Jack Johnson Wakes Up The Chart (Kinda)
Jack Johnson’s Sleep Through The Static became the first No. 1 album with a six-figure sales total in a while this week, selling 375,000 copies during its first week in stores. The strong debut led a slightly better week for record sales, which were helped along by a bigger-than-previous-weeks slate of new releases and people heading to their computers to actually purchase music legally after the Grammy telecast.
Biggest Debuts: Three of the top four albums were debuts; behind Johnson was Sheryl Crow’s Detours (92,000 sold), and at No. 4 was the new album by Lenny Kravitz (73,000). k.d. lang’s Watershed entered the chart at No. 8, selling 41,000 copies; the soundtrack to Step Up 2: The Streets, which features the awful “Low” by Flo Rida, came in at No. 13, selling 31,000 copies; and Kenny G’s Starbucks-distributed Rhythm and Romance entered right behind it at No. 14, also selling 31,000 copies.
Notable Jumps: The few hours after the Grammy telecast were the final hours of the SoundScan week, and the Grammy effect could already be seen with certain artists: Alicia Keys’ As I Am saw a 31% gain (No. 3, 80,000 sales); Feist’s The Reminder jumped up 22% (No. 88, 8,600); Foo Fighters’ Echoes Silence Patience And Grace went up 35% (No. 65, 13,000). But no other Grammy performer’s jump was as big as the one enjoyed by the Across The Universe soundtrack, which jumped from No. 150 to No. 38 on a 284% sales gain (18,000 sales).
Also, it’s probably worth noting that Herbie Hancock’s Album of the Year winner River: The Joni Letters entered the charts at No. 158 and sold 5,000 copies–which makes up one-twelfth of its sales total to date.
Dropping Off: After debuting at No. 3 last week, the Mars Volta’s Bedlam In Goliath sank 70% and fell to No. 51 (16,000 sold); last week’s No. 4, Bullet for My Valentine’s Scream, Aim, Fire, dropped 56% and fell to No. 29 (23,000); Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut took a 38% hit and fell from No. 17 to No. 43 (17,000).
Nickelback Award For Inexplicable Durability: Daughtry‘s sales went up 20% this week, allowing the album to inch back into the top 20. It’s sold 3.8 million copies so far, and I guess it has a way to go before it reaches All the Right Reasons sales levels…
The top 20, with sales totals in parentheses: 1. Jack Johnson, Sleep Through The Static (375,000) 2. Sheryl Crow, Detours (92,000) 3. Alicia Keys, As I Am (80,000) 4. Lenny Kravitz, It Is Time For A Love Revolution (73,000) 5. 2008 Grammy Nominees (52,000) 6. Juno soundtrack (47,000) 7. Mary J. Blige, Growing Pains (45,000) 8. k.d. lang, Watershed (41,000) 9. Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus (40,000) 10. Taylor Swift (39,000) 11. Keyshia Cole, Just Like You (35,000) 12. Chris Brown, Exclusive (32,000) 13. Step Up 2: The Streets (31,000) 14. Kenny G, Rhythm & Romance (31,000) 15. Sara Bareilles, Little Voice (30,000) 16. Garth Brooks, Ultimate Hits (30,000) 17. Now 26 (30,000) 18. Daughtry (27,000) 19. Alvin & The Chipmunks soundtrack (27,000) 20. Sugarland, Enjoy the Ride (26,000)
