Comments on: Josh Groban Is Probably Dreading Christmas

By: Thierry

Thierry — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:51:16 +0000

@Thierry: Also, why does Oprah hate music?

By: Thierry

Thierry — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:50:52 +0000

@dennisobell: It's really too bad that the numbers are so low for both Ghostface and Wu-Tang, since both albums have steadily been growing on me over the past several days.

As for Josh Groban's sales numbers, do they mean that we should just swear in Obama as President now? After all, Obama's been getting the same push from Oprah as Groban...

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:14:44 +0000

@dennisobell: Well, it did almost twice the numbers of Ghost's record last week. Is it just that the Wu-Tang brand has lost its luster? What kind of numbers did Iron Flag do in its first week?

By: Chris Molanphy

Chris Molanphy — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 10:19:22 +0000

I'm surprised no one's mentioning here how anemic that Wu-Tang number is. Even accounting for the New Reality in the industry, that's literally around one-tenth the first-week number of Wu -Tang Forever a decade ago and probably one-fifth that of The W.

I half-wonder if, in the clannish world of hip-hop, all the badmouthing of the record by Ghostface et al. flagged longtime Wu-heads to give the record a skip.

By: Chris Molanphy

Chris Molanphy — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 10:14:58 +0000

@Camp Tiger Claw: I think it's fair to say what Groban's pulling off here is essentially unprecedented.

The last holiday album to even top the charts was Kenny G's 1994 Miracles: The Holiday Album, which sold 3 million copies by the end of that year's holiday season. (It has since been certified octuple-platinum.) That's comparable to the numbers Groban's rolling this year (although by next week Groban will probably have cleared 3 mil), but as to your question, the Kenny G record fell way short of the top-sellers of either 1994 (Ace of Base's The Sign, 7 million by year-end '94) or 1995 (Hootie and the Blowfish, Cracked Rear View, about 10 million during calendar '95).

In general, it's common for Christmas albums to sell well over time but rare for them to explode in a single holiday season. That's why No. 1 Christmas albums are so rare.

(Thanks to lastclearchance for the useful item about "White Christmas." Until Elton John's Diana-porn tribute record in '97, "White Christmas" was the biggest-selling single of all time.)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:59:20 +0000

@Camp Tiger Claw:

Has that ever happened before? A holiday album being the highest selling record of the year?

I'm not one of Idolator's chart gurus and I don't have extensive Billboard stat access, but I think it's only happened for a single, not an album: Bing Crosby's recording of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas," the top seller of 1942. Jody Rosen's fascinating book about the song includes an amusing anecdote on journalistic industry predictions:

"Time magazine proclaimed the song the biggest smash of Berlin's 'hit-studded' career and speculated that its success alone might reverse the fortunes of the slumping sheet-music industry."

By: ascot-revival

ascot-revival — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:28:53 +0000

Idolator’s campaign to take the Jonas Brothers to the Top (20, at least) of the Pops seems to be working!

By: Maura Johnston

Maura Johnston — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:16:04 +0000

@Camp Tiger Claw: Well, you could probably make the case that it sort of happened on this year's Billboard charts, what with all the albums that were given as presents during last year's holiday season making such strong showings.

By: Charlie Kerfelds Jetsons Tee

Charlie Kerfelds Jetsons Tee — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:13:25 +0000

@Camp Tiger Claw: Tune in tomorrow! Same Bat-time! Same Bat-channel!

By: Camp Tiger Claw

Camp Tiger Claw — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:08:47 +0000

Has that ever happened before? A holiday album being the highest selling record of the year?

Can this be the death knell for even looking at sales charts anymore?

Can I write a comment that consists entirely of questions?