112 ALL PUFFED UP OVER #2 DEBUT!

First, you find out you're not going to prison, and then your label has an album debut at #2.

Is this country great or what?

No doubt about it, a lot of dead U.S. presidents floated into the hands of patriotic retailers, as Bad Boy/Arista's 112 scored an impressive #2 debut on this week's Top 50 Album Chart for Sean "Puffy" Combs' imprint.

"It's our #1 record this week, outselling the Dave Matthews Band by a 2-1 margin," said that great American and HMV corporate buyer Jeff Davidson, who, in the spirit of Old Glory, strongly advocates invading a small Third World country in order to provide cheap labor which will artificially inflate the stock price of the multibillion-dollar corporate parent back home. Hey, it's the Republican way.

"We did two 112 in-stores in Harlem and Atlanta that turned out to be incredible," said Davidson, who displayed his true patriotism by stealing some land from a Native American. "The fans created a buying frenzy."

But it just wasn't just 112 this week. MCA's remarkable Shaggy remains in the top spot, with RCA's Dave Matthews following the 112 debut at #3. Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic's Trick Daddy bows at an impressive #4, while Columbia's Aerosmith remains incredibly solid at #5.

But perhaps it's #6 Dido who deserves the most praise. Albums come and albums go, but this one just keeps selling…and selling some more. Incidentally, she and Arista labelmates Dream (#21) and OutKast (#33) have already made 2001 a fine year for L.A. Reid and his team. Open the pod bay door, HAL.

Other debuts of note this week belong to Epic's Jon B at #7, Virgin's "Exit Wounds" soundtrack at #17 and AMC's Bizzy Bone at #23.

"This is a great day for America," said HMV's Davidson. "Let's enact a huge tax cut at the expense of essential social services for the needy."