ABBA in the UK Charts, regular updates, etc.

There's a welcome return back to the UK Official Albums Chart Top 20 for 'ABBA GOLD' this week, as it moves up to number 18 (from last week's number 28).

It was last in the top 20 back in October 2018, off the back of the then-recent release of the 'Mamma Mia - Here We Go Again' film.

Co-incidentally, several other 'big' artists have their 'Greatest Hits'-type packages back in the UK top 30 at the moment - Queen, Beatles, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac and Oasis all being examples...perhaps a combination of some artists delaying new album releases, and a resurgence of fondness for 'timeless' classics in this lockdown period?

Just for the curious, and alas I’m only a poor mans Colin..( Onlyabba4me)😀

Abba Gold has currently spent 161 consecutive weeks in the UK album charts. ( as of yesterday). A total of 952 weeks, the most of any Album.
It’s currently at number 21 and has sold approximately 75,000 copies ( around 2000-3000 every week). It is currently around the    25th best selling album of the year, and should achieve around 100,000 copies sold in 2020.

All of this is achieved without TV/ radio promotion, no current material, No Mamma Mia 2 on terrestrial TV etc..
very few acts can do this, currently longevity in the UK charts to rival ABBA are Queen ( of course) Bob Marley, Fleetwood Mac.. other artists doing well are Elton John and David Bowie...all seem to be selling well.

As of August 2020; ABBA Gold has just been awarded its 19th platinum disc for UK sales of 5,700,000
Still the UKs second biggest selling album of all time behind Queens Greatest Hits......

I feel sure ABBA would fare better with a new single, if, when...
But I do think people have become blasé and complacent because of modern media, expecting something for nothing - and lazy. I definitely have: if I want to listen to an old track, certainly, it's so easy to simply turn to YouTube - and I too often do.

Gosh it was hard to find where to post this titbit of information.......

It may amount to nothing, probably, but Angeleyes is picking up a lot of plays, thanks to Stranger Things, the phenomenon that’s pushing Kate Bush with Running Up That Hill to the top of the UK singles charts...

Apparently Angeleyes is also featured and therefore picking up plays.... could it be a hit ?..

GOLD zooms up 10 places to #5 in the UK album chart. In the Sales Chart up from 17 to 6.

Aww Colin, always love your stats. You used to send me newsletters in the early 90s. It’s great you still a chart enthusiast. There must be a book in you.

Colin, will Gold's milestone be best selling album in the 30 years the Official Charts Company began compiling charts?

It will have 1 million sales pre 1994 missing but Queen will have far more.

In America, Soundscan or whatever it changed its name to has lusts of best sellers since it began compiling in 1991. The OCC doesn't for its period.


Edit. This is correct info - but you are thinking of charts not sales.

For those that are interested , from another site UKMIX.
Some members have compiled a top 5000 of sales from the 1980s
Here are ABBAs sales, apparently very accurate.....

Here are ABBA's UK 1980s sales from Robbie

#42 Super Trouper, 698, 028

#115 One of Us, 525, 302

#152 The Winner Takes it All 475,775

#1056 I Have a Dream 186,138

#1107 LAYLOM. 178,248

#1534 Head Over Heels 132,664

#1866 Under Attack, 103,712

#2048 The Day Before You Came, 88, 892.

#3082 Thankyou for the Music, 44,489


#2546 I Know There’s Something Going On, 62,120

#3059 The Heat is On 44, 846

#4010 Wrap Your Arms Around Me 26,724


I was always sceptical about TWTIA selling over 500k let alone 600k. The minor hits did better than I expected.

I Have A Dream's totals for physical sales are around 575k. The bulk of them would be for December 79. Sales drop massively after Christmas.

It looks like 389k for 70s and 186k for 80s. As it was 20 something for 1979 this seems about right. Had all its sales been in the 1980s it would have been around #65 for the decade.

The Winner Takes it All is on 475k and not much higher figures you may have seen elsewhere. It was the 18th best seller of 1980 which was a lowest sales year in the period 1976-84.

   A).. ABBA are now at No.1 in both the European iTunes Song Chart, ('Happy New Year'), and the
   European iTunes Album Chart, ('ABBA Gold'). It's The first  time that ABBA have achieved this. Both
   are also in the Top 3, in the iTunes Worldwide Song and Album Charts.

   B).. 'ABBA Gold' is up from No.6 to No.3 in the Mid Week UK Album Chart. Which is its 80th Week in
   the Top 10 - the 7th Most ever, as regards UK Artists Albums. 

   C).. If it can remain in the the Top 4 on Friday, it be its highest UK Chart Position since it was at No.2
   on W/E 30th August 2008. 
    

Gold was the 10th best selling album of 2023 - including streaming of course


www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-albums-of-2023/

Estimated sales for 2023 around 230k - up from 199k last year.

The top selling album of 2023 from The Weekend just under 400k.

I'm astonished OoU sold half a million, but there again it's far from a favourite of mine. That's the Yuletide premium, I guess. I wonder how many fewer OoS and IHAD would have sold had they been released in August, say, rather than December. And I wonder how many TWTIA would have shipped with a late November release. I do love a counterfactual!

Absolutely criminal that IKTSGO only shipped 60,000 in the UK. Should have been ten times that! Perfect record, to my ears.