Best selling quad album?

[EMB]

ALOHA would be the #1 seller, although later it was issued in stereo format, but at the time was quad only. THE BEST OF THE DOORS *might* be #2, but the import Lp's of DARK SIDE were pressed in many countries, so we can't rule that one out either, and the Q8 certainly sold well enough. BOD did have a cassette edition, though like the vinyl, it might have been a record club only edition.

Otto,

The multiplatinum BEST OF THE DOORS is the 1985 2 disc/vinyl set, not the 1973 quad comp, despite what Amazon would have you believe. The '73 Lp did make the charts--no small feat for a custom quad pressing--but in the low positions, wasn't a big hit or anything, since WEIRD SCENES was issued the year before, and 13 a few years before that, so there were already Doors comps available. But it was *officially* in print through 1990, when the labels began phasing out vinyl catalogs in bulk and went to CD's almost exclusively. In reality the vinyl was available for at least 20 years, so it had plenty of time to sell well, and since it was continuously repressed, must have been doing modest but steady numbers all along (which the custom Aretha comp did not--that one was deleted when the labels dropped quad in 1976/77).

ED

 

[quadtrade]

The other single issue titles that probably outsold quad issues, even Columbia and RCA, were some of the Impulse titles. Even though they sold a lot of quad in 73 and 74, I bet none of those dual inventory items outsold Hooker Lps or even Keith Jarreet perhaps. Those lps were out for a lot of years. And still quad.
The idea for this is interesting but probably ought to be divided into single and dual inventory titles.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

I know CHARLIE RICH-BEHIND CLOSED DOORS was a big hit .This dual inventory disc was selling good back in the 70's.Striesand's, Santana's, Chicago, Paul Simon are just a few of one's I know we being restocked locally.Good point about the ABC records HOOKER and BB KING being large sellers and single inventory cds are still selling!
I have two dual inventory PINK FLOYDS that were also issued for a time in the mid 70's( as import)single inventory!
When I ordered my import of WYWH and it arrived with black shrink wrap (no quad or sq indication sticker), I thought oh no stereo, but it was quad.So I have it plus the dual inventory us copy.And ATOM HEART MOTHER I had in import sq, boldly indicated on front cover, but in 76? I came across a copy no sq indicated but had the Q4Shvl on the spine and sure enough after purchase, removed shrink wrap and sq disc was inside. This leads me to believe that the 3 Floyds must have been big sellers!

 

[MidiMagic]

I would say that the Elvis "Aloha from Hawaii" album may have sold the most, but I would venture that most of those records were not played on CD-4 systems. RCA didn't give you a choice. Somebody gave me a used copy in 1977. It is my prime example of "sandpaper quad" and "crashing quad meteorites" combined when played in CD-4. The record had obviously been played on a cheap stereo without being cleaned. But it actually sounds good in stereo.

 

[Quad Linda]

Joe's late Mom, who I loved dearly, was an Elvis fan. She had a CD-4 of Aloha. I doubt she knew Quad from kumquats.

 

[Circular Vibes]

The Aloha from Hawaii LP was actually a dual inventory in Canada. The CD4 pressing was a US import and we had stereo since its release. It is not uncommon to find sealed stereo copies in Canada, but you have to find sealed quads on ePay from the US. Now I bought(and opened) a sealed US copy and it still played sandpapery, but I am on the look out for the remastered black label version, which seems rare on ePay, now that I know about it and want one.

 

[surround.sound.enthusiast]

Best of the Doors did come out on stereo cassette, and it wasn't necessarily through a club. I bought a cassette copy in the early 90's
at a music store. I don't have it with me while I write this, but I believe is was the same track listing as the LP. It definitely used the
same photograph of Morrison. This doesn't help the topic of this thread, but supports the story less common stereo version of this
album.

 

[Quad Linda]

There was a stereo non-club cassette:


and a stereo club cassette:

 

[Circular Vibes]

The Best of The Doors was another title that was a dual inventory release in Canada. There are at least two label versions, the red one and the red/black one. Both were standard issue, not record club issues, though there was a Columbia Record Club pressing too. The CD4 is not all that common in Canada. I have yet to buy a clean copy, both of mine were junk pile copies. This seems redundant with having the AF SACD though.

 

[EMB]

It can probably be safely said that the Doors Lp, having been left in CD-4 and in print into the late '80s would be #2 in quad sales with ALOHA the obvious #1. #3? Worldwide, maybe DSOTM, since it was issued on vinyl here and there, and probably pressed in decent quantities. Add Q8 sales to that and I think we have the top three, but figuring out any others in a top ten would probably be near impossible.

ED