I proceeded to call DavidEye a moron because he didn't know where Helsinki was, not because of his posts on Donna Summer. You I called a moron just because of your rudeness and inablity to understand that there is a world outside US, and you obviously have trouble understanding that different American cultural phenomenons have had different levels of impact elsewhere in the world.

Novabreaker said:

Note that I was only rude to you after you called me a moron.

And your statement is rich coming from someone who knows little enough to compare Donna Summer's influence with the limited contributions of Take That and actually proceeds to state "the Japanese know very little about foreign music anyway". When that country is one of the biggest and most varied markets for foreign music in the world.
[Edited 5/17/05 11:19am]

How about this.

Instead of 3, let's make it 5 icons...

Stevie Wonder
Elton John
David Bowie
Donna Summer
Marvin Gaye

...that should make the majority of folks on this thread happy.

Generally, any time a music thread shifts from musical to political (with what seems to be the required ad hominem attacks), it's usually time to move on.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

theAudience said:

blackguitaristz said:

Gotta do something.
Can't have people crackin' on DavidEye and VC like that.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

blackguitaristz said:

not to be a downer, but I personally think Curtis Mayfield deserves to be on there as much as Marvin

Novabreaker said:

[Whatever the reasons... it's called flaming, and it's not allowed. Don't do it again. - June7]

jacktheimprovident said:

I agree. But a lot of this is based on popularity as well as musical merit. That said, Curtis was THE pioneer in "issue" songs in pop music regarding equality for black people. He was like MLK AND Malcolm X with a guitar. So, there is no denying Curtis's importance. But, was Curtis as "popular" overall as Marvin? Nah, he wasn't. U don't have to convince me about Curtis. I love the man's music. I would say Curtis over ANYONE for the very points I just mentioned. But, also, like I said, this kinda shit has to do with popularity as well. Hell, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Barry Manilow. That motherfucker had a GRIP of hits!

DavidEye said:

Oh, I agree! As I said, this is not MY top three... just numbers wise, it's the three top selling solo artists.

MY TOP THREE:

Stevie Wonder
Billy Joel
Donna Summer

June7 said:

[Referring to Meat Loaf, Billy Joel, Carole King] Those are the top-selling albums by solo artists, not necessarily the top-selling solo artists, right?
[Edited 5/17/05 14:59pm]

VoicesCarry said:

They are listed as the top three selling albums for solo artists in the 70's.

All sales... not as faves, but as numbers. RIAA records sales.

The actual top three selling albums of the 70's are:

1) Pink Floyd - The Wall released 12/79 and sold over 23 Million.
2) Led Zeppelin - IV (Four Symbols) released 11/71 and sold over 22 Million.
3) Fleetwood Mac - Rumours released 02/77 and sold over 19 Million.

June7 said:

That just goes to show the kind of power Zeppelin had for not being a band that relied on singles. Amazing.

June7 said:

The Eagles sold over 28 million copies of one of their GH collections.

VoicesCarry said:

From the Editor's foreword:

"Compilation or greatest hits albums are not included in this list, although live albums and original soundtracks, where all of the songs have been collected together or recorded specifically for the album, are included."

So, even though you're right about the Eagles... it's original albums and soundtracks.

June7 said:

Gotcha!

GangstaFam said:

Well, 96 was after 94!

Novabreaker said:

BTW, Donna Summers was still selling some records in the 1980's.

Yes, she was successful long after disco.

theAudience said:

Agree.

June7 said:

Wow, the 70's really kick ass back in the days!!!

blackguitaristz said:

Actually,I did mention Barry Manilow as someone who should be considered


He was HUGE in the 70s,beginning with his 1974 hit "Could It Be Magic" all the way until the end of the decade.Like Elton and Stevie,he was a consistent hitmaker.

June7 said:

It's hard to argue with those three choices

June7 said:

Saturday Night Fever sold more than all of those.

Cloudbuster said:

Or is this US sales only?

Cloudbuster said:

that's what I was thinking.I always assumed that 'SNF' was the biggest-selling album of all-time until Michael Jackson topped it with 'Thriller'.

DavidEye said:

'Tis true. I think it's still in second place. It should be, anyway.

VoicesCarry said:

No, you called my friend a "moron" way before I proceeded to call you such. You deserved it - especially when using such an expression on such a "petty" (your own words again) subject as Donna Summer's status outside US. Guess why I got pissed off?

VoicesCarry said:


It is NOT acceptable to call people of other culture "morons" (let alone "anal retentives") if they don't know about some 70s American pop singer. I do understand that in your original comment there was a degree of irony involved, so that's a bit of a redeeming factor, but still it's out of line.

...June7 already complained about flaming, so I'll leave it there. But this thing needed to be sorted out.



This is an entirely different matter. On the bulk level the markets in Japan for foreign music are indeed considerable as the number of potential record-buyers is high, but the reality is very few non-japanese acts manage to come nowhere near the sales of domestic artists in Japan. In fact, foreign records have to be sold at considerably reduced prices to attract interest for them. The sales for foreign records in Japan are indeed marginal.

June7 said:

Pink Floyd actually shipped 11.5 million. Its sales are doubled using RIAA methodology for double albums.

Otherwise, Led Zeppelin IV was a bigger hit as a catalogue seller than during its initial run in 1971, when it was topped by Sly & The Family Stone's There's A Riot Goin' On.

Rumours was indeed the best selling album of the 70's (actually of all time) in the US, spending a record 31 weeks on top of Billboard.

Saturday Night Fever was the world's best selling album of the decade.