martin
Well-Known Member
While I realize that the interest for chart statistics from Scandinavia may be somewhat limited over there in the US, I still would like to provide some while we're all waiting for February to come.
I will start out with Norway, of course. The official album and single charts here have been presented by the country's biggest newspaper VG since the late fifties. The positions of the different TJB releases are quite different here from both the US and the UK and I will provide some theories on what I believe to be the reasons for that.
The longest charting album by Herb and the TJB in Norway is
GOING PLACES. It spent a total of 90 weeks on the chart, entering in 1967, staying through most of 1968, entering again in 1969 and 1970. Peak position: No. 5
No. 2 is THE BEAT OF THE BRASS staying 26 weeks in 1968 and 69. Peak position: No. 8, then reentering by the end of 1969 to spend another 7 weeks on the chart peaking at no. 14. A total of 40 weeks.
The no.3 is WHIPPED CREAM spending 27 weeks in the charts in 1967 and peaking at no. 10.
No. 4 is NINTH staying 22 weeks in 1968, peaking at no. 7
These four are the best selling TJB titles in Norway by a solid margin. Other entries are:
RISE - the only solo album charting in Norway. 8 weeks in 1980, peaking at no. 21
DEFINITIVE HITS - 7 weeks in 2001, peak position: No. 12
SOUNDS LIKE - 8 weeks in 1967, peak position: No 13
S.R.O. - 6 weeks in 1967, peak position: No. 17
WARM - 3 weeks in 1969, peak position: No. 14
DOWN MEXICO WAY - 2 weeks in 1970, peak position: No 14
WHAT NOW MY LOVE - 2 weeks in 1967, peak position: No. 20
GREATEST HITS - 1 week in 1970, peak position: No. 20
The first thing to be noticed is that the peak of the TJB's popularity is later here than in both the US and the UK. There are no chart entries in 1966 and the first album to chart is WHIPPED CREAM. The hight of Herb's popularity appears to be from the end of 1968 and almost all of 1969. I believe the explanation for this is the showing of the TV specials. In Norway in the sixties most Norwegians had only one TV channel available; the state run NRK. Exposure on this channel meant nationwide exposure with no competition. The first TJB TV special was shown in the spring of 1968, the Beat Of The Brass special was shown less than a year later and the Brass Are Comin' was shown in August 1970. Towards the end of 69 the TJB toured Scandinavia, not playing a concert in Norway, but giving an exclusive TV interview to NRK in one of the big entertainment shows.
TV is also a great part of the explanation for the RISE and DEF HITS entries. The Rise video was shown repeatedly on NRK in early 1980 and DEF HITS was advertised quite heavily on the commercial channels in 2001.
- greetings from the not all that cold north -
Martin
I will start out with Norway, of course. The official album and single charts here have been presented by the country's biggest newspaper VG since the late fifties. The positions of the different TJB releases are quite different here from both the US and the UK and I will provide some theories on what I believe to be the reasons for that.
The longest charting album by Herb and the TJB in Norway is
GOING PLACES. It spent a total of 90 weeks on the chart, entering in 1967, staying through most of 1968, entering again in 1969 and 1970. Peak position: No. 5
No. 2 is THE BEAT OF THE BRASS staying 26 weeks in 1968 and 69. Peak position: No. 8, then reentering by the end of 1969 to spend another 7 weeks on the chart peaking at no. 14. A total of 40 weeks.
The no.3 is WHIPPED CREAM spending 27 weeks in the charts in 1967 and peaking at no. 10.
No. 4 is NINTH staying 22 weeks in 1968, peaking at no. 7
These four are the best selling TJB titles in Norway by a solid margin. Other entries are:
RISE - the only solo album charting in Norway. 8 weeks in 1980, peaking at no. 21
DEFINITIVE HITS - 7 weeks in 2001, peak position: No. 12
SOUNDS LIKE - 8 weeks in 1967, peak position: No 13
S.R.O. - 6 weeks in 1967, peak position: No. 17
WARM - 3 weeks in 1969, peak position: No. 14
DOWN MEXICO WAY - 2 weeks in 1970, peak position: No 14
WHAT NOW MY LOVE - 2 weeks in 1967, peak position: No. 20
GREATEST HITS - 1 week in 1970, peak position: No. 20
The first thing to be noticed is that the peak of the TJB's popularity is later here than in both the US and the UK. There are no chart entries in 1966 and the first album to chart is WHIPPED CREAM. The hight of Herb's popularity appears to be from the end of 1968 and almost all of 1969. I believe the explanation for this is the showing of the TV specials. In Norway in the sixties most Norwegians had only one TV channel available; the state run NRK. Exposure on this channel meant nationwide exposure with no competition. The first TJB TV special was shown in the spring of 1968, the Beat Of The Brass special was shown less than a year later and the Brass Are Comin' was shown in August 1970. Towards the end of 69 the TJB toured Scandinavia, not playing a concert in Norway, but giving an exclusive TV interview to NRK in one of the big entertainment shows.
TV is also a great part of the explanation for the RISE and DEF HITS entries. The Rise video was shown repeatedly on NRK in early 1980 and DEF HITS was advertised quite heavily on the commercial channels in 2001.
- greetings from the not all that cold north -
Martin
