The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – 1967
The Beatles – The Beatles a.k.a. The White Album – 1968
The Beatles – 1 – 2000
(all three over 30 million each)

Talk about shelf life. But it’s interesting what the top Beatles albums actually are. Sgt Pepper is iconic. If you’re going to buy a Beatles album and you knew nothing about them, you’d reach for that one. It’s the one people know about. It’s like how Belle And Sebastian’s Boy With the Arab Strap is continually their best seller cos it has a strong title track, a Brit award and it’s just the one people knows. Yes, it’s exactly the same, divded by about 300.

The White Album is a bit funnier. Maybe I’m underestimating the masses, but this is probably the Beatles at their least accessible. Okay, maybe it’s another iconic status thing. But 30 million people own Wild Honey Pie?

Finally – we have 1. 30 million plus sales in 6 years. Holy shit. I don’t actually own this but, but I kneel to such pulling power. How can 30 million music fans not already own most of these songs? Are the Beatles gaining 5 million fans a year? And 5 million casual, just-want-a-best-of-please fans at that. More mind boggling than the end bits of Day In the Life.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *