Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Charts: Weird Al is Number 1, Sells Twice as Many CDs as Last Week’s Topper

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“Weird” Al Yankovic is number 1 on the pop charts. His “Mandatory Fun” album sold 105,000 copies last week– twice as many as the previous number 1, Sia, sold of her CD. Indeed, Sia dropped a shocking 74% to number 19 in her second week. That’s a steep drop, with a little under 14,000 copies sold.

But Weird Al– wow. A comedy record? Parodies? Outselling the actual music of the day? That’s pretty stunning. His “Foil” spoofs Lorde’s “Royals.” “Tacky” is Al’s version of Pharrell’s “Happy.” “Word Crimes” is a hilarious spin off of “Blurred Lines.” It’s a song about grammar:

 

 

Next week’s number 1 will likely be the boy band “5 Seconds of Summer,” who are basically One Direction with instruments. But the rest of the release schedule through September 30th is might thin. With a few exceptions, nothing really looks like a Grammy Awards contender.

You could pretty much draw up a Grammy list now for next February. This is because big name artists are fairly lazy these days. And the record companies would rather not release anything than release something and fail.

There is word of a possible Kanye West album coming in September. The sequel to Yeezus. Meezus.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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