sales.
Florence's list has U.K. sales of "Stoned Love" as 355000, and as it had only one U.K. chart run virtually all of that would have to be in 1971.
So .. if "Stoned Love" had been just as big a hit in the U.S. as it was in the U.K. then it would seem likely that U.S. sales were in the 1.4 to 1.5 Million range.
In pure chart terms "Stoned Love" was actually a slightly bigger hit in the U.K. [[13 weeks peaking at #3) than on the Billboard Hot 100 [[14 weeks peaking at #7) but even this to me indicate that U.S. sales in excess of a Million were very likely.
Interesting thread this isn't it!!
Roger ..
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