Sync Or Swim : Chart Battle Begins
A bubble gum battle royal is shaping up on the music sales charts
betweenFlorida’s Backstreet Boys and Florida’s ‘N Sync boys. ‘N
Sync’s self-titledrelease crashes the top ten this week, landing
right behind the perennial topten (and self-titled) smash from the
Backstreet Boys.
‘N Sync (that’d be Justin, JC, Lance, Joey and Chris) are riding
the successof their second top forty hit, “Tearin’ Up My Heart.”
But they still have aways to go before catching BSB (Howie D.,
Kevin, A.J., Nick and Brian, ofcourse.) That act’s record has
already sold three million copies this year,making it the
third-biggest seller of ’98.
Meanwhile, three boys from New York City boasting a different
flavor-the Beasties-hang on to the No. 1 album in the country for
the third week in a row. Hello Nasty sold 243,000 copies
for the week ending August 2, according to SoundScan. Not one new
record debuted in the top twenty for the week. (Mary J. Blige’s
live release, Tour, came closest, bowing at No.21.)
One top ten act pulled off a rare accomplishment this week:
actuallyincreasing sales over the previous week. In today’s
increasingly crowdedmarketplace, records often debut with huge
sales and then slowly taper offweek-by-week as consumers lose
interest. (For instance since Maxwell’sEmbrya debuted at
No. 3 five weeks ago, the album has quietly slid toNo. 27.) But the
Barenaked Ladies, powered by their single “One Week” and
aheadlining slot on the summer H.O.R.D.E. tour, watch album sales
for theirStunt make a chart U-turn. The record debuted at
No. 3 one month agoand this week climbs back up from No. 10 to No.
6; a strong sign that the bandmay have some lasting power.
From the top, it was Hello Nasty, followed by the
soundtrack to Armageddon (selling 219,000 copies); the
soundtrack to City of Angels (119,000); JD’s Life in 1472
(105,000); the soundtrack to Dr.Dolittle (104,000); the
Barenaked Ladies’ Stunt (103,000); Brandy’sNever Say
Never (92,000); Backstreet Boys (90,000);
‘NSync (86,000); and Will Smith’s Big Willie
Style (78,000).