Diana Ross best selling single ?

[Albator]

Do you have an idea of Diana Ross best selling single in the USA than worldwide ? :confused:

I have noticed that , often, it's not the same in the USA and in the rest of the world, except for the one I think sold the most "Upside down".

What about the Supremes ? I remember reading Berry Gordy said it was "Love child". At this point , it's not even gold, but I know that Motown is under certified by RIAA. The fact is that "stop in the name of love" and "someday" are platinum , but not "love child".

[reese]

ENDLESS LOVE was certified platinum by the RIAA in 1981, meaning it sold two million copies. I don't know if any of her pre-RIAA Motown solo singles sold as much.

[jobeterob]

Endless Love, Upside Down, Love Child, Where Did Our Love Go, and Someday We'll be Together should be amongst them.

But despite the fact Baby Love doesn't show up in a lot of the list, I wouldn't discount it being in there along with Stop in the Name of Love.

[BayouMotownMan]

Her biggest selling single was the duet with Lionel Richie. Biggest selling solo single was Upside Down. Biggest selling Supremes single Love Child. Biggest selling solo lp was the diana lp from 1980. Biggest selling Supremes lp was the two volume Greatest Hits. Biggest selling Supremes studio lp was Where Did Our Love Go

[daviddh]

where did our love go , baby love, stop in..., I hear a symphony, you cant hurry love, you keep me hangin on were instant million sellers. love child was the first to sell over two million copies , and, then i'm gonna make you love me . 1970......Someday well be ...sold 3 million ,the biggest sellers to this point.
1970 stoned love sold 2 million.
over the years with reissues ,soundtracks, baby love continued to sell, over 4 million their biggest seller followed by someday, love child then where did our love go.
stop and hurry love almost tie with sales.
over period of time my world is empty,reflections, come see about me, back in my arms sold million copies.
Motown claims original sales are lost[[right...wink) so at this point no further Riaa certifications unless MW or DR ask and pay for an audit.
in 2000 4 singles were certified gold or pla but based on sales from 1976 forward .those figures did not include original 60s sales because Motown did not join RIAA until 1976

[daviddh]

I think Upside down is her biggest solo single

[daviddh]

actually Where did Our Love Go and Supremes A Go Go were the supremes biggest studio lps with Go Go selling a bit more. will look up sales for you but I think WDOLG sold 3.2 million Go GO sold 3.5. you are correct double blue hits album sold 6.3 million

[daviddh]

just checked RIAA webpage, DR has three platinum singles .....aint not mountain high enough
touch me in the morning , endless love. gold singles are reach out and touch , remember me, last time I saw him, do you know where your going to ,love hangover

[Albator]

just checked RIAA webpage, DR has three platinum singles .....aint not mountain high enough
touch me in the morning , endless love. gold singles are reach out and touch , remember me, last time I saw him, do you know where your going to ,love hangover
????
On their site I see, Stop in the name of love, baby love, I'm gonna make you love me, someday we'll be together, upside down and endless love.

[Albator]

where did our love go , baby love, stop in..., I hear a symphony, you cant hurry love, you keep me hangin on were instant million sellers. love child was the first to sell over two million copies , and, then i'm gonna make you love me . 1970......Someday well be ...sold 3 million ,the biggest sellers to this point.
1970 stoned love sold 2 million.
over the years with reissues ,soundtracks, baby love continued to sell, over 4 million their biggest seller followed by someday, love child then where did our love go.
stop and hurry love almost tie with sales.
over period of time my world is empty,reflections, come see about me, back in my arms sold million copies.
Motown claims original sales are lost[[right...wink) so at this point no further Riaa certifications unless MW or DR ask and pay for an audit.
in 2000 4 singles were certified gold or pla but based on sales from 1976 forward .those figures did not include original 60s sales because Motown did not join RIAA until 1976Being barely a top 5 hit on Cashbox and 7 on Billboard, it's doubtful that "stoned love" did that well.
A Platinum single usually is a number one single with at least 10 weeks in the top 5.

[jack020]

How about When You tell Me That You love Me? Outside of the USA it was a big seller.

[Albator]

How about When You tell Me That You love Me? Outside of the USA it was a big seller.
I have this crazy friend in Paris and he spends nights and days searching for charts [[as official as can be :[[ ) .
His blog with : Diana, Supremes [[http://artisteschartsventes.blogspot.fr/2014/05/diana-ross.html)

Except the english speaking parts of the world, real international sales occurred with the disco period and the 80's.
From what I recall, Donna Summer was the first lady to get hit after hit in the seventies.

In the sixties after the Beatles, English groups were all over the world.

[Bluebrock]

When I visited Motown's USA offices in the early 90's I recall speaking to some guy whose name currently escapes me. During a random conversation he said without hesitation that "love child" was thought to be the biggest selling Supremes single up to that point. I do not know how accurate that statement was but it seemed to be an opinion shared by most of the staff, none of whom would have been there at the time I might add. As regards solo singles they cited "endless love", not strictly a solo single I know, and "upside down". I have no official figures to back up this claim , but this is what I was told rightly or wrongly.

[BayouMotownMan]

I am basing my observations from the Billboard charts. There is truly no way to know what a record sold from Motown's accounting dept in the 60s, or from unscrupulous distributors. In most cases, sales match chart action. And yes, a No. 7 placing can sell 2 million copies. Stoned Love was in the Top 10 for 5 wks at Christmas time when record sales are highest.


Please also keep in mind Motown's most successful chart single in 1966 was Ruffin's What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted which peaked at No. 7, even though the Supremes had two No. 1's that year and the Tops hit No. 1. In 1967, Motown's most successful chart single was Glady's Grapevine which peaked at No. 2. Supremes had 3 No. 1's that year.

[dickiemint]

In the UK I would say Chain Reaction would be biggest solo single and Baby Love as Supremes as they were both UK no 1 hits and both made the charts twice, Same also for I'm still waiting but it didn't stay at no 1 as long as Chain Reaction

[Albator]

I am basing my observations from the Billboard charts. There is truly no way to know what a record sold from Motown's accounting dept in the 60s, or from unscrupulous distributors. In most cases, sales match chart action. And yes, a No. 7 placing can sell 2 million copies. Stoned Love was in the Top 10 for 5 wks at Christmas time when record sales are highest.


Please also keep in mind Motown's most successful chart single in 1966 was Ruffin's What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted which peaked at No. 7, even though the Supremes had two No. 1's that year and the Tops hit No. 1. In 1967, Motown's most successful chart single was Glady's Grapevine which peaked at No. 2. Supremes had 3 No. 1's that year.really ?
Songs like "Physical" , "Endless love"or "Enough is enough" are platinum , but to achieve that, they spend about one month or more at Billboard's first place.

[daviddh]

stoned love was a million seller. possibly their last although I did hear up the ladder was certified a million seller in 1971. not all the single or albums have been certified by RIAA .

[daviddh]

heres some info I have....
supremes..
WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO...3275.00
LIVERPOOL............................850.00 go figure/!
MORE HITS............................1675.00
COPA LIVE..............................1350.00
MERRY C................................600,00
SYMPHONY............................1900.00
GO GO....................................3500.00
SING HDH...............................1525.
SING R @H..............................500,00
GREATEST................................6200.00
REFLECTIONS...........................750,00
LOVE CHILD.............................700,00
CREAM/CROP..........................575,00
HITS 3.......................................1275,00
ANTHOLOGY.............................1,100.00
25TH.........................................500,0 0
#1..............................................50 0,00

[daviddh]

ok Supremes singles info....only million sellers listed
#1 BABY LOVE 3,496.00
#2 SOMEDAY WELL BE ..3077.00
#3LOVE CHILD 2,899.
#4 WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO 2,720.00
#5 YOU CANT HURRY LOVE 2,424.00
#6STOP IN...... 2154.00
#7 STONED LOVE 2100.00
#8 YOU KEEP ME HANGIN 1870.00
#9COME SEE ABOUT ME 1758.00
10 I HEAR A SYMPHONY 1604,00
I'M GONNA MAKE YOU LOVE ME 1557.00
REFLECTIONS 1377.00
MY WORLD IS EMPTY 1271.00
BACK IN MY ARMS 1029.00
usa sales only from print out 1998

[Albator]

ok Supremes singles info....only million sellers listed
#1 BABY LOVE 3,496.00
#2 SOMEDAY WELL BE ..3077.00
#3LOVE CHILD 2,899.
#4 WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO 2,720.00
#5 YOU CANT HURRY LOVE 2,424.00
#6STOP IN...... 2154.00
#7 STONED LOVE 2100.00
#8 YOU KEEP ME HANGIN 1870.00
#9COME SEE ABOUT ME 1758.00
10 I HEAR A SYMPHONY 1604,00
I'M GONNA MAKE YOU LOVE ME 1557.00
REFLECTIONS 1377.00
MY WORLD IS EMPTY 1271.00
BACK IN MY ARMS 1029.00
usa sales only from print out 1998very interesting , do you have Diana solo ? should we trust Tarabolli figures ? they seem quite real.

I'm an ardent vintage Billboard reader and , even if there are exceptions, a top 30 to top 15 is about 250 000, from top 15 to top 10 it's around 500 000 and a strong top 5 is gold at 1 million. Platinum records remained extremely rare in the seventies.

In the top 100 singles of 1970, "Ain't no mountain' is a 5 while "up to the ladder to the roof" is 88.

[daviddh]

it's been a while since I read Randy's book
so I would have to reread it but I think his second book changed a lot of what he stated in his first book.
also the figures I put up are dated from about 2000 so some of these song have sold over a period of time so the original sales would be different in 1970 .
I used to think that a song that went to #1 would be a million seller but that was not the case for THE HAPPENING and LOVE IS HERE AND NOW YOURE GONE even though but came very close to it and , may have sold that since 2000. but I prefer to use all the info including Randys book as tools.
but I think he stated that the supremes only had 6 million sellers??? cant remember now

[daviddh]

I do have some of Diana solo albums but not her singles.my other laptop recently crashed and I lost a lot of info. a friend is coming over tomorrow evening to see if I can save anything.if I can I will post.
I know the lps that did well were DIANA ROSS 1970 500,000
LADY SINGS THE BLUES 2'100.00
TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING 650,00
DIANA ROSS 76 700,000
GREATEST HITS 76 650,000
THE BOSS 700,000
ALL THE GREAT HITS 1000.00
DIANA 1,200.00
WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE 1125,000
SILK ELECTRIC 550,00
SWEPT AWAY 625,000
DIANA AND MARVIN 500,000
so easlily Diana and Lady Sings the blues are her two best sellers albums not including greatest hits

[florence]

it's been a while since I read Randy's book
so I would have to reread it but I think his second book changed a lot of what he stated in his first book.
also the figures I put up are dated from about 2000 so some of these song have sold over a period of time so the original sales would be different in 1970 .
I used to think that a song that went to #1 would be a million seller but that was not the case for THE HAPPENING and LOVE IS HERE AND NOW YOURE GONE even though but came very close to it and , may have sold that since 2000. but I prefer to use all the info including Randys book as tools.
but I think he stated that the supremes only had 6 million sellers??? cant remember now

I personally think that JRT's figures have a whiff of authenticity about them - the other list above looks complete nonsense to me but who knows?

In the updated version he had dropped all reference to sales figures - I wonder if something legal had happened???)

I did try to contact him to discover why but did not get any response.

The Supremes' records shot up the chart very quickly but also dropped quickly too so sales may not be quite as high as we might think.

[florence]

When I visited Motown's USA offices in the early 90's I recall speaking to some guy whose name currently escapes me. During a random conversation he said without hesitation that "love child" was thought to be the biggest selling Supremes single up to that point. I do not know how accurate that statement was but it seemed to be an opinion shared by most of the staff, none of whom would have been there at the time I might add. As regards solo singles they cited "endless love", not strictly a solo single I know, and "upside down". I have no official figures to back up this claim , but this is what I was told rightly or wrongly.

That's what I had always thought .

In his autobiography Berry Gordy said that at the time of release Love Child became the girls' biggest seller to date although it could subsequently have been overtaken by Someday. You would think he would know.

There are so many contradictions with regards to sales - this begs the question as to why when Universal began claiming back Certifications [[and by this stage it was 500k for Gold and 1m for Platinum) there was no claim for Love Child but ones for Baby Love and Stop! In The Name Of Love.

If there was lost documentation it is odd that this did not affect The Temptations who had several dozen awards.

If you look at LC's performance on Cashbox which is a better indicator of sales than Billboard it's hard to believe it wasn't a million seller let alone 500k. #1 and in the top 5 during the busy December period.

[florence]

just checked RIAA webpage, DR has three platinum singles .....aint not mountain high enough
touch me in the morning , endless love. gold singles are reach out and touch , remember me, last time I saw him, do you know where your going to ,love hangover

David, have you got a link to this?

[florence]

In the UK I would say Chain Reaction would be biggest solo single and Baby Love as Supremes as they were both UK no 1 hits and both made the charts twice, Same also for I'm still waiting but it didn't stay at no 1 as long as Chain Reaction

Diana's 2nd biggest seller in the UK is Upside Down. The 2008 OCC list of biggest selling UK Motown singles puts it on around 480k to Waiting's 420k. It sells steadily on Download and should be around 500k by now.

It was gutting to see Upside lose out on #1.

All week it had looked a Slam Dunk to achieve this, well ahead of everything else but then came the game changing Top Of The Pops.

Abba's The Winner Takes It All was featured and sales exploded for it on the Friday. Even so on Saturday morning it still looked as if Diana would just about hold on but the Abba bandwagon accelerated and by the end of the day Diana had lost out by a couple of thousand copies.

Becasue all the other National charts compiled earlier Upside Down was #1 everywhere else except on the "Official" chart.

[Albator]

I personally think that JRT's figures have a whiff of authenticity about them - the other list above looks complete nonsense to me but who knows?

In the updated version he had dropped all reference to sales figures - I wonder if something legal had happened???)

I did try to contact him to discover why but did not get any response.

The Supremes' records shot up the chart very quickly but also dropped quickly too so sales may not be quite as high as we might think.Me to. It matches with others singers who were on the charts at the same time.
That they sold less than the Temptations is not a surprise since women sold less than men in general. In the sixties, Streisand LP were gold [[500 000) and only one went platinum [[I million), and she clearly was one of the best selling act of the sixties. The first lady that did an enormous Lp sale is Carol King in 1971 or 72.

If the Supremes had "only" 10 million seller singles, it's quite phenomenal :rolleyes:

[daviddh]

no I didn't have a link, I typed in RIAA and went to look up dianas gold records, just tupe her name in or supremes

[reese]

David, have you got a link to this?

This is a search I did today.

http://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=diana+ross#search_section

[JohnnyB]

This is a search I did today.

http://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=diana+ross#search_section

I'd heard many times that Swept Away eventually reached the million seller plateau, but RCA was unwilling to pay for that certification. This link shows the Swept Away LP was certified gold prior to the release of "Missing You", it's third and most successful single. I wonder if it is true that it did indeed reach platinum status?

[Bluebrock]

I'd heard many times that Swept Away eventually reached the million seller plateau, but RCA was unwilling to pay for that certification. This link shows the Swept Away LP was certified gold prior to the release of "Missing You", it's third and most successful single. I wonder if it is true that it did indeed reach platinum status?
I do believe so johnny but by this time Diana and RCA were not seeing eye to eye and nothing was done about it. Sad but true.

[daviddh]

thank you Reese.

[florence]

This is a search I did today.

http://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=diana+ross#search_section


Thanks, Reese.

I'm aware of this but nowhere is there a mention of Reach Out And Touch, Remember Me or Last Time I Saw Him.

Wikipedia lists these as Certifications but frankly I believe they're wrong.

[daviddh]

yeah ,all the info is confusing? I use all the info as tools.i suppose since the rules have changed as regards to sales and certifications. in the 70s a gold single was a million seller, now I think it's 500,000 copies.
I purchased a book with 100 best selling albums of the 60s with cover art info and charts stats ,only one supremes album made the cut TCB. strange that they had the info for that album but not the others?? I feel it cheats the fans and the supremes in their place in history

[JohnnyB]

yeah ,all the info is confusing? I use all the info as tools.i suppose since the rules have changed as regards to sales and certifications. in the 70s a gold single was a million seller, now I think it's 500,000 copies.
I purchased a book with 100 best selling albums of the 60s with cover art info and charts stats ,only one supremes album made the cut TCB. strange that they had the info for that album but not the others?? I feel it cheats the fans and the supremes in their place in history

Confusing, yes!

Also, no one has mentioned Why Do Fools Fall In Love or Muscles. Surely these two singles passed the million sales mark worldwide as they both sold well in the U.S? And maybe I'm Coming Out...

[daviddh]

yes I do think both of the songs and perhaps Missing You all did well for Diana.

[florence]

Confusing, yes!

Also, no one has mentioned Why Do Fools Fall In Love or Muscles. Surely these two singles passed the million sales mark worldwide as they both sold well in the U.S? And maybe I'm Coming Out...

Fools is undoubtedly a global million seller - 320k+ in UK plus well into six figures in Belgium and Netherlands [[#1 in both territories) combined. Even sales of 500k in US would put it almost there and it must surely have sold well over this.

Muscles I would personally doubt. It was a hit in some territories none of which had high singles sales and the UK could contribute around 80/90k. The problem is knowing how many it sold in the US.

Unfortunately there would appear to be no official or semi-official totals for Diana's RCA singles.

Here's the only set of estimations I have come across for the US but they ARE only one person's opinion.

Why Do Fools Fall In Love 930k
Mirror Mirror 640k
Work That Body 180k
Muscles 730k
So Close 250k
Pieces Of Ice 330k
Let's Go Up 170k
All Of You [[with Julio Iglesias) 540k
Swept Away 530k
Missing You 710k
Eaten Alive 140k
Chain Reaction 240k

I can't speak for these figures but they seem Very high to me in some cases.

Would a record spending 4 or 5 weeks near the bottom of the Hot 100 sell around 150k odd in the US? Maybe it would but probably not.

[Albator]

In France Muscles did 80 000 and Swept away 7000. All of you and Chain reaction are probably around 200 000.
Upside down is more than 400 000 and WDFFIL may have done 200 000.

In Japan a non charted single by a star [[in the sense of a singer with fans like Diana is) , can be around 30 000.

[florence]

I believe Diana has had nine [[yes ony NINE) global million sellers. I could very well be wrong but outside of the main markets US, UK, Germany and Japan singles sales aren't really that big. The Japanese in the main stuck with home grown product. France had a reasonable sized singles market but Diana had few charted singles there.

It may be, of course, that all the bits and pieces in many countries when added together could mean sales of some singles are a lot higher than I might think but this is my list.

The big problem in the US is that Motown did not become a member of RIAA until the late 70s so no certifications were made.

01 Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

Reckoned to be 1m+ in US alone. Smash #1 hit and cited by Joseph Murrells and J Randy Taraborelli.

The record was a big hit in Canada and Australia and has sold around 180k in UK. Even if it was a bit short in US these would put it past the barrier.

02 Touch Me In The Morning

By all acccounts this [[surprisingly to me) is Diana's biggest selling single in the 70s. JRT says it sold over 1.5m at home. Smash #1 plus top 10 in Canada and Australia. UK sales of 170k.

I don't think there is any question this is 1m+.

03 Do You Know Where You're Going To.

Again a smash #1. Cited by Joseph Murrells although JRT puts this at just under 900k. However UK sales of 170k+ and accumulation from several other countries make it a certainty.

04 Upside Down

By 1980 Motown was a member of RIAA and this was certified Gold. A major hit in many countries [[her only top 10 placing in Germany) and almost 500k in the UK this is way over 2m globally and depending on just how many it did sell in the US could be around 3m.

05 Endless Love [[with Lionel Richie)

Regarded by the Industry as a "solo" outing since both artists received full accreditation.

Certified Platinum in US for sales of 2m+, #1 in Canada and Australia, 300k+ in UK and a hit in many other territories. It may have been outsold outside the US by Upside Down but again depending on how many it actually did reach in the US is probably her biggest seller of all.

06 Why Do Fools Fall In Love.

Problematic in that there is little information as to Diana's sales in the US during her RCA years. Certainly no singles during her stint there were certified.

However this was top 10 in all three major US charts with over 4 months on the chart and it would be hard not to believe it sold well over 500k probably even 700k. But it did over 320k in UK and was a #1 hit in both Netherlands and Belgium with something like 150k combined. It also did business in several other countries.

I think this is undoubtedly 1m+ globally.

07 Chain Reaction

The one record in this list which did poorly in the US but it was massive in the UK and Australia. By 1993 it had passed the 700k barrier in the UK and has been selling steadily on Download since 2004 and is now around the 800k mark. It was the biggest selling single of 1986 in Australia, one of only three singles certified Platinum for sales in excess of 100k.

This was Diana's second biggest single in Germany reaching #11 which at a bare minimum would out it on 70k plus it made #1 in Ireland and top 20 in France, both 5 figures.

Even without the very modest US sales this is 1m+

08 Love Hangover.

Can't be 100% sure of this but JRT cites it as a million seller although the caveat is that Joseph Murrells does not consider this a global million seller [[back in the early 80s).

But it was a smash #1 in the US also in Canada and Ireland and is over 140k in the UK which almost certainly would put it on the list. It would be interesting to know how this has sold on Download in the past decade.

09 I'm Coming Out

There are some who believe this was a million seller in the US but I don't think so as Motown claimed certifications for Upside Down and Endless Love. If this had shipped 1m then there is no reason to suppose Motown would not have also claimed for this. And not all shipments need necessarily have been sold.

It was on the US charts for over 5 months and did slightly better on Billboard than Cashbox or Record World. It has sold 150k in the UK being one of her top Downloads now and did business in countries like Ireland and Canada.

I'm inclined to put this in the list although it's not certain.

Two other records worth mentioning are Muscles and Missing You.

The UK could contribute something like 90k to the Muscles total but while it would certainly be over the 500k in the US I can't see that it could have sold anywhere near the 1m since it didn't do much elsewhere.


Apart from being a minor hit in Canada Missing You did nothing elsewhere. The question would be how many copies a week would it have been selling in the US when it hovered around the 40s/50s for a large number of weeks before climbing into the top 20 [[top 10 in Billboard).

My instinct is that it would be somewhat short.

[Albator]

I think the same you do :o Even more knowing that a US gold single was in fact 500 000 in the seventies. I'v always thought it was 1 million but no.

There are little doubts that chain reaction did one million since appart from UK, it charted in France and Germany [[two equal market, i even think France was bigger for singles). It also charted in the rest of Europe and Australia as you said.
It went around 65 in the USA.

"Love hangover" is probably 1 million in the US, at least from Taraborelli book and also because of t's longevity in the charts.

"Missing you" may be bigger than 500 000, since it was at # 5 on Billboard sales charts, but 13 in Cashbox.

"Muscles" was 7 on cashbox while 10 on Billboard [[but a very long time)

The one you don't consider and that may be on this Million seller list is "all of you". 19 on Billboard, but 12 Cashbox, 4 in Canada, 19 Australia, 10 4 NZ, 27 France, 1 Spain, 8 Italie, 10 in Belgium and Netherland, 32 Germany and 12 Austria.
If it's not a million seller, it's not far , since we should add the South american market, very important for Iglesias.
100 000 for France, at least 100 000 for both Spain and Italy, 200 000 for the rest of Europe.

[florence]

Good point, Albator.

I did consider All Of You but put it in the high 100k's bracket. Although it was #1 in Spain singles sales there are quite low. I had Grmany/ France/ Italy/ Netherlands about 260k. Canada/ Australia/ NZ/ Belgium/ Austria wouldn't be that much . Maybe Scandinavian and other countries in Europe would collectively have amounted to a respectable total.

But what I hadn't considered was the South American market which would have been lucrative for JI.

I don't think Diana was ever a big seller there although somewhat strngely her Stop Look Listen duet with Marvin Gaye was #1 in Brazil but I really don't know much about that Continent's market.

But I think you may be right about All Of You being a million seller.

[reese]

I think the same you do :o Even more knowing that a US gold single was in fact 500 000 in the seventies. I'v always thought it was 1 million but no.


The standard for a US gold single didn't drop to 500,000 copies until 1989.

[Albator]

The standard for a US gold single didn't drop to 500,000 copies until 1989.
I grew with 1 million in mind but now, informations I gathered from their site or wiki make me doubt.

[Albator]

Good point, Albator.

I did consider All Of You but put it in the high 100k's bracket. Although it was #1 in Spain singles sales there are quite low. I had Grmany/ France/ Italy/ Netherlands about 260k. Canada/ Australia/ NZ/ Belgium/ Austria wouldn't be that much . Maybe Scandinavian and other countries in Europe would collectively have amounted to a respectable total.

But what I hadn't considered was the South American market which would have been lucrative for JI.

I don't think Diana was ever a big seller there although somewhat strngely her Stop Look Listen duet with Marvin Gaye was #1 in Brazil but I really don't know much about that Continent's market.

But I think you may be right about All Of You being a million seller.

All we do is speculate, but it's fun to compare our statistic. In fact , some figures we take for granted are not that real :o Figures from UK or Oricon are just statistic projection based on a few retailers. They can be very wrong like for Donna Summer "love unkind' certified gold in UK but less than 300 000 by Gallup figures.

As for "All of you", the million depends on its sales in the USA. If it's 500 000 or very close to, then it's ok.
From France, we can count on 100 000 [[or 80 000 to 120 000)
Spain , being #1 is at least 100 000
Italy ? I don't really know, but before sales drop drastically in the seventies, it was a strong market for singles, and Iglesias and Diana were stars in this country.
We also have at #4 in Portugal .
We have a gold award in Canada, so it's another 50 000.

South America ??? certainly a lot of piracy and all, but Julio is a real superstar in south america and also, in the eighties, a lot of US acts started to work this market, meaning it was worth. I have Olivia Newton John in Brazil and Venezuela to promote her Physical album in 1982.
[[Diana was #3 in Brazil with DYKWYGT in august 76)

[florence]

When the certification levels changed in 1989 it was made retrospective which means that the DRATS' singles awards in 1997 were based on 500k for Gold and 1m for Platinum.

Never understood these as although many of the singles didn't sell 1m there must have been a number in addition to Someday, Baby Love and Stop! In The Name Of Love which sold 500k the most obvious being Love Child.

[honest man]

When you tell me that you love me was massive all over Europe , sold loads in UK Freddie Mercury's death held her off number 1 at Xmas chart .got to be one of my fave songs from the Boss.

[Albator]

When you tell me that you love me was massive all over Europe , sold loads in UK Freddie Mercury's death held her off number 1 at Xmas chart .got to be one of my fave songs from the Boss.
In fact it's just a hit in UK, like "I'm still waiting".
It's quite the same with "if we hold on" that is just a hit in Japan and a fair hit in UK but nowhere else.

"WYTM" may be at 400 000, while "IWHO" may have end at 700 000 worldwide.

[daviddh]

When the certification levels changed in 1989 it was made retrospective which means that the DRATS' singles awards in 1997 were based on 500k for Gold and 1m for Platinum.

Never understood these as although many of the singles didn't sell 1m there must have been a number in addition to Someday, Baby Love and Stop! In The Name Of Love which sold 500k the most obvious being Love Child.
from what I was told, those certifcations were based on sales from 1976 forward and did not include sales from the 60s as Motown claims that info was lost!! yeah ok. but everyone got paid royalties on those sales..so someone knows what they sold. it's still confusing to me as really no one knows.

[florence]

from what I was told, those certifcations were based on sales from 1976 forward and did not include sales from the 60s as Motown claims that info was lost!! yeah ok. but everyone got paid royalties on those sales..so someone knows what they sold. it's still confusing to me as really no one knows.

That would certainly explain all those "missing" certifications but I would have trouble believing Someday or I'm Gonna Make You Love Me could have sold 1m between 1976 and 1997 or similarly Baby Love or Stop! In The Name Of Love 500k in the US - they were certainly popular songs but those would have had to be physical sales, Downloading hadn't taken off then.

[florence]

In fact it's just a hit in UK, like "I'm still waiting".
It's quite the same with "if we hold on" that is just a hit in Japan and a fair hit in UK but nowhere else.

"WYTM" may be at 400 000, while "IWHO" may have end at 700 000 worldwide.

WYTM was #4 in Netherlands and Ireland and charted in Belgium and Zimbabwe so with UK sales in the low 300ks around 400k looks good presuming it would have a certain number of sales in the US. I don't know if it had a worldwide release.

IWHO has 460k+ in Japan and 115k+ in UK and was a minor hit in Ireland and Netherlands. It was on the US Adult Contemporary chart so between 600/700k.

I have I'm Still Waiting as a possible half-million global seller. Again, I'm not sure just what markets it was released in but in 2008 it was on 420k in the UK plus it was #1 in Ireland and sold a few in New Zealand. I don't know how many records at the bottom of the Hot 100 in the US sell but it reached #63 so it's possible it could just have reached the 500k.

[Albator]

WYTM was #4 in Netherlands and Ireland and charted in Belgium and Zimbabwe so with UK sales in the low 300ks around 400k looks good presuming it would have a certain number of sales in the US. I don't know if it had a worldwide release.

IWHO has 460k+ in Japan and 115k+ in UK and was a minor hit in Ireland and Netherlands. It was on the US Adult Contemporary chart so between 600/700k.

I have I'm Still Waiting as a possible half-million global seller. Again, I'm not sure just what markets it was released in but in 2008 it was on 420k in the UK plus it was #1 in Ireland and sold a few in New Zealand. I don't know how many records at the bottom of the Hot 100 in the US sell but it reached #63 so it's possible it could just have reached the 500k.It's very confusing - I don't get the differences between those charts , Adult, Hot 100, R&B . In France or Japan, even UK, there is one chart.

It seems the most important charts in term of sales is the Hot 100, but is a N1 spot on the others charts relevant ?
I don't have in mind a gold award for a song that didn't chart in the Hot 100.

[florence]

Does anyone know whether the same position applied to Canada as the US in that Motown didn't claim any certifications until the late 70s?

Diana only has awards after 1980. I see from the Canadian database that All Of You with Julio Iglesias was certified Gold.

Can't make any sense of I'm Coming Out - it's listed as I'm Coming Out - Upside Down Platinum on 01 Nov 1980 and then Gold on 01 February 1981. How Platinum before Gold?

But then Upside Down is listed on its own as both Platinum and Gold Certification on 01 February 1981.

[Albator]

Canadian Gold and Platinum awards.

gold LP : 50 000
Platinium LP : 100 000

Gold single : 75 000 / 50 000 after 1982
Platinium Single : 150 000

October 1, 1984 - Gold - Julio Iglesias & Diana Ross 50 000
All Of You

December 1, 1981- Platinum - Diana Ross & Lionel Richie 150 000
Endless Love

February 1, 1981 - Platinum 150 000
Upside Down

November 1, 1980 - Platinum 150 000
I'm Coming Out - Upside Down

February 1, 1981- Platinum Album
Diana

December 1, 1984 - Gold Album
Swept Away

November 1, 1982 - Gold Album
All The Great Hits

January 1, 1982 - Gold Album
Why Do Fools Fall In Love

April 1, 1978 - Gold Album
Greatest Hits

[florence]

What I can't understand is why Upside Down which has its own certification is listed alongside I'm Coming Out.

[Albator]

What I can't understand is why Upside Down which has its own certification is listed alongside I'm Coming Out.
The follower single to "upside down" was "Coming out" with "upside down" as a flip side. Since "I'm coming out" charted modestly, we can assume that people keep purshasing "upside down" even if it was just a flip side.