Supremes vs Temptations

[florence]

We all know the success of the Supremes in the US singles chart during the 60s - on the face of it superior to The Temptations. But I'm confused now because Universal claimed a lot of certifications for the Temptations both singles and albums in the late 90s but only a handful for the Supremes. It would be hard to believe that documentation would be to hand for one while not the other. So in actual fact did the Temptations way outsell the Supremes during the girls' heyday? Maybe they stayed far longer in the charts without hitting the peaking as high but racking up sales?

[redlabs]

that was my issue. they started issuing gold certifications but then they stopped.i thought it would be good PR for all envolved to continue the certifications.

[motony]

when they issued these RIAA certifications did they also match the artists royaltiesto the certified sales?I wonder.

[jobeterob]

No, there is no matching up.

Universal applied for some certifications around the RTL time. When that turned into a negative, they never did anything further. I've always wondered if that was just accidental because there were several news stories around about how concert bookings had been hurt for everyone attached to the word "Supremes".

[Jimi LaLumia]

the concert bookings were affected by the RIAA certifications? I'm not quite grasping this..

[jobeterob]

lol, no.......the concert bookings dropped because of the RTL fight; it appeared that they weren't bankable anymore, at the time

but perhaps when RTL fell apart and there wasn't going to be a spurt of sales, Universal lost any interest in pursuing any more certifications and doing the work necessary to substantiate the certifications