Talk:In the Summertime

Public recantation
It is mentioned the lyrics 'have a drink and a drive...' featured in an anti-drink driving campaign but omits (probably because it was news pre-internet) that because of this they publicly appeared with then Transport Minister Robert Key to recant the lyric. I recall it being news during 1993-94 when Key was part of John Major's government. Worth putting in as politicians and rock groups rarely appeared together like this.Cloptonson (talk) 12:09, 15 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Here's a June 1993 source from The Independent and another from June 1994. Martinevans123 (talk) 12:25, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

user blanking sales figures...
First. The BPI does not recognise any singles of sales prior to April 1973. UK singles can only be certified if the single was released on or after 1 April 1973. Then there's the issue of "keeping track of sales". But please don't take my word for it. Here's the beginning of an article from the BPi's/OCC 's own publication Chartwatch from November 2000. ...............

Chartwatch November 2000 (Copyright Neil Rawlings)

"Sales of records vary so much from year to year and from month to month depending upon factors such as economic conditions and Christmas. This is also true of sales awards.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about sales awards. To begin with, these are not “awards” in the sense that some overseeing authority hands them out, but are prizes that have to be claimed. In other words, it isn’t that the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is constantly monitoring record sales to make the awards, but that individual record companies have to go to the BPI with lists of sales in hand and claim the awards. Some record companies, especially the independents, don’t like the idea of BPI officials scrutinizing their account books and never make the claim. So there will always be records that should have received awards but never have.

The second point is that the awards are made for shipments not sales. The accounts that record companies keep are for supplies to the shops, and the number of records manufactured, not the number sold. No-one keeps track of total sales, though the chart compilers Millward Brown monitor sales because the chart is compiled from a panel of record shops, that is it’s a representative sample (between a sixth and a seventh of all shops). So a record may get a sales award even though a proportion of records remain unsold on shops and eventually hit the bargain bins or are returned to the record company on a sale-or-return basis. In truth, no record company is going to press a quarter of a million records unless two hundred thousand or more have been sold; it is unusual for a no.1 record to exceed 150,000 sales in a week, after all. ..............

Now, you can say "oh, but that's from November 2000". But the majority of In the Summertime's sales took place prior to November 2000. And the only ones who could possibly know the real figure are the record company. Could they be exaggerating? Possibly. But it is not for the opinions or deductions of Wikipedia editors to consider that point. What matters is that WP:RS did state that figure. And that's what Wikipedia goes with. 197.87.63.243 (talk) 08:01, 24 March 2024 (UTC)
 * This is not just about getting certified, it is also about sales on the side that have been collected since 1952 by NME, then later on Gallup, Official charts took over in 1994, and in recent years gfk. So they do extensive tracking of sales. Heck they even have thrown numbers for South Pacific soundtrack that was out in 1958. There are sales records for Beatles singles before BPI. // Even if true, how convinient that they want to claim the biggest selling single in the UK, but then not to really show receipts? And like I said even mostly reliable sources can be in disagreement. But what do you even say when you yourself write this down "Could they be exaggerating? Possibly." Dhoffryn (talk) 09:01, 24 March 2024 (UTC)


 * Did you see how the charts were compiled in November 2000? Samples were compiled from between a sixth and a seventh of record stores in the UK. In other words, AT LEAST one-sixth of sales were NOT even sought out.

As far as charts being compiled since 1952 by NME.... So. Yes. And when Stephen Waters compiled charts for the 50s based on actual manufactured records, sales to shops, shops' orders for new stock... they were totally different to the Hit Parade. The Sound of Music Soundtrack never placed on any UK Album Chart of the 60s at all, yet was the biggest-selling LP in the UK for years.

In short, charts are a SAMPLE. Nobody monitors exact sales, certainly not in the days of shellac, vinyl, audiotape or compact disc. The only indicator was how many were manufactured and how many were sold to the shops. Not "one-sixth to one-seventh", but all the shops. And only the record labels know those numbers.


 * Makes no sense now. Has 30 million here but has been removed here? Which is correct? Can’t both be!!--Egghead06 (talk) 09:29, 24 March 2024 (UTC)