People Still Buy Music: Unholy trinity of Daft Punk, Alice In Chains, and John Fogerty sit atop this week's Billboard charts
Daft Punk is holding strong—relatively speaking—at the top of this week’s Billboard charts. The group’s Random Access Memories sold 93,000 copies in its second week in stores and 432,000 copies in the states to date. Not bad for a somewhat obtuse electronic record made by a couple of French guys in robot outfits.
In a startling demonstration of how weirdly polarized the country’s music marketplace is, Alice In Chains’ The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here came in number two this week, moving 61,000 copies in its first week out. The band’s last record, 2009’s Black Gives Way To Blue, sold more copies in its first week out but charted lower. The last time the band sat at no. 2 or higher on the Billboard chart was Nov. 25, 1995, around the release of its self-titled album. Devil is the band’s fifth top 10 record.
If that news weren’t brain-melting enough, John Fogerty sits in the third spot on the chart with his new Wrote A Song For Everyone, on which he duets on his own songs with acts like Foo Fighters and Jennifer Hudson. It’s the veteran rocker’s highest charting album ever and his first top 10 nod since 1985’s Centerfield.
Pop act Little Mix sits in the fourth slot, with its DNA record giving the group the highest debut for a British girl group since Spice Girls’ Spice hit no. 6 in 1997. It’s also the biggest debut for any girl group since Danity Kane’s self-titled record went to no. 1 in 2006.