191. Bow Wow "Price Of Fame"

Sales this week: 3,688
Cume: 523,426

I guess he’s no longer that lil’.

Usually they grow up and no one cares.  Startlingly, they still care about (Lil’) Bow Wow.

189. All-American Rejects "Move Along"

Sales this week: 3,709
Cume: 1,890,413

On the surface, this appears to be a GARGANTUAN number considering today’s sales figures.  But then one discovers it was released almost two years ago, on July 12, 2005.

How come we can’t sell tonnage anymore?  Is it the splintering of the audience?  The lack of attention to radio?  The lack of music on MTV?  The raw quality?

All of these.

But first and foremost it’s a refusal to monetize acquisition.  Demand didn’t suddenly go down.  NO ONE who’s released an album this year has hit this sales figure.  Is ALL music suddenly crap?  No, I’d say most people are getting their music via P2P, disc burning or hard drive swapping.  Is putting DRM on the tracks of PAYING customers solving the problem?  OF COURSE NOT!  You don’t deal with the criminals by limiting the rights of those who are playing by the rules.  It’s just that the rules must encompass everybody.  Don’t make stealing harder, monetize the theft.

188. Joan Osbourne "Joan Osbourne: Breakfast In Bed"

Sales this week: 3,711
Cume: 8,246

This is what happens when you don’t write the hit material.

Odds are Eric Bazilian could have more chart success than Ms. Osbourne, after all, he’s the one who wrote ONE OF US!

187. "Jersey Boys"

Sales this week: 3,720
Cume: 324,391

Wow, this number stunned me.  For an original Broadway cast album, of a play that JUST opened in L.A?  How many people have SEEN this frickin’ thing?

But, the material is killer.

Then again, why isn’t a Four Seasons compilation selling?

Wow, IT IS!  Whereas the original cast album is #107 at Amazon, "The Very Best of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons" is at #63!

Warms my heart, puts a smile on my face.  I still remember listening to those tunes on the jukebox at the Nutmeg Bowl back in ’64.  My favorite?  "Dawn (Go Away)"!  But how about Frankie’s vocal in "Rag Doll"…  "I’d turn her sad rags into GLAD rags if I could…"

181. Tony Bennett "Duets: American Classic"

Sales this week: 3,929
Cume: 1,507,067

Release novelty records, DUETS records, in the fourth quarter.

If not a Christmas release?  A fraction of these sales.

174. Kings Of Leon "Because Of The Times"

Sales this week: 4,119
Cume: 103,437

In the top five of ALL acts I get e-mail about.  A rabid fan base.  But the records just don’t justify a bigger career, not yet.  They’ve yet to make that record that blows them up.  I’m thinking they never will.

161. Shins "Wincing The Night Away"

Sales this week: 4,555
Cume: 406,333

Whoever said press doesn’t sell records…

Thinking people read, they read about the Shins.

This is a fucking fantastic number.  And I don’t think SNL was the key force.  This was a record to believe in, when nothing else fit the bill.

159. Relient K "Five Score & Seven Years Ago"

Sales this week: 4,603
Cume: 138,689

No wonder they closed down Capitol.  You can’t make your numbers on this figure.  Oh, it could continue to sell, but doesn’t the hard core fan base buy the record IMMEDIATELY?  And isn’t this band all about the hard core fan base?  Then again, is this the target demo for THEFT?

151. Gerald Levert "In My Songs"

Sales this week: 4,817
Cume: 387,083

Death doesn’t always sell records.

147. Silversun Pickups "Carnavas"

Sales this week: 5,129
Cume: 169,802

Sales don’t quite equal the hype, but this is a record and an act that hasn’t peaked yet.

142. Celtic Woman "New Journey"

Sales this week: 5,210
Cume: 394,562

Wasn’t touring supposed to sell records?  Didn’t you release one and then go on the road to move units?  This record came out gangbusters, but has faded to a whimper, and doesn’t appear that it will be revived.

In other words, Celtic Woman is not the new Enya, at least not yet.  Someone whose records sell FOREVER!

140. Arctic Monkeys "Favourite Worst Nightmare"

Sales this week: 5,261
Cume: 95,368

Obviously not too many people’s favorite…

They’re officially over, they will never break through in America.  Another English hype bites the dust.

138. Jackson/Strait/Buffett "Live At Texas Stadium"

Sales this week: 5,287
Cume: 157,796

Who thought this was a good idea?

133. The National "Boxer"

Sales this week: 5,404
Cume: 14,976

On the bubble.  Will this gain traction or fade away, not exactly into oblivion, but cultdom?

A real buzz about this act, but with nowhere for most people to hear it, or hear about it if they’re not hipsters, the record just can’t get traction.

115. Brandi Carlile "The Story"

Sales this week: 6,336
Cume: 85,597

Not the new KT, certainly not the new Corinne Bailey Rae.

Corinne Bailey Rae made cocktail music, guaranteed not to piss anybody off without a tattoo.  KT is a true innovator.  Brandi Carlile?  Well, she’s NICE!

Not gonna happen.

107. "Once"

Sales this week: 6,565
Cume: 10,016

If this were a band, I’d applaud the marketing.  This movie is SO hot.

I went on Labor Day and got CLOSED OUT!  The people in front of us bought the last tickets.

Things used to build.  The public sold it.  "Once" might be undercapitalized, but those who have seen it will not let the movie die.  This is the future of music.  Much more than some hip-hop record with electronic handclaps.

104. Mika "Life In Cartoon Motion"

Sales this week: 6,888
Cume: 129,768

Could he be too cute?
This still could blow up here, most people just aren’t familiar enough yet.

82. Hilary Duff "Dignity"

Sales this week: 8,244
Cume: 287,097

Isn’t it a fucked up world where this blond teenager gets to employ this title, since SO MANY OF HER CONTEMPORARIES ARE SO FUCKED UP!

Half her audience reached puberty since the last record came out.  Those left, they’ll be gone by the time of the next.

Still, although beneath label expectations, I’m stunned this album did this many.

81. Buckcherry "15"

Sales this week: 8,297
Cume: 733,080

Good for them.  No one believed in them, they made the record on their own…Atlantic picked it up and unlike too many other pickups, it SOLD!

People still want to get fucked up, they still want music to express their anger and frustration.  Being a young male is exasperating.  You want it all, and you get very little.  You need a soundtrack.  This fits perfectly.

62. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus  "Don’t You Fake It’

Sales this week: 9,617
Cume: 641,345

Slow but steady.  Jason’s first victory in his new gig.

This never reached the top of the chart, unlike most albums, it didn’t come out with a bang and then sink.  It’s been building.  46 weeks on the chart so far.  This is the new paradigm.  The slow build, sans monster hype.  Have a few acts this size in your repertoire, and then one of them blows up big and it’s 1972 all over again.  Can you say WARNER BROTHERS?

61. Rush "Snakes & Arrows"

Sales this week: 9,619
Cume: 159,770

Either their fans have the loudest voices of all, or there aren’t that many of them, or BOTH!

Rush has got a rabid fan base.  They rave about the band constantly.  But this is a piss poor number.  Suddenly, it appears Rush is an oldies act, and fans only want the classics.  Then again, should the band be scared on the road?