Beatles top Backstreet Boys with '1'

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The indefatigable Beatles proved a fave once again among Christmas shoppers last week, topping the album charts and bumping the latest release from teen-pop phenoms the Backstreet Boys into second position.

The 27-song career retrospective "1" (Capitol) sold nearly 671,000 copies in the week ended December 10, topping its prior-week sales by more than 60,000 units and bringing total four-week sales to a hefty 2.5 million.

The runaway success of "1" represents a marked turnaround in the U.S. fortunes of Capitol's EMI parent, whose stateside sales were less than stellar this year, according to Sanford C. Bernstein media analyst Michael Nathanson. EMI, which also owns the Virgin and Priority imprints, has seen its market share grow by nearly 1.5 percentage points to nearly 11 percent in its most recent quarter, he said.

FEATURE Can't buy me love? How about some Beatles stuff?     REVIEWS Looking for some holiday music? Charlotte Church, Three Tenors, Vonda Shepard and more    AUDIO 'What Child Is This?' 288KWAV sound

"They sold about 2.7 million more albums this quarter," Nathanson said. "When you think about it, that's pretty close to what the Beatles record has done in the U.S. so far."

The analyst added that the strong performance could give EMI some added leverage in its negotiations with its recently announced merger suitor, German media group Bertelsmann AG.

Meanwhile, the Backstreet Boys still managed to scan 547,000 copies of their latest LP "Black & Blue" (Jive) this week, despite being relegated to the No. 2 spot. The most recent sales figures brought the Boys within spitting distance of triple platinum, with more than 2.8 million units sold.

The rest of the debut-free top 10 was dominated by pop-chart perennials. Among them were Creed's "Human Clay" (Wind-Up), which held fast at No. 4, Britney Spears' "Oops... I Did It Again" (Jive), which rebounded three spots to fifth place, and the Baha Men, rising three places to No. 9 on sales of just under 190,000 records.

British teen-chanteuse Charlotte Church also got a healthy bump upward in this week's charts. Her latest record, "Dream a Dream," (Sony Classical) advanced nine places to seventh place, after moving up from No. 25 a week earlier.

In fact, the first new release on this week's chart didn't appear until No. 14, with a covers collection by rap-rock trailblazers Rage Against the Machine called "Renegades" (Epic). The album, which includes tributes to such rock and hip-hop legends as MC5 and Afrika Bambaataa, follows closely on the heels of singer Zack de la Rocha's abrupt departure from the band in October.

Other albums taking a bow this week included "Understanding" (Def Jam) by Brooklyn rapper Memphis Bleek at No. 16, R&B team K-Ci & JoJo's "X" (MCA) at 21, Gotham radio jock Funkmaster Flex's compilation disc "Vol. 4 -- 60 Minutes of Funk" (Loud) at 26, and hip-hop trio 3LW's eponymous debut on Epic in 69th position.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

See related sites about MUSIC

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.