"Secret Love" will enter the Billboard Adult Contemporary Top 30 Chart this week at #29.
NICKS OF TIME
Hi Gary,
The legendary Stevie Nicks is releasing a new album soon. Could you please provide up-to-date sales totals for her albums?
Thanks,
John Irving
Austin, Texas
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Hi John,
Nicks releases "In Your Dreams" May 3. The Nicks-written, Dave Stewart-produced first single "Secret Love" is bubbling under the Adult Contemporary chart.
In what should be a tour bursting with beloved hits, Nicks and Rod Stewart's "Heart & Soul" trek runs March 20 through April 23 (although the pair's April 15 show in Phoenix is the closest they'll come to Austin ...)
Here is a look at Nicks' album sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan:
46,000, "The Soundstage Sessions" (2009)
348,000, "Crystal Visions... The Very Best of Stevie Nicks" (2007)
663,000, "Trouble in Shangri-La" (2001)
172,000, "The Enchanted Works of Stevie Nicks" (1998)
231,000, "Street Angel" (1994)
1,543,000, "Timespace: Best of Stevie Nicks" (1991)
Sales for albums released prior to the advent of SoundScan in 1991:
79,000, "The Other Side of the Mirror" (1989)
99,000, "Rock a Little" (1986)
200,000, "The Wild Heart" (1983)
855,000, "Bella Donna" (1981)
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), here are the certifications for Nicks' four pre-SoundScan era studio albums:
Platinum, "The Other Side of the Mirror"
Platinum, "Rock a Little"
2x Multi-Platinum, "The Wild Heart"
4x Multi-Platinum, "Bella Donna"
Nicks has collaborated on several songs with songwriter Rick Nowels, whose deep resume includes hits for Madonna, Belinda Carlisle and Colbie Caillat.
Nowels wrote three of my favorite Nicks songs: "I Can't Wait" (1986), "Two Kinds of Love," featuring Bruce Hornsby and Kenny G (1989), and "Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind" (1994).
In an e-mail last year, Nowels called "Two Kinds of Love" (which inexplicably failed to reach the Adult Contemporary chart upon its release as the second single from "The Other Side of the Mirror") "one of my faves too!"
"Madonna, Belinda, Stevie ... all goddesses of pop."
Once again Warner Bros. Records have proved that they do not know what they are doing in regards to selling a Stevie Nicks song. I would love for Secret Love to be a hit, but I really don't think it's a hit song. I've had the demo for 30 years and would never choose it for a single. Too bad Sheryl Crow ruined Sorcerer on the TISL album. The original demo of that, also 30 years old, with Lindsey and Stevie together had a twangy country beat and the whole song was based on that. And the recorded version lost that, and the song is nowhere near as good. I don't like the way she sings it now either.
ReplyDeleteAnd if there is no better song for a first single on the new album than Secret Love, then it's a bad sign. But then Warner's doesn't have a clue, AC radio would play a great new Stevie song, but this ain't it. Nice album track, not a hit song though.
Her old song Watchdevil would have been a better old demo to record than this. And Stevie says Dave Sterart thought Secret Love was so terrific, and that worries me. The vocal range of the song is so small, no high notes at all.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Stevie said she doesn't care if a single person buys the CD...that she had to do it for herself...is all I needed to hear.
ReplyDeleteI'm not expecting Bella Donna, Wild Heart, or Rock A Little. I'm expecting wherever Stevie is at in her art today. I may not enjoy it as much as some of her passed efforts, but I'll appreciate it just as much.
I have disagreed with choices for singles in the past as well. Shangrila was handled all wrong and could have been much bigger than it was. Best tracks not released off Say You Will either.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Secret Love is her most viable commercial release in a long time. Analysis aside, I really love this song as well and can't wait for the video.
For those of you wanting and waiting for a stripped down acoustic work from Nicks, one that showcases her trademark voice-- this ain't it. Not with Stewart at the helm. And yes, I too, would love a Stevie Unplugged disc. But I am not going to let that dampen my excitement for In Your Dreams, which has been fueled by Secret Love.
I got news for everyone, NO one in or around her age group has "hit" singles anymore. Don't expect it and you won't be let down. Let's face it, Stevie is in the "golden years" of her career, she hit her peak years ago, so just be satisfied that she is still recording decent, if not steallar, material.
ReplyDeleteThat's what everyone thought in 1997 when The Dance came out and then Silver Springs and Landslide were both hits. Not on top 40 radio, but on AC easy listining stations. And I still believe those stations would love to play a great new Stevie song. I just don't think Secret Love is it.
ReplyDelete