CD Sales Tracking - Charting the Waters II

[geraldine]

JERRY, OH MY GOODNESS.  I AGREE WITH LORRAINE.  THANKS FOR THE NUMBERS.

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 9-4-07
1. ATDW: #2,268

Hello all...wonder if there will be a new holiday album or if the holiday tour will spotlight MCWL.

[geraldine]

Jerry-  That is a really good question.  Does make you wonder.  That would be nice to have a new Christmas one.  Or maybe he will just pick some songs different to sing from a Christmas song list.

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 9-11-07
1. ATDW: #5,203

Ray Stevens, one of my favorite singers, was the focal point of a tribute album from Cledus T Judd.

The album from Cledus is called BOOGITY-BOOGITY: A TRIBUTE TO THE COMIC GENIUS RAY STEVENS. It entered the Billboard country album chart this week at #47 which is pretty good for a comedy album.

Barry Manilow's GREATEST SONGS OF THE SEVENTIES on Amazon...this is all based on Pre-order sales...as you saw on QVC the other day over 31,000 were ordered from QVC...

#93: Overall
#14: Adult Contemporary category
#7: Vocal Pop category
#1: Soft Rock category

[geraldine]

Jerry-  That's a big drop in the numbers for Clay, but to be expected.  No problem really, we still have his new one to look forward to.  I have a question.  There are rumors of a double cd.  If that does happen, will the sales ranking be counted as well on it?

Barry Manilow's cd numbers should go big once it is released.  Thanks for the updates.

[ACcountryFan]

Charlene: Well, Barry's numbers are big now on Amazon...in overall products in music, Barry's rated #93 and #1 in Soft Rock titles as i posted yesterday

AMAZON RANKING: 9-12-07
1. ATDW: #3,131

[geraldine]

Jerry-  Thanks, now I understand the numbers for Barry.  I know that he has a #1 hit on his hands once again

I see Clay's numbers went uo some.  We still have his new to look forward to when it does come out.

Thanks for keeping us updated.

[ACcountryFan]

George Strait's latest single, HOW 'BOUT THEM COWGIRLS, is #16 on the Billboard Country Singles chart...up from #17. I hope the single becomes his 4th Top-10 from his current album, "It Just Comes Natural". His previous three Top-10 hits from that album are: the #2 hit "Wrapped"; the #1 hit "It Just Comes Natural"; and the #1 hit "Give It Away".

Cledus T Judd's tribute to Ray Stevens is at #3 on Billboard's Top Comedy Albums chart.

AMAZON RANKING: 9-13-07
1. ATDW: #6,083

[geraldine]

Jerry- Hmmmm  the numbers are down quite a bit for ATDW. All I know is that I have mine a still love and listen to it.

George Strait hangs in there on the charts doesn't he? 

Cledus T Judd's cd is on the billboard comeday chart.  See that's how good Ray Stevens is to have a tribute cd done for him.
Thanks for the information.  Hope for better numbers for Clay next time.

[clayniac4ver]

HEY EVERYBODY

LETS TRY TO KEEP CLAY'S # 1 HIT @ #1

THANKS
ALYSE

[lolita]

I haven’t been here in a while…

AC, those numbers are not getting any better, thanks.

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 9-17-07
1. ATDW: #4,121

[geraldine]

Thanks for the continued updates Jerry, even if the numbers go up and down, it's nice to keep track.

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 9-26-07
1. ATDW: #5,627

[ACcountryFan]

Good news for Reba and Barry fans

A lot of the impact of Reba's #1 debut on the Billboard 200 is the huge duet with Kelly Clarkson contained on the CD, "Because of You", which even though reached #2 on the Country singles chart, has been played just as much as a #1 song and it's still being played on country radio long after it's #2 peak.

Reba Outmuscles Kanye, 50 To Score First No. 1
Reba McEntire
September 26, 2007, 10:55 AM ET
Katie Hasty, N.Y.

In a week where six of the top 10 slots on The Billboard 200 are occupied by new releases, Reba McEntire's "Reba Duets" reigns at No. 1. Moving 301,000 copies in the United States, the MCA Nashville album provides the country star's best sales week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.

The star-studded set, her first No. 1 on The Billboard 200, includes collaborations with artists like Rascal Flatts, Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Justin Timberlake and Kelly Clarkson; it's with the latter artist that McEntire duets with on "Because of You," which already peaked at No. 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

After debuting at No. 1 last week, Kanye West's Def Jam album "Graduation" falls to No. 2 with 226,000, a sales slide of 76%. 50 Cent's "Curtis" does nearly the same, slipping 2-3 with 143,000 (-79%).

Barry Manilow earns his third top five album in a row as "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies" (Arista) debuts at No. 4 with 113,000. It's the singer's third "Greatest Songs" set, with "... of the Fifties" bowing at No. 1 and "... of the Sixties" entering at No. 2. The new effort's tally includes 41,000 copies sold during a promotion on shopping channel QVC.

Kenny Chesney's "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates" (BNA/Sony BMG Nashville) descends 3-5 in its second week with 112,000 (-71%), while Disney's "High School Musical 2" slides 4-6 with 99,000 (-25%).

British singer/songwriter James Blunt's sophomore album, "All the Lost Souls," opens at No. 7, moving 92,000. The Custard/Atlantic set comes follows his 2005 U.S. debut, "Back to Bedlam" which featured the smash hit "You're Beautiful." Fellow Brit KT Tunstall's sophomore Virgin set, "Drastic Fantastic," debuts at No. 9 with 50,000. Her debut, 2006's "Eye to the Telescope," topped out at No. 33.

Chamillionaire's "Ultimate Victory" (Chamillitary/Universal Motown) debuts at No. 8 with 79,000 units, which is a charting best for the Houston rapper. His debut, 2005's "The Sound of Revenge," entered at No. 10 with 130,000.

Twista's fifth album, "Adrenaline Rush 2007" (Atlantic) enters at No. 10 with 41,000. That's a significant decline from 2005's "The Day After," which bowed at No. 2 with 129,000.

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder's soundtrack to the Sean Penn-directed "Into the Wild" (J) bows at No. 11 with 39,000, while H.I.M.'s "Venus Doom" (Sire/London/Rhino) begins at No. 12, a charting best for the Finnish metal group.

Other big debuts this week include Epitaph rock troupe Motion City Soundtrack's "Even If It Kills Me" at No. 16 with 33,000, Diana Krall's "The Very Best of Diana Krall" (Verve) at No. 19 with 30,000, Dropkick Murphys' "The Meanest of Times" (Born & Bred) at No. 20 with 28,000, Gloria Estefan's "90 Millas" (Burgundy) at No. 25 with 23,000 and Mark Knopfler's "Kill to Get Crimson" (Warner Bros.) at No. 26, with only a few dozen short of Estefan's total at 23,000. In all, 31 new albums appeared on The Billboard 200 this week.

At 8.29 million, sales are down 9.5% compared to last week's total and down 13.8% from the same sum this time last year.

BILLBOARD

[ACcountryFan]

Puttin' On The Hits

Barry Manilow is trying to get the feeling again. Following the runaway success of January 2006's "The Greatest Songs of the Fifties," which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200, and subsequent "The Greatest Songs of the Sixties," a No. 2 album in October 2006, he has wrapped the organic follow-up, "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies," due this week via Arista.

Combined, the two prior efforts have shifted nearly 1.7 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. However, given that this is the decade that catapulted Manilow to fame, arranging and covering songs from his own heyday has left the artist a bit confounded. "This has been a real big mountain," he says. "These songs are so well-known. Every time I sat down at the piano and tried to put my stamp onto them, whenever I touched a chord, I would stop because I felt I was hurting them."

Add to the challenge that Manilow decided to include unplugged renditions of some of his own best-loved hits from the decade: "It seemed like such an easy idea, but then, oh, my God, how do you redo 'Mandy' and 'I Write the Songs'? I'm telling you, I stared at the piano for a good two weeks before I started." Even so, Manilow says, "I think we did it. These covers retain the integrity and emotion of the originals."

Manilow says the experience of reinventing hits like Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were," Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and the Bee Gees' "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" offered a newfound regard for their melodic mastery. "When they were out, frankly, they were competition for me-I was going up the charts, they were going up the charts -- so I guess I didn't respect them as great songs," he says. "Recording them, I realized how beautifully written and well-crafted they are."

BILLBOARD

[geraldine]

Jerry It's good to see Reba back recording again.  I was certain she would do well on the charts.

I still feel that Clay will be back up there at #1 with the new cd when it comes out.

Thanks for the information as always.

[ACcountryFan]

Hello Charlene! It'll be interesting to see the charts this week and see if there's much interplay. Barry often has a few strong weeks before settling down. The statement that it was his third Top-10 album debut in a row is awesome, too...people don't know just how tough it is to break into the higher positions on the Billboard 200...before ULTIMATE MANILOW came along, Barry was charting in the mid positions on the Billboard 200. A lot of them were peaking below #100...a few of them got no higher than #150...and so i can't stress enough how unreal all of this success is for Barry at this stage of his career. Barry had a good sized hit with the CD, "HERE AT THE MAYFLOWER", it being a Top-10 album based on internet sales. Then as we know, Barry was still selling out his concerts...then came ULTIMATE MANILOW's debut at #4 on the Billboard 200...then he released a hit holiday album...but nobody, as Barry has often said, could've predicted the runaway success of the recent CD collections.

I expect Reba's DUETS project to be a monster country album...and rank right up there with a lot of her previous CD's in terms of longevity on the charts. BECAUSE OF YOU, Reba's duet with Kelly Clarkson, was the first single...the sales will continue to rise as each duet is released from the CD but i don't think anything will reach the magnitude of BECAUSE OF YOU, though.

AMAZON RANKING: 10-1-07
1. ATDW: #2,504

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 10-25-07
1. ATDW: #5,848

After spending 2 weeks at #11, George Strait's HOW 'BOUT THEM COWGIRLS jumped up to #9

[geraldine]

Jerry I see Clay's numbers haven't changed much.  Hope for some really high numbers when his new cd comes out.

That's great that George Strait's number jumped from #11 to #9 in just two weeks.  A friend of mine bought this cd and said it is a really good one

Thanks for the updates!