…Britney One More Time
When teen vixen Britney Spears sings the title of
her hit single “… Baby One More Time,” maybe she’s singing about
landing at No. 1 on the country’s album chart — again.
In a rare showing of commercial staying power, Spears’ debut, named
after her smash Top 40 hit, returned to No. 1 after dropping out
three weeks back. For the week ending Feb. 2, … Baby One More
Time sold 182,000 copies, according to SoundScan.
In today’s tight marketplace it’s rare for an act to hit No. 1, get
bumped, and then return weeks later. And this may be the first time
a former Mousketeer has pulled off the feat. Sales for Spears’
album have increased each week the record has been in stores.
Spears easily muscled aside rapper Foxy Brown for
No. 1. Brown’s two-week-old Chyna Doll dropped to No. 4.
Breaking the Top Ten for the first time was Everlast. The former House of Pain member’s solo effort, Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, jumped from No. 12 to No. 10. Everlast’s single, “What It’s Like,” has spent an amazing two straight months at No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock radio
chart.
Elsewhere, as expected, Cher cashed in on her
Super Bowl performance. Even though she simply sang the national
anthem (and not her chart-climber, “Believe”), Cher’s new album
jumped from No. 21 to No. 12. Think that was a fluke? Big
Bad Voodoo Daddy, who performed briefly during the Super
Bowl’s halftime extravaganza, saw their record jump from No. 133 to
No. 58, with its weekly sales jumping 300 percent, thanks to a
performance before 100 million American television viewers.
Meanwhile, this week R.E.M. announced plans for a
summer tour in support of Up. But is it too late to save
the four-month-old release? Odds are next week the album will fall
off Billboard’s 200. Last week it dropped from No. 163 to No.
194.
From the top, it was Spears’ … Baby One More Time,
followed by Lauryn Hill‘s The Miseducation of
Lauryn Hill (selling 112,000 copies);
Offspring‘s Americana (109,000); Foxy
Brown’s Chyna Doll (108,000); `N Sync (94,000);
Dixie Chicks’ Wide Open Spaces (93,000);
Silkk the Shocker‘s Made Man (92,000);
2Pac‘s Greatest Hits (91,500);
DMX‘s Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood
(80,000); Everlast’s Whitey Ford Sings the Blues
(79,000).