CHEEK BY JOWL: The race for #1 on the HITS Album Sales Chart takes a new turn this morning, as last week’s long shot pulls ahead. Our early numbers put Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga's standards set Cheek to Cheek in the lead with 125k+. Can they hold off Kenny Chesney and last week's champ, Barbra Streisand? Will Irving Berlin emerge as one of Q4's hottest songwriters? Will people under 30 finally start doing the foxtrot again? Stay tuned.
(9/29a)
TIGHT AS A GNAT'S TUCHUS: In what’s shaping up to be tightest Top 3 in a while, today there is no clear winner for #1 on next week’s album chart—apart from Columbia, that is. New releases from Kenny Chesney (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville), Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga (Streamline/Columbia/Interscope) and, in its second week, the latest from Barbra Streisand (Columbia) now all appear headed to the 120-125k range. That last time the Top 3 albums brought in sales greater than 120k each was the week ending 12/29/13.
(9/26a)
YOUR TOP 15: Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga's standards set, as we noted earlier, looks set to give Kenny Chesney a run for #1 on next week's HITS Album Sales Chart. Meanwhile, Barbra Streisand is poised for a very strong sophomore week after topping this week's chart. L'shana tova, people!
1.
Kenny Chesney (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville)
120-130k
2.
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga (Streamline/Columbia/Interscope)
115-125k
3.
Barbra Streisand (Columbia)
105-115k
4.
Alt-J (Atlantic)
60-65k
5.
Pentatonix (RCA)
45-50k
6.
Chris Brown (RCA)
33-37k
7.
5 Seconds of Summer “Amnesia” EP (Capitol)
31-34k
8.
Joe Bonamassa (J&R)
25-28k
9.
Maroon 5 (222/Interscope)
24-27k
10.
George Strait (MCA Nashville)
24-27k
11.
Tim McGraw (Big Machine)
23-26k
12.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix, Vol. 1 (Hollywood)
22-25k
13.
Jackie Evancho (Sony Masterworks)
21-24k
14.
Frozen (Walt Disney)
19-22k
15.
Leonard Cohen (Columbia)
19-22k
16.
Jennifer Hudson (RCA)
19-22k
17.
Sam Smith (Capitol)
19-22k
Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go gorge ourselves on apples and honey and hear about the health problems of every known relative.
(9/25p)
YOUR MIDWEEK PEEK: Kenny Chesney still gets a very slight edge for the #1 spot on next week’s HITS Album Sales Chart, but the margin has tightened. As of this morning, the low end of Chesney’s projection overlaps with the high end of the Tony Bennett-Lady Gaga collaboration. Both have upcoming TV appearances (Chesney on Ellen, Bennett/Gaga on GMA) so it may come down to which one has the bigger impact. Looking solid for #3 is Barbra Streisand’s duets album, Partners, which is on track for a drop of less than 50% in its second week.
Kenny Chesney
(Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville) 120-130k
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga
(Streamline/Columbia/Interscope) 115-125k
Barbra Streisand
(Columbia) 100-110k
While it’s not even Halloween yet, could the above suggest that Partners will be a heavy holiday hitter? Next week will also be only the second time this year when the Top 3 albums have all sold more than 100k. Q4, we love you.
(9/24p)
YOUR NEW RELEASES: Kenny Chesney holds a slight edge for next week’s #1, but the Tony Bennett/Lady Gaga collaboration is within striking distance. Here are this week’s key debuts:
Kenny Chesney
(Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville) 125-135k
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
(Interscope) 115-125k
Alt-J
(Atlantic) 55-65k
Pentatonix
(RCA) 40-50k
5 Seconds of Summer “Amnesia” EP
(Capitol) 35-45k
Joe Bonamassa
(J&R) 24-27k
Jackie Evancho
(Sony Masterworks) 21-24k
Leonard Cohen
(Columbia) 19-22k
Jennifer Hudson
(RCA) 19-22k
Lenny Kravitz
(Roxie) 17-20k
John Mellencamp
(Republic) 12-15k
In a related story, if Tony Bennett takes #1 right after Barbra Streisand, my mom will be seriously kvelling.
(9/24a) 
