OK, so I just saw the movie “24 Hour Party People” this past weekend (obligatory IMDB link). Anyway, the movie’s all about the Manchester music scene - startting with Joy Division and New Order and ending with the close of the Hacienda.
In the movie - which is shot in “mockumentary” style - the actor portraying Tony Wilson claims that New Order’s “Blue Monday” 12" single was the “best selling 12” record in history".
I don’t doubt his claim then, but was curious if that record still stands.
Yeah, the record still stands, though I couldn’t give you a quote other than my New Order-obsessed SO. It’s a sickness, I tell ya. Ironic thing is that apparently the band put so much money into the artwork that they actually lost money on the sale.
Loved “24 Hour Party People”. Before Andy Serkis became “the guy who played Gollum”.
Peg is correct. New Order lost money on the record.
Quote from link below:
the band released “Blue Monday” in 1983. It became the best-selling 12-inch record of all time but, although the single went on to sell more than three million copies, the band lost money every time one was bought. This ironic situation was caused by an expensive sleeve, designed to look like a floppy disc, that needed to have a special hole cut out in it.
Amazingly, ‘BM’ still holds the title, yes! Not bad for a record by a then relatively-unknown band that only peaked at #9 when first issued… (It spent 38 weeks in the Top 75, so that’s why!)
Of course, statheads tend to add the sales for 'Blue Monday ‘88’ and the 1993 reissue as well…
Oh I forgot to add that the Candle In the Wind '97 vs White Xmas stats is about half way down the page.
Rapunzel, since they are only counting 12" sales it makes sense. Singles issued on 45’s (6"?), Cassette or CD would not count. Also with the popularity of the CD coming wihin the next decade there was a decrease in vinal sales.
[Dumb American Alert] Didn’t the whole decimalisation thing happen in the early 70’s? As in, 12 years before this single was released? [/Dumb American Alert]
I was wondering the same thing about the pound/pence conversion thing (decimalization happening in the early 70’s, long before 1983.)
Not much else to add, except that with vinyl sales totally overtaken by CDs these days, any record having strictly to do with vinyl sales will probably last forever now…
From Wikipedia…
“Factory did not release a 7-inch version of the single until 1988, five years after the single was originally released as a 12-inch-only release.”
That would definitely account for higher sales as there was most likely no other way to get it at the time short of buying the Power, Corruption and Lies album.
Also agree that 24-hour party people is great. My cable channel showed it and ‘Control’ - the Ian Curtis (of Joy Division - a key Manchester band) biopic back-to-back. It was really interesting seeing how the two pictures overlapped.
Steve Coogan’s character appears in both, so it was interesting to see the portrayals. As did Ian Curtis.
I had no knowledge of the Happy Mondays before watching the movie. I was surprised how large they figured in the story. I guess they were one of those rare bands that get huge in Europe, but never really break the North American market. I think Robbie Williams would fit in a similar mould.
I’ve a huge soft spot for the Mondays, but it’s fair to say their recorded output was very patchy, and they were chronic live. It’s very much a case of “You had to be there” ie discovered E.
I thought that the Happy Mondays were large in the story because they squandered a huge amount of money “recording” an album in Jamaica (or some Caribbean island). Instead they took most of the money, bought drugs, and remained stoned for most of their stay. At the end of it, they spent a small ton of money, and had no album. It was pretty much the final nail in the coffin for Factory Records. Or that is how I understood the story.
