MOP TOPS LOOK TO FLIP-FLOP
As Chart Battle Heats Up
Just two weeks after unseating the Beatles' "1" for the top spot on the charts with impressive, if not record-shattering, first-week sales totals of 1.6 million, the Backstreet Boys could be in danger of relinquishing the #1 slot to their boy-band forefathers in what is being described as a "soft" sales week for the front-runners.
In early sales reports, the two are running neck-and-neck for #1, with sales in the 400k range after "Black & Blue" sold 650.5k and "1" clocked in at 573.3k last week.
Retailers insist the race is too close to call, however, as "NOW Vol. 5" remains in the #3 position.
The Beatles and Backstreet should vie for the lead through the end of the year. "Anger Management" tour rapper Xzibit's Dec. 12th release "Restless" (Loud) and Snoop Dogg's eagerly awaited "Tha Last Meal" (No Limit/Priority), which arrives on retail shelves Dec. 19, appear the only potential roadblocks to the B's continued chart dominance.
