Super Tuesdays hype #1

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME ACTION? As with the NFL, it won’t be long until the labels shake off the dog days of summer and put their starting teams back in the game. The biz is already buzzing about the loaded release slates for next month’s two straight Super Tuesdays—Sept. 18 and 25. The season kicks off with new albums from the likes of Pink, Carly Rae Jepsen, Wiz Khalifa, Ne-Yo, The Killers, Dwight Yoakam and the 25th anniversary reissue of Michael Jackson’s Bad. The momentum actually increases the following Tuesday, with a slate topped by Mumford & Sons. Green Day and No Doubt, along with Diana Krall, Barbra Streisand, India.Arie and Lupe Fiasco. Here are a couple of competitions the oddsmakers are currently handicapping: With a projected 400-450k first week, will Mumford’s Babel (Glassnote, 9/25) become the biggest debut of the year? If so, the banjo plunkers will hold the title only until Oct. 22, when Big Machine unleashes Taylor Swift’s Red. Which labels will wind up as the big winners—and which labels need some winners to turn their years around? You’ll wanna be on the 50-yard line for this one. (8/23a)