Week 15

[Maoilbheannacht]

Billboard's 1987 end of year chart lists "Slippery..." as the #1 album of the year. "Bad" was #2. JT was #3. I'm not stating that one outsold the other, but rather, based on Billboard's system at the time, this was their order.

I'm positive that is incorrect with regard to "Bad" by Michael Jackson. Bad was released on August 31, 1987. It did not chart in Billboard until the September 26, 1987 issue. That means it was only charted for at most 10 weeks before Billboard year for 1987 would end in November. Bad was #1 for 6 weeks and while all 6 of those weeks were counted for the 1987 year end chart, Joshua Tree was #1 for 9 weeks. For the year end chart in 1987, Bad only has 10 weeks charted, of which 6 were at #1. Joshua Tree has 35 weeks charted of which 9 were at #1 and the rest were in the top 10. It is there for impossible that BAD would rank ahead of Joshua Tree for the year end chart in 1987. So, your figures are incorrect.

For the Billboard year ending in 1987, Joshua Tree actually did not make the top 5, but did make the top 10. Slippery When Wet indeed was probably #1, given the November 1986 to November 1987 time frame. I'm not sure where BAD ended up, but with just 10 weeks, even with 6 of them at #1, it did not rank higher than Joshua Tree.

Until I see actual hard numbers, it's difficult to debate which album was really the biggest seller in the U.S. and worldwide for many of U2's releases. But there's that famous report of JT selling 14M worldwide in 1987. Is that enough to be #1 for the year? Don't know, but it is very possible.

There were multiple sources back then listing the album at 14 million and 15 million. When Rattle And Hum was released in 1988, TIME magazine listed Joshua Tree's sales at 16 million.

In the United States, based on shipments from RIAA, Joshua tree shipped 4 million copies in the USA during 1987. The only album that shipped more than 4 million copies in the USA during 1987, was Whitney Houston's "Whitney" with 5 million in shipments.

Then consider the Joshua Tree's overwhelming dominance on the European charts being #1 for nearly 20 weeks, massive sales in the United Kingdom, Diamond status in Canada after only 6 months of release. Joshua Tree's massive sales, and release date help to set it up as the biggest selling album worldwide of 1987 within that actual 12 month period of the year. The only album that could compete with it, is Whitney Houston's Whitney which did not have the same chart success in Europe, or sales success in the UK and Canada as Joshua Tree did.

 

[Irishteen]

Down two positions on mediatraffic this week to 25 with 35000 copies sold, only 2000 down from last week

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Best Selling Albums in 2009 WORLDWIDE as of WEEK 25

1. U2 No Line On The Horizon 2,939,000
2. Lady Gaga The Fame 2,390,000
3. Eminem Relapse 1,850,000
4. Beyoncé I Am... Sasha Fierce 1,823,000
5. Kings Of Leon Only By The Night 1,818,000
6. Taylor Swift Fearless 1,794,000
7. Soundtrack Twilight 1,746,000
8. Soundtrack Hannah Montana: The Movie 1,560,000
9. Bruce Springsteen Working On A Dream 1,497,000
10. Pink Funhouse 1,448,000

 

[hey you]

nloth n.25 this week on mediatraffic with 37.000 copies sold. so far have sold 2.939.000 on mediatraffic +7,5& not coverage by them the real amount worldwide is 3.159.000 copies sold.

 

[fedeu2]

Down two positions on mediatraffic this week to 25 with 35000 copies sold, only 2000 down from last week

If the album were to sell a roughly average of 35,000 a week it will get to 4 million by the year end on mediatraffic, that is nearly 4,3 million in actual sales.
Hopefully this will be the case counting the effect of the tour, the third and fourth singles and the christmas boost.

5 million seems a bit unlikely at this point though.

 

[Mirrorball06]

Top albums of 1987 from Billboard Year-End issue December 26 1987

1. Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi
2. Graceland - Paul Simon
3. Licened To Ill - Beastie Boys
4. The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby & The Range
5. Control - Janet Jackson
6. The Joshua Tree - U2

23. Whitney - Whitney Houston

Bad wasn't mentioned at this list.

I got this one from a link wich I posted this threat http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f225/billboard-in-google-books-197236.html

 

[doctorwho]

Top albums of 1987 from Billboard Year-End issue December 26 1987

1. Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi
2. Graceland - Paul Simon
3. Licened To Ill - Beastie Boys
4. The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby & The Range
5. Control - Janet Jackson
6. The Joshua Tree - U2

23. Whitney - Whitney Houston

Bad wasn't mentioned at this list.

I got this one from a link wich I posted this threat http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f225/billboard-in-google-books-197236.html

I saw something similar - recently.

But I recall years ago that this was different. JT was definitely #3. Wonder if there is some revisionism going on here. I may have to hunt down some old Billboard's to find that info.

 

[Irishteen]

Best Selling Albums Released in 2009
U2 No Line On The Horizon 2.939.000
Eminem Relapse 1.850.000
Soundtrack Hannah Montana: The Movie 1.560.000
Bruce Springsteen Working On A Dream 1.474.000
Green Day 21st Century Breakdown 1.404.000
Lily Allen It's Not Me, It's You 1.136.500
Kelly Clarkson All I Ever Wanted 1.075.000
Rascal Flatts Unstoppable 800.000
Depeche Mode Sounds Of The Universe 796.000
The Fray The Fray 777.500

Best Selling Albums Since 2006
1 Amy Winehouse Back To Black 11179500
2 Justin Timberlake FutureSex / LoveSounds 8881500
3 Soundtrack High School Musical 8150000
4 Nelly Furtado Loose 7800500
5 Coldplay Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends 7652000

14 AC/DC Black Ice 5857000

25 U2 18 Singles 4823000

35 Metallica Death Magnetic 4097000
36 Beyoncé I Am... Sasha Fierce 4074000

43 Kings Of Leon Only By The Night 3895000

53 Madonna Hard Candy 3429500

58 Nickelback Dark Horse 3222000

62 Bon Jovi Lost Highway 3160500

65 Soundtrack Twilight 3074000

67 Hinder Extreme Behavior 3037000
68 Chris Brown Exclusive 3010000
69 Paul Potts One Chance 2952500
70 Scissor Sisters Ta-Dah 2941000
71 Jack Johnson Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies For Curious George 2939000
72 U2 No Line On The Horizon 2939000
73 John Mayer Continuum 2843000
74 Andrea Bocelli Vivere (The Best Of Andrea Bocelli) 2839500
75 Tool 10,000 Days 2802500
76 Jonas Brothers Jonas Brothers 2788500
77 Jack Johnson Sleep Through The Static 2774000
78 Lady Gaga The Fame 2755000

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

I saw something similar - recently.

But I recall years ago that this was different. JT was definitely #3. Wonder if there is some revisionism going on here. I may have to hunt down some old Billboard's to find that info.

No revisionism. You can look up the actual Billboard magazine issues online with Google Books. Not all of them are up, but many are, and it appears they have the year end issue for 1987 up.

 

[rollingbob]

That top 3 was from the EOY list of Top 100 albums published in the Dec 17th-31st '87 issue of Rolling Stone mag. The top 10 was :

1. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
2. Michael Jackson - Bad
3. U2 - The Joshua Tree
4. Whitney Houston - Whitney
5. Paul Simon - Graceland
6. Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill
7. Whitesnake - Whitesnake
8. Anita Baker - Rapture
9. Steve Winwood - Back In The High Life
10. Genesis - Invisible Touch

This was based on a nationwide telephone survey of record stores, so probably sales/shipments not points according to chart positions like Billboard.

 

[rollingbob]

Music & Media (Billboard) European '87 EOY top 10 albums (also in issue dated 26th Dec '87) :

1. Michael Jackson - Bad
2. U2 - The Joshua Tree
3. Madonna - True Blue
4. Genesis - Invisible Touch
5. Whitney Houston - Whitney
6. Paul Simon - Graceland
7. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
8. Fleetwood Mac - Tango In The Night
9. Europe - The Final Countdown
10. Simply Red - Men & Women

JT easily had the best run with 17 wks #1, 37 wks top 10 so, as this was also meant to be based on points according to chart positions/runs, i don't see how Bad could possibly be #1 (it had actually only been out a couple of months!). Maybe they just went with it's massive European shipments (given as 6.7m). Anyway they also said global sales of JT were 15m, Bad 11m & Whitney 'over 8m'.

 

[doctorwho]

That top 3 was from the EOY list of Top 100 albums published in the Dec 17th-31st '87 issue of Rolling Stone mag. The top 10 was :

1. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
2. Michael Jackson - Bad
3. U2 - The Joshua Tree
4. Whitney Houston - Whitney
5. Paul Simon - Graceland
6. Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill
7. Whitesnake - Whitesnake
8. Anita Baker - Rapture
9. Steve Winwood - Back In The High Life
10. Genesis - Invisible Touch

This was based on a nationwide telephone survey of record stores, so probably sales/shipments not points according to chart positions like Billboard.

Thank you - this is where I saw it. Not a Billboard magazine, but a Rolling Stone magazine. As Rolling Stone usually featured Billboard's information, I figured these were the top albums of the year.

 

[rollingbob]

UK top albums 1987 :

1. Michael Jackson - Bad - 1.65m
2. U2 - The Joshua Tree - 1.45m
3. Whitney Houston - Whitney - 1.28m

6. Fleetwood Mac - Tango In The Night - 920k
14. Paul Simon - Graceland - 650k
18. Genesis - Invisible Touch - 580k
21. Madonna - True Blue - 500k
39. Whitesnake - Whitesnake - 320k
50. Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill - 280k
56. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet - 260k

 

[Mirrorball06]

Take a look at this link UKMIX - Forums - Chart Analysis - Best Selling Album Worldwide DURING each Year (64-08) wich said The Joshua Tree was the best selling album worldwide of 1987 with 12m!! And Bad sold 11m.

 

[Vox02]

Spain

#20 (#19)

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