UK Top Selling Album Artists 1987-2004

[lucienchardon]

PSB is the 61st best albums act.
Take a look at this chart:
http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26161

It's interesting that Radiohead are below PSB and Blur quite higher than both. And I'm surprised that Depeche Mode and The Cure are not even on the list.

[Lush]

PSB is the 61st best albums act.
Take a look at this chart:
http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26161

It's interesting that Radiohead are below PSB and Blur quite higher than both. And I'm surprised that Depeche Mode and The Cure are not even on the list.

Depeche Mode have never sold that well in England for some reason.

[Eldritch]

PSB is the 61st best albums act.
Take a look at this chart:
http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26161

It's interesting that Radiohead are below PSB and Blur quite higher than both. And I'm surprised that Depeche Mode and The Cure are not even on the list.

DM had released six albums before 1987 and The Cure even more, so this chart begins at exactly the point when the productivity of both bands was starting to wane, so that puts them both at a disadvantage. That said, both The Cure and DM have always been cult and fanbase bands in the UK and have had limited appeal for casual buyers, the tastes of whom usually define what ends up on lists like this.

[Young Offender]

PSB above U2 and Phil Collins?

[Eldritch]

PSB above U2 and Phil Collins?

They too suffer from having released vast amount of stuff before 1987, whereas PSB were only onto their sophomore effort then.

[BlueSwan]

PSB above U2 and Phil Collins?

That IS a bit weird. U2 have had the bulk of their big sellers since 1987. Phil Collins have not, but his "But Seriously" album was FAR bigger than any PSB album in the UK.

[BlueSwan]

But, of course, it is not true - U2 are right there at number THREE on the list with almost 12 million sold!

[BlueSwan]

...and Phil Collins is at #13 - Young Offender, are you blind?

[BlueSwan]

Unless, of course, you were talking about the SINGLES list, where PSB are indeed ahead of both U2 and Phil Collins.

[Young Offender]

Here is the list that includes every album sale, except after 2002.

1 - Cliff Richard - 20,969,006
2 - The Beatles - 20,799,632

3 - Elvis Presley - 19,293,118

4 - Madonna - 14,562,856

5 - Elton John - 13,475,063

6 - Michael Jackson - 11,310,958

7 - Queen - 10,334,713
8 - Abba - 10,004,039

9 - Paul McCartney - 9,781,603
10 - David Bowie - 9,392,410
11 - Rod Stewart - 9,046,492

12 - The Rolling Stones - 8,348,470

13 - Kylie Minogue - 7,994,130
14 - Stevie Wonder - 7,614,227
15 - Spice Girls - 7,507,213
16 - Shakin' Stevens - 7,108,330

17 - Whitney Houston - 6,993,105
18 - The Bee Gees - 6,943,851
19 - George Michael - 6,819,419
20 - Status Quo - 6,727,822
21 - Boney M - 6,587,018
22 - Slade - 6,520,171
23 - Olivia Newton John - 6,493,006
24 - Blondie - 6,456,881
25 - Boyzone - 6,435,711
26 - Oasis - 6,225,785

27 - UB40 - 5,997,222
28 - Tom Jones - 5,892,220
29 - Celine Dion - 5,683,264
30 - The Police - 5,617,175
31 - Madness - 5,564,459
32 - Diana Ross - 5,326,780
33 - Wham - 5,298,431
34 - Adam Ant - 5,296,965
35 - The Jam - 5,094,055
36 - Frankie Goes to Hollywood - 5,008,067

37 - Robbie Williams - 4,973,227
38 - Pet Shop Boys - 4,913,655
39 - Phil Collins - 4,889,059
40 - Wet Wet Wet - 4,877,328
41 - Duran Duran - 4,846,531
42 - Everly Brothers - 4,827,957
43 - Shadows - 4,793,537
44 - Westlife - 4,726,116
45 - Gary Glitter - 4,717,834
46 - Engelbert Humperdinck - 4,710,328
47 - U2 - 4,663,427
48 - Bryan Adams - 4,614,135
49 - Frank Sinatra - 4,597,630
50 - Hollies - 4,597,450
51 - Hot Chocolate - 4,441,955
52 - Take That - 4,426,566
53 - Take That - 4,426,566
54 - Mariah Carey - 4,409,607
55 - Steps - 4,408,499
56 - Donna Summer - 4,389,529
57 - Janet Jackson - 4,359,645
58 - E L O - 4,241,169
59 - Cher - 4,080,650
60 - Erasure - 4,077,372

I was going by this list...

[psb-freak]

Has Erasure sold more copies than PSB ? I was thinking ´cause they always say that PSB is the most successfull British pop duo ever.... but they are indeed.

[jamie1978]

PSB above U2 and Phil Collins?

As I've already mentioned, the top 60 chart posted by Undertaker is a singles sales chart, not album sales.

U2 have pissed over the PSB's in terms of album sales in the UK.

[Lush]

Has Erasure sold more copies than PSB ? I was thinking ´cause they always say that PSB is the most successfull British pop duo ever.... but they are indeed.

Erasure have certainly had more number one albums in the UK than Pet Shop Boys (who've had only one). Pet Shop Boys are the most successful British pop duo ever in terms of the number of charting singles. In terms of singles sales, it would appear that Wham! are the most successful duo.

[jamie1978]

Yeah, the classification for 'most successful duo ever' is suspect to say the least

In terms of album chart positions - its Erasure
In terms of single chart positions - its Pet Shop Boys
In terms of single sales - its Wham

So it all seems a little ambiguous really.

I guess the one thing we can say for certain, is that its hard to say who the msot successful duo are.

Though, in terms of Global album and single sales, it certainly is the Pet Shop Boys. Erasure are often quoted as having sold 15 million albums globally, wheras Pet Shop Boys are consistently quoted as having sold 35 million.

[BlueSwan]

Yeah, the classification for 'most successful duo ever' is suspect to say the least

In terms of album chart positions - its Erasure
In terms of single chart positions - its Pet Shop Boys
In terms of single sales - its Wham

So it all seems a little ambiguous really.

I guess the one thing we can say for certain, is that its hard to say who the msot successful duo are.

Though, in terms of Global album and single sales, it certainly is the Pet Shop Boys. Erasure are often quoted as having sold 15 million albums globally, wheras Pet Shop Boys are consistently quoted as having sold 35 million.

Right. Just as Bananarama is wrongly cited as being the most succesful female band - again based solely on number of chart singles. But this is obviously a VERY poor measure. Bands like The Supremes and The Spice Girls (just to mention two very obvious ones) have clearly been FAR more succesful than Bananarama.