OK it's not Military Wives but it is GLOBAL and not just UK.
Not bad for one week.
The new model. We've cracked it.
Now to move forward from here.
Major labels are still bemused; publishers are terrified; radio and TV are still not playing it because it doesn't sound like everything else which is probably why their listeners are dwindling...

I remember when our Publishing group was the No1 for three quarters running (because Mamma Mia was such a smash film - as well as being bloody great in my opinion) and I was asked how we could do that with only three employees (Me, Carole and the late, great John Spalding) and I answered "because the music is great".

The same answer I gave to Michael Grade and Bill Cotton when they couldn't understand why No Limits was the top rated show on BBC2 in the 1980s.

Happy New Year Tipsters.

I have a friend who released music via Tunecore and he is always told he can't get his sales figures until two months after release. Does it depend on how many are sold? I think he doesn't sell many (his music is kinda crap).

Thats amazing in this day and age, where its really difficult to get people to part with cash for music. Well deserved too, far better than those military wives or x-factor rubbish.

Is there an album in the pipeline?

Hopefully not, Robbie; I hate albums - they are usually one hit and loads of crap padding. The concept was invented by the big labels to grab as much profit from one off hit singles as possible. The era of rip off albums is over now you can download single tracks. I've advised Alex to put out a compilation/collection when he has several hit singles.

Yes PH, I think the aggregators give figures if you sell a lot. We can get them at almost a moment's notice from iTunes via AWAL but that's because we're their biggest product line.

I spoke to my Dad about his singles collection on 45's it's all he has left. He said it's due to the classic songs on them without the crap on a 12 inch. Paul Jones I've Been A Bad Bad Boy with Sonny Boy Williams is the best single he owns from his huge collection.

JK2006 wrote:
Hopefully not, Robbie; I hate albums - they are usually one hit and loads of crap padding. The concept was invented by the big labels to grab as much profit from one off hit singles as possible. The era of rip off albums is over now you can download single tracks. I've advised Alex to put out a compilation/collection when he has several hit singles.



On the whole I agree about albums, although some albums have every track been a great tune, such as Lexican of Love by ABC, Tin Drum by Japan, and even Rio by Duran Duran (I'm sure you won't agree with this one jk).

Most pop albums are crap, other than the 2 or 3 singles on them. Even Abba's non-single songs were pretty dire as were the Police.

Barenaked Ladies "All In Good Time" is one of my favourite new albums, and Jon Allen's "Sweet Defeat". So good albums are still possible, you just have to find a way through the tripe to find the good stuff.

Sorry to reply to my own message, but just to add to the last message, I see that Alex already has an album out, available on spotify called 'The world is mine (I don't know anything)' from 2010.

Also with regards to albums, I feel the same way about concerts by relatively new bands. You have to sit through an hour or so of dirge, just to listen to 1 or 2 hit singles. Thats why I would only go and see bands that have lots of hit singles behind them, or multiple band concerts. All killer no filler is what I want.

What an extraordinary statement - Albums are crap????
Golden era Pink Floyd, Yes, Jethro Tull etc etc
Current Porcupine Tree

Concept albums - hardly a single between them but a combination of tracks creating something that was so much more

Of course there are exceptions that prove the rule; a very few "concept" albums (like Genesis To Revelation - Genesis) are valid as an art form, just as the classical concertos and symphonies deserve to exist at full length.

But the majority of albums are crap thrown together to profit from a single.

JK2006 wrote:


But the majority of albums are crap thrown together to profit from a single.

I think as the discussion has moved on to defend LPs we must remember this point,that while there are some great LPs,yes the majority are just filler padding out a few singles.

I can remember thinking what a con B-sides usually were. Occasionally a label would release a double A-side which would throw up an unexpected gem of a hit. This happened in 1980 with the Jam's Dreams of Children / Going Underground which due to a mix up at the pressing plant, caused the B-side to become the A-side. The rest, of course, is history!

Coming back to digital downloads, the A-side/B-side issue is no longer a problem...

"But the majority of albums are crap thrown together to profit from a single."

*Gasps in amazement*. This may be true of your average X Factor artist but not of music in general. When done well an album can be a cohesive statement : think Dylan's 'Blood on the TRacks' or Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust'. I can think of piles of albums that had no hits on them at all and yet contain only one or two duff tracks, if at all. Nick Drake's three albums for example. I can also think of albums where the so called 'filler' songs are better than the hits. I'd say that 'The Queen is DEad' by the Smiths is one of these. Songs like 'I Know Its Over' & the title track are better than hits such as 'Bigmouth Strikes Again'.

Hamlet wrote:
"But the majority of albums are crap thrown together to profit from a single."

*Gasps in amazement*. This may be true of your average X Factor artist but not of music in general. When done well an album can be a cohesive statement : think Dylan's 'Blood on the TRacks' or Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust'. I can think of piles of albums that had no hits on them at all and yet contain only one or two duff tracks, if at all. Nick Drake's three albums for example. I can also think of albums where the so called 'filler' songs are better than the hits. I'd say that 'The Queen is DEad' by the Smiths is one of these. Songs like 'I Know Its Over' & the title track are better than hits such as 'Bigmouth Strikes Again'.

What an excellent post, Hamlet.

I think that maybe if your only interest is chart singles then then you will come across plenty of albums that are singles plus fillers. But that's because chart singles are all you're interested in.

The examples you speak of are excellent ones, in particular The Queen is Dead by The Smiths is brilliant. As you say, there are so many brilliant songs on that album that would not have made great radio singles, but that does not make them great songs.

And I think that is my point. People such as yourself JK are obviosuly brilliant at what you do, but when you state that albums are 'crap' you are simply stating the fact that you're only interested in hit singles and anything else gets in the way and or is maybe too much effort.

As for ABBA, their albums before Arrival were patchy at best, but from then one each is a classic with at the most one dud per album. Eagle wasreleased as a single in many countries but was a flop. Why? Because the nearly 6 minute song had to be edited down for radio, and each of the edits that were made took so much away from the song that it became a pale shadow of the brilliant song on the album.

Now I love a great single, a 'hit' as well, but if that's the only thing you're looking for in music then your attention span is going to be very limited and you won't like albums.

Finally, a list of artists I love who don't ever bother the singles charts but who make fabulous albums:

Kate Bush
Janis Ian
Peter Hamill
Marc Almond
Alison Moyet
Peter Gabriel
Patrick Wolf
Sparks
Carmel
Morrissey

and there are so many more.

If people want to live their lives thinking that Kelly Marie or Una Paloma Blanca are the best thing that music has to offer and that anything else that lasts longer than 3 minutes is a waste of brain cells, well I'll leave them to it.

Can I just correct one paragraph from my post above:

The examples you speak of are excellent ones, in particular The Queen is Dead by The Smiths is brilliant. As you say, there are so many brilliant songs on that album that would not have made great radio singles, but that does not mean that they are not great songs.

Alex seems to have fallen off the Top 40 already; could the lack of airplay be a factor in this...

Quite a few of my friends bought Alex Day's single but most say they don't particularly like the song but they bought to to rebel against the likes of X-Factor, Military Wags, etc, or to just prove that they are not all sheep. So, it remains to be seen whether Alex Day has enough substance to be more than just another Christmas gimmick.

Pumpkinhead wrote:
Quite a few of my friends bought Alex Day's single but most say they don't particularly like the song but they bought to to rebel against the likes of X-Factor, Military Wags, etc, or to just prove that they are not all sheep.

....so doesn't that make them sheep?

Brian wrote:
Pumpkinhead wrote:
Quite a few of my friends bought Alex Day's single but most say they don't particularly like the song but they bought to to rebel against the likes of X-Factor, Military Wags, etc, or to just prove that they are not all sheep.

....so doesn't that make them sheep?

We are all sheep, but some of us have better quality wool.

a question !!!

I love the 'democracy of an outfit like Tunecore ...are they kosher ?