Arctic Monkeys' album is fastest-selling debut in British chart history

LONDON (AP) _ The Arctic Monkeys' first album, ``Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not,'' has become the fastest-selling debut in British chart history, with sales of more than

Monday, January 30th 2006, 11:05 am

By: News On 6

LONDON (AP) _ The Arctic Monkeys' first album, ``Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not,'' has become the fastest-selling debut in British chart history, with sales of more than 360,000 copies during its first week on the charts.

Figures from the Official UK Charts Co., which compiles all album sales in Britain, show the Sheffield foursome easily smashed the record previously held by pop band Hear'Say. Their ``Popstars'' album _ the result of a hugely popular reality television show _ sold just over 306,000 copies in a week in March 2001.

``This album clearly didn't have that launch pad,'' HMV spokesman Phil Penman said Monday. ``This album was launched on the back of word of mouth, music reviews and the quality of the music itself.''

In just its first day of release, on Jan. 24, almost 120,000 copies of the album were sold.

The Monkeys, signed to independent record label Domino, shot to fame in a matter of months, thanks partly to clever use of the Internet to market their music.

Excellent media reviews followed, and the group's debut singles, ``I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor'' and ``When the Sun Goes Down,'' both topped the British singles chart.