The ShadowMusic Web Community

Good to see Final Tour Live in the UK album chart at 37.

Higher than the original 2004 placing of 78.

Must be quite rare for a rerelease to chart higher than the original version. I’d always wondered why Final Tour had a low chart position when the Life Story compilation had gone top 10. It’s a great collection - even if you have the DVD.

Wonder when Hank will release another album. There have been loads of Shads-related albums out recently including HM Gold.

I've bought the vinyl 2 LP set and will probably get the CD eventually.

I too was surprised that the original CD release charted so low; but I tend to think that this was because most people just bought the DVD. Obviously I bought both! The Shads Final Tour was the biggest thing to happen (for Shads fans) for 14/15 years and the sales of the Life Story album went a long way to confirming that. Pleased to hear that the new version has been a hit. I must admit, I am surprised as this must be the third time the album has been released in a different form. Surprised but pleased!

howarddobson wrote:
Wonder when Hank will release another album. .

Do we know if he's recording another album? News to me, if he is.

But why has this album suddenly reappeared in the charts ?
.

Moderne wrote:

howarddobson wrote:
Wonder when Hank will release another album. .

Do we know if he's recording another album? News to me, if he is.

I have read somewhere some time ago, that he was recording/completing an album in the same style as his earlier album "Django's Castle".

I suppose a lot of people pre-order now and all the pre-ordered sales count as week 1 for the chart position.

I’ve never understood why From HBB and J didn’t chart. The previous album did so why did everyone suddenly decide to give it a miss? They were all top 10 up to that point. Perhaps it was a budget album as they don’t count for the charts I don’t think.

Of all primary UK albums by The Shadows, four did not chart: "From Hank, Bruce, Brian And John", "Live At The Paris Olympia", "Tasty" and the double album "'Live' At Abbey Road/Live At The Liverpool Empire". CD 1 of the latter did chart of course, when it was first released on LP in September, 1982.

Tasty didn’t chart yet String of Hits was massive - very strange. A couple of hits makes a big difference. Although in the 60s an album was an album and they didn’t include any singles. Perhaps George Martin encouraged the inclusion of singles on albums - his acts seemed to have one or two on.

For artists like The Shadows, it all hinges on TV advertising and the inclusion of already popular material. The power of that combination didn't really chime with the record companies until String of Hits, which didn't hit the top spot until an ITV strike had finished - and adverts for it were finally broadcast. It's well-known that Twenty Golden Greats had a memorable TV ad campaign (as did all the EMI 20 Golden Greats LPs) which helped it sell over a million copies. Guardian Angel by contrast contained all new material, received virtually no promotion - even by the group themselves on that year's tour - and, oddly enough, was a sales flop.
You might have thought Tasty would have done better - coming only months after 20GG...but it didn't get much promotion (despite its striking sleeve) and also suffered from the "we're not interested in your new stuff" syndrome which affects most successful artists sooner or later. I agree, you would have thought that From Hank, Bruce, Brian and John (which was a proper 'album' release, not a budget compilation - BTW) would have made the charts - but I think sales of Shadows records generally were on a downward spiral by then; they were increasingly becoming viewed as uncool and old-fashioned, even though they were still in their mid-20s.

howarddobson wrote:Tasty didn’t chart yet String of Hits was massive - very strange. A couple of hits makes a big difference. Although in the 60s an album was an album and they didn’t include any singles. Perhaps George Martin encouraged the inclusion of singles on albums - his acts seemed to have one or two on.

String of hits had more covers that the public could identify with whereas Tasty was mostly original so made marketing easier.
String of hits nearly didn't make number 1 as it reached number 4 then there was an ITV strike so no advertising meant lower sales and it plummeted to something like 60 then climbed back up the charts and was number 1 in March 1980 for 3 weeks?