EMINEM AND EMINEM AND...
For the seventh time in nine weeks, the rap star’s Shady/Aftermath/Interscope album Recovery will top the HITS’ Top 50 next week, but that should be his last one, as Capitol/EMI’s Katy Perry hits next Tuesday (8/24) with Teenage Dream, and should enter at #1 on the last chart in August.
That’s based on first-day sales figures from music retailers not applying to be JetBlue flight attendants.
Universal Motown Nashville-born, Detroit-raised R&B star Kem’s Intimacy: Album III, should be the week’s best-selling newcomer, with anywhere between 75-80k for his third release.
Veteran UMe metal group Iron Maiden are back with The Final Frontier, which seems headed for the 65-70k range as the U.K. band celebrates 35 years in the business.
RCA/RED grizzled folkie Ray LaMontagne’s fourth album, God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise, currently #1 at iTunes, despite the Apple music store yanking visibility after Amazon put it on its $3.99 Daily Special (see HITS Rumor Mill item here) is right behind it with 60-65k.
Show Dog country artist Trace Adkins is next with an estimated 45-50k for his album, Cowboy’s Back in Town.
Mercer Street/Downtown artist David Gray’s Foundlin is up next, with a projected total of 20-25k in sales, with the deluxe edition of the album currently #3 at iTunes. That’s the same total predicted for Rounder’s new critically acclaimed John Mellencamp album, No Better Than This, produced by T Bone Burnett and recorded in such historical locations as the Sun Studios in Memphis and a San Antonio hotel room where the great Robert Johnson cut his legendary 16 blues songs.
Disney Pearl’s Grammy contender Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin should do between 10-15k, with Rocket Science’s new Filter album in the 6-8k range.
The market was down 6% vs. last week, down 16% vs. same week last year and still down 12% year to date.
And you’re worried about building a Muslim mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero.
