Posted July 20, 201212 yr This week marks 15 years since the release of one of the most anticipated and fastest-selling British singles of the ‘90s – Oasis’ D’You Know What I Mean. The lead single from Oasis’ third album Be Here Now to this day remains the band’s fastest-selling single of their career. Shifting in excess of an astonishing 370,000 copies in its opening week, D’You Know What I Mean outperformed even the likes of giants Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back In Anger in each of their respective first weeks of release, even though the two (What's The Story) Morning Glory tracks remain Oasis biggest-selling singles. D'You Know What I Mean, a grandiose, feedback-driven, endlessly layered track that featured a nonsensical chorus, clocked in at an impressive seven and a half minutes. Of course it went straight to Number 1. Spending a total of 18 weeks in the Official Singles Chart, it held the top spot for only a week in July 1997, intersecting the six-week non-consecutive run at the top for Puff Daddy’s breakthrough single I’ll Be Missing You. D’You Know What I Mean was Oasis’ first single for 16 months, followed the ubiquitous Don’t Look Back in Anger and became the sixth in an impressive run of 18 consecutive Top 5 singles. And let’s not forget the video: Coloured smoke! Post-apocalyptic theme! Army helicopters! Liam’s enormous parka! Noel with a Flying V! Liam not flicking the V (for once). Aww, bless the 90s. The enormous success of the band’s previous blockbusting album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, which spent 10 weeks at Number 1 and a total of 147 weeks on the Official Album Chart, saw Oasis being catapulted into superstardom, putting pressure on Noel Gallagher to follow suit with something extraordinary. The excitement and media attention that preceded the release of Oasis' new single, resulted in a huge first week sale, and has to date sold 730,000 copies in the UK, making it the third biggest-selling single of their career on home turf. When Be Here Now was released in August 1997, reviews were bordering on ecstatic and the album sold over 660,000 copies in its first week. Although Be Here Now eventually received its fair share of criticism - included being somewhat written off by its composer - it remains a chart-busting signature piece of a time when Britpop was slowly descending from its zenith. Well, Liam still likes it! Be Here Now yielded two further singles: Stand By Me, which charted at Number 2 in October 1997, and All Around The World which reached Number 1 in January 1998. Perhaps surprisingly, both tracks can be found in the Top 10 fastest-selling Oasis singles. OfficialCharts.com can exclusively reveal Oasis' Official Top 10 fastest-selling UK singles, as compiled by the Official Charts Company. (figures reflect rounded first-week UK sales of each single): 1 D'YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN 370,000 2 DON'T LOOK BACK IN ANGER 227,000 3 GO LET IT OUT 180,000 4 ROLL WITH IT 163,000 5 WONDERWALL 143,000 6 STAND BY ME 137,000 7 THE HINDU TIMES 116,000 8 ALL AROUND THE WORLD 112,000 9 SOME MIGHT SAY 101,000 10 WHATEVER 100,000 Source: OCC
July 20, 201212 yr Just some Figures "of the time" for comparison...... D'YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN- 377,000 DON'T LOOK BACK IN ANGER- 250,000 ROLL WITH IT- 216,000 GO LET IT OUT 180,000 WONDERWALL- 163,000 SOME MIGHT SAY- 138,000 STAND BY ME 137,000 WHATEVER 121,000 THEHINDUTIMES 116,000 ALL AROUND THE WORLD 112,000
July 20, 201212 yr What a weird random list the OCC has chosen this time. And more of their sales (except post 96 ones) revised down. Thanks for the list for comparison Gezza a really good comparison of that effect actually. Total sales would have been better OCC...
July 20, 201212 yr :w00t: First week sales!! Amazing that they had 10 songs selling over 100k in their first week - I thought it was just their albums which had massive sales!
July 20, 201212 yr Just some Figures "of the time" for comparison...... ROLL WITH IT- 216,000 How dumb were they to release this the same week as Blur's "Country House"? This had even higher sales than when Blur were at #2 with "Tender" behind "...Baby One More Time"!
July 20, 201212 yr Not really... it would never have sold that many copies if it wasn't up against Country House. The media attention at the time was unreal, probably only rivaled by Groovejet vs Victoria Beckham.
July 20, 201212 yr How dumb were they to release this the same week as Blur's "Country House"? This had even higher sales than when Blur were at #2 with "Tender" behind "...Baby One More Time"! Furthermore I'd say that Blur moved their release date to clash with Oasis on purpose realising what a media frenzy it would create.
July 21, 201212 yr Interesting to see that Whatever sold 121k in its first week. :o Is it one of the fastest selling #3's of all time?
July 21, 201212 yr I'm suprised by this list. Obviously the top 2 were both no.1's, but I thought the latter would top this.
July 21, 201212 yr Interesting to see that Whatever sold 121k in its first week. :o Is it one of the fastest selling #3's of all time? Not the biggest but very high yes.
July 21, 201212 yr Not the biggest but very high yes. Is whitney houston's it's not right but it's ok (164k or something like that) the fastest ever?
July 21, 201212 yr Is whitney houston's it's not right but it's ok (164k or something like that) the fastest ever? That we know of, yes. What did the #3 behind Wham's "Last Christmas" and the Band Aid record sell?
July 21, 201212 yr "D'You Know What I Mean?" is still one of my favourite Oasis songs, the whole bluster and ridiculousness of it completely hooked me from the first time I heard it. Kind of wish people had the same ambition nowadays.
July 21, 201212 yr That we know of, yes. What did the #3 behind Wham's "Last Christmas" and the Band Aid record sell? Well, it's highly unlikely anything from before the '90s would be the fastest selling simply because most songs debuted low and then climbed back then... Is Whitney really the fastest selling though? I don't know why that surprises me, I guess I just never considered it, but I'm struggling to think of any other #3s that might have opened with such a high sale. How much did Denise & Johnny sell at Xmas '98 behind Spice Girls and Chef?
July 21, 201212 yr My earlier post just meant highest weekly sales in general, not solely the first week.
July 21, 201212 yr What a great list :wub: Love them all but nice my three favs (Roll With It, Some Might Say and Stand by Me) are right up there. I think Stand by Me is a fantastic song, it just could have done with one less chorus repeat to make it perfect.
July 26, 201212 yr Great sales :). Not many british rock bands have managed to achieve what Oasis have. Also Noel Gallagher is very gifted songwriter... it's amazing how well his solo album is doing :)
July 28, 201212 yr Yeah I'm not sure what's keeping it so buoyant but recently it seems to be going strength to strength when I really thought fathers day in June was its somewhat desperate last gasp. Great sales esp when Beady Eye's album is now totally forgotten ;-s Noels sold more than last oasis album which is a fairly confident mark of success! Over 100k x10 for the band is great thought as previous would love some total sales there OCC...
Create an account or sign in to comment