Sir Cliff better than the Beatles and Elvis
Posted by: greeny on 23 February 2004
Well he is if you take the collective wisdom of the British singles buying public.
Cliff Richard is the all time highest singles seller in the UK. I guess he has had longer than most to amass his totals, but even so when it got to number one I really couldn't think who it might be before they announced it.
Top ten (If memory serves me)
1.Cliff Richard
2.Beatles
3.Elvis
4.Madonna
5.Elton John
6.Micheal jackson
7.Queen
8.Abba
9.Bowie
Can't remember number 10.
Cliff Richard is the all time highest singles seller in the UK. I guess he has had longer than most to amass his totals, but even so when it got to number one I really couldn't think who it might be before they announced it.
Top ten (If memory serves me)
1.Cliff Richard
2.Beatles
3.Elvis
4.Madonna
5.Elton John
6.Micheal jackson
7.Queen
8.Abba
9.Bowie
Can't remember number 10.
Posted on: 23 February 2004 by Basil
Maybe this has something to do with the fact that Cliff religously releases a christmas record every year.
Posted on: 23 February 2004 by blythe
I was very surprised by a number of the entries.
Quo had sold nearly 7 million which I thought was pretty good, then much later, some pop singer I'd never even heard of had sold something like 8 million.
Then Kylie comes along with even more.......
Mmmm, the single buying public.......
Computers are supposed to work on 1's and 0's - in other words "Yes" or "No" - why does mine frequently say "Maybe"?......
Quo had sold nearly 7 million which I thought was pretty good, then much later, some pop singer I'd never even heard of had sold something like 8 million.
Then Kylie comes along with even more.......
Mmmm, the single buying public.......
Computers are supposed to work on 1's and 0's - in other words "Yes" or "No" - why does mine frequently say "Maybe"?......
Posted on: 23 February 2004 by Kevin-W
This of course is a disaster. Cliff Richard is - oddly for one who professes to be a Christian, an adherent of a religion which values humility - one of the most nauseatingly arrogant twats on the face of the planet.
This will mean that he will go around claiming to be bigger than the Fabs and the King, which will lead to the population being slowly killed off by boredom in the face of Sir Cliff's relentless self promotion.
However, Cliff's recording career has lasted about 46 years, the Beatles' only seven, and he only sold about 60,000 more records than them.
Wanker.
This will mean that he will go around claiming to be bigger than the Fabs and the King, which will lead to the population being slowly killed off by boredom in the face of Sir Cliff's relentless self promotion.
However, Cliff's recording career has lasted about 46 years, the Beatles' only seven, and he only sold about 60,000 more records than them.
Wanker.
Posted on: 24 February 2004 by BLT
It doesn't matter how many records he has sold - his kneck still looks like a dinosaur's scrotum 
Posted on: 24 February 2004 by Rasher
Please don't disregard that Sir Cliff has given this country the path to musical greatness. If it wasn't for him, we would never have had Elvis, Beatles, Oscar Peterson, Rolling Stones, Captain Beefheart or Linkin Park. And you would never get McCartney entertaining the crowds at Wimbledon. I'm only sorry I missed it myself.
Posted on: 24 February 2004 by syd
I was surprised at some of the omissions on the list. I would have thought that Trex would have scraped in somewhere. Also I was astounded to hear that the beatles have now sold over 1 Billion records worldwide, I don't think they will ever be surpassed.
What I would like to see now would be the Top 50 British album sales list. I don't think Cliff would show up at all.
Yours in Music
Syd
What I would like to see now would be the Top 50 British album sales list. I don't think Cliff would show up at all.
Yours in Music
Syd
Posted on: 24 February 2004 by Paul Gravett
The top 10 was slightly wrong. Paul McCartney was No.9 and Bowie was No.10.
No.11 was Rod Stewart which is slightly surprising, though I s'pose he did have loads of hits in the 70s/80s.
Like syd I'm surprised T-Rex didn't make the top 50. Slade were in the 20s and I always thought the two bands had about the same amount of success. Having said that, T-Rex never had a Xmas No. 1 single...
No.11 was Rod Stewart which is slightly surprising, though I s'pose he did have loads of hits in the 70s/80s.
Like syd I'm surprised T-Rex didn't make the top 50. Slade were in the 20s and I always thought the two bands had about the same amount of success. Having said that, T-Rex never had a Xmas No. 1 single...
Posted on: 24 February 2004 by Rasher
There is a T Rex single I have with a Christmas message on the B side. I can't remember which one it is, but it was certainly a #1.
Posted on: 24 February 2004 by Jez Quigley
quote:
Please don't disregard that Sir Cliff has given this country the path to musical greatness. If it wasn't for him, we would never have had Elvis, Beatles, Oscar Peterson, Rolling Stones, Captain Beefheart or Linkin Park. And you would never get McCartney entertaining the crowds at Wimbledon. I'm only sorry I missed it myself.
Rasher, is this a serious belief, or an ironic comment? Sorry for being thick but I can't decide (If pressed I'd say you were taking the urine)
Posted on: 25 February 2004 by Rasher
. Ironic? Nah, just taking the piss.I bet Sir Cliff His Holiness would probably agree with the sentiment though.
Posted on: 25 February 2004 by DISCO
Hi,
Here the list of best sellers.
The all-time top 50
Artist Sales
1 Cliff Richard 20,969,006
2 The Beatles 20,799,632
3 Elvis Presley 19,293,118
4 Madonna 14,562,856
5 Elton John 13,475,063
6 Michael Jackson 11,310,958
7 Queen 10,334,713
8 Abba 10,004,039
9 Paul McCartney 9,781,603
10 David Bowie 9,392,410
11 Rod Stewart 9,046,492
12 Rolling Stones 8,348,470
13 Kylie Minogue 7,994,130
14 Stevie Wonder 7,614,227
15 Spice Girls 7,507,213
16 Shakin' Stevens 7,108,330
17 Whitney Houston 6,993,105
18 Bee Gees 6,943,851
19 George Michael 6,819,419
20 Status Quo 6,727,822
21 Boney M 6,587,018
22 Slade 6,520,171
23 Olivia Newton John 6,493,006
24 Blondie 6,456,881
25 Boyzone 6,435,711
26 Oasis 6,225,785
27 UB40 5,997,222
28 Tom Jones 5,892,220
29 Celine Dion 5,683,264
30 The Police 5,617,175
31 Madness 5,564,459
32 Diana Ross 5,326,780
33 Wham! 5,298,431
34 Adam Ant 5,296,965
35 The Jam 5,094,055
36 Frankie Goes To Hollywood 5,008,067
37 Robbie Williams 4,973,227
38 Pet Shop Boys 4,913,655
39 Phil Collins 4,889,059
40 Wet Wet Wet 4,877,328
41 Duran Duran 4,846,531
42 The Everly Brothers 4,827,957
43 The Shadows 4,793,537
44 Westlife 4,726,116
45 Gary Glitter 4,717,834
46 Engelbert Humperdinck 4,710,328
47 U2 4,663,427
48 Bryan Adams 4,614,135
49 Frank Sinatra 4,597,630
50 The Hollies 4,597,450
I'm not really surprised by the outcome. A lot of these acts had a lot of top ten hits (e.g. Cliff, Elvis Status quo)or a few million plus sellers (e.g.Boney M, Beatles)
Slade had a longer run of chart sucess than T-Rex. The heyday for Slade was 1971 to 1975 (six no1s )but they still had chart hits right into the 90s. Merry Christmas Everybody has been good for them.
T-rex had their heyday from 1970 to 1973 (4 No 1s ) & didn't have as many big hits after this period. T Rex never had a Christmas No1. Solid Gold Easy Action charted in Dec 72 so this may have had a Christmas message on it. This got to number 2.
Dean
Here the list of best sellers.
The all-time top 50
Artist Sales
1 Cliff Richard 20,969,006
2 The Beatles 20,799,632
3 Elvis Presley 19,293,118
4 Madonna 14,562,856
5 Elton John 13,475,063
6 Michael Jackson 11,310,958
7 Queen 10,334,713
8 Abba 10,004,039
9 Paul McCartney 9,781,603
10 David Bowie 9,392,410
11 Rod Stewart 9,046,492
12 Rolling Stones 8,348,470
13 Kylie Minogue 7,994,130
14 Stevie Wonder 7,614,227
15 Spice Girls 7,507,213
16 Shakin' Stevens 7,108,330
17 Whitney Houston 6,993,105
18 Bee Gees 6,943,851
19 George Michael 6,819,419
20 Status Quo 6,727,822
21 Boney M 6,587,018
22 Slade 6,520,171
23 Olivia Newton John 6,493,006
24 Blondie 6,456,881
25 Boyzone 6,435,711
26 Oasis 6,225,785
27 UB40 5,997,222
28 Tom Jones 5,892,220
29 Celine Dion 5,683,264
30 The Police 5,617,175
31 Madness 5,564,459
32 Diana Ross 5,326,780
33 Wham! 5,298,431
34 Adam Ant 5,296,965
35 The Jam 5,094,055
36 Frankie Goes To Hollywood 5,008,067
37 Robbie Williams 4,973,227
38 Pet Shop Boys 4,913,655
39 Phil Collins 4,889,059
40 Wet Wet Wet 4,877,328
41 Duran Duran 4,846,531
42 The Everly Brothers 4,827,957
43 The Shadows 4,793,537
44 Westlife 4,726,116
45 Gary Glitter 4,717,834
46 Engelbert Humperdinck 4,710,328
47 U2 4,663,427
48 Bryan Adams 4,614,135
49 Frank Sinatra 4,597,630
50 The Hollies 4,597,450
I'm not really surprised by the outcome. A lot of these acts had a lot of top ten hits (e.g. Cliff, Elvis Status quo)or a few million plus sellers (e.g.Boney M, Beatles)
Slade had a longer run of chart sucess than T-Rex. The heyday for Slade was 1971 to 1975 (six no1s )but they still had chart hits right into the 90s. Merry Christmas Everybody has been good for them.
T-rex had their heyday from 1970 to 1973 (4 No 1s ) & didn't have as many big hits after this period. T Rex never had a Christmas No1. Solid Gold Easy Action charted in Dec 72 so this may have had a Christmas message on it. This got to number 2.
Dean