Heartland

I'm talking albums here. I presume that Floodland and Vision Thing went gold many times. I heard that all of the Sisters' albums have (eventually) turned in profits, which in the music industry is something of a feat. Which was the biggest seller? How many millions, all told, are we talking here?

Does anyone have any information to satisfy my curiosity?

I don't know how many records they've sold; that is info that record companies are often reluctant to give out.
I once read that they'd sold 5 million records, in total, worldwide, which seems a likely figure, but I don't know if that is 100% true (I can't even remember where I read it!)
the only solid info I have, I have gleaned from the excellent BPI website http://www.bpi.co.uk/flashmainindex.html where you can find out which awards an artist has recieved (in Britain) for album sales.
to get a platinum record you have to sell 300,000 units
to get gold, 100,000 units
to get silver, 60,000 units
so far the sisters have two gold and three silver albums, in chronological order:

SISTERS OF MERCY , FLOODLAND , Gold , Fri Mar 11 1988

SISTERS OF MERCY , FIRST AND LAST AND ALWAYS , Gold , Mon May 8 1989

SISTERS OF MERCY , VISION THING , Silver , Tue Nov 6 1990

SISTERS OF MERCY , SOME GIRLS WANDER BY MISTAKE , Silver , Mon Mar 1 1993

SISTERS OF MERCY , A SLIGHT CASE OF OVERBOMBING , Silver , Sat Jul 1 1995

so they have definately sold AT THE VERY LEAST 380,000 albums in the UK; probably well over half a million (bear in mind there is a massive 'jump' to the platinum stage). you can find the Sisters albums in virtually every record shop in the country, so back-album sales must still be strong, and I'm reckoning that Floodland and FALAA must have sold more than 200,000 each by now as they are such 'goth classics'.

anyone have an accurate definative figure?

MrChris wrote:I'm talking albums here. I presume that Floodland and Vision Thing went gold many times. I heard that all of the Sisters' albums have (eventually) turned in profits, which in the music industry is something of a feat. Which was the biggest seller? How many millions, all told, are we talking here?

Does anyone have any information to satisfy my curiosity?

Eldritch said in the interview in Glasperlenspiel 05 (which came out last year, but was on sale at this year's gigs) that the three proper albums had sold a million copies each.

Alexander

So, five millions albums is probably a good ballpark figure. AE once said that his market was split more or less equally three ways between the UK, Germany and everywhere else. So maybe one and a half million albums in the UK might be a more or less accurate figure. I was surprised to hear that FALAA had gone gold, but Vision Thing hadn't. Maybe it's because I was too young to know in 1985, but I always thought they were a bigger band in 1990 - in terms of sales, I mean. It may also be because I'm not from the North, and didn't feel the tremendous impact the first album obviously made in the northern heartland...

MrChris wrote: It may also be because I'm not from the North, and didn't feel the tremendous impact the first album obviously made in the northern heartland...

I know I'm quoting you out of context, but this did make me think...

Sisters aren't too well known in my country and I first heard 'em in 94, so I was wondering, at the time of release, did the albums have an 'impact'? If so, what was it? Did their release change anything at the time?

I always thought that the time the Sisters made the biggest splash in the 'world out there' was 1987. I think Eldritch actually became something of a widely-known figure in the media then, kind of a low-budget eighties icon. And, weirdly, many people in the music press seemed to wish the band well, admitted they liked the record, seemed glad they were doing what they were doing. I don't think this was the same in 1990, and even less after that. I think that by about 1993, most people in the music press seemed secure in the notion that the Sisters could be treated with contempt.

Then again, you can't base too much on the reaction of the NME and (now departed) Melody Maker et al. It's a small, incestuous world, and notoriously fickle.

In terms of changing things, despite Eldritch's claims of influence, there aren't a huge number of bands of whom you could say that they wouldn't have existed without the Sisters. And the ones that can have tended to be very derivative, and you may not want to listen to them. But feel free to disagree with me on this!

as far as i know, some girls was the biggest seller, eldritch in an interview on MTV said that VT only sold 60 thousand in the UK which by todays standards is amazing!

Matt

MrChris wrote: there aren't a huge number of bands of whom you could say that they wouldn't have existed without the Sisters.

That is apart form Every goth band from about 1982 to about 1995!

Matt

Well, I don't know what debt the Cure or Siouxsie owed to the Sisters, and for me, those are the ones that really made important music. Probably because they weren't being derivative. I guess you're right about lots of the others - Rosetta Stone, Nosferatu, the m*****n - but these days I tend to put them in the 'derivative, don't want to listen to them' category. I honestly don't want to start any arguments about this though! I'm not an expert on this at all, but my personal opinion is that the Sisters' claim to being a great band lies in the damned fine songs they produced, rather than being at the forefront of any cultural movement.

Very interesting point about Some Girls Wander by Mistake - I didn't realise it had been so popular. We may have to revise our estimate upwards, especially since the Sisters records, as BlackShuk noted, sell for a very long time. Maybe six million and counting?

MrChris wrote:Well, I don't know what debt the Cure or Siouxsie owed to the Sisters

Thats why i said 1982, cause those 2 were well established hitmakers then


Im refering to the Scene bands, Like you say, rosetta, Nosferat, marionettes, Dream Disciples, All Living Fear, Vendemmian, Merry Thoughts

etc

matt

Aha, I get the 1982 point. I guess it's just a personal thing whether you think giving birth to these later bands is something to be proud of or not. I personally suspect that AE is not especially proud of it, but we'd have to ask him. But I get your point.

MrChris wrote:AE is not especially proud of it, but we'd have to ask him. But I get your point.

I think the main reason that Eldritch hates g-oths and G-oth bands isnt because they are G-oth bands its more the Vampire / cheesey bands that were around in the lat 80s early 90s, and the whole vampire culture, as at the time most of these people used bands like the sisters as one of there main influences and thus eldritch ran a mile.

Matt

I remember an Interview on MTV where Andrew says abou VT: The Album could have done a little better especially in England, so not huge sales there...

MrChris wrote:Very interesting point about Some Girls Wander by Mistake - I didn't realise it had been so popular.

Temple of love feaver, everyone in 1992 became born again goths !!!

Matt

James wrote:

MrChris wrote: It may also be because I'm not from the North, and didn't feel the tremendous impact the first album obviously made in the northern heartland...

I know I'm quoting you out of context, but this did make me think...

Sisters aren't too well known in my country and I first heard 'em in 94, so I was wondering, at the time of release, did the albums have an 'impact'? If so, what was it? Did their release change anything at the time?

I remember at the time the 7" and 12" of This Corrosion came out, things had been quiet for some time, regarding the Sisters, no-one knew what to make out of the Sisterhood and the m*****n was breaking it into the majors, about to become the new Simple Minds or U2. They didn't quite make it all the way though, as we all know. And people had written the Sisters off as dead. Then the single came out and the mainstream record store in the small provincial east coast town I was inhabiting at the time, in Sweden, advertised all over the place. They were up there with the big sellers, like Rick Astley and Michael Bolton. Wich was pretty cool. They had a huge star'n'head-logo dangling from the ceiling, wich I knicked when the party was over.

The Green Lantern wrote: They were up there with the big sellers, like Rick Astley and Michael Bolton. Wich was pretty cool.

Don't believe. It could be cool without Rick Astley and Michael Bolton being on the sight