ONE-DAY SALES: ISLEY BROTHERS, JACK JOHNSON COULD CONTEND FOR #1

If you watch this space even casually for weekly sales projections, you know that our talents for hemming, hawing, fudging and even outright lying are beyond reproach.

It is in that spirit that we say to you, based on early reports from national accounts, that The Isley Brothers’ Body Kiss (DreamWorks) and Jack Johnson’s On and On (Universal)—both on sale yesterday—could vie for #1 on next week’s chart with current topper 50 Cent and his Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope).

At present, it looks like the Isleys are on track to sell about 130-140k for the week, with Johnson just behind, in the neighborhood of 125k. 50 Cent, of course, knocked down over 127k last week, so you see what we’re saying. These early reports have a way of shifting around some during the week, after all.

Now, topping 50 Cent’s a tall order, but the orbital physicists in our retail lab tell us he has found his level and could even settle further near-term.

And then there’s this week’s wild card: Mother’s Day. That means there will be additional foot traffic in the stores, but who will see the most benefit is anybody’s guess. But as long as we’re guessing, we’ll guess that people with mothers who are shopping for same might drop in and buy Jack Johnson for themselves and Isley Brothers for Mom, or vice versa. And somewhere out there, you just know somebody’s Mom just loves the Fitty.

Also debuting yesterday was The Matrix Reloaded soundtrack (Maverick), which at this point looks on track to come in just shy of 100k, meaning it will post a solid chart debut.

Now that you’ve read our hogwash, go buy Mom something nice.