U.K. pop act Take That has claimed the record for Britain’s fastest-selling album of 2008, with 432,000 copies of its album “The Circus” (Poyldor/Universal) bought in its first week.
According to chart compiler the Official Charts Co (OCC), that is the third-highest total in U.K. chart history, behind Oasis’ “Be Here Now’ (1997) with 663,000 copies and Coldplay’s “X&Y” (2005) 464,000.
Take That’s total was achieved despite the chaos that enveloped U.K. entertainment retail after wholesaler EUK and retail chain Woolworths entered administration (roughly equivalent to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States) on Nov. 26.
“The Circus” entered at No. 1 on the OCC chart yesterday (Dec. 7). It is Take That’s fifth studio album and contains the single “Greatest Day,” which gave the band its 11th No. 1, a tally beaten only by the Beatles (17) and Irish boy band Westlife (14). It is the follow-up to 2006 album “Beautiful World” (Polydor/Universal), which is the band’s biggest seller to date in the United Kingdom, with sales of 2.5 million according to the OCC.
In a statement, Universal Music U.K. chairman David Joseph called “The Circus” a “coming-of-age record for Take That, an album which deserves to put the country’s best-loved band in the history books.”
According to OCC managing director Martin Talbot: “Given the challenging retail environment, this is an amazing performance by Take That. To have achieved this a full 16 years after their debut album is nothing short of astonishing-it underlines their growing popularity, at a point in their career when many acts are on the wane.”
Last night, national commercial channel ITV1 aired “Take That Come to Town,” a one-hour prime-time special featuring the band performing much of the album live.
