The Dailies

And this came up in conversation over beers on Saturday night. Do you know what the worldwide top-selling albums of all time are? I didn't. I had some guesses... but I think I only got one right.

Here we go.

1. Michael Jackson - Thriller - 110 million (roughly the population of Mexico). Of course, the one I would have guessed.

2. AC/DC - Back in Black - 49 million (a bit of a drop, but still more than the population of South Korea). I'm surprised, but then again, I think almost everyone I think is cool has a copy.

3. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon - 45 million. Okay.

4. Whitney Houston/Various Artists - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - 44 million. Doesn't everybody gag when they hear "I Will Always Love You"?

5. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell - 43 million. Are you kidding me? Meat Loaf? "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"? Are there really that many people (the population of Tanzania) who buy albums out of ironic spite?

6. The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) - 42 million. Ugh.

7. Various Artists - Dirty Dancing Soundtrack - 42 million. Unbelievable. I just checked to see what the other songs on this album are besides "I Had the Time of My Life", I'm not going to go through the whole list, but one of them is "You Don't Own Me", but not the Lesley Gore or Joan Jett version. No, it's performed by a group called the Blow Monkeys. I'm not joking. Track Seven. I'm tremendously curious about their royalty deal. Say they get a penny for each album sold, that's 420,000 dollars!

8. Backstreet Boys - Millenium - 40 million. Awesome. No arguments about this one (population of Argentina).

9. Bee Gees/Various Artists - Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack - 40 million. Well, my mom did own this, so it must have been pretty big.

10. Fleetwood Mac -Rumours - 40 million. Another one of mom's, but really?

But really? That's the top ten? Man, my mind is blown. I had no idea my collection was so incomplete. I gotta get to the record store!

And then I can listen to this!