France best selling albums ever: Ocarina by Jean-Philippe Audin & Diego Modena (1991)

The busy year 1992 was a year dominated by a few of the biggest artists ever in France including Michael Jackson, Patrick Bruel, Michel Sardou and… Jean-Philippe Audin & Diego Modena. In fact, their Ocarina LP was a monster.

French cello player Jean-Philippe Audin and Argentinian pan flute player Diego Modeno formed in 1991 one of the most intriguing music acts ever, which ended up being an insane smash. Both the single Song Of Ocarina and the album Ocarina entered charts in October / November 1991 low on charts. By Christmas both were Top 10 having sold about 200,000 units each.

The unexpected hit continued in 1992. Both had very long Top 5 runs, both also had two 1-week spells at the Top of respective charts. While the single was done by April, the album kept going. It reached the Top for the first time in June, topping Michel Sardou new album. In peaked again in August, this time dominating Elton John. By July, the single and the album had respectively sold 400,000 and 700,000 units.

Accumulating over eight months inside the Top 5 in 1992, the album was certified Diamond at the end of the year. It still added two months Top 10 and four months Top 40 in 1993 adding close to 250,000 units sold. As it always happen with those kind of phenomenon, the duo disappeared as quickly as they appeared. By the end of that same 1993, Ocarina 2 peaked at #18, an incredibly bad result giving the success a few months before of the first chapter. Apart from a few sales in following years, the album is completely dead by now.

Net shipment as of the end of 2015 is estimated at 1,290,000 copies.

As usual, feel free to comment and / or ask a question!

Sources: SNEP, Nielsen, L’évènement du Jeudi.