ONE-DAY SALES: WHITE STRIPES, CHER WEIGH IN

According to early reports from national accounts, the biggest debut on next week’s album chart will be those quirky Detroit kids the White Stripes, whose new V2 effort, Elephant, appears headed for a first week of sales in the neighborhood of 100k and a Top 10 chart bow.

The Stripes’ last album, 2002’s White Blood Cells, moved only 2k in its first week and has sold about 650k to date.

Also hitting the street yesterday was Cher’s greatest hits collection, oddly titled The Very Best of Cher (WSM). In the early going, this album appears to be on track for a first week of about 75k or better, meaning it could possibly debut in the Top 10.

This week’s biggies, Linkin Park and Celine Dion, are expected to see second-week dropoffs in the range of 40 to 50 percent, which would conservatively put Linkin in the low-400k range and Celine in the mid-200s, which leaves them comfortably in the #1 and #2 berths for next week.

Speaking of next week, Tuesday will bring on the new Godsmack album, Faceless (Universal) and thus commence the Battle of the Alt-Metal Titans, as the ’Smack takes on the Park. Can the ’Smack overtake? We’ll have to wait and see, just as we’ll have to wait to see how Lisa Marie Presley’s long-awaited To Whom It May Concern (Capitol) fares, Diane Sawyer or no Diane Sawyer.

It’s good to have something to look forward to.