# Eagles – Their Greatest Hits…. Why so many album sales?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 27, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056 "2020-01-27T16:57:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/1 "2020-01-27T16:57:42Z")

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The two top selling albums are Thriller and the Eagles greatest hits album. I’ve wondered why the Eagles album sells more than other greatest hits albums and almost every album.

Speaking for someone responsible for two of them… Until the Hotel California album, the Eagles were just a group with a few good songs. Then with Hotel California they became one of my favorites and then I went back to their earlier music. To me they had some very good singles but so-so albums (to me). The greatest hits album basically had all I wanted.  
Then when it was time to get digital versions of my music the required albums for the Eagles were their greatest hits, Hotel California and The Long Run. Then add about four or five other songs and my Eagles music is complete.

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**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/2 "2020-01-27T18:48:01Z")

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It was the first album I bought with my own money, and looking back at the track listing, there isn’t a dud on it. Having said that, there’s some dispute about the claim of top selling album.

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**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/3 "2020-01-27T18:55:53Z")

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The 1975-77 period seems to account for a lot a crazy sales figures in individual Rock albums. Frampton Comes Alive, Rumors, Bat out of Hell, Saturday Night Fever, Hotel California. Everybody I knew back then had all of these albums. Our tastes were a lot less diverse and segmented back then and we REALLY liked physically owning music.

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**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/4 "2020-01-27T18:57:01Z")

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I was a Target cashier in the early 1980s, and it seemed that not a day went by that I didn’t ring up a copy of that album with the dusty blue cover and a cow skull on it.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/5 "2020-01-27T19:01:31Z")

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It may be because the Eagles had a full album’s worth of Greatest Hits. A lot of Greatest Hits albums contained some filler.

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/6 "2020-01-27T19:54:26Z")

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I’d imagine the best-selling album for many established artists will be their “greatest hits.”

From the [RIAA’s 100 best-selling albums](https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/12/26/100-best-selling-albums-artists-2019/) list, I count at least 25 that are greatest hits, live albums, or other types of compilations.

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**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/7 "2020-01-27T20:02:16Z")

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> [@nearwildheaven](#):
>
> I was a Target cashier in the early 1980s, and it seemed that not a day went by that I didn’t ring up a copy of that album with the dusty blue cover and a cow skull on it.

It’s actually an eagle’s skull ;).

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**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/8 "2020-01-27T20:03:32Z")

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> [@Author\_Balk](#):
>
> …The greatest hits album basically had all I wanted…

I think this is a reason for its popularity. As a purchase, it fits a lot of bills, so to speak. Safe bet as a gift for someone else and as an addition to your own record collection. Holds different kinds of appeal for those who aren’t necessarily among the group’s biggest fans. And, “had a full album’s worth of Greatest Hits” as said upthread.

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**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/9 "2020-01-27T20:04:05Z")

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> [@outlierrn](#):
>
> It was the first album I bought with my own money, and looking back at the track listing, there isn’t a dud on it. Having said that, there’s some dispute about the claim of top selling album.

I don’t think there’s any dispute. _Thriller_ is the best selling album worldwide, but the Eagle’s greatest hits is the best selling counting US sales only. But there’s no argument that _Thriller_ holds the world’s top spot.

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**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/10 "2020-01-27T20:40:05Z")

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OK – I never miss an opportunity to tell one of my favorite stories.

Ca. 1976, when I was working in Hollywood, California, I got a phone call from a publisher. She said, “We have a new album being released tomorrow, and we forgot to copyright all the songs! Can you help?”

Since I specialized in writing lead sheets, the primary way to copyright songs under the latest (1909) law, I sure could. But it took me about an hour and a half to produce a single, finished lead sheet, and my usual time was about a week, sufficient for most music publishers.

“How many songs on the album?”

“About 10. But we need it right away!”

"That would be a rush job, at double fee, about 48 hours. OK?’

“Sure, sure. Can you do it faster?”

“What’s the name of the album?”

“_Hotel California_, by the Eagles.”

“No problem. But it will be triple fee.”

My colleague and I stayed up all night, delivered the lead sheets the next day, then sacked out. Just another typical rush job, but one I’ll never forget!

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**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/11 "2020-01-27T20:48:18Z")

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> [@cochrane](#):
>
> I don’t think there’s any dispute. _Thriller_ is the best selling album worldwide, but the Eagle’s greatest hits is the best selling counting US sales only. But there’s no argument that _Thriller_ holds the world’s top spot.

Well, it was news to me, because I just reviewed the wiki before my first post, but the numbers may be inflated.

> [@](#):
>
> There is skepticism of the album’s certifications. From 1993 to 1995 the album received certifications for an additional eight million units, yet per Nielsen SoundScan it sold fewer than a million copies during that time. The album sold just over five million copies from 1991, when SoundScan began tracking, to 2006, although certifications indicate 17 million albums shipped between that time.[26][27][28] In 2018 Sony Music CEO Rob Stringer stated the album had only sold 2.3 million album-equivalent units from 2006 to 2018 yet it received certification for nine million units during that time. Warner Music, which distributed Their Greatest Hits, claims the figure comes from newly-discovered sales dating back to 1976. A representative from Jackson’s estate stated “The notion that they can go back 10, 15, 20 or 30 years and find units that were never counted before is absurd, they reviewed these records before. Why didn’t they find those uncounted records then?” and noted sales audits are usually restricted to three years.

> **[Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) | Commercial performance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Their_Greatest_Hits_(1971%E2%80%931975)#Commercial_performance)**
>
> Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) debuted at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart and reached number one the following week, where it stayed for five weeks. It ranked number four on Billboard's year-end album chart for 1976, and has spent a total of 239 weeks on the Billboard 200 (as of August 2018). Of its 465 weeks on the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Albums chart, the album has spent 15 non-consecutive weeks at number one.
> The album has the distinction of being the first album to rece...

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**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/12 "2020-01-27T21:19:31Z")

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I got it the same way I got the Beach Boys and the Guess Who’s greatest hots

Columbia House Record Club. 8 for a penny!

Man, am I ever old.

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**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/13 "2020-01-27T21:23:32Z")

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> [@outlierrn](#):
>
> Well, it was news to me, because I just reviewed the wiki before my first post, but the numbers may be inflated.
> 
> [Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Their_Greatest_Hits_(1971%E2%80%931975)#Commercial_performance)

The article also states that the album became #1 again in 2018.

> [@](#):
>
> In August 2018, it was certified 38x platinum under a new system that tallies album and track sales as well as streams. It again became the highest-certified album by the RIAA, surpassing Michael Jackson’s Thriller which is certified 33× platinum.

A fact also confirmed by the Hollywood Reporter.

> **[Eagles’ ‘Greatest Hits’ Overtakes Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ As...](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/eagles-greatest-hits-best-selling-album-michael-jackson-thriller-1135954/)**
>
> The Eagles' greatest hits album has moonwalked past Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' to become history's best-selling album of all time. The record, 'Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975,' has moved 38 million copies, pushing the 33 million copy-selling...

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/14 "2020-01-27T21:26:22Z")

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> [@Typo\_Negative](#):
>
> I got it the same way I got the Beach Boys and the Guess Who’s greatest hots
> 
> Columbia House Record Club. 8 for a penny!
> 
> Man, am I ever old.

You got ripped off. I got 12 for a penny from BMG! 😉

Doing a tiny bit of research, it turns out they’re the same company now; BMG bought out Columbia House in 2005, and they were subsequently bought by another company and became “Direct Brands, Inc.” They stopped selling music in 2009 but their “negative option billing” business model still lives on in DVD and Blu-Ray sales.

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**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/15 "2020-01-27T22:02:05Z")

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> [@Musicat](#):
>
> OK – I never miss an opportunity to tell one of my favorite stories.
> 
> Ca. 1976, when I was working in Hollywood, California, I got a phone call from a publisher. She said, “We have a new album being released tomorrow, and we forgot to copyright all the songs! Can you help?”
> 
> Since I specialized in writing lead sheets, the primary way to copyright songs under the latest (1909) law, I sure could. But it took me about an hour and a half to produce a single, finished lead sheet, and my usual time was about a week, sufficient for most music publishers.
> 
> “How many songs on the album?”
> 
> “About 10. But we need it right away!”
> 
> "That would be a rush job, at double fee, about 48 hours. OK?’
> 
> “Sure, sure. Can you do it faster?”
> 
> “What’s the name of the album?”
> 
> “_Hotel California_, by the Eagles.”
> 
> “No problem. But it will be triple fee.”
> 
> My colleague and I stayed up all night, delivered the lead sheets the next day, then sacked out. Just another typical rush job, but one I’ll never forget!

I would love to better understand this story, if it isn’t too much of a hijack. How did your work affect the publisher’s copyright?

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**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/16 "2020-01-27T22:12:24Z")

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> [@Drum\_God](#):
>
> I would love to better understand this story, if it isn’t too much of a hijack. How did your work affect the publisher’s copyright?

Presumably, they filed my work with the standard USA copyright application, as most publishers did pre-1977, when the US law changed. Unless they were Ninja’d by someone else (unlikely), they obtained the copyright they expected. I haven’t heard of any dispute.

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**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/17 "2020-01-27T22:34:43Z")

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> [@EinsteinsHund](#):
>
> It’s actually an eagle’s skull ;).

D’oh!:smack: Anyway, I never owned it myself. Sorry.

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**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/18 "2020-01-27T22:39:26Z")

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> [@Drum\_God](#):
>
> I would love to better understand this story, if it isn’t too much of a hijack. How did your work affect the publisher’s copyright?

I don’t exactly understand either. In my experience, the writer files for copyright, not the publisher. And why did you have to write out new lead sheets, weren’t there existing ones? I mean, the guys who wrote the songs must have written something down. And if the album was coming out the next day, dd that mean no copyrights were in effect on the day of release? The Copyright Office doesn’t turn around applications overnight.

Also not sure why it would take 2 guys all night to write lead sheets for 10 Eagles songs. We’re not talking Beethoven here. Maybe I’m missing something.

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/19 "2020-01-27T23:17:40Z")

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> [@jaycat](#):
>
> I mean, the guys who wrote the songs must have written something down.

Maybe some chords, if that, but a proper lead sheet with a melody line and chords? Not likely for a pop/rock band.

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**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-their-greatest-hits-why-so-many-album-sales/847056/20 "2020-01-28T00:19:52Z")

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> [@jaycat](#):
>
> I don’t exactly understand either. In my experience, the writer files for copyright, not the publisher. And why did you have to write out new lead sheets, weren’t there existing ones? I mean, the guys who wrote the songs must have written something down. And if the album was coming out the next day, dd that mean no copyrights were in effect on the day of release? The Copyright Office doesn’t turn around applications overnight.
> 
> Also not sure why it would take 2 guys all night to write lead sheets for 10 Eagles songs. We’re not talking Beethoven here. Maybe I’m missing something.

Lemme explain.

Most professional writers, ca. \<1976, did not file for copyright; their publishers did, as they were (typically, by that time) under contract to the publishers. Performers were often more concerned with recording songs than the esoteric detail of the copyright & publishing business.

The writers (the Eagles) like many rock artists, typically did their arrangements “by head” or in the studio. They may not have had anything written down, and many rock musicians read music little, if at all. Between the concept of an Eagles’ song and the final recording, there may not have been any written music. (exception: sweetening tracks)

So by the time of the final album release, it’s entirely possible that no written music existed of the songs other than a scratch chord chart. Not only was that possible, it was common, which gave me an occupation – writing down what was only, until then, a sound. I made a pretty decent living filling that gap.

The applicable copyright law was from 1909. In 1909, audio recordings, although they existed, were not a serious medium. If you had written a new song \<1909, your medium for reproduction was the printed “piano/vocal” sound sheet. Millions were sold. Sound recordings, not so much. Logically, when the law was codified, a written copy (“the best copy”) of your composition was required for deposit in the US Government Copyright Office.

If you, in 1909, could write music, you filed that with the CO. If not, you hired someone to write down what you played on your instrument in some readable form.

A lead (pronounced “leed”) sheet, for those who are not familiar with the term, is defined as follows (my definition). It contains, in written form, the following:

[ol][li]The **melody** , if any, in standard musical notation, [/li][li]The\*\* harmony\*\*, if any, usually expressed in chordal symbols,[/li][li]The **lyrics** , if any.[/ol][/li]  
A lead sheet (theoretically) is sufficient for a professional musician to recreate the original composition. Obviously, given the 60+ years that had elapsed since the 1909 law, there was much to be desired. Nevertheless, a lead sheet was a useful tool for many purposes, including the arranger of the sweetening charts.

The US copyright office accepted lead sheets for song copyrights for a very long time, so long that Hollywood publishers came to use lead sheets for the de facto copyright medium. I made an occupation of writing lead sheets for pop songwriters; you write a song, you have me make a lead sheet, and with a simple recording, you are good to go.

(Lead sheets became so much the de facto copyright submission medium that when I was hired to write lead sheets for John Williams’ full-orchestral scores for Star Wars, I convinced 20th Century Fox studios that a Xerox of Williams’ scores was a much better CO submission. I lost a lot of money on that one.)

> [@](#):
>
> Why would it take 2 guys all night to write out lead sheets for 10 Eagles songs?

Consider the circumstances. Neither of us had ever heard any of the Hotel California songs. We had to hear them for the first time, transcribe the melody, harmony, and lyrics on to paper, using pen & ink, into a sharp, graphics-quality, camera-ready master that could be reproduced (no computers or digital printers, remember) and was unambiguous, enough to sustain any likely copyright challenges. Can you do that in less that 12 hours?

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