Presley sales boom

Press, 19 August 1977, Page 4

Presley sales boom

Mourning for the late Elvis Presley continued to increase in New Zealand yesterday, judging by sales of his records. A spokesman for R.C.A., the rock star’s record company, said that sales had passed 10,000 in the two days since his death. ‘‘A lot of retailers have likened the public reaction to that which occurred on the death of President Kennedy,” she said. “It is as intense as that.”

Presley’s latest album, “Moody Blue,” was released in New Zealand yesterday — 24 hours after his death. It had already reached “gold” status, the spokesman said, with 7500 copies sold during the day. Of the 56 different records and tape-cassettes released in New Zealand, only 10 were still-available. However, they would all be replenished, she said. Presley achieved phenomenal success during his

career. World sales of his records had passed 500 million, and 55 of his singles had sold more than a million conies each. In the United States alone, 24 albums had sold more than a million copies. Presley’s live television special, “Aloha from Hawaii.” had been the first to reach a live audience of more than a billion people round the world. Thousands at Presley home. —Page 6.