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Ep Or Not Ep; that is the question
Topic Started: Oct 11 2014, 11:53 PM (750 Views)
socorro
Level 5
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Frank, I checked out the LP chart in that issue of Billboard. Here's what I saw:

1. A Hard Days Night (UA soundtrack)
2. Something New
26. Beatles Second Album
56. Meet The Beatles
72. Introducing The Beatles

Plus:

16. The Beatles Songbook (Hollyridge Strings)
78. The Chipmunks Sing The Beatles

Pretty amazing.
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namralos
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Level 5
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Beatles LP's were kept from #1 by other Beatles albums twice in America. The other one was Yellow Submarine, which was held to #2 by the White Album.

Not counting The Beatles Story or the Early Beatles -- which contained no new songs -- every Beatles album in the USA (including Introducing the Beatles) was either #1 or #2. The only #2's were kept out by other Beatles albums.

Since 1990, the Beatles have had more million-selling albums than any other rock artist during the period. These include:

Live at the BBC
Anthology 1
Anthology 2
Anthology 3
1
Let it Be...Naked
Love
Capitol Albums, Vol. 1
the Beatles in Stereo (2009 boxed set)
the Beatles in Mono (2009 boxed set)

(Jay-Z, Toby Keith, and Garth Brooks are the non-rock artists who have scored more platinum records -- in case you're keeping score.)
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socorro
Level 5
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Frank,

Do you know if the multi-disc sets were counted as a single unit, or is it per disc? In other words, did the box sets sell 1 million + each, or did all the discs included in the box sets sold add up to more than 1 million?

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Jae
Level 3
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socorro,Oct 12 2014
07:12 PM
One really striking contrast which is not captured in these numbers at all is between the pirate disc capitals of Taiwan and Thailand. 

In both countries, demand for western music was heavily driven by US soldiers.  In Taiwan, a profusion of companies made countless pirate versions of the US and UK Beatles LPs, as well as their own compilations. I have never seen a Taiwan made EP or single.

In Thailand, you saw the same saturation level of Beatles EPs.  There were probably close to 10 pirate LPs issued in Thailand, but in relatively small numbers.  It is also striking that the Thailand LPs were usually non-US, non-UK compilations with sleeve art that was not used in either country.

No, too early to get figures for Thailand and Taiwan. EMI didn't start up in Thailand until 1973 (albeit initially an associated company) and accurate figures won't exist for Taiwan as EMI only ever had an affiliate there (yes, as surprising as it may sound to people, EMI had an affiliate in Taiwan).

Back to Thailand though, while EPs were the prominent vinyl format, they were still nothing compared to cassettes, which really took off in the early 1970s. So much so that it was this format that EMI UK wanted to tame, thus the creation of EMI Thailand and installation of a record and tape duplication/winding factory in Bangkok.

As the only official manufacturer/distributor in Thailand, EMI Thailand did have success with reducing pirated records though, with pirated records reducing from 65% of the record market in 1973 to 40% of the market in 1978 (mainly EPs and singles).

But still, when the radio stations were playing pirated titles because the bootleggers could get them there quicker than EMI could, and retailers were blatantly selling pirate stock (EMI had only one official retailer in Thailand), it was an uphill battle to get official product into the market place. My guess is EMI didn't even attempt to compete with an oversaturated EP market for this reason.

Regarding its affiliation with Four Seas Records in Taiwan, little is known about what official pressings there were.
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socorro
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Incidentally, has anybody ever seen a 7" Beatles record (EP or single) from Taiwan?
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Jae
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Wasn't there a "Dear Beatles" EP series that originated in Taiwan? Or was it Thailand? Can't remember now - I'm on my phone so can't easily check. Unofficial, of course.
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socorro
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It was Thailand. There was a 3 LP series titled Dear Beatles, and several EPs as well.
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AurelianDE
Level 2
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Jae, do you happen to have EMI figures for 1963 or 1964 at hand for comparison? It would seem to me that EP sales (in the UK) declined steadily from at least 1965, but other countries may be different. I'm using your figures to calculate proportions per (selected) country as that would probably be more indicative of EP popularity than absolute figures. Of course, your fascinating tables would be even more interesting than they already are if one could measure the Beatles' influence on total sales! It seems that Beatles EPs were reissued in Australia, for instance, same as in the UK, in spite of diminished interest in the format. I wonder if the Beatles were an exception.

Thanks for contributing so much solid information.
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Jae
Level 3
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I'll check - I know I have some figures for every year from the 1950s through to the Thorn EMI years, but only complete figures for 1966 and 1969 when EMI made a big thing of it.

Having said that, I have American sales figures, by year, for every Beatles album released between 1964 and 1985 - from Capitol archives. But I'm sure this would be public knowledge.

And yes, percentage comparisons would tell a nice story - I just didn't have the time!

In Australia, all Beatles EPs were withdrawn in December 1978. In July 1979, the "unique to Australia" EPs (ie 70000 series) were reissued with new cuts. The UK-originated EPs weren't, presumably as they were available through EMI's import catalogue (and, of course, the box set a few years later). These EPs remained in print until the end of vinyl production in 1991. I am not aware of a diminished interest in the EP format within Australia, even beyond The Beatles.
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