Hello.

 

I have always had an obsession with weekly sales and I have always wanted to find out the missing totals. So, to find this out, I used the Top 100 Biggest Selling Singles (from 2005, so that sales could be more accurate and downloads didn't have an effect), calculated the total sales divided by the weekly sales for the #1 songs in the list from 1980-2005, used the mean to work out the average calculation, which left me with: 442.9 / 82 = 5.4

 

I then used the answer to divide the rest of the songs in the Top 100 by its total sales, and got these estimated weekly sales - some might be too low and a lot might be too high, but some are probably shockingly accurate - these are the weekly sales that I have worked out. Thank you.

 

ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK - Bill Haley & His Comets (258,000)

DIANA - Paul Anka (230,000)

MARY'S BOY CHILD - Harry Belafonte (218,000)

IT'S NOW OR NEVER - Elvis Presley (231,000)

STRANGER ON THE SHORE - Acker Bilk (209,000)

THE YOUNG ONES - Cliff Richard & The Shadows (195,000)

I REMEMBER YOU - Frank Ifield (203,000)

TELSTAR - Tornados (179,000)

THE NEXT TIME/BACHELOR BOY - Cliff Richard & The Shadows (181,000)

SHE LOVES YOU - Beatles (350,000)

I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND - Beatles (324,000)

CAN'T BUY ME LOVE - Beatles (281,000)

I FEEL FINE - Beatles (261,000)

TEARS - Ken Dodd (282,000)

THE CARNIVAL IS OVER - Seekers (259,000)

WE CAN WORK IT OUT/DAYTRIPPER - Beatles (256,000)

GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME - Tom Jones (223,000)

RELEASE ME - Englebert Humperdinck (253,000)

THE LAST WALTZ - Englebert Humperdinck (215,000)

SUGAR SUGAR - Archies (181,000)

I'D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING - New Seekers (183,000)

AMAZING GRACE - Pipes, Drums & Military Band of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (178,000)

LONG HAIRED LOVER FROM LIVERPOOL - Little Jimmy Osmond (185,000)

TIE A YELLOW RIBBON 'ROUND THE OLE OAK TREE - Dawn (183,000)

EYE LEVEL - Simon Park Orchestra (186,000)

I LOVE YOU LOVE ME LOVE - Garry Glitter (211,000)

MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY - Slade (187,000)

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY - Queen (220,000)

SAVE YOUR KISSES FOR ME - Brotherhood Of Man (186,000)

UNDER THE MOON OF LOVE - Showaddywaddy (182,000)

DON'T GIVE UP ON US - David Soul (212,000)

DON'T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA - Julie Covington (184,000)

MULL OF KINTYRE/GIRLS' SCHOOL - Wings (380,000)

RIVERS OF BABYLON/BROWN GIRL IN THE RING - Boney M (368,000)

YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (366,000)

SUMMER NIGHTS - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (281,000)

MARY'S BOY CHILD/OH MY LORD - Boney M (331,000)

YMCA - Village People (256,000)

HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK - Ian Dury & The Blockheads (181,000)

HEART OF GLASS - Blondie (219,000)

BRIGHT EYES - Art Garfunkel (214,000)

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL - Pink Floyd (184,000)

BLUE MONDAY - New Order (185,000)

GHOSTBUSTERS - Ray Parker Jnr (180,000)

ESPECIALLY FOR YOU - Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan (182,000)

WONDERWALL - Oasis (179,000)

TORN - Natalie Imbruglia (182,000)

NEVER EVER - All Saints (232,000)

 

More will be revealed later! ^_^

 

 

Any response? I don't make these threads for nothing! :P

So this is completely theoretical?

Any response? I don't make these threads for nothing! :P

 

I know what you mean! :P

 

Not many people are reading Buzzjack at this time in the morning, though.

So this is completely theoretical?

 

It is, but it's also an indicator about what the average sales of the song would look like. This is copied and pasted from the Word document;

 

01 SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT/CANDLE IN THE WIND 1997 - Elton John (1997) 4,864,611 / 1,546,688 = 3.1

02 DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS - Band Aid (1984) 3,550,000 / 960,000 = 3.7

03 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY - Queen (1975) 1,190,000 / 5.4 = 220,370

04 MULL OF KINTYRE/GIRLS' SCHOOL - Wings (1977) 2,050,000 / 5.4 = 379,630

05 RIVERS OF BABYLON/BROWN GIRL IN THE RING - Boney M (1978) 1,985,000 / 5.4 = 367,593

06 YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (1978) 1,975,000 / 365,741

07 RELAX - Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1984) 1,910,000 / 217,000 = 8.8

08 SHE LOVES YOU - Beatles (1963) 1,890,000 / 5.4 = 350,000

09 UNCHAINED MELODY/WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER - Robson Green & Jerome Flynn (1995) 1,843,701 / 460,000 = 4.0

10 MARY'S BOY CHILD/OH MY LORD - Boney M (1978) 1,790,000 / 5.4 = 331,481

11 ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE/EVERGREEN - Will Young (2002) 1,786,879 / 1,108,269 = 1.6

12 LOVE IS ALL AROUND - Wet Wet Wet (1994) 1,783,827 / 115,718 = 15.4

13 I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU - Stevie Wonder (1984) 1,775,000 / 239,000 = 7.4

14 I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND - Beatles (1963) 1,750,000 / 5.4 = 324,074

15 BARBIE GIRL - Aqua (1997) 1,722,418 / 239,000 = 7.2

16 BELIEVE - Cher (1998) 1,672,108 / 205,000 = 8.2

17 PERFECT DAY - Various Artists (1997) 1,548,538 / 385,082 = 4.0

18 (EVERYTHING I DO) I DO IT FOR YOU - Bryan Adams (1991) 1,527,824 / 115,000 = 13.3

19 TEARS - Ken Dodd (1965) 1,521,000 / 5.4 = 281,667

20 CAN'T BUY ME LOVE - Beatles (1964) 1,520,000 / 5.4 = 281,481

21 SUMMER NIGHTS - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (1978) 1,515,000 / 5.4 = 280,556

22 TWO TRIBES - Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1984) 1,510,000 / 283,000 = 5.3

23 IMAGINE - John Lennon (1981) 1,468,581

24 BABY ONE MORE TIME - Britney Spears (1999) 1,450,154 / 463,722 = 3.1

25 DON'T YOU WANT ME - Human League (1981) 1,430,000 / 236,000 = 6.1

26 LAST CHRISTMAS - Wham! (1984) 1,420,000 / 5.4 = 262,963

27 I FEEL FINE - Beatles (1964) 1,410,000 / 5.4 = 261,111

28 I'LL BE MISSING YOU - Puff Daddy & Faith Evans (1997) 1,409,688 / 166,906 = 8.4

29 KARMA CHAMELEON - Culture Club (1984) 1,405,000 / 214,000 = 6.6

30 THE CARNIVAL IS OVER - Seekers (1965) 1,400,000 / 5.4 = 259,259

31 ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK - Bill Haley & His Comets (1955) 1,392,000 / 5.4 = 257,778

32 WE CAN WORK IT OUT/DAYTRIPPER - Beatles (1965) 1,385,000 / 5.4 = 256,481

33 YMCA - Village People (1979) 1,380,000 / 5.4 = 255,556

34 CARELESS WHISPER - George Michael (1984) 1,365,995 / 158,000 = 8.6

35 RELEASE ME - Englebert Humperdinck (1967) 1,365,000 / 5.4 = 252,778

36 I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU - Whitney Houston (1992) 1,355,055 / 217,000 = 6.2

37 UNCHAINED MELODY - Gareth Gates (2002) 1,336,007 / 850,535 = 1.6

38 THE POWER OF LOVE - Jennifer Rush (1985) 1,321,530 / 207,000 = 6.4

39 MY HEART WILL GO ON - Celine Dion (1998) 1,312,551 / 234,700 = 5.6

40 WANNABE - Spice Girls (1996) 1,269,841 / 154,000 = 8.2

41 KILLING ME SOFTLY - Fugees (1996) 1,268,157 / 195,000 = 6.5

42 NEVER EVER - All Saints (1997) 1,254,604 / 5.4 = 232,334

43 IT'S NOW OR NEVER - Elvis Presley (1960) 1,246,500 / 5.4 = 230,833

44 GANGSTA'S PARADISE - Coolio ft LV (1995) 1,246,306 / 166,000 = 7.5

45 DIANA - Paul Anka (1957) 1,240,000 / 5.4 = 229,630

46 THINK TWICE - Celine Dion (1994) 1,234,982 / 154,000 = 8.0

47 GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME - Tom Jones (1966) 1,205,000 / 5.4 = 223,148

48 COME ON EILEEN - Dexy's Midnight Runners (1982) 1,201,000 / 183,000 = 6.6

49 IT WASN'T ME - Shaggy ft RikRok (2001) 1,180,708 / 345,498 = 3.4

50 HEART OF GLASS - Blondie (1979) 1,180,000 / 5.4 = 218,519

51 MARY'S BOY CHILD - Harry Belafonte (1957) 1,175,000 / 5.4 = 217,593

52 THE LAST WALTZ - Englebert Humperdinck (1967) 1,160,000 / 5.4 = 214,815

53 BRIGHT EYES - Art Garfunkel (1979) 1,155,000 / 5.4 = 213,889

54 HEARTBEAT/TRAGEDY - Steps (1998) 1,150,285 / 5.4 = 213,016

55 DON'T GIVE UP ON US - David Soul (1977) 1,145,000 / 5.4 = 212,037

56 I LOVE YOU LOVE ME LOVE - Garry Glitter (1973) 1,140,000 / 5.4 = 211,111

57 TAINTED LOVE - Soft Cell (1981) 1,135,000 / 147,000 = 7.7

58 STRANGER ON THE SHORE - Acker Bilk (1961) 1,130,000 / 5.4 = 209,259

59 IT'S LIKE THAT - Run-DMC vs Jason Nevins (1998) 1,119,905 / 246,769 = 4.5

60 TELETUBBIES SAY "EH-OH" - Teletubbies (1997) 1,107,235 / 317,000 = 3.5

61 SPACEMAN - Babylon Zoo (1996) 1,098,880 / 418,000 = 2.6

62 I REMEMBER YOU - Frank Ifield (1962) 1,096,000 / 5.4 = 202,963

63 DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS - Band Aid 20 (2004) 1,094,000 / 292,854 = 3.7

64 I BELIEVE/UP ON THE ROOF - Robson & Jerome (1995) 1,093,972 / 258,000 = 4.2

65 SATURDAY NIGHT - Whigfield (1994) 1,092,250 / 220,000 = 5.0

66 PURE AND SIMPLE - Hear'Say (2001) 1,078,434 / 549,839 = 2.0

67 NO MATTER WHAT - Boyzone (1998) 1,074,192 / 277,554 = 3.9

68 2 BECOME 1 - Spice Girls (1996) 1,072,073 / 429,000 = 2.5

69 (IS THIS THE WAY TO) AMARILLO - Tony Christie ft Peter Kay (2005) 1,061,654 / 266,844 = 4.0

70 THE YOUNG ONES - Cliff Richard & The Shadows (1962) 1,052,000 / 5.4 = 194,815

71 EARTH SONG - Michael Jackson (1995) 1,038,821 / 261,851 = 4.0

72 CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD - Kylie Minogue (2001) 1,037,235 / 306,648 = 3.4

73 BLUE (DA BA DEE) - Eiffel 65 (1999) 1,023,536 / 226,000 = 4.5

74 CAN WE FIX IT - Bob The Builder (2000) 1,008,777 / 359,639 = 2.8

75 MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY - Slade (1973) 1,008,500 / 5.4 = 186,759

76 SAVE YOUR KISSES FOR ME - Brotherhood Of Man (1976) 1,006,200 / 5.4 = 186,333

77 EYE LEVEL - Simon Park Orchestra (1972) 1,005,500 / 186,204

78 BLUE MONDAY - New Order (1983/88/95) 1,001,400 / 185,444

79 LONG HAIRED LOVER FROM LIVERPOOL - Little Jimmy Osmond (1972) 998,000 / 5.4 = 184,815

80 ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL - Pink Floyd (1979) 995,000 / 5.4 = 184,259

81 DON'T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA - Julie Covington (1977) 993,000 / 5.4 = 183,889

82 EYE OF THE TIGER - Survivor (1982) 990,000 / 148,000 = 6.7

83 I'D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING - New Seekers (1972) 990,000 / 5.4 = 183,333

84 TIE A YELLOW RIBBON 'ROUND THE OLE OAK TREE - Dawn (1973) 988,000 / 5.4 = 182,963

85 STAND AND DELIVER - Adam & The Ants (1981) 985,000 / 184,000 = 5.4

86 UNDER THE MOON OF LOVE - Showaddywaddy (1976) 985,000 / 5.4 = 182,407

87 TORN - Natalie Imbruglia (1997) 982,324 / 5.4 = 181,912

88 ESPECIALLY FOR YOU - Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan (1988) 982,000 / 5.4 = 181,852

89 HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK - Ian Dury & The Blockheads (1979) 979,100 / 5.4 = 181,315

90 SUGAR SUGAR - Archies (1969) 979,000 / 5.4 = 181,296

91 THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT - Tight Fit (1982) 978,000 / 173,000 = 5.7

92 THE NEXT TIME/BACHELOR BOY - Cliff Richard & The Shadows (1963) 976,000 / 5.4 = 180,741

93 FAME - Irene Cara (1982) 975,000 / 142,000 = 6.9

94 GHOSTBUSTERS - Ray Parker Jnr (1984) 974,001 / 5.4 = 180,371

95 UPTOWN GIRL - Billy Joel (1983) 974,000 / 171,000 = 5.7

96 RIDE ON TIME - Black Box (1989) 973,850 / 140,000 = 7.0

97 TELSTAR - Tornados (1962) 967,000 / 5.4 = 179,074

98 WONDERWALL - Oasis (1995) 966,940 / 5.4 = 179,063

99 AMAZING GRACE - Pipes, Drums & Military Band of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (1972) 962,000 / 5.4 = 178,148

100 BACK FOR GOOD - Take That (1995) 959,582 / 346,000 = 2.8

 

You may want to change the title - I don't think All Saint's Never Ever was released between 1952-1979! :D

 

Some of the recent sales look pretty accurate, although it's anyone's guess as to how much tracks sold in the 50s to 70s! Thanks for doing this by the way!

Edited November 2, 201212 yr by liamk97

Could you explain using an example because I don't think I follow?

Edited November 2, 201212 yr by AnthonyT

You may want to change the title - I don't think All Saint's Never Ever was released between 1952-1979! :D

 

Some of the recent sales look pretty accurate, although it's anyone's guess as to how much tracks sold in the 50s to 70s! Thanks for doing this by the way!

 

You're welcome. :D

 

What do you mean by recent sales? Do you mean from the 60s/70s or from the 80s onwards? I didn't have any more room in the title to write "other songs from 1952 to the present day which were at a lower position in the charts or probably had their biggest sales week at a lower position", so that's why the title is misleading. :lol:

 

Could you explain using an example because I don't think I follow?

 

OK,

 

We'll use the example of Elton John's Candle In the Wind 1997's calculation, which is 4,864,611 (total sales) / (divided by - too lazy to write the normal division sign :lol:) 1,546,688 (biggest weekly sale except for weeks when the song probably sold more copies at a lower position) = 3.1.

 

We use this method for the other songs on the "Top 200 Biggest Selling Singles Up To 2005" (for the reasons in the opening post) who probably had their biggest sales week at #1 between 1980-2005. We then use the mean to work out the average calculation to work out the biggest weekly sales for the other songs on the list, whether it is songs which made #1 between 1952-1979 or other songs which didn't go to #1 or songs that had their biggest sales week when they weren't at #1 (see Never Ever and Especially For You).

 

442.9 (all calculations made added up) / (divided by) 82 (number of songs) = 5.4

 

Now we use 5.4 to divide by the other songs in the list to find out an estimate for weekly sales of #1 singles from 1952-1979 or weekly sales for songs that had their biggest weekly sale at a lower position.

 

Do you understand now?

Edited November 2, 201212 yr by Grief

I think I can honestly say no I don't understand. Ha ha. I might just be being thick though.

I had to turn the text from green to black and print it out to understand.

 

 

You're making an assumption that singles that sold a million or more had a similar sales rate while at number 1...we all know this isn't true.

I had to turn the text from green to black and print it out to understand.

You're making an assumption that singles that sold a million or more had a similar sales rate while at number 1...we all know this isn't true.

 

No? As I've said, it's an indicator about what the average weekly sales of the song would look like. Some sales might be too low and a lot of sales might be too high, but some sales are probably shockingly accurate.

 

Gezza, what don't you understand? Talk about it to me and we'll sort it out. ^_^

Edited November 2, 201212 yr by Grief

The thing is we could get Gezza to guess them all and we'd fine that among his guesses "Some sales might be too low and a lot of sales might be too high, but some sales are probably shockingly accurate". I admire your attempt to find a solution for this problem but I dont have faith in your method. I am not dismissing your effort.

Edited November 2, 201212 yr by AnthonyT

The thing is we could get Gezza to guess them all and we'd fine that among his guesses "Some sales might be too low and a lot of sales might be too high, but some sales are probably shockingly accurate". I admire your attempt to find a solution for this problem but I dont have faith in your method. I am not dismissing your effort.

 

That's fine, don't worry! I did my best though. :lol:

That's fine, don't worry! I did my best though. :lol:

 

 

Yep and you've got me thinking about how we could do it.

Edited November 2, 201212 yr by AnthonyT

Yep and you've got me thinking about how we could do it.

 

We could ask the OCC but I doubt that they would reply.

 

Or would they? Gezza, what do you think?

BLUE MONDAY - New Order (185,000)

 

 

is this saying that Blue Monday had a weekly sales peak of 185,000?

 

Shouldn't we consider how long a single stayed in the charts also?

Edited November 2, 201212 yr by AnthonyT

BLUE MONDAY - New Order (185,000)

is this saying that Blue Monday had a weekly sales peak of 185,000?

 

Shouldn't we consider how long a single stayed in the charts also?

 

Oh yeah. :lol:

 

If we considered how long a single stayed in the charts, the weekly sales would be too low (I've tried it before and I didn't know whether to divide the total sales by the amount of weeks it spent on the chart or the Top 5/10). :(

Blue Monday will never fit any trend so it's probably not worth trying to include it.

Is this a way of working out highest weekly sales? If so then we already know the weekly sales peak for the records in the list post 1995, and of course my guesses 1980 -1994, but for any guess you would have to take into account weeks on chart and seasonal variations as well as size of the market etc. Having said all of that these things are always interesting to read, well done griff!

We could ask the OCC but I doubt that they would reply.

 

Or would they? Gezza, what do you think?

Never replied to anything I've sent them but best of british!