Eamonn wrote:

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As an aside, I've seen articles/heard reports over the years that have said "Pulp, who have sold over 10m records around the world throughout their career..." and I'm doubtful about that. The only "proof" for that figure on Wikipedia last time I checked a few years ago was one news article which could have plucked it from anywhere. About half that figure sounds closer to the mark, I think. Hard to have accurate figures across the globe but it doesn't seem that Pulp sold in huge quantities beyond the UK even at their mid-90s peak.

-- Edited by Eamonn on Sunday 7th of September 2025 05:07:38 PM

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Yes, I've always been a bit wary of that figure. I tried to do a bit of digging, this website tells us the figures that are quoted on the wiki. So we know that the Island albums sold a combined total of 1,760,000 units but there are a few questions i.e. when was this last updated? What about non-UK sales? What about singles?

Island announced in September 1995 that "Mis-Shapes" / "Sorted For Es and Wizz" had pre-orders of 400,000 units and a Pulp People newsletter told us that "Something Changed" sold just over 100,000. We may reasonably conclude that "Common People" and "Disco 2000" combined would have sold around half a million so let's assume that the total for the "Different Class" singles was around 1 million. We're still under 3 million total sales.

The only other Pulp singles that made a significant impact on the charts were "Help the Aged" and "This is Hardcore" which landed either side of the top 10. Still probably only a couple of hundred thousand units.

There was also the "Countdown 1992-1983" compilation that reached number 10 in 1996 then was reissued a couple of years later. Not sure how many copies this sold but it did stay in the top 40 for 4 weeks (plus another 2 in the top 75) so it could have sold similar to or more than "We Love Life".

On top of that, there's the Fire and Gift material, the original versions of which probably sold out when Pulp became big. Fire also made the first 3 albums available on CD in the mid-1990s along with "Masters of the Universe" and Island released "Intro". Then there were a good few compilations of Fire material in the late 1990s and the 2006 Island reissues. Whilst none of these strayed anywhere near the charts, they probably sold over time for a reduced price (supermarket checkouts and bargain bins).

With all this considered, I'd say your estimate of 5m total sales is quite reasonable. Maybe going as far as 7.5 would be too optimistic.