MONKEY SHINES: CURIOUS GEORGE EDGES MARY J. FOR #1
His Brushfire/Universal Records soundtrack to Curious George topped the HITS charts, thanks to a strong infusion of iTunes buys, which represented a hefty percentage of the album's 149k sales total.
That was enough to beat back Geffen diva Mary J. Blige’s The Breakthrough, which was #2, thanks more to an Anderson retail circular than her Grammy performance with U2. The difference was just a little over 3,000 copies.
Last week’s chart-topper, Arista’s Barry Manilow, dips to #3 with barely a 10% drop off, followed by Decca/Universal Classics’ opera man Andrea Bocelli at #4.
So So Def/Virgin’s Dem Franchize Boyz debuted at #5, enough to have Virgin head Jason Flom declare next Monday off for all label employees, which is now being called “Snap Day.” Of course, the real Franchize is Urban head Jermaine Dupri, who discovered the ATL post-Crunkmeisters.
Columbia/CRG’s Il Divo landed at #6, while a pair of divas who experienced almost 100% rise in sales thanks to Grammy exposure, Island/IDJ’s Mariah Carey (#7) and RCA/RMG’s Kelly Clarkson (#8), were up next.
Shady/Aftermath/Interscope hip-hop groom Eminem at #9 and J/RMG’s Jamie Foxx at #10 rounded out the top of the chart.
Other chart debuts were registered by a pair of red state entries in Image Entertainment’s blue-collar comic Ron White (#14) and RLG/SMG’s Totally Country 5 compilation (#17), while a definite blue-state candidate, SRC/Universal Terror Squad alum Remy Ma, landed at #36.
THE GRAMMY EFFECT
Other acts that re-entered the chart thanks to Grammy exposure include Sony Urban/Columbia’s John Legend (#21), Roc-A-Fella/IDJ’s Kanye West (#27), WB’s Faith Hill (#34), Capitol’s Coldplay (#40), Reprise’s Green Day (#41), Interscope’s Gwen Stefani (#43) and Interscope’s U2 (#47).
Aside from Mariah and Kelly, several other artists showed impressive Grammy-gotten gains, including Sony’s 2006 Grammy Nominees album (#31-15, +94%), Virgin’s Gorillaz (#44-30, +82%), Island/IDJ’s Fall Out Boy (#28-23, +31%) and Capitol Nashville’s Keith Urban (#33, +27%).
Although he wasn’t featured on the Grammy telecast, heartthrob Michael Buble experienced the Valentine’s Day Effect when his Reprise album climbed 49% in sales to land at #29.
