Before "Thriller" and "Dark Side of the Moon" came along, what was the best selling album ever?

I remember reading an article that said only three artists are suspected of selling 1,000,000,000 records worldwide: the Beatles, Elvis Presley and . . . Bing Crosby. I was surprised to read that last name!

Since Crosby's peak preceded most album sales, I took the article to mean all records: singles (45 or 78), EPs and albums.

 

I wonder if it might be Johnny Mathis - Johnny's Greatest Hits, that album was on the charts for a gazillion years before Dark Side came along...

 

Yep, that 1958 comp held the record for most weeks on the Billboard 200 chart (490 weeks — almost 10 years!) until DSOTM surpassed it in 1983.

 

Nah, not Johnny Mathis.
Take into account that the album market was much smaller in the late 1950's; albums stayed on longer and the sales aren't consistent with those during the 1970's, 80's or 90's.

Johnny's Greatest Hits shipped 3 million copies, which makes one of the best sellers to come from that decade.

 

"WHite Christmas' (Crosby) is a good bet too.

 

The biggest selling Beatles album is Abbey Road.

 

I think if the WA wins, it's only because each copy sold counted as 2 discs. I thought Abbey Road was their biggest seller, myself.

 

Based upon visits to used record stores...

 

Abbey Road is one of the Beatles biggest sellers. The White album sold approximately seven million more than Abbey road.

The RIAA's Top-Selling Albums of All Time »

 

A spicey military album title springs to mind.

 

I've heard Frampton in interviews lately talking about it being 40 years since it was released. He tells the story of how his manager called and told him Frampton Comes Alive just broke Tapestry's record of best selling album of all time.

I also found reference to it here:

Peter Frampton Reflects on 'Frampton Comes Alive!' 40 Years Later: 'I Went From Musician to Pop Star Overnight' »

Frampton Comes Alive! bounced around the top 10 for the rest of 1976, logging a total of 10 weeks at No. 1, selling more than 6 million copies and breaking Carole King's sales record for Tapestry.

 

Remember that the White Album actually sold half as many copies as have been reported/certified. As a double LP, it counted double for charts and certifications. This is why there are so many double sets among the certified titles.

Anyway, the answer to the OP's question is probably "nobody knows" because tracking was haphazard before the CD era.

 

I'm not sure if they've made a mistake, or they're talking about the U.S only, and Tapestry outside it there since. I could be wrong, but can't imagine that a worldwide 11 million selling album would've outsold a 25 million selling album globally at any point.

 

I swear I was getting ready to post that! If my family had a copy, I assume everyone else's did.

 

I've seen in a few places Sgt Pepper listed as the best selling Beatles album at 32 million. Oddly enough, their second best is "1" at 31 million. But everyone seems to count these thing differently.

 

In the US it would be Abbey Road. I don't know about worldwide.

 

That's because RIAA counts each copy of the white album twice because it's a double album. It's actual sales are close to half that amount.

 

Simple answer it was Saturday Night Fever, No question , My friend at Billboard has confirmed this for me. The Beatles were not even close in 1980

 

I was referring to the comment about the Beatles best selling album. And the OP is asking for pre-Dark Side of the Moon.

 

I didn't know that before now. I just read up about that elsewhere too.

 

Sorry about that , I just read the Thriller part. Tapestry is the answer , then. No doubt about this either , SNF actually overtook Tapestry (not Dark Side, which was more of a steady dribble of sales , each week

 

Tapestry suffers from that "can't sing" problem.

 

Also remember labels have to pay for RIAA certifications. A lot of time , they will not , esp. if you are not relevant anymore or not on their label anymore or a number of other reasons.

 

How so? I love Carole King's voice on that album. It's part of what makes it so good.

 

I think you're right. I've seen a few places that say DSOTM became the best selling album in 1977, which is after Frampton Comes Alive. However, I just looked them up and more than one also says that it broke the record "that Tapestry held for 6 years."

The Billboard article just says "best selling", so I guess they mean by their US rankings.