Presley records in short supply

Press, 3 September 1977, Page 4

Presley records in short supply

Elvis Presley fans may I have a long w r ait for their ’ favourite Presley record. i Two days after Presley’s > death, record shops throughout New Zealand had sold out of his records, and it may be more than a month before the demand can be satisfied. Sales had gone “completely crazy” since Presley’s death just over a fortnight ago, said the promotions manager for RCA (Mr D. Mole) from Auckland. In the two days after Presley’s death, 15,000 albums had been sold. RCA’s production schedule had been postponed as the company turned out Elvis Presley records to meet the demand. Altogether more than 40,000 Presley record | albums had passed through i the company’s warehouse in Auckland since his death. Presley’s death was “quite a windfall,” although he had always been one of RCA’s six best-selling artists, said Mr Mole. His company was now producing Presley’s latest album, “Moody Blue” — of which 15,W0 have been pre-sold — and his 15 top selling albums as fast as possible. Mr Mole thought demand for Presley records from fans after his death would have declined after a week, but demand is still as strong. He said some customers were buying up to seven albums at a time.

Importation of a blue vinyl (version of “Moody Blue” had

been delayed because the United States factory Could not keep up with domestic demand, said Mr Mole. In one week, the album had risen from fifty-second to tenth in the United States album sales chart.' The blue version of the “Moody Blue” record was now in great demand from Presley fans seeking the coloured record, which cannot be produced in New Zealand. The New Zealand allocation of the blue record had been cut from 5000 to less than a 1000 on the singer’s death and it is not known when they will arrive. Commemorative sets of

Presley albums are also likely to be produced, but as yet Mr Mole has not heard from America, where the records will be released first. A collectors set of between 10 and 15 records specially packaged and including a book on the singer is likely, he said. Christchurch record shops have sold out of all their Presley records and since his death the South Island sales centre for RCA has distributed 16,000 albums. “He has been going 24 vears but he is not going to stop just because he has died,” said the record company’s sales representative in Christchurch (Miss C. Smith).