The best selling Jersey albums of all time

If you ever listened to my radio show you know that I'm extremely biased when it comes to Jersey artists doing great music. I was curious how our Jersey artists stand up to the top selling albums of all time. Jersey has Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artists like Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons,Gloria Gaynor and others.

It's granted that New Jersey artists have a prominent place in album sales. I was right but I had some surprises for instance Frankie Valli, separately and with the group the Four Seasons, sold over 100 million records however most of them were single records. As music evolved from the 60s to mid 70s single record sales dried up while album purchases increased dramatically.

With that said New Jersey artists placed prominently on the all time best selling album list. Remember our New Jersey artists are competing against artists and albums from all over the world. Here are New Jersey's top selling albums!

1. Whitney Houston- The Bodyguard SoundTrack - 45 Million

This was the best all time selling soundtrack album ever produced. When the movie came out this album sold 1million copies in one week breaking all previous album sales.

2. Franke Previte - Dirty Dancing Soundtrack- 32 Million

Another great soundtrack came out of New Jersey. Singer and Songwriter and Jersey's own Franke Previte wrote Dirty Dancing "I Had the Time of My Life:".He wrote this song on the back of an envelope while driving down the Garden State Parkway around mile marker 114. That song won an Academy Award, Golden Globe,Grammy, and ASCAP awards. Franke also wrote "Hungry Eyes' ' performed by Eric Carmen that song hit the top five on the charts and was Carmen's biggest hit. Dirty Dancing album spent 18 weeks at number one and has been certified 11 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

3. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA - 30 Million

Bruce had a big hit with Born in the USA, his seventh album. Born in the USA boasted seven top-ten hit singles and Bruce smartly added a worldwide tour to promote the album

4. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet - 28 Million

Bon Jovi's best selling album to date came out in 1986 reaching number one not only here in the U.S but also in Australia and Canada. Jon and the boys had a very successful tour promoting this album, which added to the success of album sales.

5. Bon Jovi - Crossroads- 21 Million

Released in 1994 Crossroads is a compilation of the greatest hits from the successful 80's. The album debuted at number eight and eventually climbed the charts. Although inditaly sales of this album were slow, Eventually it would become successful in selling over 21 million copies world-wide.

6. Whitney Houston - Whitney - 20 Million

A follow up to her previous album "Whitney Houston'' . This album garnered five top-ten hits and it received three Grammy nominations including album of the year. Selling 20 million for Whitney's second album gave her a big boost in music appreciation

7. Bruce Springsteen - Live 1975 to 1985 - 18 Million

Bruce put this greatest hit album out in 1986. It contained over 40 songs of the best of Bruce and the E-Street Band live in concert. This was great fun for Springsteen fans who either had or had not witnessed Bruce and the band live.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.