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NEWS : STORIES
Garbage are back, and they have the charts to prove it. In a week in which an estimated 80 million people were exposed to Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" on the tribute show that preceded the "Seinfeld" sitcom finale and
However, in the week ending May 17, according to SoundScan, 88,000 fans kept the faith and remembered that the band's sophomore album, the follow-up to its smash-selling self-titled debut, was in stores. Jim Kerr, alternative-music editor at radio-industry trade magazine Radio and Records, said Garbage's chart position didn't really shock him. "It's not surprising if you look where the single ["Push It"] is getting airplay," Kerr said, referring to modern-rock radio stations. "As popular as [modern-rock music] continues to be, it is just a drop in the pond compared to Top 40." Speaking of the Top 40, teeny-MMMboppers flocked to record stores last week to pick up 3 Car Garage: The Indie Years '95-'96, a reissue of bubblegum-pop stars Hanson's early works. That album, which features a pre- Dust Brothers version of "MMMBop" (RealAudio excerpt), debuted at #6 based on sales of 116,000. Though immensely popular with the kids, the singing trio did not come close to dislodging Garth Brooks' reissue collection, The Limited Series, from the #1 spot. Brooks' compilation of his first six CDs and six unreleased songs has thus far sold 563,000 copies, leaving just under 2 million in circulation. Last week, The Limited Series became the first box-set to hit #1 set since Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Live, 1975-85 did it in 1986. The other chart debuts in the world of modern rock included modern hippie- funkateer Lenny Kravitz's 5, which moved 33,000 copies, landing at #36, and trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack, who charted at #60 on sales of 20,000 after previewing their entire album on the Internet before it was released. Meanwhile, avant-garde urban noise-rockers Sonic Youth debuted at #85, selling 15,000 copies of A Thousand Leaves. Soul Asylum's latest, Candy From A Stranger, moved 10,000 copies and landed at #121. What, you ask, could possibly have sold more than Massive Attack and Sonic Youth? In the case of Massive Attack, they fell just behind singer Olivia Newton-John's Back With A Heart, an album that finds her returning to the country music that earned her a Female Vocalist of the Year award from the Country Music Association (over country diva Tammy Wynette, no less) in 1974. Sonic Youth, on the other hand, were kept out of the #84 slot by controversial hip-hop crew Concentration Camp's Da Holocaust, an album that raised the ire of Jewish leaders over its title; the group's label claims that it is actually titled Da Halocaust but was misnamed due to a printing error. In other news, punk-poppers Green Day and electronica artists the Crystal Method saw chart movement upward this week following exposure to wider markets via the wonders of television and radio-station-sponsored festivals. Green Day's Nimrod jumped from #98 to #78 after "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" (RealAudio excerpt) was prominently used in the tribute clips-show that preceded the much-hyped final episode of the NBC-TV sitcom "Seinfeld," a show that was seen by tens of millions of viewers. That exposure came just a few weeks after the song was used in an episode of the popular NBC-TV drama "ER." The Crystal Method, whose Vegas resurfaced at #189 this week, are reaping the rewards of having their song "Busy Child" used in a Gap clothing commercial. Both groups played the radio-sponsored HFStival last week in Washington, D.C. "Green Day has received some significant non-traditional exposure," Kerr pointed out. "Between 'Seinfeld' and 'ER,' they've really been exposed to people who wouldn't usually listen to them." Asked if exposure like this can help sales, Kerr said, "It sure doesn't hurt, I'll tell you that." But that's not always true, apparently. TV star Andy Griffith dropped off the charts entirely with his album Just As I Am. In three weeks, the beloved star of "Matlock" and "The Andy Griffith Show" has crooned his way into the hearts of 21,000 record-buying fans. The rest of the best: Various Artists, City of Angels Soundtrack (#2); LeAnn Rimes, Sittin' On Top Of The World (#3); Dave Matthews Band, Before These Crowded Streets (#4); Various Artists, Titanic Soundtrack (#5); Vonda Shepard, Songs From Ally McBeal (#7); Backstreet Boys, Backstreet Boys (#8); George Strait, One Step At A Time (#9); and Celine Dion, Let's Talk About Love.
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