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NEWS : STORIES
The holidays have come and gone. Down go the Christmas trees, the wreathes, the lights and even the holiday cheer. So, too, go nationwide record sales. For the music industry, this week's Billboard albums chart reflected a
In turn, the upper reaches of the chart featured several swaps, as recent heavy-hitters such as Metallica and the Spice Girls slid out of the top 10, while former residents such as Puff Daddy and Matchbox 20 regained their coveted positions near the crown. Holiday slow down or not, however, it seems you can't stop the appeal of a good drinking song. U.K. punk-rock anarchists Chumbawamba saw Tubthumper -- which boasts the infectious ale-filled anthem "Tubthumping" -- rise to #3, its highest position in almost four months of release. Eddie Hernandez, manager of the Tower Records store in Los Angeles' Westwood district, said he's not surprised by the rise of the popular album, which has held in the top 10 now for several months. "Its peak performance here was in October, but then it leveled off," Hernandez said. "But it's still been selling good." This week's top honor was claimed by balladeer Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love. The Canadian songstress sold 284,000 copies of the disc, according to SoundScan, knocking country king Garth Brooks' Sevens from the #1 position it has held for the past five weeks. Back up to #7 and #8, respectively, were alterna-rockers Matchbox 20's Yourself or Someone Like You and rapper Puff Daddy's No Way Out, two albums familiar to top-10 watchers during 1997. Their rise came during the same week that Metallica dropped from #7 to #14, and the omnipresent Spice Girls -- whose Spice was the top-selling album of last year -- tumbled from #9 to #13 with their sophomore album, Spiceworld. The fall left Hernandez unfazed, if not relieved. "I think folks are starting to tire of them because of the overexposure," he said. "The media has a lot to do with it. They were already starting to get sick of it, and now the [Spiceworld] movie's coming. I think they've milked it for all it's worth." Fans of bubblegum-pop need have no fear, however: Even as the Spice Girls lost ground, the squeaky clean Backstreet Boys rose to #9 with their self-titled album. Meanwhile, the week held little exciting news in the way of new releases. The highest debut surfaced all the way back at #91 with the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's new film, Jackie Brown. Several other albums experienced notable resurgences, perhaps thanks to additional holiday spending cash. In the world of electronica, Prodigy jumped eight spots to #47 with their groundbreaking The Fat Of The Land album, while the Crystal Method re-entered the chart at #199 with Vegas. Hot hip-hoppers Timbaland and Magoo jumped 10 spots to #58 with Welcome To Our World, while veteran rapper Rakim pulled up 21 notches to 78 with his comeback, The 18th Letter. Elsewhere, moody piano songstress Fiona Apple garnered seven spots to land at #32 with Tidal, Brit-rockers The Verve leapt 18 to #77 with Urban Hymns and Blink 182 rose 22 to #82 with Dude Ranch. Completing the top 10 were: Mase (#4); LeAnn Rimes (#5); Shania Twain (#6); and Aqua (#10). [Wed., Jan. 7, 1998, 6 p.m. PST]
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