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Springsteen, Bowie & Zeppelin dominated US Record Store Day sales

With albums from Madonna, Tom Waits, and The Cure also selling well.

By Tyler JenkePublished May 3, 2018
4 min read
rsd

If you're a music lover in any form, you'd probably be aware that Record Store Day was held almost a fortnight ago, with music fans across the globe lining up early at their local store to snap up some of the most sought-after releases of the year. Now that the dust has settled and the racks are filled with leftover copies of that strange jazz album you passed over, the final sales figures for RSD in the US have been released to give us an idea of which acts truly dominated on the day.

As Billboard reports, Nielsen Music have released their findings for Record Store Day in the US, and it indicated that the love of vinyl is well and truly alive.

This year's event saw a total of 733,000 albums sold in the week ending April 26th, of which 580,000 albums were sold at independent music retailers, the biggest week for vinyl that indie retailers have seen since Nielsen Music began tracking sales back in 1991.

Of course, while the Aussie figures remain unknown at this stage, the most intriguing portion of Nielsen's findings is their list of the top-selling albums and singles this year, which indicates that both Bruce Springsteen and Led Zeppelin were the top sellers in both respective formats.

Of the list of best-selling acts, David Bowie was the most popular artist, with two of his albums, and one single making the list, while Madonna, The Cure, and Tom Waits all appeared twice in the albums list, with the latter appearing back-to-back with his Bastards and Brawlers reissues.

On the home front, Courtney Barnett managed to close out the singles chart, appearing at #25 with her 'City Looks Pretty/Sunday Roast' single, proving that Americans can't get enough of our homegrown talent.

While it remains to be seen whether we'll get some idea about how the Aussie market fared on the day (it would be great to know just how well Jebediah's Slightly Odway reissue sold), you can assume that the findings would be relatively similar across the board.

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Take a look at the full list of best-selling albums and singles below.

Check out Courtney Barnett's Record Store Day single, 'City Looks Pretty':

Top-Selling Record Store Day albums and singles in the US

Albums

1. Bruce Springsteen, Greatest Hits 2. David Bowie, Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78) 3. Neil Young, Roxy: Tonight's the Night Live 4. Rage Against the Machine, Live at the Democratic National Convention 2000 5. Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead, Dylan & The Dead 6. Pink Floyd, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Mono) 7. Prince, 1999 8. The Cure, Mixed Up 9. Grateful Dead, Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA 2/27/69 10. Phish, Billy Breathes 11. Nas, Illmatic: Live From the Kennedy Center 12. The Doors, The Matrix Part II 13. Ramones, Sundragon Sessions 14. Madonna, Madonna (The First Album) 15. The Cure, Torn Down (Mixed Up Extra) 16. The National, Boxer Live in Brussels 17. The Rolling Stones, Their Satanic Majesties Request 18. Jerry Garcia, Run for the Roses 19. Soundgarden, A-Sides 20. Tom Waits, Bastards 21. Tom Waits, Brawlers 22. David Bowie, Bowie Now 23. Car Seat Headrest, Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror) 24. Sublime, 89 Vision (EP) 25. Madonna, You Can Dance

Singles

1. Led Zeppelin, 'Friends/Rock and Roll' 2. David Bowie, 'Let's Dance (Full Length Demo)' 3. Sufjan Stevens, 'Mystery of Love' 4. The Notorious B.I.G., 'Juicy' 5. U2, 'Lights of Home' 6. Jimi Hendrix, 'Mannish Boy/Trash Men' 7. Fleet Foxes, 'Crack Up (Choral Version)/In the Morning (Live in Switzerland)' 8 (Tie). Cheech & Chong, 'Up In Smoke (40th Anniversary)' 8 (Tie). Run the Jewels, 'Stay Gold Collector's Edition' 10. Descendents, 'Who We Are' 11. The Police, 'Roxanne' 12. Phoenix, 'Monologue' 13. Brian Eno With Kevin Shields, 'The Weight of History + Only Once Away My Son' 14. The Flaming Lips, 'The Story of Yum Yum and Dragon' 15. Florence & The Machine, 'Sky Full of Song/New York Poem (For Polly)' 16. Steven Wilson, 'How Big the Space' 17. Def Leppard, 'Live at Abbey Road' 18. Mac DeMarco/Shamir, 'Beat Happening Covers' 19. The Regrettes/The Distillers, 'Side by Side' 20. Czarface, 'Man's Worst Enemy' 21. Dr. Dre, 'Dre Day' 22. Quicksand, 'Triptych Continuum' 23. Air, 'Sexy Boy' 24. Elvis Costello, 'Someone Else's Heart' 25. Courtney Barnett, 'City Looks Pretty/Sunday Roast'

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Reporting from inside the Australian music business since '94.

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By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services.