Je t'aime... moi non plus: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:12, 18 July 2023

Revision as of 03:12, 18 July 2023

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== Commercial success ==

The song was a commercial success throughout Europe selling 3 million by October 1969.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/69/Record-World-1969-10-25.pdf|title=Money Music|magazine=[[Record World]]|page=20|date=25 October 1969|accessdate=8 April 2022}}</ref> By 1986, it had sold four million copies. In the UK, it was released on the [[Fontana Records|Fontana]] label, but, after reaching number two, it was withdrawn from sale. Gainsbourg arranged a deal with [[Major Minor Records]] and on re-release it reached number one, the first banned number one single in the UK<ref name=omm/> and the first single in a foreign language to top the charts. It stayed on the UK chart for 31 weeks.<ref name=chrisafis>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2006/apr/14/7|title=Gainsbourg, je t'aime|last=Chrisafis|first=Angelique|date=14 April 2006|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=4 August 2010|___location=London}}</ref> It even made the Top 100 in the United States, reaching number 58 on the [[Billboard Hot 100]] chart.<ref>''Top Pop Singles'' (8th edition) by Joel Whitburn</ref> [[Mercury Records]], the US distributor, faced criticism that the song was "obscene" and there was limited airplay, limiting US sales to around 150,000.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26|title=Steinberg: Obscenity is Relative|date=7 November 1970|magazine=Billboard|access-date=5 August 2010}}</ref>

It was re-released in the UK in late 1974 on the [[Atlantic Records]] subsidiary Antic Records and charted again peaking at No. 31 and charting for nine weeks. By August 1969, the single had sold 300,000 copies in Italy,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archiviolastampa.it/component/option,com_lastampa/task,search/mod,libera/action,viewer/Itemid,3/page,11/articleid,1529_02_1969_0200_0011_21319176/|title=Il disco della Birkin venduto alla borsa nera|publisher=[[la Stampa]]|page=11|date=30 August 1969|accessdate=8 April 2022}}</ref> while in France in 1969 alone sold 400,000 copies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.top-france.fr/html/45tours/45t1969.htm|title=TOP – 1969|work=40 ans de tubes : 1960–2000 : les meilleures ventes de 45 tours & CD singles|author=[[Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique]] (SNEP)|editor=Fabrice Ferment|access-date=8 April 2022|language=fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515150607/http://www.top-france.fr/html/45tours/45t1969.htm|archive-date=15 May 2021|via=Top-France.fr|oclc=469523661}}</ref> In UK sales were over 250,000.<ref>{{cite book|title=Million selling records from the 1900s to the 1980s : an illustrated directory|url=https://openlibrary.org/works/OL120558W/Million_selling_records_from_the_1900s_to_the_1980s|first=Joseph|last=Murrells|year=1985 |publisher=Arco Pub.|quote=In Britain, the disc was eventually handed over to the major minor label. Sales went over 250,000 there.|isbn=0668064595|page=277}}</ref> By 1996, it had sold 6 million copies worldwide.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music//Billboard/90s/1991/BB-1991-07-27.pdf|title=Cracking Global Language Barrier Is Tough For French Megastars|magazine=[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]|page=F-6|first=Emmanuel|last=LeGrande|date=27 July 1991|issn=0006-2510|accessdate=8 April 2022}}</ref>