The Beatles :: Charts & Sales History

[brian05]

I found this in the Rock Lists by John Tobler and Alan Jones, published in 1982 by Plexus Publishing.

THE BEATLES: THEIR EMI ALBUMS RANKED IN
SALES ORDER (to July 1982).

1. Abbey Road
2. The Beatles 1962-66
3. The Beatles 1967-70
4. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
5. A Collection of Beatles Oldies
6. Beatles (White Album)
7. Let It Be
8. Help!
9. Revolver
10. A Hard Day's Night
11. Rubber Soul
12. The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl
13. Love Songs
14. Beatles For Sale
15. Please Please Me
16. With The Beatles
17. Rock And Roll
18. Beatles Ballads
19. Magical Mystery Tour
20. Rarities
21. Yellow Submarine
22. Reel Music
23. Hey Jude

Compiled exclusively for The Rock Lists Album by EMI Records (UK) Ltd.
So please respect the copyright.

With all due respect to EMI I don't see how either Oldies or Hollywood Bowl outsold With the Beatles, which sold at least 1 million copies.

[brian05]

According to the 2003 edition of 'The Top Ten of Everything' book the top selling Beatles albums in the UK are:

1 Segt Pepper
2 One
3 Anthology 1
4 Live at the BBC
5 Anthology 2
6 20 greatest Hits
7 1962 - 1966
8 1967 - 1970
9 Abbey Road
10 Please please me

The data source is listed as 'The Music Information Database'. Never heard of them before - they don't appear to have a web site either. This list contradicts earlier 'Top Ten of Everything' books, and the figures given by Q magazine (February 1998):

Segt Pepper 4.5m
Abbey Road 3.2m
Rubber Soul 2.5m
White album 2.2m
Revolver 1.75m

and of course '1' had sold around 2.2m in the UK by then (seven times platinum).

'With the Beatles' is widely recognised as selling over one million copies in the UK, yet is not in the Top Ten. Does anyone seriously imagine that 'Anthology 2' outsold 'With the Beatles'?

According to BPI certificates 'Anthology 1' and 'Live at the BBC' both went double platinum while 'Anthology 2', '20 Greatest Hits', '1962-1966' and '1967-1970' achieved platinum status with sales of 300,000.

We still await the definitive list of UK album sales!

[brian05]

How reliable are the Q Magazine figures?

Top album sales in the UK according to Q magazine, February 1998. Source: CIN (based on "guestimates", BPI certifications and record company data).

Blonde on Blonde Bob Dylan 5,500,000
Physical Graffiti Led Zeppelin 5,000,000
Sgt Pepper Beatles 4,500,000
What's the story Oasis 4,000,000
Highway 61 Bob Dylan 3,500,000
Abbey Road Beatles 3,200,000
Jagged little pill Alanis Morissette 2,500,000
Rubber Soul Beatles 2,200,000
White album Beatles 2,200,000
Dark side of the moon Pink Floyd 2,100,000
Like a prayer Madonna 2,000,000
Rumours Fleetwood Mac 2,000,000
Joshua Tree U2 2,000,000
Automatic for the people REM 2,000,000
Definently Maybe Oasis 1,800,000
Revolver Beatles 1,750,000
Achtung Baby U2 1,500,000
Graceland Paul Simon 1,500,000
Out of Time REM 1,500,000
Be here now Oasis 1,500,000
Stanley Road Paul Weller 1,300,000
Led Zeppelin IV Led Zeppelin 1,300,000
MTV unplugged Nirvana 1,200,000
So Peter Gabriel 1,100,000
Moseley Shoals Ocean Colour Scene 1,100,000
Hysteria Def Leppard 1,000,000
Zooropa U2 1,000,000
Purple Rain Prince 1,000,000
Woodface Crowed House 1,000,000
Parklife Blur 1,000,000
Everything must go Manic Street Preachers 1,000,000

It is hard to believe the Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin figures.

[brian05]

Part Eight - UK Singles
The sales figures have been based on the following link.

http://beatlelinks.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1351

However there is a problem. The total for the 22 Original UK Singles comes to only 17,160,000. The Channel 4 list of 2 years ago gave a total of 20,800,000. This leaves 3,640,000 missing.

Maybe the other 8 singles could have sold up to 1m, but this would still leave at least 2.6m unaccounted for.

Maybe the figures include sales of EPs as well.

[Basil]

I found this in the Rock Lists by John Tobler and Alan Jones, published in 1982 by Plexus Publishing.

THE BEATLES: THEIR EMI ALBUMS RANKED IN
SALES ORDER (to July 1982).

1. Abbey Road
2. The Beatles 1962-66
3. The Beatles 1967-70
4. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
5. A Collection of Beatles Oldies
6. Beatles (White Album)
7. Let It Be
8. Help!
9. Revolver
10. A Hard Day's Night
11. Rubber Soul
12. The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl
13. Love Songs
14. Beatles For Sale
15. Please Please Me
16. With The Beatles
17. Rock And Roll
18. Beatles Ballads
19. Magical Mystery Tour
20. Rarities
21. Yellow Submarine
22. Reel Music
23. Hey Jude

Compiled exclusively for The Rock Lists Album by EMI Records (UK) Ltd.
So please respect the copyright.

With all due respect to EMI I don't see how either Oldies or Hollywood Bowl outsold With the Beatles, which sold at least 1 million copies.

Hi Brian

This is one strange list, but we can't dismiss it out of hand because there is involvement from Alan Jones and EMI.

But Oldies selling more than The White Album - and Let It Be outselling Revolver? I'm baffled.

[Basil]

According to the 2003 edition of 'The Top Ten of Everything' book the top selling Beatles albums in the UK are:

1 Segt Pepper
2 One
3 Anthology 1
4 Live at the BBC
5 Anthology 2
6 20 greatest Hits
7 1962 - 1966
8 1967 - 1970
9 Abbey Road
10 Please please me

This one is definitely wrong. Based on BPI certifications??

The 3 Anthology series sold around 600k, 300k and 200K in the UK - which would not make any Top 10 lists of Beatles Albums Sales.

I would dismiss this list entirely.

[Basil]

How reliable are the Q Magazine figures?

Top album sales in the UK according to Q magazine, February 1998. Source: CIN (based on "guestimates", BPI certifications and record company data).

Blonde on Blonde Bob Dylan 5,500,000
Physical Graffiti Led Zeppelin 5,000,000
Highway 61 Bob Dylan 3,500,000
Led Zeppelin IV Led Zeppelin 1,300,000

Actually not a bad list apart from these 4 figures which are very very very wrong. Were these typing errors or something?

[Basil]

Part Eight - UK Singles
The sales figures have been based on the following link.

http://beatlelinks.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1351

However there is a problem. The total for the 22 Original UK Singles comes to only 17,160,000. The Channel 4 list of 2 years ago gave a total of 20,800,000. This leaves 3,640,000 missing.

Maybe the other 8 singles could have sold up to 1m, but this would still leave at least 2.6m unaccounted for.

Maybe the figures include sales of EPs as well.

It's possible Brian. Thing is what about the other acts in the UK alltime singles chart like Elvis and Cliff who released lots of EP's? Anyway, will post EP sales next.

[Herkenrath]

Regarding "A Collection of Beatles Oldies". These days it is a pretty obscure LP, but from 1966 to 1973 one must keep in mind that it was the only Beatles "Best Of" that was available in the UK (even if it only featured songs from '62 to '66).

It did have its fair share of re-entries in the UK charts at the time, let's have a look at the stats Hanboo provided:

8. COLLECTION OF BEATLES' OLDIES
Date: 08/12/1966 - Run: 23-14-11-11- (4 wsf)
05/01/1967: *7*-10-11-11-14-14-17-19-18-19-17-26-29-30 (18/2 wks)
Re #01: 24/01/1970 58-45-0-0-0-49-0-0-0-0-32-0-54-0-57 (6-2c wks, 24 wsf)
Re #02: 27/06/1970 65-0-0-56 (2-1c wks, 26 wsf)
Re #03: 12/09/1970 61-0-0-0-0-69-0-57 (3-1c wks, 29 wsf)
Re #04: 15/01/1972 48 (1 wk, 30 wsf)
Re #05: 03/06/1972 46-0-0-49-38-0-0-0-0-44 (4-2c wks)
Total # of re-entries: 14
Total # of weeks: 34-18c (Top 10: 2, Top 20: 14 Top 40: 20)

[Basil]

Regarding "A Collection of Beatles Oldies". These days it is a pretty obscure LP, but from 1966 to 1973 one must keep in mind that it was the only Beatles "Best Of" that was available in the UK (even if it only featured songs from '62 to '66).

It did have its fair share of re-entries in the UK charts at the time, let's have a look at the stats Hanboo provided:

8. COLLECTION OF BEATLES' OLDIES
Date: 08/12/1966 - Run: 23-14-11-11- (4 wsf)
05/01/1967: *7*-10-11-11-14-14-17-19-18-19-17-26-29-30 (18/2 wks)
Re #01: 24/01/1970 58-45-0-0-0-49-0-0-0-0-32-0-54-0-57 (6-2c wks, 24 wsf)
Re #02: 27/06/1970 65-0-0-56 (2-1c wks, 26 wsf)
Re #03: 12/09/1970 61-0-0-0-0-69-0-57 (3-1c wks, 29 wsf)
Re #04: 15/01/1972 48 (1 wk, 30 wsf)
Re #05: 03/06/1972 46-0-0-49-38-0-0-0-0-44 (4-2c wks)
Total # of re-entries: 14
Total # of weeks: 34-18c (Top 10: 2, Top 20: 14 Top 40: 20)

Hi Herkenrath.

You make a good point.

I remember this album being in the shops and it obviously sold steadily for it's first 7 years.

Just a thought, but I suppose it was widely imported into the USA. If this was the case then sales must have been significant. Perhaps this has led to higher than expected shipment figures from EMI.

Do you know when this album was deleted? The red/blue releases in 1973 must have hit sales, but being a Beatles album it would have continued to sell at a decent rate.

[Basil]

Part Nine - UK EP's

Key
year of release
title
EP Chart Peak
sales from http://www.beatlelinks.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1351

1963 Twist and Shout - 1 - 670,000
1963 The Beatles Hits - 1 - 450,000
1963 The Beatles #1 - 2 - 300,000
1964 All My Loving - 1 - 350,000
1964 Long Tall Sally - 1 - 350,000
1964 A Hard Day's Night Film Extracts - 1
1965 A Hard Day's Night Album Extracts - 7
1965 Beatles For Sale - 1
1965 Beatles For Sale Vol 2 - 5
1965 Million Sellers - 1
1966 Yesterday - 1
1966 Nowhere Man - 4

1967 Magical Mystery Tour (double EP) - peaked at no 2 on the singles chart because Hello Goodbye was no 1. sales - 620,000

When looking at Beatles chart stats generally, it is worth noting that some records that peaked at no 2 did so because another Beatles title was at no 1 !!

So it looks like 6 of the EP's sold 2.74m. The other 7 probably sold less than .25m each.

This means their UK EP sales (13 titles) were perhaps somewhere in the region of 4 to 4.5m.

[Herkenrath]

Do you know when this album was deleted? The red/blue releases in 1973 must have hit sales, but being a Beatles album it would have continued to sell at a decent rate.

I don't know the exact deletion date, but the last time it was pressed was in 1978. Sales had obviously slowed down a bit by that time, as the Blue and Red albums were now the thing to get.


A Collection Of Beatles Oldies (But Goldies)
10.12.1966 mono Parlophone PMC 7016
10.12.1966 stereo Parlophone PCS 7016
---------1969 stereo Parlophone PCS 7016
---------1978 stereo Parlophone PCS 7016

[brian05]

How reliable are the Q Magazine figures?

Top album sales in the UK according to Q magazine, February 1998. Source: CIN (based on "guestimates", BPI certifications and record company data).

Blonde on Blonde Bob Dylan 5,500,000
Physical Graffiti Led Zeppelin 5,000,000
Highway 61 Bob Dylan 3,500,000
Led Zeppelin IV Led Zeppelin 1,300,000

Actually not a bad list apart from these 4 figures which are very very very wrong. Were these typing errors or something?

I have rechecked Q magazine and there does not appear to be any typing errors. This is how it appeared in the magazine:

Highway 61 - estimated sales: 3.5m (UK); 11m (worldwide)
Blonde on blonde - estimated sales: 5.5m (UK); 15m (worldwide)
Physical Graffiti - estimated sales: 5m (UK); 9m (worldwide)
Led Zeppelin IV - estimated sales: 1.3m (UK); 8.4m (worldwide)

The first three above appear to be definently wrong. I can't offer any logical reasoning.

[asm]

There will never be a true answer to this question of Beatles UK sales, because of the lack of accurate 1960's data! EMI played things close to their chest back then! So i'm afraid one can only use estimates!By the way, MMT did actually get to No1 on the MELODY MAKER chart.

[Kashmir75]

As far as Physical Graffiti goes (the 5 million), don't be so quick to dismiss it. It had pre-orders of some 2 million worldwide, which was to that point a record figure for Atlantic Records. Considering how well it sold in the US, why could'nt it do well in the UK?

As for Zeppelin IV, it is certified for 1.5 million over at BPI.

[Herkenrath]

Blonde on Blonde Bob Dylan 5,500,000
Physical Graffiti Led Zeppelin 5,000,000
Highway 61 Bob Dylan 3,500,000
Led Zeppelin IV Led Zeppelin 1,300,000

I wish those figures were true, all high quality albums that everyone interested in music should own. But sadly, it doesn't look true at all (except maybe for LZIV).

[brian05]

As far as Physical Graffiti goes (the 5 million), don't be so quick to dismiss it. It had pre-orders of some 2 million worldwide, which was to that point a record figure for Atlantic Records. Considering how well it sold in the US, why could'nt it do well in the UK?

As for Zeppelin IV, it is certified for 1.5 million over at BPI.

Because Physical Graffiti was in the charts for 27 weeks whereas Led Zeppelin IV was in the charts for 69 weeks to sell 1.5 million. There is no way that sales could be 5 million. The record company would have released this information to the public if it had outsold the Beatles.

[nelson]

Australian Chart

Singles
- 3/16/1963  52 Please Please Me
- 5/25/1963   9 From Me To You
- 8/31/1963   3 She Loves You/I'll Get You
-12/21/1963   1 I Want To Hold Your Hand/This Boy
- 1/11/1964   5 Twist And Shout
- 1/25/1964   1 I Saw Her Standing There/Love Me Do
- 2/22/1964  36 Please Please Me
- 2/22/1964  52 The Beatles' Hits: Please Please Me
- 2/29/1964  21 From Me To You/Thank You Girl
- 2/29/1964  29 My Bonnie
- 3/14/1964   1 Roll Over, Beethoven/Hold Me Tight
- 3/14/1964  79 The Beatles No.1: Anna (Go To Him)/Chains/Misery
- 3/21/1964   1 All My Loving
- 4/25/1964   1 Can't Buy Me Love/You Can't Do That
- 4/25/1964  32 Cry For A Shadow
- 5/30/1964   1 Requests: Long Tall Sally/Boys/I Call Your Name
- 6/20/1964  16 Ain't She Sweet
- 7/11/1964   1 A Hard Day's Night/Things We Said Today
- 8/ 1/1964   7 More Requests: SLow Down/Matchbox/Till There Was You
- 8/22/1964   1 I SHould Have Known Better/If I Fell
-11/28/1964   1 I Feel Fine/SHe's A Woman
-12/26/1964  44 And I Love Her/Tell Me Why
- 3/13/1965   1 Rock And Roll Music/Honey DOn't
- 4/24/1965   1 Ticket To Ride/Yes It Is
- 6/26/1965  84 Eight Days A Week
- 7/24/1965   1 Help!/I'm Down
-10/16/1965   2 Yesterday/Act Naturally
-12/11/1965   1 We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper
- 3/26/1966   1 Nowhere Man/Norwegian Wood
- 6/18/1966   1 Paperback Writer/Rain
- 8/27/1966   1 Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby
- 3/11/1967   1 Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever
- 7/15/1967   1 All You Need Is Love/Baby, You're A Rick Man
-12/ 9/1967   1 Hello, Goodbye/I Am The Walrus
- 3/16/1968   3 Magical Mystery Tour (EP): Magical Mystery Tour/The Fool On The Hill
- 3/30/1968   1 Lady Madonna/The Inner Light
- 9/21/1968   1 Hey Jude/Revolution
- 2/22/1969   1 Ob-La-Di, Ob-Al-Da/While My GUitar Gently Weeps
- 5/10/1969   1 Get Back/Don't Let Me Down
- 6/21/1969   1 The Ballads Of John And Yoko
-10/25/1969   1 Something/Come Together
- 3/16/1970   1 Let It Be
- 6/22/1970   7 The Long And WInding Road
- 6/ 7/1976  86 Yesterday
- 8/30/1976  93 Got To Get You Into My Life
- 9/18/1978  90 Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band/With A Little Help From My Friends
- 5/ 3/1982  33 Beatles Movie Medley
-11/24/1986  48 Twist And Shout

Albums
- 1/ 9/1965   1 A Hard Day's Night
- 2/ 6/1965   1 Beatles For Sale
- 9/18/1965   1 Help!
- 2/26/1966   1 Rubber Soul
- 9/24/1966   1 Revolver
-11/19/1966  11 The Beatles Greatest Hits Vol. 1
- 3/ 4/1967   9 The Beatles Greatest Hits Vol. 2
- 8/ 5/1967   1 Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
- 6/ 8/1968   7 A Collection Of Beatles Oldies
-12/21/1968   1 The Beatles (White Album) 
- 2/ 8/1969   4 Yellow Submarine
-10/25/1969   1 Abbey Road
- 5/ 4/1970   1 Hey Jude
- 6/ 8/1970   1 Let It Be
- 3/13/1972  10 The Essential Beatles
- 2/19/1973   9 The Beatles' Australian 10th Anniversary 1963-1973
- 7/ 9/1973  11 1967-1970
- 7/ 9/1973  18 1962-1966
-10/14/1974  48 Magical Mystery Tour
- 4/19/1976   4 Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
- 6/28/1976   4 Rock 'N' Roll Music
- 5/16/1977  12 The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl
- 5/23/1977  24 Live! At The Star-Club In Hamburg, Germany: 1962
-11/28/1977  59 Love Songs
-12/ 3/1979  33 The Beatles Collection
- 5/26/1980  27 Rarities
-12/22/1980  23 The Beatles (White Album)
- 4/13/1981   1 The Beatles Ballads
- 5/24/1982  56 Reel Music
- 5/30/1983   1 The Number Ones
- 9/ 7/1987  53 Yellow Submarine
- 3/21/1988  75 Past Masters Volume 2
- 3/21/1988  79 Past Masters Volume 1
-12/26/1988  82 THe Beatles Box

ARIA Certifications
1                  Platinum x8   560,000
1962-1966          Platinum x3   210,000
1967-1970          Platinum       70,000
Anthology 1        Platinum x2   140,000
Anthology 2        Gold           35,000
Anthology 3        Gold           35,000
Let It Be...naked  Gold           35,000
Live At The BBC    Gold           35,000
Beatles Box        Gold           35,000

[Herkenrath]

Very interesting stats for Australia, Nelson. Especially the albums section is highly interesting. Never seen one before. Do you know which chart was used? 27 no. 1s in the singles chart, previously the Beatles' total of Oz no.1s was 23. Was there a Top 100 published in Australia already in the 1960s (unusual for a more or less small market).

[nelson]

Hit Parades (1940 to 1948, monthly Top 20s, 1949 to 1955 weekly Top 20s, from 1956 to 1958 weekly Top 100), which were broadcast by radio stations (usually Top 7 or 8 each week), or were published in newspapers or music-oriented magazines.
then Top 40, from the beginning of the Top 40 era, in March 1958, radio stations' Charts from all areas of Australia, were used to compile a weekly National Chart, resulting in a Top 100 Chart from August 1958 to December 1969.

One of the big difference between the Hit Parades of the 1940s and the Charts of the 21st century is that of Songs and Records. Today's Charts are based on sales of individual Records (CD, vinyl, etc), and sometimes list more than one track; occasionally, more than one version of a song is charting, and is listed separately. Prior to the Rock 'n' Roll era, and in the early days of Top 40, most Hit Parade entries were of Songs, and the lists were compiled from sales of sheet music as well as records, plus other factors such as public requests and (perhaps) the opinions of radio stations' personnel!

Australia's first Top 40 Charts, published by 2UE, Sydney in 1958 were compiled from "Public Survey, Record Sales, Music Sales and a national survey by the Billboard, the amusement industry's leading news weekly". During this year, some songs were charted, even though not available on record on the time. no recorded versions were listed on the early Top 40 charts, even though more songs are associated with a particular well-known version (or two...).

Here's what writer said:
In listing SOngs, I have frequently listed more than one version as contributing to the lists. I have listed the most popular versions, as determined by known sales, or by knowledge of their international success. There are some cases where I have listed versions which were not released in Australia at the time of the song's popularity, yet became well-known versions. In most cases, these versions have become available later, in various formats. Because the songs may have been on the charts due to other sources (eg. sheet music sales), I consider it valid to list unreleased recorded versions. I have not listed all available versions of songs that made the charts, but have chosen only the biggest sellers or best known ones. It was common for multiple versions of songs to be available, particularly in the early 1940s. The first No. 1 song of 1940, "South Of The border (Down Mexico Way)" was available in 8 versions, of which 3 are included in the book, Later than year "WHen You Wish Upon A Star" (from "Pinnochio") was represented by 12 versions, again only 3 of these appearing in the book. Perhaps the extreme example for multiple versions was "Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)" in 1958; I have listed only 2 of 21 versions reported to be available at the time.

[Basil]

I have rechecked Q magazine and there does not appear to be any typing errors. This is how it appeared in the magazine:

Highway 61 - estimated sales: 3.5m (UK); 11m (worldwide)
Blonde on blonde - estimated sales: 5.5m (UK); 15m (worldwide)
Physical Graffiti - estimated sales: 5m (UK); 9m (worldwide)
Led Zeppelin IV - estimated sales: 1.3m (UK); 8.4m (worldwide)

The first three above appear to be definently wrong. I can't offer any logical reasoning.

Yeah Brian, weird figures. As I said, all of the rest of the list looked OK.

Anyway, the Led Zep titles FAR outsold the Dylan ones around the world. Led Zep IV sold 22 million in the US alone.

All of these 4 figures are wrong - both for UK sales and world sales. Nevermind, as I said, all the rest looked pretty good.

[Basil]

As far as Physical Graffiti goes (the 5 million), don't be so quick to dismiss it. It had pre-orders of some 2 million worldwide, which was to that point a record figure for Atlantic Records. Considering how well it sold in the US, why could'nt it do well in the UK?

As for Zeppelin IV, it is certified for 1.5 million over at BPI.

Hi Kashmir

I'm afraid 5m for PG in the UK is just impossible.

We have lots of sales data from 1987 and PG just doesn't figure at all. I would guess it has done 1m at the very least and was/still is a great success - but not 5m

Led Zep IV sold more in the UK.

For more info on UK Sales see

http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.p ... 61&start=0

In the US, Led Zep IV has sold 22 million! and PG 7.5 million. So the worldwide sales given are far too low.

See

http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21747%start=0

This has shipment figures for Led Zep titles including double albums and box sets, plus soundscan figures.

[Basil]

Australian Chart

Thanks Nelson. Do you have the Aussie Chart info from 1989 onwards covering all their 90's CD releases like Anthology and singles like Free As A Bird?

Also do you have the New Zealand Chart info?

[johnnyboy]

Great thread!!

It's worth noting that combined US/UK album sales (134m + 40m = 174m) is roughly 50% of their global total of 370m.
Co-incidently about 45% of album sales generally come from just these two contries...

About 45% of the global sales of "1" come from the UK/US and you'll see that many of their albums have 40-50% of sales just within America and Britain...

On a 'per capita' basis The Beatles sold more in the Uk than the US. However, 40% of their American sales are since 1991!!! In Britain, 25%(approx) of sales are since 1987.

Some dodgy sats provided by the john Tobler/Alan Jones and Music Information database(whoever they are!)

The stats for those Led Zep and Bob Dylan albums are clearly exaggerated, although others on that list from Q mag seem realistic....

[andrej]

I’ve dug up this info on one of the Beatles forums and find it interesting enough to acquaint you with some curious facts.

"This excellent piece of information was compiled by a guy called Chartfacts for another Beatles forum. Copyright Simon Walters 2002.
Check it out:
I am basing my estimates of Beatles UK singles sales on a variety of sources, which are mentioned in the text below. The information is often contradictory, so trying to make sense of it all is not an easy task.
There are a number of ways to consider sales and I differentiate between them as follows:

1. Advance orders - orders placed by record outlets before a single has been released to the marketplace.
2. Shipment figures - the number of singles shipped by the record company to record outlets (retailers, distributors, wholesalers and mail order companies) before and after it has been released.
Alan Jones, in Record Mirror of 17 October 1987, commented on compiling a top 100 with Graham Walker of Music Week, which celebrated 20 years of Radio 1 as follows: the compilation process was an absolute nightmare. Getting hold of quantifiable data from record companies was almost impossible and even those that were willing to help were often foiled by their own internal accounting. So many companies have changed hands/nationality/distribution over the 20 year period that it was impossible to accurately track sales of many, many records.
3. Returns - singles not sold to the public and returned to record companies.
4. Over the counter sales [unit sales] - the number of singles sold by record outlets to the public. Many books erroneously quote shipment figures as over the counter unit sales.

The collection of information about unit sales data each week to produce the UK singles chart has become increasingly sophisticated since 1952. Until February 1969, it involved telephoning a small selection of record stores and because the sample was so limited, this could only give broad trends rather than specific sales information.

Singles and EPs Released by Parlophone and Apple, 1962 to 1970 - Estimated Sales

As the majority of Beatles sales were in the 1960s, one is reliant on record company information. EMI has published a certain amount about the Beatles catalogue. The singles have not always been available, having been deleted at certain times but most have been steady sellers periodically over 40 or so years. Their major sales periods are:
a) Initial release; b) 1976 re-release in picture sleeves (Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever and Let It Be had of course been released with picture sleeves in 1967 and 1970, respectively but the 1976 versions were different); c) death of John Lennon; d) 20th anniversary re-release.

Love Me Do (released 5th October 1962) 290,000 to 300,000
First charted in 1962, when it reportedly sold 116,227 units [Hits of the 60s, The Million Sellers, by Coryton and Murrells, 1990]. This must be a shipment figure, as the chart compilers did not calculate unit sales.
All Beatles singles were re-released simultaneously on 6th March 1976 in special picture sleeves (although all were available in plain sleeves and had not been deleted at that particular time). Love Me Do got into the lower reaches of the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.
When John Lennon died, it charted at 156 and may have sold about 1,000 copies. On the 20th anniversary in October 1982 it was re-released and sold about 165,000. On the 30th anniversary in 1992 there were a further 3,000 to 5,000 sales.

Please Please Me (released 11th January 1963) 340,000 to 350,000
A unit sales figure of 310,000 in 1963 is given by [The Long And Winding Road, Neville Stannard, 1983]. This should be taken as a shipment amount.
In 1976 it got into the lower reaches of the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand. The 20th anniversary saw a further 30,000 or so unit sales. Total unit sales are probably somewhere between 340,000 and 350,000.

From Me To You (released 11th April 1963) 710,000 to 720,000
Sales of 660,000 are given by [Coryton/Murrells] up to December 1965. EMI presumably carried out an audit of Beatles sales at the tail end of 1965, as a lot of shipment figures are quoted from this date. In 1976 it got into the lower reaches of the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.
[The Rock Lists Album, Tobler and Jones, 1982] published a top 100 of the sixties, based on estimates of record sales that they presumably gleaned from information provided by record companies. Although there are some omissions from their list, such as some Cliff Richard singles for instance, this is a great resource. From Me To You is ranked at 35 and I would estimate is at 690,000 unit sales.
20th anniversary 1983, sales were around 20,000.

She Loves You (released 23rd August 1963) 1,890,000
Advance orders were placed for 235,000 copies by 14th August and around 500,000 by the date of release. (The biggest advance by August 1963 was for The Young Ones - Cliff Richard and the Shadows (1962) at 524,000 copies, whilst Its Now Or Never - Elvis Presley (1960) had an advance of approaching 500,000).
Shipments were as follows: 03-09-1963 500,000; 11-10-1963 750,000; 27-11-1963 1.05m; 31-12-1963 1.3m; 31-01-1964 1.5m [The Long And Winding Road].
From these figures, one can estimate that She Loves You passed the 500,000 unit sales mark by late September / early October and 1 million by the first few weeks of December 1963.
The 1976 re-issue reached the 50s in the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand. On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1983, it got to number 45 and sold about 15,000 to 20,000.
[Coryton/Murrells] and [Stannard] put final unit sales at 1.6m. In Record Mirror of 19th January 1985, She Loves You is placed as the 7th all-time best seller at 1.6m. [The Top 10 Of Music] gives a total of 1.89m, which is repeated in [The Top 10 Of Everything, Ash, (1998 to date)] and in Music Week 9th March 2002.
I guess that EMI carried out an audit of the whole Beatles catalogue in around 1987 when it revealed the shipment figures for Sgt. Pepper at 4.25m. The estimate for She Loves You was presumably increased from 1.6 m to over 1.8m.
She Loves You was the best selling single of 1963 and the UK all-time best seller between January 1964 and January 1978. It is currently eighth on the all-time list.

I Want To Hold Your Hand (released 29th November 1963) 1,750,000
Advance orders for I Want To Hold Your Hand were at 700,000 by 06-11-1963. (It had only been recorded on 17-10-1963 and received its mono mix on 21-10-1963). Orders reached 940,000 by 27-11-1963, two days before release [The Long And Winding Road]. This was the biggest advance in the UK, overtaking The Young Ones - Cliff Richard and the Shadows (1962) at 524,000 copies.
The initial factory pressing of the single before the release date was for 500,000, an unprecedented number in those days and would have taken at least a week to distribute.
Shipments: 31-12-1963 1.25m; 17-01-64 1.5m; January 1974 1.509m [The Long And Winding Road].
It is likely that I Want To Hold Your Hand was selling over 250,000 per week for at least its first three weeks on the market and passed the 500,000 unit sales mark by mid December 1963, and 1 million by the end of the year.
The 1976 re-issue reached the 60s in the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand. On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1983, it reached number 62 and sold about 5,000.
In Record Mirror of 19th January 1985, I Want To Hold Your Hand is the 8th all-time best seller at 1.5m. [The Top 10 Of Music] in 1993 gives a total of 1.64m. In 1987, its sales were reassessed at 1.75m.

I Want To Hold Your Hand was the second best selling single of 1963 and the UK second all-time best seller between January 1964 and January 1978. It is currently fourteenth on the all-time list.

Cant Buy Me Love (released 20th March 1964) 1,520,000
At least 1 million singles were ordered by 17-03-1964 in advance of release.
This record was probably selling at least 250,000 per week for its first few weeks on the market. Around 1.21m were shipped by 21st April [The Long And Winding Road]. Cant Buy Me Love was the best selling single of 1964.
A sales figure (should be shipment) of 1,286,963 is given up to September 1965 [Coryton/Murrells].
The 1976 re-issue reached the 60s in the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.
In Record Mirror of 3rd December 1983, Alan Jones reported that the sales of Karma Chameleon - Culture Club were at 1.3m, only 50,000 behind Cant Buy Me Love, the 10th best seller of all-time to date.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1984, it got to number 53 and sold about 5,000 to 10,000.

Its sales have now been estimated at 1,520,000 and it is at twenty in the all-time list.

A Hard Days Night (released 10th July 1964) 730,000 to 750,000
600,000 had been ordered in advance by 10-07-1964 [The Long And Winding Road].

[The Rock Lists Album] top 100 of the sixties has A Hard Days Night at number 29. Sales can be estimated at between 720,000 and 740,000 by 1982. ([The Long And Winding Road] - probably quoting from Murrells - wrote that it shipped 800,000 by 23rd July and eventually sold 1.0m in UK. This is not backed up by any other publication).
The 1976 re-issue reached the 60s in the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1984, it got to number 52 and sold around 5,000 to 10,000.
It may be that EMI reassessed the sales of A Hard Days Night in 1987 but I do not know of any figures.

I Feel Fine (released 27th November 1964) 1,410,000
Advance orders: 05-11-1964 500,000; 27-11-1964 750,000
Shipment figures: 02-12-1964 800,000; 11-12-1964 1.0m [The Long And Winding Road]. September 1965 1,242,333 [Coryton/Murrells].
Excluding Sundays, Christmas and Boxing Day, it had about 27 days in 1964 to sell a million over the counter (at least 250,000 per week) and in all probability, it was able to do so. I Feel Fine was the second best selling single of 1964.
The 1976 re-issue got into the lower reaches of the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1984, it reached number 65 and sold about 5,000.
Its sales have now been estimated at 1,410,000 and it is at twenty-eighth in the all-time list (if White Christmas - Bing Crosby is included).

Ticket To Ride (released 9th April 1965) 580,000 (to 700,000?)
Advance order of 300,000
The 1976 re-issue got into the lower reaches of the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.
[The Rock Lists Album] top 100 of the sixties has Ticket To Ride at number 61. Sales can be estimated at about 570,000 by 1982.
In 1985 on its 20th anniversary, it reached number 70 and sold between 5,000 and 10,000.
([The Long And Winding Road] wrote that it sold 700,000 copies, which seems to be an over-estimate).

Help! (Released 23rd July 1965) 905,000
Advance orders: 21-07-1965 300,000
Shipment figures: 30-07-1965 500,000; 13-08-1965 800,000 [The Long And Winding Road]; 20-08-1965 815,874 [Coryton/Murrells]
It sold over 900,000 in 1965 [The Long And Winding Road] and [Murrells].

The 1976 re-issue reached number 37.
[The Rock Lists Album] top 100 of the sixties has Help! at number 18 with around 900,000 sales.
In [40 Years Of NME Charts, Rees, Lazell & Osborne, May 1992], a Top 100 of best selling singles from 1952 to 1992 is listed. Help! is at number 66 at around 900,000 sales. Generally, it seems to reflect estimated sales over the period, although it is not as accurate as The Official Chart of 2002.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1985, it did not make the Top 75 singles chart and sold about 5,000.

Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out (released 3rd December 1965) 1,385,000

Shipment figures: 08-12-1965 750,000; 20-12-1965 1.0m
It is possible that Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out managed to convert 1.0m shipment figures to unit sales by the end of 1965 but as one cannot be certain, it should be classed as a million seller by January 1966. It was the third best selling single of 1965 behind Tears - Ken Dodd, and The Carnival Is Over - Seekers.

The 1976 re-issue got into the lower reaches of the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1985, it did not make the Top 75 singles chart and sold about 5,000.
In 2002, the single was the 33rd best seller in the UK (if White Christmas is included).

Paperback Writer (released 10th June 1966) 530,000 to 540,000
Shipments: 300,000 by 15th June and 500,000 by 22nd June 1966 [Disc Weekly]
It sold over 500,000 in 1966 [The Long And Winding Road] and [Murrells].

The 1976 re-issue reached number 23.

[The Rock Lists Album] top 100 of the sixties has Paperback Writer at number 75. Sales are estimated at between 530,000 to 540,000.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1986, it did not make the Top 75 singles chart and sold around 5,000.

Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby (released 5th August 1966) 510,000 to 520,000
Advance orders were 250,000 by release, which EMI had shipped to dealers by 10-08-1966 [The Long And Winding Road].
Shipments: 24-08-1966 300,000; 31-12-1966 455,000

The Beatles got an Ivor Novello award for best selling British single of 1966 (by British writers), with sales of 455,000.

The 1976 re-issue reached the 60s in the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.
[The Rock Lists Album] top 100 of the sixties has Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby at number 81. Sales are estimated at between 510,000 to 520,000.

On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1986, it got to number 63 and sold around 5,000.

Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever (released 17th February 1967) 530,000 to 540,000

It shipped 350,000 copies by 20-02-1967 [The Long And Winding Road and Murrells] and 500,000 by 25-03-1967 [Disc Weekly].
It sold over 500,000 in 1967 [The Long And Winding Road] and [Murrells].

The 1976 re-issue reached number 32.

[The Rock Lists Album] top 100 of the sixties has Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever at number 78. Sales are estimated at between 520,000 to 530,000.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1987, it got to number 65 and sold between 5,000 and 10,000.

All You Need Is Love (released 7th July 1967) 560,000 to 570,000
Advance orders of 300,000 [NME]
Shipment: 400,000 by 18-07-1967 and 500,000 by 16-08-1967 [NME]
It sold over 500,000 in 1967 [The Long And Winding Road] and [Murrells].
The 1976 re-issue got into the lower reaches of the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.
[The Rock Lists Album] top 100 of the sixties has All You Need Is Love at number 68. Sales are estimated at between 550,000 to 560,000.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1987, it got to number 47 and sold around 10,000.

Hello Goodbye (released 24th November 1967) 690,000 to 700,000 or 780,000 to 790,000
It shipped 500,000 by 15-12-1967 [The Long And Winding Road]. NME wrote that the shipment of 500,000 was by 06-12-1967.
The 1976 re-issue got into the lower reaches of the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.

[The Rock Lists Album] top 100 of the sixties has Hello Goodbye at number 36. Sales are estimated at 690,000.

In September 1987, Gallup / Music Week compiled the [Radio 1 20th Birthday The Top 100 Best Selling Singles of the last 20 years in the UK]. Hello Goodbye is at number 73, which corresponds with sales of between 780,000 and 790,000.

It was difficult for Alan Jones and Graham Walker of Music Week to track the sales of many singles for the September 1987 Top 100 and I assume that some were either left out or had to be roughly estimated on the basis of shipment figures. For Beatles records, the EMI archive is known to be fairly complete and presumably could give accurate shipment figures. It appears that Hello Goodbye shipped over 780,000 copies. I do not know how this compares to unit sales.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1987, it got to number 63 and sold around 5,000.

Lady Madonna (released 15th March 1968) 250,000 to 300,000
A silver disc was awarded by Disc magazine on 30-03-1968, indicating a shipment of at least 250,000 copies. It only spent 8 weeks in the Record Retailer Top 50 during 1968 and probably sold somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000.
The 1976 re-issue got into the lower reaches of the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.

On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1988, it got to number 67 and sold around 5,000.

Hey Jude (released 26th August 1968) 850,000 or 930,000 to 940,000
Shipment figures are as follows: 04-09-1968 250,000; 27-09-1968 558,535; 30-11-1968 700,000; 31-12-1968 800,000 [The Long And Winding Road] and [Coryton/Murrells].

The 1976 re-issue reached number 12.
[The Rock Lists Album] top 100 of the sixties has Hey Jude at number 24. Sales are estimated at around 820,000.
Hey Jude is at number 38 in the [Radio 1 20th Birthday Top 100], which corresponds with sales of 930,000 to 940,000.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1988, it got to number 52 and sold around 5,000.
In [40 Years Of NME Charts Top 100] Hey Jude is at number 75 with sales of around 850,000.

Get Back (released 11th April 1969) 570,000 to 580,000
A sales figure of 530,000 has been given for the 1969 release [The Long And Winding Road] and [Murrells].
The 1976 re-issue reached number 28.
[The Rock Lists Album] top 100 of the sixties has Get Back at number 63. Sales are estimated at between 560,000 and 570,000.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1989, it got to number 74 and sold around 5,000.

The Ballad Of John And Yoko (released 30th May 1969) 300,000 to 320,000
A silver disc was awarded by Disc magazine on 12-07-1969, indicating a shipment of at least 250,000 copies. It sold around 300,000 [The Long And Winding Road] and [Murrells].
The 1976 re-issue got into the lower reaches of the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1989, it did not chart and sold around 5,000.

Something/Come Together (released 1969) 200,0000
Excluding EPs, this is the first Beatles single since Love Me Do that was not eligible for a silver disc from Disc magazine.
The 1976 re-issue got into the lower reaches of the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1989, it did not chart and sold around 5,000.

Let It Be (released 6th March 1970) 250,000 to 300,000
Sold around 250,000 in 1970 [Murrells].
The 1976 re-issue reached the 60s in the BMRB Top 100 and sold a few thousand.
On its 20th anniversary re-issue in 1990, it did not chart and sold around 5,000.

The EPs

Extended play records had their own Record Retailer chart from 10th March 1960 to 30th November 1967, after which they were eligible for the Top 50 singles chart. Other music magazines made no distinction between singles and EPs.

EP Shipment figures

Disc music magazine awarded silver discs from 1959 (Side Saddle - Russ Conway was the first) to mark shipments in the UK of 250,000 copies of a record, whether they be singles, EPs or LPs. The award was given on trust - an executive of a record company had to write and claim an award from the magazine.

Parlophone claimed the following Beatles EP silver discs:

Date of Award / EP Title
24-08-1963 Twist And Shout (first EP in UK to be awarded a silver disc)
14-12-1963 The Beatles Hits
21-03-1964 All My Loving
13-02-1965 Long Tall Sally
30-09-1965 The Beatles No1
23-12-1967 Magical Mystery Tour

Twist And Shout EP (released 12th July 1963) 670,000
Sales of EPs were relatively small in UK up to 1963. The biggest sellers before the Beatles were Expresso Bongo - Cliff Richard and the Shadows (1960) with a shipment of 178,138, and Follow That Dream - Elvis Presley (1962).
Twist And Shout sold in quantities usually reserved for a regular single release. According to [The Long And Winding Road] it shipped 250,000 by 13th August and 400,000 by 18th November. [The Rock Lists Album] top 100 of the sixties has the EP at number 42, suggesting sales of around 670,000 by 1982.

Magical Mystery Tour Double EP (released 8th December 1967) 620,000

By the date of release, it had advance orders of 400,000. 600,000 had been shipped by mid-January 1968. [The Long And Winding Road]. [The Rock Lists Album] top 100 of the sixties has the EP at number 50, suggesting sales of around 620,000 by 1982.

[The Top 10 Of Music by Ash, Crampton and Lazell, 1993] lists what they consider to be the top ten EPs in UK. This helps estimate the remaining Beatles EPs that sold over 250,000:

The Beatles Hits (released 6th September 1963) 350,000 to 450,000
All My Loving (released 7th February 1964) 250,000 to 350,000
Long Tall Sally (released 19th June 1964) 250,000 to 350,000
The Beatles No1 (released 1st November 1963) 250,000 to 300,000

The rest of the Beatles EPs sold less than 250,000 each.

Non-EMI releases / Records for Export

Some examples are:

My Bonnie
Aint She Sweet
If I Fell
Cry For A Shadow
Sweet Georgia Brown

None sold in the UK in great quantities.

Singles and EPs Released by Parlophone and Apple, 1962 to 1970 - Estimated Sales

Singles
1 She Loves You (1963) 1,890,000
2 I Want To Hold Your Hand (1963) 1,750,000
3 Cant Buy Me Love (1964) 1,520,000
4 I Feel Fine (1964) 1,410,000
5 Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out (1965) 1,385,000
6 Help! (1965) 905,000
7 Hey Jude (1968) 850,000 [or 930,000 to 940,000]
8 A Hard Days Night (1964) 730,000 to 750,000
9 From Me To You (1963) 710,000 to 720,000
10 Hello Goodbye (1967) 690,000 to 700,000 [or 780,000 to 790,000]
11 Ticket To Ride (1965) 580,000 (to 700,000?)
12 Get Back (1969) 570,000 to 580,000
13 All You Need Is Love (1967) 560,000 to 570,000
14 Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever (1967) 530,000 to 540,000
15 Paperback Writer (1966) 530,000 to 540,000
16 Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby (1966) 510,000 to 520,000
17 Please Please Me (1963) 340,000 to 350,000
18 The Ballad Of John And Yoko (1969) 300,000 to 320,000
19 Love Me Do (1962) 290,000 to 300,000
20 Lady Madonna (1968) 250,000 to 300,000
21 Let It Be (1970) 250,000 to 300,000
22 Something/Come Together (1969) 200,000

EPs

1 Twist And Shout EP (1963) 670,000
2 Magical Mystery Tour Double EP (1967) 620,000
3 The Beatles Hits (1963) 350,000 to 450,000
4 All My Loving (1964) 250,000 to 350,000
5 Long Tall Sally (1964) 250,000 to 350,000
6 The Beatles No1 (1963) 250,000 to 300,000

Copyright Simon Walters 2002.

The source is http://www.beatlelinks.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1351