King of All Media, indeed: It's Howard's world and we just live in it. Stern's already on every radio station, television channel, and magazine cover thanks to the "Private Parts" juggernaut -- even the re-releases of "Return of the Jedi" was delayed for a week so it wouldn't have to go mano-a-mano with the former WNBC jock at the box office. And in its first week of release, the "Private Parts" soundtrack sold enough copies to become the nation's best seller, even though it didn't do as well as some had predicted.
"Private Parts" sold 176,000 copies during the week ending March 2, according to SoundScan. It's an impressive debut, but some thought Stern's millions of dedicated listeners would drive the album to one of the biggest sales debuts of the year. Not so; Stern's debut was respectable but hardly spectacular. Last week, Live's "Secret Samadhi" debuted at No. 1 with 227,000 copies sold, and U2's "Pop" will also almost definitely best the soundtrack's debut.
The other major sales force at work this past week was the Grammy telecast and the bump that winners, performers, and presenters often enjoy. Not surprisingly, Celine Dion, Jewel, LeAnn Rimes, Sheryl Crow, Babyface, Beck, and the Smashing Pumpkins, among others, all picked up sales gains. Beck was the biggest post-Grammy retail winner; weekly sales of his "Odelay" doubled, from 18,000 to 36,000.
From the top, it was "Private Parts" (176,000 copies sold); "Secret Samadhi" (126,000); LeAnn Rimes' "Unchained Melody: The Early Years" (125,000); Celine Dion's "Falling Into You" (119,000); No Doubt's "Tragic Kingdom" (109,000); Jewel's "Pieces Of You" (104,000); Spice Girls' "Spice" (98,000); Erykah Badu's "Baduizm" (96,000); LeAnn Rimes' "Blue" (88,000); and the Wallflowers' "Bringing Down the Horse" (86,000).
On the singles side, studio star Puff Daddy (a.k.a. "Puffy" Combs) is now sitting on the top of the singles chart singing his own hit. Daddy's "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" sold 167,000 copies last week, followed by: Spice Girls' "Wannabe" (139,000); Dru Hill's "In My Bed" (84,000); R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" (63,000); Toni Braxton's "Un-Break My Heart" (62,500); Babyface's "Every Time I Close My Eyes" (59,000); 702's "Get It Together" (58,000); Monica's "For You I Will" (53,000); Jewel's "You We