'Titanic' album 4 weeks on top
582,000 copies went home with listeners this week
More than 582,000 copies of the Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax disc were sold during the seven-day period ended Feb. 1.
Also for the fourth week running, Celine Dion's 550/Epic Records disc "Let's Talk About Love" was the second-bestselling album in the nation, according to sales data released Wednesday.
The two discs, which share the Dion-warbled ballad "My Heart Will Go On," logged more in sales than the other eight albums in the Top 10 combined.
Publicity centering on the phenomenal box office success of the 20th Century Fox/Paramount Pictures film, and VH1's repeated airing of its spec focusing on the recording of the Dion album, no doubt contributed to the sales momentum.
"My Heart Will Go On" also continues to be the most-played song in the country, with Top-40 and adult contemporary radio stations weighing in with repeated playings of the track.
Though the Spice Girls were no-shows at the American Music Awards Jan. 26, their latest Virgin Records disc "Spice World" picked up a sales boost. The disc landed at No. 3 on sales of 114,000 copies.
The quintet's win of three trophies on the telecast, the successful first-week reception of its Columbia Pictures film "Spice World" and the piped-in perf of their latest single "Too Much" on the show helped boost sales from the previous week by nearly 6,000 copies.
The Spice Girls' debut "Spice," which was released almost a year ago, also got a boost from the group's heightened profile and was pushed back into the Top 10 as a result.
LaFace/Arista artist Usher held forth at No. 4 on sales of 87,000 copies of "My Way," and held off an advance by Atlantic Records' Matchbox 20, whose "Yourself or Someone Like You" nabbed the No. 5 spot on sales of nearly 87,000 copies.
Sales of less than 40 units separated the two discs.
Jive Records act Backstreet Boys saw its eponymous debut drop a notch to No. 6 on sales action of 77,000 copies, while Columbia Records act Savage Garden rose a post to No. 7 on sales of 65,000 copies.
"Tubthumper," the debut from Universal Records' success story Chumbawamba, slid a notch to No. 8 on action of 61,000 copies.
Closing out the Top 10 was the return of Mase to the listing after a two-week absence with "Harlem World" landing at No. 9 and the Spice Girls' "Spice" checking in at No. 10.
Mase's Bad Boy/Arista Records disc and the Virgin Records quintet's debut both checked in with sales north of 58,000 units. Less than 500 albums separated the two offerings.
