BEASTIES’ BEST

The Beasties make the top of the charts the official sixth Borough as their new album debuts at #1 with more than 381k records sold, easily topping perennial LaFace/ZLG soul man Usher at #2.

Hastings’ George Deahl celebrated the socks and underwear his family gave him by raving: "Father’s Day weekend is traditionally an up week for us and this year was no different. The Beastie Boys had a big first week, an easy #1 debut with us."

The week’s top newcomer is Island/IDJ R&B crossover beauty Christina Milian at #9.

Rounding out the Top 5 are last week’s champ, RCA/RMG’s Velvet Revolver (#3), Epic/Sony Nashville’s redneck woman Gretchen Wilson (#4) and Arista/RMG sk8-punk chanteuse Avril Lavigne (#5). Island/IDJ suburban rockers Hoobastank (#6), Shady/Interscope hip-hop thugz D12 (#7), Epic’s red-hot Texas rockers Los Lonely Boys (up a whopping 36% at #8) and DreamWorks’ Shrek 2 soundtrack (#10) complete the Top 10.

Other chart newcomers include Lyric Street’s Josh Gracin (#11), Epic’s Celine Dion live (#13), Elektra/Atlantic’s Phish (#15), Wind-up’s Seether (#44) and Island/IDJ’s Killers (#46).

Added Deahl: "Big & Rich continues to make a big move, just like the Los Lonely Boys have been doing for weeks. Did anyone see my 10-gallon hat?"

Registering gains of more than 25% are WB Nashville’s Big & Rich (#25-12, +45%), Epic’s Modest Mouse (#26-17, +27%), Epic’s Franz Ferdinand (#42-28, +41%, thanks to MTV rotation), Cash Money/Universal’s Juvenile (#39-30, +33%), Capitol’s Dean Martin greatest hits (#48-33, +40%), Epic’s George Michael (#43-38, +25%) and Verve’s Diana Krall (#49-42, +28%).

Next week, look for Interscope’s Jadakiss to vie for the top spot on the charts.

Concluded George: "We’re looking for big numbers next week from Jadakiss and the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack. Everyone tells me I look like Tobey Maguire with his mask on."