BLINK-182 TAKES OFF WITH 400K+

According to one-day retail reports from nationwide accounts , MCA’s blink-182 could easily sell more than 400,000 copies in its first week, making "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket" a shoe-in for #1 on next week’s album chart.

The huge debut comes at a great time for the Jay Boberg-led MCA, still riding high on the success of Shaggy’s "Hotshot," which has sold over 5.6 million copies since its release last year. That album is still selling over 60k a week and in the Top 20 on the current HITS chart.

As for the new blink, "Pants and Jacket" is benefiting from expert setup and execution at radio, with Craig Lambert’s promo team kicking the project into high gear at Post Modern, with "The Rock Show" currently #3 and gaining on the HITS PoMo chart.

With blink’s first week coming in even stronger than expected, look for the album to have a huge run and heat up MCA’s marketshare—currently 3.9 percent year-to-date—even further.

Next week’s chart will be making room for another Top 10 debut as well, with early reports indicating that Lava/Atlantic good-look fratpop gods Sugar Ray will approach the 100k mark.