Winning 'Mamma Mia' soundtrack takes it all

Winning 'Mamma Mia' soundtrack takes it all
August 14, 2008 NSI News Source Info
(NSI News Source Info) August 14, 2008: Welcome to the top of the pops, Pierce Brosnan and Christine Baranski. The Mamma Mia! soundtrack finally hit No. 1 on the Billboard album chart in its fifth week, selling 130,000 copies, down just a smidge from the previous week’s 138,000. (Ironically enough, ABBA never even had a top 10 album in the U.S. in their Eurocentric heyday, much less a No. 1 LP.) Last week’s topper, Sugarland’s Love on the Inside, dropped to No. 3 with sales of 91,000, behind Miley Cyrus’ Breakout, which shifted 102,000 units and held at No. 2.
Debuting albums this week were on the modest side. At No. 7, R&B balladeer Lloyd got 55,000 fans to sign up for “Sex Education,” “Love Making 101,” “Party All Over Your Body,” and other anti-inhibition tutorials on his new album, Lessons in Love. But Lloyd is getting a lesson in diminishing returns: That number is way down from the 145,000 entry his previous CD managed just last year. At No. 10, Heidi Newfield, the former singer for country band Trick Pony, proved she may be at least a two-trick pony, as her first solo album, What Am I Waiting For, bowed with 34,000. Another Nashville act, Keith Anderson, debuted two spots behind, with his C’Mon selling nearly the same amount. Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst had his first release under his own name enter at No. 15, with sales of 28,000. Trapt’s Only Through the Pain landed at No. 18, moving 24,000 units. On Nielsen SoundScan’s digital songs chart, Rihanna’s “Disturbia” held at No. 1, selling 148,000, representing a 6 percent increase. M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” the tune heard in the Pineapple Express ads, had a more significant sales jump, up 33 percent to 136,000. The biggest debut among song downloads belonged to the Jonas Brothers’ “A Little Bit Longer,” with sales of 131,000 and a No. 3 berth — just ahead of the same siblings’ long-simmering “Burnin’ Up,” which sold 108,000 at No. 4. Of course, next week, we won’t only be discussing the Jonas Brothers in terms of singles, since their album is set to easily enjoy one of 2008’s biggest debuts.