#31: The Very Handsome Sir Clay of Aiken

[merrieeee]

She has different places with figures but I can't bring it over...OFC rules.

QVC is not listed.

[muskifest]

That said, we are going to have a glass of wine and listen to our cd.

Bwah!, cindilu!

[cindilu2]

She has different places with figures but I can't bring it over...OFC rules.

QVC is not listed.

Ohhh, I see (tmDrunkenGuardwhoLovesRibbons) - thanks merrieeee. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Okay - I really am going to have that drink now!

[00lsee]

She has different places with figures but I can't bring it over...OFC rules.

QVC is not listed.

heh...I wonder if Jaymes used to throw rocks at hornet's nests as a kid. lol

[merrieeee]

I'm not sure of her reason for this!

[annabear]

She has different places with figures but I can't bring it over...OFC rules.

QVC is not listed.

heh...I wonder if Jaymes used to throw rocks at hornet's nests as a kid. lol

OMG! I was just thinking something very similar to that, 00lsee! Whether that was the case then, it certainly appears that's what she's done now!!

I'm not sure of her reason for this!

Because this fandom has a way of digging up every freaking piece of info they can anyway and she thought we might want to know? *shrugs* I see that some people are mighty pissed about it, though, thinking that she's trying to shame us into buying more CD's.

I just can't go there. I'm heading home to listen to my new favorite CD.

[keepingfaith]

[KF...Neil has a huge fanbase since he has been around for decades. He is also one of the most succesful concert acts out there. This tells me that his fans are willing to spend on him. I also suspect they skew older so has more money to buy CD's.

I'm pretty familiar with Neil Diamond. I saw him in concert in 1967 if that tells you anything! He was huge in his day and his concerts were legendary, but I just don't see it now. It's like Tony Bennett being No. 1 -- and Tony Bennett is a shadow of what he once was. This has to be a nostalgia / sympathy buy for people. His voice left town a long time ago -- unless Rubin has "enhanced" it. It's like Elton John -- nobody was bigger than Elton in the 70's and certainly not Neil Diamond, but Elton's last effort was nowhere near No. 1. There's another dynamic going on here, I'm just not sure what it is.

She has different places with figures but I can't bring it over...OFC rules.

QVC is not listed.

Well, QVC has not yet shipped my order. And Amazon has only shipped two out of my four orders to my family. But I got Walmart today!!!

[cindilu2]

Clay knew he wouldn't be able to pre-promote this CD much with his Spam commitments. He knew (or thought he did) he was making a CD that wouldn't be necessarily radio-friendly. Even when he 'knew' that the label thought differently he still wasn't counting on radio. And he knew he wouldn't be out there on the TV to promote it until after first week was effectively over.

So maybe, just maybe he (and they) will be tha-rilled with 85K (and I believe it'll be at least 100K by Monday - those appearances HAVE to sell at least some) for his first week. THA-RILLED to debut in the top five for the fourth consecutive time. Maybe? Possibly? Maybe he knows what they have planned to keep it selling beyond the first week. Maybe Jaymes is posting those numbers to reassure us and had no idea we're sorry ldyj, they're borderline psychotic when it comes to Clay. Heheh. Or maybe I just need more wine. Yeah. That's it. hic!

[jmh123]

heh...I wonder if Jaymes used to throw rocks at hornet's nests as a kid. lol

[Claygasm]

clayandr posted one day figures at the OFC

ATDW 70k

OMWH 18K

Some places not yet reporting. (Amazon, B& N etc)

Hmmm Strawberry Margaritas are mighty fine!.

She has different places with figures but I can't bring it over...OFC rules.

QVC is not listed.

heh...I wonder if Jaymes used to throw rocks at hornet's nests as a kid. lol

BWAH!! I was just going to say something similar - like she really is a sadist!! :thdom2:

She has different places with figures but I can't bring it over...OFC rules.

QVC is not listed.

Does this mean I am going to have to go over there!!! That's a scary, scary place!! It might make me soil my pants! (tm Sir Robin)

[muskifest]

Lord. THEY're gonna stop calling US Claymates and start calling US "ChickenLittles"

Holy crap. Remind me not to get stuck in an elevator with many of these...er..."fans"....I'm sure they'd kill me with their doom and gloom way before the air ran out.

[00lsee]

For whoever cares (and I don't think this violates any OFC rules to mention these names from Jayme's list - it's likely public knowledge for people who know where to find it - mods, if I'm mistaken, just delete) these vendors have not yet reported:

Amazon

Costco

Virgin

Barnes & Noble

Fred Meyer

Hastings

And...QVC, which was not on the list of ATDW vendors. Have no clue who/what else may factor in. Just to satisfy folk's curiosity.

I think this might be a case of premature extrapolation.

What.

[aikim]

Frankly I am confused by all these different figures; HDD has one set, Jaymes another...are these figures just based on the stores or do they include downloads from Itunes, etc.? Can someone make some sense out of this, cuz I am very confuzzled.

Kim

[Claygasm]

Now this CMSU!

I saw this at the CH:

From TV Guide.Com

The Great American Idol Blog

VIDEO: Clay Aiken On Good Morning America

Millions of Claymates were beside themselves this morning when Idol's second season runner-up, Clay Aiken, debuted his new song "Coming Back for More" on GMA. It's amazing how a former Idol contestant who didn’t even win can still drum up hordes and hordes of fans after more than five years. Sure is a lot more than you can say for whats-his-face who actually won Season 2. — Gina DiNunno

The video is of him singing OMWH!!!!

Dioi!! (tm Lancelot)

ETA: You know, if those numbers Jaymes posted are for ONE day's sales, multiply them by 7 and you get 126,000!!! Of course, will the CD sell at the same pace throughout the week?

[aikim]

Not familiar with this site, but they gave Clay a good review:

http://www.shipwreckislandstudios.com/albu.../ab08.htm#aiken

Kim

[jmh123]

FWIW, if Jaymes takes the time to actually read the thread she started, there are some smart responses there that she should think about and address if possible. Nothing we haven't all heard before ad nauseum, but perhaps she has not, or hasn't thought about things in this way.

[Ansamcw]

Frankly I am confused by all these different figures; HDD has one set, Jaymes another...are these figures just based on the stores or do they include downloads from Itunes, etc.? Can someone make some sense out of this, cuz I am very confuzzled.

Kim

HDD is a projection...for one week sales. They probably have some complicated formula...taking one day sales and they can predict what the sales will be by next tuesday. Its the soundscan numbers that actually tell us the actual sales figure. The numbers Jaymes is posting are probably the actual sales figure for one day that they are using to make the projection.

18K without the QVC figures and so many outlets is pretty good for one day if the projected sales is 85K when we consider he hasn;t even really promoted this CD yet and Mother's day sales is around the corner.

[playbiller]

People have not even started the panicked mother's day buying yet, heh.

KeepingFaith Hdd is right on most artists, but has never been able to predict Clay's accurately. with the huge first day sales Clay used to get, they grossly over estimated first years sales. The second year (Christmas) they underestimated. With ATDW they over estimated again.

Now Tuesday was the first day and a lot of Walmarts had not taken the album out of the boxes yet and many Kmarts no longer carry CDs, so people left without buying it. We will have to see what the weekend brings, we are not miracle workers. I guess RCA is happy with 15 first week. Some have bought from non-standard places.

I did notice that there were 10 times less slots of Clay at Target than for ATDW and it was at the bottom. My target always orders 40 MCWL and sells out every year in the first week, so I assume there are more albums in the back. There were the same number of slots at Walmart and at Kmart as last time.

[Iseeme]

I don't drink margaritas but I can toss back a mean straight Bombay over ice with a couple of olives. Can I join the party?

I personally think Jaymes should stay off the board!!! Posting something like that will either incite riots or put people further in the doldrums that seem to enjoy being in the doldrums.

I just have to keep reminding myself that Clay made the CD he wanted to make!!!! He released it 2 days after his last night in Spamalot. Before that he sang it live on QVC. Not too many people besides his loyal fans probably even knew he had a new CD coming out. I'm not giving up faith in him over projected numbers, guesstimates, figures out of the air from mushroom-smoking people, etc.

I don't remember the exact quote or even when he said it, but somewhere in the deep dark recesses of my befuddled memory I think Clay said something about his large sales for MOAM and how folks would always expect that same success when he released a CD and it wasn't realistic! I think it's very telling that the #1 projected Cd us only supposed to sell 125,000 copies. When you put it into perspective - that's pretty pitiful. It reflects the fact that people just aren't spending money.

I also don't believe the 18K that Jaymes said - with alot of places not reporting and we know for a fact that 15K were sold on QVC and God knows how many on iTunes!

Pish tosh!!!!! Pass me another olive.

(did I tell you how much I love Sacrificial Love???)

[cindilu2]

Maybe Jaymes posted those initial numbers from the perspective of a music business professional, who knew they were preliminary and lacking some signifigant contributors, and she just didn't realize it would set off another panic in Clay Land. Maybe she knows that 85K (or 100K) is a great debut for a CD that for all intents and purposes began its promotion the day AFTER its release? Maybe she thought she was helping? Silly, silly woman. Are you new????

I'm sorry - all I can do at this point is laugh.

[djs111]

I'm pretty familiar with Neil Diamond. I saw him in concert in 1967 if that tells you anything! He was huge in his day and his concerts were legendary, but I just don't see it now. It's like Tony Bennett being No. 1 -- and Tony Bennett is a shadow of what he once was. This has to be a nostalgia / sympathy buy for people. His voice left town a long time ago -- unless Rubin has "enhanced" it. It's like Elton John -- nobody was bigger than Elton in the 70's and certainly not Neil Diamond, but Elton's last effort was nowhere near No. 1. There's another dynamic going on here, I'm just not sure what it is.

Neil and Tony and Frank Sinatra (yes I know he is gone now) have something that Clay has - warning, rare schmoopie stuff just ahead - you might say their voices left town, but in the case of Tony and Frank (and Dean, and some others) their voices have not left my heart. No sympathy involved. I believe this is a thing singers might strive for - to build a base of people who love to listen to them, who don't weigh and measure and judge each release.

I'll slap my money down for any of them, or Lucinda, or Leonard Cohen, or Marianne Faithfull, for example, and not even wonder what is on the CD until I listen to it.

Elton John was more about the songs he wrote and his showmanship than about the voice, IMO. It is a great voice that gathers long-term fans.

[bottlecap]

Well, I'm doing my part to try to bring new fans into the fold. I showed a young relative of mine the CD booklet and told her a bit about Clay. She listened quite intently, seemed to be very interested in what I had to say, and had a huge smile on her face when I was done. Of course, my niece-let is only two and a half months old, so her purchasing power is minimal, but still...

I guess I need to pay special attention to the American Idol results tonight, because it sounds like I need to decide which David will be my new pretend boyfriend since Clay will be retiring back to Raleigh soon.

[Claygasm]

This was posted at the CH.

Clay is on-line at the OFC and appears to be replying in the thread.

I'm heading home. By the time I get there what he said should be all over the boards, saving me a trip to the OFC!!

[luckiest1]

Wow, I go offline for 5 measly hours and WWIII starts? WTF? Here I was, driving around the city with OMWH blasting out of the speakers........ds even told me he liked EIDN because it is "bluesy" and says he'd listen to Clay if that is the style he sang every song in. Heh, big praise for a 16 year old!

I think a lot of people in this fandom live for the angst...........I just don't see the point in freaking out before we really know what's going to happen. If he sells enough to be #3, that's great! It's all in the perspective.

I'm not even gonna peek at other boards tonight. I have clack to watch and an album to listen to. You know, the fun stuff that fans do? :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[cindilu2]

Oh boy. Clay posted on OFC and he is some kind of pissed.

I'm skeered!

And I love him right down to my toes.

If this doesn't shut up the fan experts, then nothing will. I'm sure some heads are exploding as I type.

I ABSOLUTELY COULD NOT LOVE HIM MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!