ONE-DAY SALES: FOLKS GOT A JONES FOR NORAH
Indeed, according to early reports from national accounts, Feels Like Home will easily sell over 600k in its first week. Of course, that first week happens to include Valentine’s Day, traditionally one of the bigger weeks at retail. And given that Jones’ mellow, sultry stylings make her album perfect for V-Day gift givin’, could one reasonably expect the lovers’ holiday to push Jones’ sales even higher? We think one could. Could it approach 700k? We’ll have to wait and see.
Also hitting the streets Tuesday was hot rap producer Kanye West’s solo bow, College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam). With two singles on the radio (his own and a cameo with Twista), retail prognosticators are prognosticating a first-week bow well over 400k—possibly as high as 450k.
That makes Norah #1 and Kanye the probable #2 on next week’s chart (depending on how Kenny Chesney and Incubus settle in their second weeks), but Island Def Jam also has what will be next week’s third-highest debut in Melissa Etheridge’s newest, Lucky (Island). Early reports indicate that album should sell in excess of 100k for the week, making it a strong Top 10 contender.
The number crunchers also tell us to look for a big spike on next week’s chart for OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (Arista), thanks to major Grammy heat that included two performances in addition to the duo’s awards. Some say the album could return to sales of over 200k for the week.
We’d give you a rousing “Hey Ya” over that, but that would make us look sillier than we already do just for publishing this tripe, so we won’t.
