Janet Jackson Tops the Charts

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Janet Jackson has the nation's No. 1 album this week -- but just barely. "The Velvet Rope" sold 202,000 copies for the week ending October 12, according to SoundScan, coming in 2,000 units ahead of the soundtrack to "Gang Related," the cop movie starring the late Tupac Shakur. Jackson's 202,000 debut was off considerably from that of her last album, 1993's "Janet," which sold 350,000 copies its first week in stores. Part of the sluggishness may stem from the fact that Jackson's new single, "Got 'Til It's Gone" (featuring Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest), hasn't exactly caught fire at Top 40 radio; it came in at No. 52 on the chart last week.

Meanwhile, some of the fuel has gone out of last week's classic rock fire: Sales of the new Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan albums fell dramatically their second week in stores. The Rolling Stones' "Bridges To Babylon" dropped from No. 3 to No. 11, while Dylan's "Time Out of Mind," fell from No. 10 to No. 18. Sales of both were down by 48 percent.

From the top, "The Velvet Rope" and the soundtrack to "Gang Related" were followed by LeAnn Rimes' "You Light Up My Life - Inspirational Songs" (which sold 148,000 copies); Boyz II Men's "Evolution" (117,000); the soundtrack to "Soul Food" (112,000); Mariah Carey's "Butterfly" (107,000); Fleetwood Mac's "The Dance" (100,000); Aqua's "Aquarium" (91,000); Master P's "Ghetto D" (91,000); and Trisha Yearwood's "Songbook: A Collection of Hits" (86,000).

Elsewhere on the charts, Everclear's "So Much for the Afterglow" debuts at No. 33 and the Jimi Hendrix compilation "South Saturn Delta" enters at No. 51. As for acts on the way up, Smash Mouth's "Fush Yu Mang" jumps from No. 33 to No. 23, on the strength of its No. 1 modern rock radio single "Walkin' On the Sun."

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Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

More Song Stories entries »

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