ONE-DAY SALES: BOSS EYES #1,
BUT THERE’S A TIGER ON HIS TAIL

Devils & Dust (Columbia), Bruce Springsteen’s most intimate album since The Ghost of Tom Joad in 1997 and one of the highest-profile DualDisc-only releases in the configuration’s brief history, is expected to debut at #1 on next week’s album chart, generating sales north of 200k. The Boss should totally own Amazon, iTunes and other non-traditional retail outlets.

But just when you thought the coast was clear for living legends, along comes some kid with no respect for his elders, intent on messing things up.

That would be DTP/Def Jam/IDJ crossover act Bobby Valentino, who has defied industry expectations (if indeed there were any before yesterday), appearing to be on his way to a first-week tally of 175k-200k. Who? That’s what we were saying not all that long ago. Bobby Valentino is who.

There will almost certainly be a third debut in next week’s Top 5: Sony Urban/Columbia up-and-comer Amerie, whose second album is looking to do a better-than-expected 130k-150k, thanks in part to extensive airplay.

The most likely Top 5 holdover is resurgent Island/IDJ diva Mariah Carey, who continues to show surprising strength entering her third week at retail.

As for the big picture, such as it is, the music biz did 4%, or 389k units, better this week than last week on a total of 10.2 million units. That total, unfortunately, is off 1.2%, or 129k units, from the comparable week of 2004. Year-to-date sales are a hair under 175 million, 9.9% behind last year, as the industry resembles an NBA team that’s trying to get a big deficit into single digits before the end of the half.