The RIAA and the Michael Jackson lie
On February 17, 1976, the Eagles released the Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 collection. According to the Recording Industry of America Association, this album became the best-selling collection in history, shipping more than 29 million copies to retailers. Yet a look at the history of the Eagles and the RIAA make this accomplishment questionable to say the least.
I don’t know why the RIAA decided to lie to support the Eagles and their record company, or why they would pretend that Their Greatest Hits shipped out more copies than Thriller. But I do believe they did lie and continue to lie. And it’s about time someone demanded some honesty.
Let me start at the beginning…
Prior to the release of Their Greatest Hits, the Eagles recorded four studio albums.
Their self-titled debut, Eagles, went on sale June 17, 1972, and was certified as shipping 500,000 copies to retailers by January 22, 1974. Three songs became Top 40 hits: “Take It Easy” (peaking at #12), “Witchy Woman” (#9), and “Peaceful Easy Feeling” (#22).
The follow-up, Desperado, had no hit singles (“Tequila Sunrise” peaked at #64 and “Outlaw Man” at #59), but a year after its April 17, 1973, release, it too was certified as shipping 500,000 copies to retailers.
On the Border, released on March 22, 1974, initially failed to take radio by storm. “Already Gone” cracked the Top 40, peaking at #32, but “James Dean” spent a total of five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, stalling at #77. Then “Best of My Love” became a number one hit (the Eagles’ first of five). In September of ’74, the Border album was also certified as shipping half a million copies.
The Eagles’ fourth studio effort, One of These Nights, became their first number-one album. Three songs became Top 5 hits, including the title track (which went all the way to #1), “Lyin’ Eyes” (#2), and “Take It to the Limit” (#4). It was released June 10, 1975, and according to the RIAA website, it was certified as shipping 500,000 copies on June 30, 1975.
This is when things begin to get a bit strange. According to the RIAA, “Recordings become eligible for certification 30 days after initial street date. Audio and music video titles may be requested for award certification starting 30 days after product is commercially available to consumers.” Yet according to their own data, One of These Nights was certified twenty days after it was released.
Which brings us to Their Greatest Hits. Released February 17, 1976, the RIAA certified the record as shipping an incredible one million copies to retailers on February 24, one week later. At that point in time, retailers had only bought two million copies total of their first four albums, yet the RIAA reported that one million copies of Their Greatest Hits had shipped in the first week.
This seems suspicious.
On August 8, 1990, the record company again paid RIAA to certify shipments of Their Greatest Hits, and the RIAA stated that 12 million copies had been shipped. That seems reasonable. Although the collection doesn’t include some of the Eagles’ biggest hits (“New Kid in Town”, “Hotel California”, “Heartache Tonight”, “The Long Run”, and “I Can’t Tell You Why” were all recorded after their first “hits” collection was produced), it’s still an incredibly strong body of work.
Three years later, on December 14, 1993, the RIAA certified Their Greatest Hits as shipping 2 million more copies, for a grand total of 14 million. Again, that seems reasonable. Ignoring the initial (and again, somewhat questionable) shipment of one million copies, on average retailers were purchasing 786,000 copies of the album a year, so 667,000 copies shipped in ’91, ’92 and ’93 seems possible.
But then, on June 5, 1995, the RIAA certified that Their Greatest Hits had shipped 22 million copies. In other words, 8 million copies of the Eagles’ first greatest hits collection had suddenly shipped to retailers in the space of a year and a half.
One and a half years later, on March 3, 1997, 2 million more copies were certified as shipped, with another million certified on January 8, 1999, and another million on November 10, 1999.
Almost overnight, Their Greatest Hits overtook Michael Jackson’s Thriller as the biggest selling record in American history.
What the RIAA won’t explain is why 8 million copies of Their Greatest Hits were supposedly shipped to retailers when Nielsen SoundScan shows less than one million copies being sold during that period. The RIAA also won’t explain why 14 million copies of Their Greatest Hits were supposedly shipped to retailers from August 8, 1990 to November 10, 1999, a period of just over nine years, yet in the next nine years only 3 million more copies were shipped.
Forgive me, but I’m calling bullshit on this one. For reasons unknown to me, I truly believe the RIAA has falsified certifications for the benefit of the Eagles and their record company. It’s not the first time they’d be caught in a lie.
The RIAA stated that Garth Brooks was the best-selling solo artist of the twentieth century, but after complaints by the press and music fans, they claimed they had made a mistake and Elvis Presley was actually the best-selling solo artist. Then on November 5, 2007, the RIAA certified that Brooks had indeed surpassed Presley. They had verified it a year earlier, but delayed the announcement for twelve months so it would coincide with the marketing plans for Garth Brooks’ Ultimate Hits collection. That’s not how a reputable and professional organization acts.
The RIAA gets paid to certify sales and relies on information submitted by record companies. Based on the ridiculous jump in shipments for the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits, I have to wonder what other “creative” certifications they’ve done in the past.
I don’t own a copy of Their Greatest Hits, but that’s because I have all four of the studio albums the hits were culled from. I do own the anniversary edition of Thriller, but that’s because I bought it as a present for someone who, it turned out, had already purchased it. If I had to choose between the two, I’d go with the Eagles. I admire Michael Jackson, but I’ve never been a big fan of his music (with a few notable exceptions).
But I am disgusted by what appears to be a blatant cover-up by the RIAA.
At one point, Thriller was selling a million copies a week. Am I supposed to believe that between October 30, 1984, when Thriller was certified as shipping 20 million copies, and March 6, 2009, the album sold 8 million copies, while the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits sold the same amount in one and a half years, 17 years after the collection was originally released (and after it had already been available on CD for more than three years)?
Again, I’m calling bullshit on this one.
Michael Jackson’s Thriller is the best-selling album in American history. And the RIAA is rewriting history for reasons I have no doubt involve money.
As one of my elementary school teachers use to say, RIAA, it’s time to “tell the truth and shame the devil.” Why are you claiming the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits sold more than Thriller, and who exactly is profiting from that deception?
