CSPC: Elton John Popularity Analysis
Physical Singles Sales – Part 2
As a reminder, the weighting is done with a 10 to 3 ratio between one album and one physical single.
Honky Château (1972) – 624,000 equivalent albums
Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time) – 1,380,000
Honky Cat – 700,000
Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player (1973) – 1,338,000 equivalent albums
Crocodile Rock – 2,970,000
Daniel -1,490,000
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) – 1,713,000 equivalent albums
Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting – 640,000
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – 2,230,000
Bennie and the Jets – 1,600,000
Candle in the Wind (original) – 260,000
Candle in the Wind (1987, Live) – 980,000
Caribou (1974) – 1,314,000 equivalent albums
The Bitch Is Back – 830,000
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me – 1,060,000
Pinball Wizard – 160,000
Step into Christmas – 90,000
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (with George Michael) – 2,240,000
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975) – 1,323,000 equivalent albums
Someone Saved My Life Tonight – 980,000
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – 1,400,000
Philadelphia Freedom – 2,030,000
Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time). Yes, it’s going to be a long, long time of success for the new Rocket Man. This song cemented the status of the British star. The song reached #2 in the UK and #6 in the US en route to selling 1,38 million units Worldwide. Honky Cat retained the attention of the public by hitting the US Top 10.
In 1973 back to back releases of Crocodile Rock and Daniel were even stronger. The former became his first US #1 smash while the second came close at #2. Both songs were UK Top 5 hits too. They moved a combined 4,44 million units.
From that point there was no stopping the new pop icon. Singles from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road did wonders, selling more than 4,7 million units in their first form plus nearly 1 million for the live reissue of Candle In The Wind in 1987.
Singles from both Caribou and Captain Fantastic moved more than 4 million units each. The hit-making machine could do no wrong during these years.