Boyz disc and Di ditty top charts

By ADAM SANDLER

The highly publicized album from crooners Boyz II Men, "Evolution," was the bestselling album in the nation, with more than 211,000 copies being sold since its Oct. 28 bow, according to sales data released Wednesday. But the week's biggest seller was Elton John's tribute to Princess Diana, the single "Candle in the Wind 1997," which sold more than 3.5 million copies, shattering the former one-week record-holder, Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You."

Houston's version of the Dolly Parton track, which had held the mark with a one-week tally of 632,000 copies, has sold more than 4.6 million units since its 1992 bow. Though John's single logged advance orders of 12 million units, its sell-though tally puts it behind Houston and Los Del Rio's "Macarena." But clearly not for long.

The six-day sales tally for Boyz II Men's Motown Records disc was sufficient to top the numbers logged by LeAnn Rimes' Curb Records album "You Light Up My Life," which nabbed the No. 2 spot on sales of 200,000 copies.

Last week's chart topper, Mariah Carey, was pushed into the No. 3 spot with sales of 171,000 copies for her Columbia Records disc, "Butterfly." Her two-week sales tally grows to north of 405,000 copies.

Country music duo Brooks & Dunn saw its "Greatest Hits" set move up three notches into the No. 4 spot. The Arista Records Nashville disc was helped by the duo's showing on last week's Country Music Awards.

The sales action was particularly potent near the chart's top as discs showed remarkably small sales fall-offs from the previous week. Many of the discs experienced less than 25% declines even though it is not unusual for second- and third-week tallies to drop to half of the debut week numbers.

Rapper Master P slipped one notch to No. 5 as his No Limit Records disc "Ghetto D" sold more than 108,000 copies. It topped the tally logged by No. 6 spot holder Fleetwood Mac by fewer than 1,000 copies. The reunited band's "The Dance" disc moved 108,000 copies.

Busta Rhymes, which debuted at No. 3 last week, saw its Elektra Entertainment disc "When Disaster Strikes" check in at No. 7 on sales of 106,000 copies.

Puff Daddy's Bad Boy/Arista Records disc "No Way Out" fell three spots to No. 8 on 104,000 copies, while Elton John's "Big Picture" disc bowed at No. 9 on sales of 101,000 units. The Rocket Records/Polydor disc benefited from the impressive out-of-the-box tally of his "Candle in the Wind 1997," even though the record-breaking single is not included on the album.

Danish group Aqua's debut release "Aquarium" checked in at No. 10 on sales of nearly 100,000 copies. It rose one notch from last week's post.

The opening of the film "Soul Food" and its highly publicized No. 2 status at the box office no doubt inspired additional sales of the soundtrack. The LaFace/Arista Records disc jumped six spots to No. 11 on sales of just south of 100,000 copies.