www.amazon.co.uk/TBC-Susan-Boyle/dp/B003GAMPWM

www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/music-news...s-it-86908-22215072/

Now That is how to sell records !!

Truly amazing, proving the fans who brought the first album obviously loved it so much they are coming around for second helpings.

For those who have "dissed" her in any way it sort of proves the point. Talent sells and there is an awful lot of SOUR GRAPES in the media / other artists out there.

So everything that sells is proof of talent? Jeffrey Archer books? Daniel O'Donnell albums? Avocado loo seats in the 1970s? It's not much of an argument so far, BR, mate.

Prunella Minge wrote:
So everything that sells is proof of talent?

Basically yes. It might not be the singer or writer that has talent but someone certainly must have sufficient talent to make so many people part with their money. Even if it's all based on hype, the person that created the hype must have a talent for doing so.

I dont think a one off sales boom is necessarily proof of talent - but to do it a second time like this surely must show that those who listen to Ms Boyle hear something so special they want to repeat the experience. Talent is not something that can be measured - so sales is really the only way in which we can decide in the short term. Over time that opinion may be refined - often talent that is overlooked because it does not have sales comes through in other ways.

I'm not a Boyle fan but young Pumpkinhead shows great wisdom for his years (probably inherited from his highly intelligent Dad)... talent crosses all creative boundaries and the man who drew those saucy seaside postcards (Gill?) had talent just as Michelangelo or Van Gogh had talent.

And I had talent to produce Leap Up And Down even though I couldn't stand it - but over 400,000 people loved it enough to buy it.

Pumpkinhead wrote:
Prunella Minge wrote:
So everything that sells is proof of talent?

Basically yes. It might not be the singer or writer that has talent but someone certainly must have sufficient talent to make so many people part with their money. Even if it's all based on hype, the person that created the hype must have a talent for doing so.

Yes, pumpky, I take your point, and probably didn't phrase my post clearly enough, but that's not quite the issue BR introduced. What I meant was the fact that an hairy woman, or the James Last Orchestra, or someone else aurally akin to a crate of Blue Nun, sells a lot of records doesn't of and in itself mean there's something intrinsically impressive and admirable about their musical talent. (Then again: it'd be crazy to sneer at anything that sells because it sells. When something genuinely impressive gets marketed impressively we're all happy!) I just don't think BR's 'proof' is up to much.

JK2006 wrote:
talent crosses all creative boundaries and the man who drew those saucy seaside postcards (Gill?) had talent just as Michelangelo or Van Gogh had talent.

And I had talent to produce Leap Up And Down even though I couldn't stand it - but over 400,000 people loved it enough to buy it.

But with all due respect, JK: Donald McGill was genuinely skilled and inspired at what he did illustrating postcards, as you were/are with singles, etc etc. That's about highbrow/lowbrow divisions and prejudices, not about talent as such. Mediocrity crosses all creative boundaries, too!

JK2006 wrote:
I'm not a Boyle fan but young Pumpkinhead shows great wisdom for his years (probably inherited from his highly intelligent Dad)... talent crosses all creative boundaries and the man who drew those saucy seaside postcards (Gill?) had talent just as Michelangelo or Van Gogh had talent.

And I had talent to produce Leap Up And Down even though I couldn't stand it - but over 400,000 people loved it enough to buy it.


haha you must have met my father.
I just googled leap up and down and got a youtube video with a band called St Cecilia? Is this the one?



It's totally harmless so why did the BBC ban it?
Now I'm trying to imagine Susan Boyle doing a version for Comic Relief.

That's it I'm afraid. I still own the rights. You just earned me some pence!

Pumpkinhead wrote:
Now I'm trying to imagine Susan Boyle doing a version for Comic Relief.[/quote]

Yikes! Maybe she and Andrew Sachs could do a version of 'Barcelona' (and then Russell Brand could appear at the end and hit Andrew on the head with a frying pan).

I just can't bring myself to have any feelings about Susan Boyle.

Just watched Carole King and James Taylor on BBC4. Ancient history for many, I know, but what wonderful and decent people they seem, and supremely REAL talents. No Nuremberg Rally-style over-amplified shrieks from an ITV audience, no silly gimmicks, just a couple of great musicians.

At a certain level of sales, questioning the talent is a little irrelevant. Even if it's James Last. The product in question is clearly tocking a lot of boxes.

Michael wrote:
At a certain level of sales, questioning the talent is a little irrelevant. Even if it's James Last. The product in question is clearly tocking a lot of boxes.

Well, we're going round in circles here. If you want to talk about sales, fine, and if you want to talk about talent, fine, but it's another matter to claim to combine the two by pointing to advance orders. Unless you honestly think big sales eo ipso prove a big talent, the discussion's far too muddled to sustain.