The sound of the sad trombone continues for pop singer Robin Thicke, who has apparently sold “less than 54” copies of his new record Paula in Australia.
That’s 5-4. By itself.
The first-week figures from down under make his opening sales tally from the United Kingdom — a whopping 530 units — look like a veritable chart-topper.
The NME reports that the “Blurred Lines” singer failed to crack Australia’s Top 500. And the 500th-selling record that week, from Blondie, moved 54 copies.
All together now: Oof.
Here’s more from the NME:
As previously reported, Thicke sold just 530 copies of his new album ‘Paula’ in its first week of release in the UK. However, these figures look comparatively huge when placed next to reports from Australia that the album failed to even reach three digits in sales figures.
Paula failed to make the ARIA Top 500 in Australia, reports News.com.au, and while there are no official sales figures for the album, the Blondie compilation at Number 500 in the chart sold 54 copies to achieve its position. This means Thicke’s album must have sold less than that figure to fall short of the chart placing.
Thicke’s new album is named after his estranged wife, actress Paula Patton. The singer scored his breakthrough UK hit with the single ‘Blurred Lines’ last year. His new album includes the song ‘Get Her Back’, which was debuted at the Billboard Music Awards in May and is thought to be about Patton. Other tracks on the album include not-so-subtle references to the break-up, including ‘Get Her Back’, ‘Still Madly Crazy’, ‘Love Can Grow Back’ and ‘Too Little Too Late’.
Things remain a bit more positive for Thicke here in the United States. According to recent reports, domestic sales for Paula are coming in around 25,000 — but that’s still a far cry from the days when Summer 2013 mega-hit “Blurred Lines” sold 177,000 units in its first week.
Keep ya’ chin up, Robby.