Last month, I spoke about the Scandinavian myth concerning April, which tells how it contains a few days from all the other months. Here we are, at the beginning of May and I can confirm that - here in the U.K. - April has lived up to it's reputation. We have experienced wind, rain, sunshine, frost and even - on one day - Snow!

May is the month of "re-birth" as the various forms of plant-life begin to show their beauty, the fields are filled with "Spring Lambs" and love is the air…

With this colourful backdrop, we find a lot of "re-birth" within the Square Dance activity. I am thinking here primarily about the change of which I spoke last month - where Palomino Records have become the new "fulcrum" of our business. There are many effects of this change and I am going to talk this month about one of these effects; this concerns the "Best Seller" listings.

Many callers are influenced by the Best Seller listings. Quite often, following the initial release of a new tune, it will continue to sell over the following two months-or-so in quite reasonable numbers. However, these sales are directly in proportion to the Best Seller positions. Quite clearly, some callers will re-visit the review tapes to listen to records that they had previously decided not to purchase - but which have then achieved a good place in the Best Seller listing.

As a record producer, I am - quite naturally - "keen" to know how well my records are "doing". Having spent many months (or more) in production, when the record is finally released, it is my hope that we (the staff callers of Sting and Snow records and myself) have correctly anticipated the "needs" of our customers. Determining the "success" (or otherwise) of each release is something that can really only be done by looking at the eventual number of units sold. Sales figures take quite some time to become known and - prior to this time having elapsed - the only indicator that we have to show the "success" of a record are the Best Seller listings that are published by many of the retail outlets; from where the records can be purchased.

It is a fundamental requirement of any retail operation that the "producer" understands the "needs" of his (or her) "customer-base". Market research is often used to establish that there is a market for a product and to confirm the specific requirements of that market. Assuming that you have "correctly" identified the needs of your customers, the sales figures will be the ultimate proof of success. With Square Dance music - prior to the actual sales figures being known - the "Best Seller" listing is the best indicator of the degree to which your product meets the customer's needs.

Of course Best Seller listings are not necessarily all that reliable. Many retailers serve different sections of the customer-base. This could be because of geographical location or the popularity or mobility of the vendor. A record shop in California that only deals with local callers may well see different results to a similar shop in (for example) Western Australia. Tastes are fairly regional. A shop that attends all the major events in a State or in a Country and offers a mail-order service will probably experience different trends in sales and a shop that deals on an International basis will see even more differences. The variety is quite considerable. For a Best Seller listing to be useful, it has to have the largest possible number and range of customers.

I have always been interested in all the Best Seller listings that I could access. Sometimes I saw results that I liked - sometimes I didn't. However, I always tried to focus on the largest suppliers, because - in theory, as they cover the largest selection and cross-section of customers - they would give me the best indications of the success (or otherwise) that my releases would eventually demonstrate, in terms of unit sales.

Until recently there have been two "super-shops"; Hanhurst's and Palomino - but even their Best Seller listings often showed considerable differences. There were many reasons for these differences. However, as a consequence of the amalgamation of these two companies, all of these reasons have now "evaporated". At last, with the one "super-shop" we should have a Best Seller listing that is of exceptional value. I suspect that it will represent 60 - 80 percent of all sales over the greatest possible area and should, therefore be the best single indicator that we producers have ever had. How will we do in this new situation? - Only time will tell…

And so - having "extolled" the virtues of the new combined Best Seller listings, here are the very first results from the new count:

BEST SELLER LISTING:
I am very pleased that both of our records, released in March, achieved a good position in the new combined Hanhurst's/Palomino listing on the dosado.com web-site. These were "Georgy Girl", which came in at No.4 and "Can't Stop Loving You", which came in at No.6.

NEW RELEASES:
Our new vinyl releases for May are: - "Hot Stuff" (vocal by Neil Whiston), which is a version of the Donna Summer song, made popular - in recent years - by being featured in the film "The Full Monty". Also featured is "Nobody" (vocal by Paul Bristow ); this tune has a slightly comical text and was a New Country hit for the top female artist known simply as "Sylvia".

Our re-release for May will be "Rose Garden" (vocal by Jack Borgström), which was held over from last month. Our MP3 releases will be "A Coin In The Fountain" (vocal by Marten Weijers) and "Here Comes The Night" (vocal by Tony Oxendine and Jerry Story); these were also held over from last month.

INDIVIDUAL RECORD HISTORIES including ALL THE ADDITIONAL LYRICS:
The histories contain details about each original song, including it's production and provide the extra lyrics - as featured on the called side. You can access these by "clicking on the open-book picture, on the Catalogue, Latest Releases and Future Releases pages.

The sixth batch - featured this month - are:

• On The Road Again
• Reach For The Stars
• Endless Love
• A Teenager In Love
• Garden Party
• Rockin' All Over The World
• I'm Gonna Be A Country Boy Again
• I Don't Want To Miss A Thing
• Hot Stuff
• Nobody

For details of the titles featured in the previous three months, check out the News-Letter and - if there are any that you would particularly like to see added just let us know.

Okay, May is upon us so I shall now be able to prepare myself for a less variable weather pattern and look forward to warmer days - shan't I? Still it's time for me to start planning our next trip to Nashville; more about that, next month. Have a great month, talk to you again on the June News-Letter.

Go Squareful! - Paul Bristow (Owner and Producer Sting and Snow Records)