by Moderne » 14 Jul 2020, 08:55
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.