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[-Jay-]

This discussion was raised on Popjustice, but I tend to just lurk there - so I decided I'd make it a thread here instead of replying there.

"Geri was gutted when 'Look At Me' charted at #2, but then convinced herself it was because she didn't release two versions of the CD single."
https://forum.popjustice.com/threads/geri-h...60#post-7045824

I believe that Look at Me being released on CD1/CD2 with different track lists (i.e. one of the releases including B Sides) would have made all the difference actually. A cheaper price in the first week on sale would have surely made a significant difference too.

That's what Boyzone did - two CDs with different track lists / artwork and they were both just £1.99 each. Whereas Geri released a digipak (cardboard) and jewel case (plastic) versions of Look at Me, with the same track list, both £3.99. I don't remember what their cassette prices were, but I would assume Boyzone's would have been cheaper than Geri's too.


Their first week sales:

#1 Boyzone - 142,901
#2 Geri - 142,153

Just 748 copies difference


Music Week ( http://scans.chartarchive.org/UK/1999/UK%2...01999.05.22.pdf ) revealed the format sales breakdown for Geri's single:

90,195 - Digipak CD
49,893 - Cassette
2,065 - Jewel Case CD

(I was quite surprised when I first discovered the above info, considering that the Digipak has a Limited Edition sticker on the cover... yet supposedly it sold considerably more copies than the jewel case version. To me this would suggest that most stores only had the Digipak version in stock, or at least far more copies than the jewel case. Could Music Week have got them the wrong way around and it was actually the jewel case CD that sold more? Maybe the above info is true and the Limited Edition sticker was just a record label tactic, and it wasn't really limited at all... and it was the jewel case that was actually limited? Perhaps the Digipak was limited to the first week on sale and then the jewel case CD was more widely distributed afterwards? I have no idea! Whatever is true, the main point we can take from the above sales is that one version of the CD far outsold the other version)

The CD sales show that the majority of buyers only opted for one version and weren't swayed into buying two copies that were in essence the same as each other. If Look at Me had been released on CD1 & CD2 with differing track lists (one with remixes, one with B Sides), I'm sure she would have sold more CDs. Granted, some of those 90,195 digipak buyers may have opted to get the alternative CD instead if it had had a different track list, i.e. it wouldn't have sold as much as 90,195, while the other version would have theoretically sold way more than 2,065. Ultimately though, I think she'd have more than made up the 748 copy deficit and would have got to #1.


Her CDs costing £3.99 in week 1 was a very confident move from EMI, it was more typical for a new release to be cheaper than that. The fact that Geri sold that many CDs for £3.99 is impressive! Despite lazy track list formats & a high price, Geri/EMI very nearly pulled off a #1. Boyzone's cheaper CDs (with many of their fans buying 2 copies) must have resulted in less overall transactions than Geri's single. Look at Me would have made more money too. Unfortunately Boyzone got the #1 glory though, while Geri was seen to have stumbled at the first hurdle, even though she actually did incredibly well.

Look at Me's first week sales were higher than 27 weeks of 1999 #1s. Rather annoyingly that includes the week prior to Look at Me's release. #1 a week earlier was Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way, which only needed to sell 93,000 copies.


Evidently EMI learned their lesson with Mi Chico Latino, releasing a CD1/2 of different track lists. I can't remember what the prices first week were though - did they go for £1.99? Mi Chico Latino sold 132,500 to get to #1, around 10,000 less than Look at Me's first week (worth noting that Mi Chico Latino was a post album release though). Fun fact: If Mi Chico Latino had come out a week earlier, she more than likely would have prevented Westlife from #1 with I Let You Go. She could have ended their consecutive streak of #1s before it even began! If I Let You Go got to #1 with 90,491 sales.


Funny to think that Boyzone vs Geri battle occurred 20 years ago - after all this time I still wish it had turned out differently! I'll never understand the label's logic with their Look at Me formats, that was such an own goal... I feel like they threw away the #1 due to carelessness. I may be biased but I think Look at Me deserved #1 over the forgettable You Needed Me. Having said all this, Shania Twain's That Don't Impress Me Much (which entered and peaked at #3 that week) is a classic... that probably should have been #1 over both Geri & Boyzone, but she "only" sold 109,000 that week.