DAVE MATTHEWS BAND'S "EVERYDAY" HAS A HUGE ONE-DAY
RCA Records formally launched "2001: A Sales Odyssey" with yesterday's release of Dave Matthews Band's "Everyday," which, based on first-day reports from retailers around the country, could garner more than 800k in sales, easily putting it atop next week's Top 50 albums chart.
The record was #1 by a country mile at Wherehouse, and was showing strong sales at Best Buy, Trans World, Musicland, Target, Circuit City, Anderson, etc.
RCA Sr.VP Sales David Fitch put down his abacus to say the fact the marketplace is totally devoid of anything new and exciting helped catapult the album to its phenomenal first-day total of more than 400k: "The band made a career album with Glen Ballard. We broadcast the street date through the group's appearances on David Letterman and MTV's 'TRL' and the group's rabid fan base responded. Our set-up was pretty amazing, from a retail, radio, marketing and video standpoint. And there's no competition. We had a clear lane to the top."
After a strong set-up that includes TV appearances supplemented with advertising, the Dave Matthews Band wasn't the only signs of sales life after a fairly quiet first quarter. The band's last album, '98's "Before These Crowded Streeets," sold 421k its first week out on the way to a total of 3.4 million in O.T.C. sales to date.
Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam/IDJ act DJ Clue's "The Professional, Part 2" showed surprising strength, with first-day sales indicating the album could approach a first-week total of 200k. In addition, Hypnotized Minds/Loud's hip-hop group Project Pat, part of the Three 6 Mafia posse, looks headed for the 90-100k range, while No Limit/Priority's Silkk The Shocker was registering on the one-day Richter scale for a relatively disappointing 75-85k.
Next week, Aerosmith's new Columbia album, "Just Push Play," Eve's Interscope album, "Scorpion" and Bad Boy/Arista soulsters 112's "Part III" are among the major releases.
