Country kudocast gives posse of artists a boost
Strait, Hill, McGraw see sales increase
The Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax "Titanic" logged about 184,000 units to maintain its No. 1 spot and helped keep Sony Music as the industry's current market share leader (21%), but its tally dropped by more than 80,000 copies from the previous week.
Its total was also just ahead of the latest from country music stalwart George Strait, who performed on the ACM show on April 22 and also took home top album and top male artist trophies. He saw his MCA Nashville disc "One Step at a Time" debut at No. 2 on sales of more than 175,000 copies.
The impressive bow -- it also topped the country albums chart -- put an end to pop diva Celine Dion's month-long hold on the runner-up berth.
Faith Hill, who shared four ACM awards with hubby Tim McGraw -- for their duet on the single "It's Your Love" -- benefited from the wins and her performance on the telecast. Her latest Warner Bros. disc debuted at No. 7 on sales of 85,000 copies.
McGraw, who also performed on the show, nabbed a 22-slot jump for his Curb Records disc "Everywhere." It rose to No. 28 and posted sales of 36,000 units, a 22,000 copy boost from the previous week.
Steve Wariner's Capitol Nashville disc "Burnin' the Roadhouse Down" and Randy Travis' DreamWorks Records bow "You and You Alone," also had strong debuts as a result of ACM show appearances. The discs debuted at No. 41 on 28,000 in sales and No. 49 on action of 23,000 units, respectively.
Holding steady at No. 3 was the Reprise Records soundtrack to "City of Angels," which posted sales action of 157,000 copies, a 5,000-unit increase from the previous week.
The album, which boasts tracks from Alanis Morissette, Sarah McLachlan, Goo Goo Dolls and U2, among others, has been the top-selling album at many retail chains over the past two weeks, outpacing "Titanic" and Celine Dion's "Let's Talk About Love."
Save for the debuts, "City of Angels" was the only disc in the top-25 to post an increase over the previous week.
At No. 4 was Dion's 550/Epic Records disc "Let's Talk About Love" with sales of 122,000 copies, a falloff of more than 40,000 copies over the previous survey, the second consecutive week posting a five-figure drop.
The eagerly awaited bow from Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, "Walking Into Clarksville," entered the chart at No. 8 on sales action of 82,000 copies.
The Atlantic Records disc benefited from extensive TV ads tied into Best Buy and the duo's upcoming tour.
