1983 Best selling albums

[Macfan4life]

I was looking at Billboard's best selling albums over the years. I was interested to find out that Bella Donna sold better in 1983 than Stevie's 1983 release The Wild Heart.
Bella Donna finished 1983 at #61
The Wild Heart finished 1983 at #80

Mirage was right behind The Wild Heart at #88


I knew Bella Donna sold so much better than The Wild Heart but did not realize that even peaking at #5 behind Thriller and Flashdance in 1983, Bella Donna would still finish the year far ahead of The Wild Heart.


A few more interesting tid bits is Men At Work finished the year at #2 and Pat Benatar at #16. I would not have guessed that either but both sold heavy in the first few months of 1983. Thriller knocked Men At Work out of the top spot in February 1983.

https://www.sporcle.com/games/Alstai...top-100-albums

[jcalzaretta]

and Men at Work knocked Mirage out of number 1 if my memory is right. What was Bella Donna in 1982 yearend?

[BombaySapphire3]

This doesn't really add up in comparison to a year end issue of Billboard I saw at the time where they had Stevie as the best selling female artist of 1983.

[Macfan4life]

The Wild Heart was platinum but did not go double platinum until December 1983 or 1984.
This means Bella Donna sold just over 1 million copies in 1983 which is completely believable since it sold over twice as much as the Wild Heart. As Fishkin once said, every studio release sold less as the drugs increased.
No way Stevie was the best selling female artist in 1983. She was always eclipsed by Benatar. Benatar had 2 albums on the charts in 1983 with releasing her "Live from Earth" late in 1983 which sold over a million copies and she was the only female artist to have a live album go platinum. The album was from her "Get Nervous" tour where the album peaked at #4 and stayed on the charts for 46 weeks. That album also featured "Love is a Battlefield" which Pat again beat Stevie for the female rock category for the Grammy and Music award. This is why at the time I hated Pat because that sneaky live album at the end of 1983 screwed Stevie out of a Grammy

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

The Wild Heart was platinum but did not go double platinum until December 1983 or 1984.
This means Bella Donna sold just over 1 million copies in 1983 which is completely believable since it sold over twice as much as the Wild Heart. As Fishkin once said, every studio release sold less as the drugs increased.
No way Stevie was the best selling female artist in 1983. She was always eclipsed by Benatar. Benatar had 2 albums on the charts in 1983 with releasing her "Live from Earth" late in 1983 which sold over a million copies and she was the only female artist to have a live album go platinum. The album was from her "Get Nervous" tour where the album peaked at #4 and stayed on the charts for 46 weeks. That album also featured "Love is a Battlefield" which Pat again beat Stevie for the female rock category for the Grammy and Music award. This is why at the time I hated Pat because that sneaky live album at the end of 1983 screwed Stevie out of a Grammy

Wrong. The Wild Heart did not actually reach double platinum status until 1993, which was 10 years after its release. Until the success of the Dance, each Stevie Nicks sold about half as much as the previous albums. After the Dance, sales picked up. The Dance lifted her career out of the gutter.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

Wrong. The Wild Heart did not actually reach double platinum status until 1993, which was 10 years after its release. Until the success of the Dance, each Stevie Nicks sold about half as much as the previous albums. After the Dance, sales picked up. The Dance lifted her career out of the gutter.

It was on the edge of double platinum at the end of 83/early 84 so much so that the Rock album countdown in 1983 report it as so. Ok it sold a few thousand more copies to be officially crowned 10 year later.
My point remains exactly the same. Bella Donna sold better in 1983 than the Wild Heart.

[BombaySapphire3]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

The Wild Heart was platinum but did not go double platinum until December 1983 or 1984.
This means Bella Donna sold just over 1 million copies in 1983 which is completely believable since it sold over twice as much as the Wild Heart. As Fishkin once said, every studio release sold less as the drugs increased.
No way Stevie was the best selling female artist in 1983. She was always eclipsed by Benatar. Benatar had 2 albums on the charts in 1983 with releasing her "Live from Earth" late in 1983 which sold over a million copies and she was the only female artist to have a live album go platinum. The album was from her "Get Nervous" tour where the album peaked at #4 and stayed on the charts for 46 weeks. That album also featured "Love is a Battlefield" which Pat again beat Stevie for the female rock category for the Grammy and Music award. This is why at the time I hated Pat because that sneaky live album at the end of 1983 screwed Stevie out of a Grammy

Again I have a great memory ..I know what I saw in the year end Billboard issue in 1983..also didn't you dispute my recollection that Dave Mason opened for Fleetwood Mac at the Forum Mirage show a couple of weeks ago on the Rumours forum and I ended up being proven correctAlso Benatar did not always eclipse Stevie. Bella Donna was released within weeks of Precious Time in 1981 and easily outsold it and was buoyant in the charts for far longer than the Benatar album .In 1985 Rock a Little was released within days of Pat's Seven the Hard Way . Rock a Little quickly went platinum while Pat's album barely went gold and did not even crack the top twenty on Billboard 200.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3

Again I have a great memory ..I know what I saw in the year end Billboard issue in 1983..also didn't you dispute my recollection that Dave Mason opened for Fleetwood Mac at the Forum Mirage show a couple of weeks ago on the Rumours forum and I ended up being proven correctAlso Benatar did not always eclipse Stevie. Bella Donna was released within weeks of Precious Time in 1981 and easily outsold it and was buoyant in the charts for far longer than the Benatar album .In 1985 Rock a Little was released within days of Pat's Seven the Hard Way . Rock a Little quickly went platinum while Pat's album barely went gold and did not even crack the top twenty on Billboard 200.

You are picking apples and oranges. When I say Pat eclipsed Stevie I mean every year she won best female rock performance or American Music award. Yes Bella Donna was #1 and so was Precious Time yet Stevie played theaters while Pat was performing arenas. Pat had released 2 platinum albums on the charts in 1983. To be fair so did Stevie since Bella Donna was still charting.
Stevie has 0 solo Grammys and 0 solo American music awards. That is what I meant. Not saying she is not deserving.
Having said all of that, Stevie's fanbase is completely different. I saw Stevie solo concerts hit a low of 6,000 in attendance during Timespace and Street Angel. After The Dance she was back up to full speed packed arenas. Pat lost her fanbase. I remember in 1998 I saw Enchanted to a packed amphitheater. Pat Benatar was also coming to town but she was playing at a nightclub.

And BTW, I totally believe you what you read in Billboard. They probably added the sales of Wild Heart, Bella Donna, and Mirage, Rumours, etc for the year and came up with that statement.

And since you are keeping score at home, weren't we both incorrect about the Mirage tour in LA. I knew Glen Frey opened for the Mac in CA but it was not LA. I thought you stated it was someone else before we were both corrected. Mason only played one of the Forum nights. So aren't we both wrong and both partially right

[BombaySapphire3]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

You are picking apples and oranges. When I say Pat eclipsed Stevie I mean every year she won best female rock performance or American Music award. Yes Bella Donna was #1 and so was Precious Time yet Stevie played theaters while Pat was performing arenas. Pat had released 2 platinum albums on the charts in 1983. To be fair so did Stevie since Bella Donna was still charting.
Stevie has 0 solo Grammys and 0 solo American music awards. That is what I meant. Not saying she is not deserving.
Having said all of that, Stevie's fanbase is completely different. I saw Stevie solo concerts hit a low of 6,000 in attendance during Timespace and Street Angel. After The Dance she was back up to full speed packed arenas. Pat lost her fanbase. I remember in 1998 I saw Enchanted to a packed amphitheater. Pat Benatar was also coming to town but she was playing at a nightclub.

And BTW, I totally believe you what you read in Billboard. They probably added the sales of Wild Heart, Bella Donna, and Mirage, Rumours, etc for the year and came up with that statement.

And since you are keeping score at home, weren't we both incorrect about the Mirage tour in LA. I knew Glen Frey opened for the Mac in CA but it was not LA. I thought you stated it was someone else before we were both corrected. Mason only played one of the Forum nights. So aren't we both wrong and both partially right

Nope go back and read the thread..I never stated that anyone other than Dave opened up for Fleetwood Mac on the night of the Mirage tour at the Forum of which I attended .Precious Time and Bella Donna both hit number one but Bellla Donna has sold more than twice as much .There is no way that Fleetwood Mac's albums were included in the tally for the best selling female artist in Billboard's year end chart that is absurd and yeah I'm very aware of Pat winning all those awards that Stevie was up for . I was a huge fan in real time back then but we were primarily discussing album sales.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3

Nope go back and read the thread..I never stated that anyone other than Dave opened up for Fleetwood Mac on the night of the Mirage tour at the Forum of which I attended .Precious Time and Bella Donna both hit number one but Bellla Donna has sold more than twice as much .There is no way that Fleetwood Mac's albums were included in the tally for the best selling female artist in Billboard's year end chart that is absurd and yeah I'm very aware of Pat winning all those awards that Stevie was up for . I was a huge fan in real time back then but we were primarily discussing album sales.

I am only going by what is online with Billboard. That is my reason for starting the thread. I said that I believe you when you read that. This is not my opinion since I posted the link from Billboard. The opinion part is speculation trying to justify what you read. That's all. I remember Casey Kasem having his TV show and counting down the top 10 most succesful women artists of the 80's which was 1983. Stevie was in the top 10 and he included Fleetwood Mac songs as part of his formula. Songs like Sara and Gypsy were credited to her as they probably should have. I hate to burst your bubble but Pat was several notches higher than Stevie.

[BombaySapphire3]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

I am only going by what is online with Billboard. That is my reason for starting the thread. I said that I believe you when you read that. This is not my opinion since I posted the link from Billboard. The opinion part is speculation trying to justify what you read. That's all. I remember Casey Kasem having his TV show and counting down the top 10 most succesful women artists of the 80's which was 1983. Stevie was in the top 10 and he included Fleetwood Mac songs as part of his formula. Songs like Sara and Gypsy were credited to her as they probably should have. I hate to burst your bubble but Pat was several notches higher than Stevie.

If you check many of my recent posts I am far from an apologist for Stevie now. I would not have put Pat several notches above Stevie though for example they tied in 1981 for best female singer in Rolling Stones annual reader's poll and Stevie won it in 1983. Pat released more solo albums than Stevie in the early 1980s so consequently she sold more and she was definitely more hip with high school kids than Stevie in those years but once Pat 's five years were up she was pretty much washed up .Seven the Hard Way in late 85 was a flop from which she never really recovered .I still stand by my recollection of Stevie coming in first in Billboard's 1983 best selling female artist .I even remember the picture that they used.