The crazysexycomeback ladies from TLC aren't about to relinquish their throne after all these years out of the picture. A new sophomore release from R&B crooner Ginuwine and the R&B soundtrack from the new Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence movie Life both debuted within the Top Ten of the nation's album sales chart for the week ending March 21. Neither though, could dethrone TLC, whose latest, Fanmail, remains entrenched at No. 1 for the fourth week in a row, selling 193,000 copies, according to SoundScan. TLC became the second act this year to pull off a four-week run at the top. Teen dream Britney Spears was the other.

100% Ginuwine, which followed-up the singer's platinum '95 debut, The Bachelor, came in at No. 5, while Life, featuring slow jams from K-Ci and Jo Jo, Maxwell, Mya and Wyclef Jean, bowed at No. 10.

Other noteworthy debuts last week all came from acts who may or may not yet have their driver's license. Charlotte Church, the U.K. teen singing sensation, came in at No. 28 with Voice of an Angel. B*witched, dubbed the Irish Spice Girls, landed at No. 38, while former New Kid on the Block Joey McIntrye, riding the wave of his new hit pop single, "Stay the Same," debuted at No. 49. Right behind him was Neon Ballroom, the latest from Australia's Silverchair.

As for the weeks' most curious chart jump, check out second-week sales of Something for Everybody by movie-maker Baz Luhrmann. A curious collections of songs and snippets from films, the album jumped from No. 125 to No 78 thanks to its left-field hit, "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" performed by Quindon Tarver. The song takes its lyrics from a tongue-in-cheek graduation address written two years ago by a Chicago Tribune columnist. The column was then subsequently posted online and mistakenly attributed to novelist Kurt Vonnegut. In recent weeks the song has emerged as a novelty hit on modern rock radio.

From the top, it was Fanmail, followed by Eminem's Slim Shady (selling 173,000 copies); Britney Spears' Baby One More Time (168,000); Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (133,000); Ginuwine's 100% Ginuwine (124,000); Shania Twain's Come On Over (108,000); the Offspring's Americana (101,000); Cher's Believe (100,000); the Dixie Chicks' Wide Open Spaces (90,000); and the soundtrack to Life (80,000).

ERIC BOEHLERT
(March 24, 1999)