Elvis to lose the # 1 spot forever...

[Unchained Melody]

Picked up from a conversation on BBC 1 television
earlier today... Before the end of this year, MJ will
have taken over the all time bestselling artist spot
from Elvis, with The Beatles still at # 2. Their
upcoming mono / stereo sets are exspected to sell
many millions of copies. And with no big sales for
Elvis product ( it's gettin' less and less....) he
will drop to 3rd place. End of an era. He held the
# 1 spot for a long, long time.... But all good things
come to an end. Worse things happen in life.

Source - TALLHAIR2from FECC!

[EnigmaticSun]

It doesn't mean anything. There are complete musical ¡d¡ots around selling millions of records. I bet some of Elvis' best recordings barely sold (I don't mean Hound Dog); Elvis is rather an exception to the rule, not being an insult to music while selling all right.

I could care less..! Anyway, start flaming!

[KPM]

Picked up from a conversation on BBC 1 television
earlier today... Before the end of this year, MJ will
have taken over the all time bestselling artist spot
from Elvis, with The Beatles still at # 2. Their
upcoming mono / stereo sets are exspected to sell
many millions of copies. And with no big sales for
Elvis product ( it's gettin' less and less....) he
will drop to 3rd place. End of an era. He held the
# 1 spot for a long, long time.... But all good things
come to an end. Worse things happen in life.

Source - TALLHAIR2from FECC!

Could be-but I think I'll wait until its provable fact to downgrade Elvis to #3.
MJ sales will certainly be better counted today than the haphazard methods of 1977 after Elvis passed, RCA contracted several other record companies to press Elvis product and his sales were worldwide and vast-but the total is still a mystery.

[Brian]

Picked up from a conversation on BBC 1 television
earlier today... Before the end of this year, MJ will
have taken over the all time bestselling artist spot
from Elvis, with The Beatles still at # 2. Their
upcoming mono / stereo sets are exspected to sell
many millions of copies. And with no big sales for
Elvis product ( it's gettin' less and less....) he
will drop to 3rd place. End of an era. He held the
# 1 spot for a long, long time.... But all good things
come to an end. Worse things happen in life.

Source - TALLHAIR2from FECC!

Are you referring to the RIAA official certified album sales?

If that's what you are talking about you have nothing to worry about
Elvis is at 119 million while the Beales are at 170 million
Jackson has only 61 million sold or certified according to the RIAA so to overtake Elvis and the Beatles he would have to sell a lot of albums and have them properly documented then request sales update awards from the RIAA.
Jackson doesn't have a huge body of work as a solo artist and many people already have Thriller.
Jackson only has 6 studio albums and a couple of greatest hit packages.

[italianfan]

I hate to say it, but i think this could be the case. MJ will have such a boost in sales this year, probs a couple of number ones etc. its also likely that MJ will be the highest earning celeb this and perhaps next year. Beatles may have increased sales but not by a significant amount, and im certain theyll be no new number ones.

Perhaps though, because of this new competition, EPE will step up its game and give the fans some really good releases that will chart well.

[rocknroll]

There has been much better accountability for record sales during the MJ era then there ever was for Elvis. I believe we will never know who has sold the most. Really, when all is said and done, Elvis will always be one of the biggest selling artists of all time, as will the Beatles, MJ, etc. All could be interchangeable at number one.

I know one thing, MJ has a long ways to go to catch Elvis. I believe the media, who just a few days ago considered MJ a crazy child molester, will now, without any investigation of the facts, raise MJ to the number one spot on the greatness spectrum.

We are already seeing the seeds sowed. Almost every comment on MJ lauds him as a performer that changed culture and integrated black music into the mainstream. What they forget is Elvis did it 30 years before MJs peak.

Elvis Presley will always be greater than Michael Jackson....period. He laid it on the line when it wasn't a popular thing to do and plowed the way for all the greats after him. MJ took a solo career and defined the MTV generation....which is over. Obviously he is/was hugely popular, and because of the greater saturation of electronic visibility his death will probably draw more attention than when Elvis died as there were only the 3 networks to report it. But it will be close, and it really shouldn't be as MJ has all the technological advantages.

Remember, Elvis will always be the one who was first, and is the ONLY person, still to this day, whose first name is know in all four corners of the world.

[KPM]

Are you referring to the RIAA official certified album sales?

If that's what you are talking about you have nothing to worry about
Elvis is at 119 million while the Beales are at 170 million
Jackson has only 61 million sold or certified according to the RIAA so to overtake Elvis and the Beatles he would have to sell a lot of albums and have them properly documented then request sales update awards from the RIAA.
Jackson doesn't have a huge body of work as a solo artist and many people already have Thriller.
Jackson only has 6 studio albums and a couple of greatest hit packages.

I think he is talking on a global sales basis-RIAA only certifies sales in the US.
Global sales are harder to keep accurate track of (but compared to the 50s and into the late 80s-today its much easier with computers)
Globally Elvis and the Beatles are both in the billion sales ballpark-for all singles, albums, cds total.
In the US Garth Brooks is the biggest solo seller once again for "certified album" sales. If all Elvis's uncertified sales were included he would have a much much higher US total but the RIAA does not count any sales if it does not meet their criteria for certification. (even if an album reaches 499,999 in sales until it reaches the 500,000 point the sales does not count) Elvis a few years back had 456 total album releases since 1956 in the US alone.
Worldwide the total releases and reissues has to be huge-plus Elvis had so many more single hits which are part of his world sales.

[donaldmccurry.63]

love your comments rock and roll best i've read on here all day

[Brian]

I think he is talking on a global sales basis-RIAA only certifies sales in the US.
Global sales are harder to keep accurate track of (but compared to the 50s and into the late 80s-today its much easier with computers)
Globally Elvis and the Beatles are both in the billion sales ballpark-for all singles, albums, cds total.
In the US Garth Brooks is the biggest solo seller once again for "certified album" sales. If all Elvis's uncertified sales were included he would have a much much higher US total but the RIAA does not count any sales if it does not meet their criteria for certification. (even if an album reaches 499,999 in sales until it reaches the 500,000 point the sales does not count) Elvis a few years back had 456 total album releases since 1956 in the US alone.
Worldwide the total releases and reissues has to be huge-plus Elvis had so many more single hits which are part of his world sales.

oh those worldwide sales are just guesses anyway

I don't believe Elvis or the Beatles have sold a billion records worldwide and don't believe the 750 million that they were saying Michael Jackson sold on the news a couple of days ago.
I do believe both Elvis and the Beatles have sold the most records in history though.

Michael Jackson will no doubt see a spike in his record sales for a few months but don't think it will be enough to surpass Elvis his label and his people will probably say that he has but I won't believe it.
Woldwide sales are not accurately documented anyway and no one can say for certain how many records an artist has sold or who has sold the most.
I bet money Michael Jackson's people will come out and say in 6 months that he is now the biggest sellling artist of all time worldwide but they will be lying.

[italianfan]

Something has to be said, if Elvis does remain at number 1 it will say alot about Elvis' legacy. Isnt it true that in 1977 people believed after a few years everyone would have forgot Elvis? and look now.

And just because MJ might take #1 doesnt mean Elvis wont still have fans, and to me thats all that counts; enjoying Elvis' music. He'll always be up there because fans will still be buying records.

[KPM]

oh those worldwide sales are just guesses anyway

I don't believe Elvis or the Beatles have sold a billion records worldwide and don't believe the 750 million that they were saying Michael Jackson sold on the news a couple of days ago.
I do believe both Elvis and the Beatles have sold the most records in history though.

Michael Jackson will no doubt see a spike in his record sales for a few months but don't think it will be enough to surpass Elvis his label and his people will probably say that he has but I won't believe it.
Woldwide sales are not accurately documented anyway and no one can say for certain how many records an artist has sold or who has sold the most.
I bet money Michael Jackson's people will come out and say in 6 months that he is now the biggest sellling artist of all time worldwide but they will be lying.

I did not believe it when RCA first began saying Elvis had sold a billion in 1982-but Brian I do believe it now i 2009 if you go by singles, albums.. all units sold worldwide since 1954.
Great article which is well researched and is updated pretty often as new info comes to light.
http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/for_...time_faq.shtml
As far as MJ people making the claim of best selling artist worldwide-they have been doing that for the last 10 years-even though his RIAA audited US sales are just 61 million albums. The US sales give some clue as to worldwide sales
A few years back MJs management made a claim of "Thriller" having sold 104 million worldwide-they used Guiness as a source-that has not held true. The 2009 Guinness says worldwide "Thriller" based on Sony and RIAA estimates has sold around 55 million worldwide. So the Jackson camp has been making the claim of best selling worldwide artist for a long time.

[Brian]

I did not believe it when RCA first began saying Elvis had sold a billion in 1982-but Brian I do believe it now i 2009 if you go by singles, albums.. all units sold worldwide since 1954.
Great article which is well researched and is updated pretty often as new info comes to light.
http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/for_...time_faq.shtml
As far as MJ people making the claim of best selling artist worldwide-they have been doing that for the last 10 years-even though his RIAA sales are just 61 million.
A few years back MJs management made a claim of "Thriller" having sold 104 million worldwide-they used Guiness as a source-that has not held true. The 2009 Guinness says worldwide "Thriller" based on Sony and RIAA estimates has sold around 55 million worldwide. So the Jackson camp has been making the claim of best selling worldwide artist for a long time.

I've read the article before I still don't believe it.

I would guess if you added everything singles, albums, extended plays since 1954 worldwide you'd get about 500 million.
A billion record is just so much.

[KPM]

I've read the article before I still don't believe it.

I would guess if you added everything singles, albums, extended plays since 1954 worldwide you'd get about 500 million.
A billion record is just so much.

Well we will have to disagree on it-as I said it seemed way too high in 1982-but 27 years later I do not have any doubt on it.

[molokai123]

There has been much better accountability for record sales during the MJ era then there ever was for Elvis. I believe we will never know who has sold the most. Really, when all is said and done, Elvis will always be one of the biggest selling artists of all time, as will the Beatles, MJ, etc. All could be interchangeable at number one.

I know one thing, MJ has a long ways to go to catch Elvis. I believe the media, who just a few days ago considered MJ a crazy child molester, will now, without any investigation of the facts, raise MJ to the number one spot on the greatness spectrum.

We are already seeing the seeds sowed. Almost every comment on MJ lauds him as a performer that changed culture and integrated black music into the mainstream. What they forget is Elvis did it 30 years before MJs peak.




Elvis Presley will always be greater than Michael Jackson....period. He laid it on the line when it wasn't a popular thing to do and plowed the way for all the greats after him. MJ took a solo career and defined the MTV generation....which is over. Obviously he is/was hugely popular, and because of the greater saturation of electronic visibility his death will probably draw more attention than when Elvis died as there were only the 3 networks to report it. But it will be close, and it really shouldn't be as MJ has all the technological advantages.

Remember, Elvis will always be the one who was first, and is the ONLY person, still to this day, whose first name is know in all four corners of the world.

[molokai123]

I

Perhaps though, because of this new competition, EPE will step up its game and give the fans some really good releases that will chart well.

that would be great,but EPE is to busy pumping out Elvis car shades and talking bottle cap openers! But we can alll hope that EPE and sony will get off their @$$e$$,and start doing good things with Elvis body of work!

[italianfan]

EPE have lost its way i feel. But its not like EPE have to make something out of nothing. There are hundreds of Elvis songs that with the right promotion can do well on an album. The thing is how long can they milk hound dog, suspicious minds etc? Great songs but no one wants to keep on buying albums with the same songs.

[molokai123]

EPE have lost its way i feel. But its not like EPE have to make something out of nothing. There are hundreds of Elvis songs that with the right promotion can do well on an album. The thing is how long can they milk hound dog, suspicious minds etc? Great songs but no one wants to keep on buying albums with the same songs.

man ur hitting on the nose, great post my friend,

[italianfan]

Thanks molokai, i just want Elvis to stay at the top for as long as possible, us Elvis fans are very protective of him

[KPM]

EPE have lost its way i feel. But its not like EPE have to make something out of nothing. There are hundreds of Elvis songs that with the right promotion can do well on an album. The thing is how long can they milk hound dog, suspicious minds etc? Great songs but no one wants to keep on buying albums with the same songs.

EPE has no say at all on music-they can not force or rule out any promotion which Sony wants to undertake with Elvis's songs. Sony owns all the music-they own the pre 73 catalogue totally. Sony decides, and EPE can only follow the lead of their direction-when it comes to the music end. I'm sure they work together on promotions-but Sony decides what comes out and how it comes out.

[molokai123]

EPE has no say at all on music-they can not force or rule out any promotion which Sony wants to undertake with Elvis's songs. Sony owns all the music-they own the pre 73 catalogue totally. Sony decides, and EPE can only follow the lead of their direction-when it comes to the music end. I'm sure they work together on promotions-but Sony decides what comes out and how it comes out.

very good point i forgot about that detail about sony, well like i said we can all hope and dream that sumthing good gets done with Elvis great body of work