Between The Bullets

THE PLUNGE: In any year, music retail's second-busiest week is the one that includes Valentine's Day and Presidents Day weekend--a bustle exceeded only by that of Christmas week. Added to that annual burst, the unit volume on last issue's Billboard 200 was further boosted by the more than 1 million units delivered by the 'Titanic' soundtrack and Celine Dion in the first two slots--all of which sets the stage for a big comedown. Indeed, all our sales charts show marked decreases from the prior week.
The Billboard 200 offers a crisp example of music stores' return to normalcy. Only 11 of the albums on last issue's 200-position chart show any kind of gain from the previous week. Consequently, on most sales charts, we have adopted liberal bullet criteria this issue; as with the first week or two after Christmas, we're rewarding any gain and titles with the smallest declines.
The mightiest growth in this weakling field belongs to the soundtrack to Adam Sandler's 'The Wedding Singer,' which earns the Greatest Gainer trophy with a 26-9 leap and an 86% improvement (89,000 units). During the tracking week, the film retained for a second week its standing as the No. 2 film at the box office, trailing--you guessed it--'Titanic.' The movie's spotlight may also account for the Top Pop Catalog Albums debut at No. 43 by Sandler's comedy title 'What The Hell Happened To Me?,' with close to 6,000 units, about 100 more than it sold during the previous week.
In a week in which the same title has both the largest unit gain and the fattest percentage gain, as is the case with 'The Wedding Singer' and its 41,000-unit gain, the Pacesetter is awarded to the album with the second-largest percentage gain, a designation earned by the '1998 Grammy Nominees' compilation.
Obviously, the Grammy sampler benefits from the attention leading up to the Feb. 25 telecast of the CBS award show. Pre-broadcast attention also stokes higher rankings for Paula Cole (44-40) and Radiohead (75-57), both album of the year nominees, with the latter seeing a 21% gain. Radiohead is assisted, too, by radio juice for 'Karma Police,' bulleting 16-14 on Modern Rock Tracks and collecting spins at 71 of that panel's 82 stations.
Naturally, you can expect lots of post-Grammy bounces on next issue's sales charts.
STILL THE ONE: Oh yeah, 'Titanic' still rules The Billboard 200, with its seventh consecutive week at No. 1, the longest streak this chart has seen since No Doubt held court for eight weeks from Dec. 21, 1996, to Feb. 8, 1997. Even more impressive, the score has exceeded 500,000 units for five straight weeks, an unprecedented accomplishment since Billboard picked up SoundScan data in May 1991. In this frame, even with a 33.6% decline, the James Horner soundtrack rings up 562,500 units.
This bests runs held by the soundtrack to Whitney Houston's 'The Bodyguard' and Garth Brooks' current 'Sevens,' each of which surpassed the half-million mark for four consecutive weeks.
Want another 'Titanic' accolade? On Feb. 17, the soundtrack piled up orders for more than 1.284 million copies, the largest one-day reorder in Sony Music Distribution history--and yes, that includes the days when the company went by the name CBS Records. Considering that the company's vaults include such flash sellers as Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' and the Bruce Springsteen box, that's a quite notable accomplishment.
THREE MINUS ONE, PLUS ONE: Speaking of Sony, I mentioned last issue that the distributor had owned the top three Billboard 200 rungs for two consecutive weeks. Sony's monopoly is disrupted this issue by the Hot Shot Debut for Priority-distributed rap act Silkk The Shocker, whose 'Charge It 2 Da Game' bows at No. 3 on the big chart. Actually, street-date violations came within a couple of hundred units of causing a premature debut last issue, a rare event on the big chart (although it did bow early on Top R&B Albums, where it rockets 45-1 this issue).
Had it not been for Silkk, Sony would have locked in the top four slots on The Billboard 200, a run that has not been achieved since Universal Music and Video Distribution did so with Bush, Snoop Doggy Dogg, No Doubt, and 2Pac's posthumous Makaveli set in the Dec. 7, 1996, issue. Joining Sony's winning hand is Savage Garden, which hits the top five for the first time (6-4).
TUBE TUNES: Following ABC's two-part program on the history of Motown, an anthology commemorating the label's 40th anniversary bows at No. 65 with 21,000 units. The broadcasts also spur a 48% gain and a re-entry at No. 11 on Top Pop Catalog Albums for Marvin Gaye's 'Every Great Motown Hit' (8,500 units), but, oddly, he is the only Motown artist represented on the current catalog list . . . You knew she could sell as much as Yanni, Luther Vandross, and Oleta Adams, and recently she spurred a sales blast for Garth Brooks (Country Corner, Billboard, Feb. 28), but how does Oprah Winfrey do with teen idols? Just about OK, as Hanson sees a 5% gain with a 59-47 jump on the big chart . . . HBO's Bee Gees concert special, which first ran Feb. 14 and had multiple repeats, motivates a 56% gain and a catalog chart re-entry at No. 6 for 'Bee Gees Greatest.' The act's latest, 'Still Waters,' also sees a bump--a 31% boost--but with a one-week sum in the ballpark of 4,000 units, the title falls more than 1,000 units shy of the floor of The Billboard 200.

(c) BPI Communications, 1998 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED