Loyal, Older Listeners Vault Sade's New Album to #1 on SoundScan

Link to February 18 New York Times article, "Sade's Comeback Succeeds with Quiet Application of Old-School Approach."

First of all, has it really been 25 years since the release of Diamond Life, Sade's first album?

Yes, almost to the day. It made its debut on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart on February 23, 1985. (Retiring Guy was still 3 months and 5 days away from his engagement to JoAnna back then. And, you might be wondering, did Sade's let's-turn-the-lights-down-low music have anything to do with this turn of events. That, of course, would be none of your business.)

From the NYT article:

Soldier of Love sold a "remarkable" 502,000 copies in its first week.

Not exactly Garboesque but.....

To promote her new album, Sade said little but sang much. She performed on “Today,” “The View” and “Late Show With David Letterman” but gave very few interviews. That reticence — which goes against every rule in the current pop-marketing playbook — may have worked to her advantage on the radio, said Doc Wynter, vice president of urban programming for Clear Channel Radio.

“The audience was really thirsting to hear more of her music,” he said. “I was particularly surprised when a number of our mainstream stations that play hip-hop and R&B gravitated to the song as well. The beat is timeless, and she’s just got that X factor that makes people curious.”

LINKcat status:

Soldier of Love (February 2010). 87 holds on 4 copies. (Folks, I think it's still OK to buy CDs.)

Diamond Life (February 1985). 10 holds on 2 copies.

Promise (December 1985). 15 holds on 1 copy. (Yes, folks, Retiring Guy just set off a red alert.)

Stronger Than Pride (June 1988). 8 holds in 1 copy.

Love Deluxe (June 1992). 3 holds on 2 copies.

(Retiring Guy's copy of Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums covers the years 1995 to 1992.)