'Dreamgirls'
"Dreamgirls" climbed to No. 1 on the nation's album sales chart with the lowest sales total ever posted by a chart topper.
First week of the new year was a rough re-entry period for the entire music business: The 8.3 million in sales was down 22% compared with the same week a year ago. Not a single title in the top 50 improved on its sales from the week before.
The Sony soundtrack set sold 66,000 copies in the week ended Sunday, making it the first film soundtrack in more than four years to sit at No. 1. Last year, a collection of new recordings from the late Johnny Cash had the dubious distinction of being the lowest-selling chart topper in the 16 years since SoundScan began tracking album sales.
Carly Simon's collection of her interpretations of other writers' pop and folk songs, "Into White" (Columbia), was the lone top-50 debut, selling 40,000 copies to land at No. 15. BMG's "Essential Elvis" compilation, released a week before the 72nd anniversary of his Jan. 8 birth, debuted at No. 72 on sales of 13,000.
Two discs saw their sales slip but managed to shoot back into the top 10. Daughtry's self-titled debut rose eight slots to No. 3 on sales of 56,000 and the Beatles' "Love" (Apple/Capitol) rose to No. 9 from 13 on sales of 44,000.
The cume of Disney's "Hannah Montana" soundtrack topped the 2 million mark, selling 46,000 copies and moving up four slots to No. 6.
Last week's No. 1, Omarion's "21" (Epic), slid to No. 10, selling 42,000 copies in the stanza.
Beyond albums from several classical superstars -- Yo-Yo Ma's "Appasionato," Anna Netrebko's "Russian Album" and Lang Lang's "Dragon Songs" -- next week appears headed for another struggle, with no major new releases.
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