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Obscure "Juno" Soundtrack Becomes Billboard No. 1 |
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 The soundtrack to Academy
Award-nominated film “Juno” climbed to the very top on the Billboard
200 this week, displacing Alicia Keys’ “As I Am” with nearly 65,000
sold copies.
Indie film “Juno” received Academy Award nominations last week for best
picture, best director (Jason Reitman), best actress (Ellen Page) and
best original screenplay (Diablo Cody) and the comedy’s soundtrack
picked up momentum, selling nearly 65,000 copies in the week ending
Jan. 27, according to Nielsen Soundscan.
Trade paper Variety notes that this is the first soundtrack from a best
picture nominee to reach No. 1 on the Billboard chart since “Titanic”
did 10 years ago.
The “Juno” soundtrack is half-full of Kimya Dawson songs, either solo
or with her two bands The Moldy Peaches and Antsy Pants. As the story
goes, Reitman asked Ellen Page what music her character would most
likely listen to and she promptly answered The Moldy Peaches – a move
that brought an unanticipated spotlight on the musicians.
Others on the soundtrack are Cat Power with “Sea of Love,” Sonic Youth
with “Superstar” and Belle & Sebastian with “Expectations,” as well
as songs from 60s-70s artists The Kinks, The Velvet Underground and
Mott the Hoople.
Alicia Keys’ “As I Am,” last week’s No. 1, sold another 60,000 albums,
slipping to No. 2. Her album has sold nearly 3 million copies since its
early November release and will probably continue to fare well
following her performance at the upcoming Grammy Awards.
Natasha Bedingfield’s “Pocketful of Sunshine” opened at No. 3 with
50,000 copies, marking the British singer’s best debut so far. Mary J.
Blige’s “Growing Pains” and Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” rounded out the
top five.
Among notable releases this week is Cat Power’s collection of covers
“Jukebox,” which sold 29,000 copies to debut at No. 12, the highest
one-week numbers of her career.
John Legend’s concert set “Live from Philadelphia” and Raheem
DeVaughn’s “Love Behind the Melody,” both released last week, dropped
from their high positions in the top ten and entered the top thirty,
while Rihanna’s “Good Girl Gone Bad” surpassed a million copies sold in
the 34 weeks she has been on the chart.
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