McCartney Puts Bands on the Run

Is there no end to the pop world’s love affair with the Beatles--and former Beatles?

The latest manifestation of the five-decade phenomenon is Paul McCartney’s new retrospective album, “Wingspan,” which entered the national sales chart at No. 2 this week.

Just six months after the Beatles’ hit compilation “1” debuted at the top of the chart, “Wingspan” sold almost 221,000 copies last week, according to SoundScan.

The package isn’t expected to come close to the 7 million sales registered by “1” since its release, but retailers said McCartney’s start was impressive.

“Capitol Records did a fine job in setting up the McCartney project,” said Joseph Pagano, vice president of merchandising for the Best Buy chain. “The ABC-TV special and VH1 interviews were strong complements to the marketing mix.”

In the unusually personal two-hour ABC-TV special last Friday, McCartney traced the history of Wings, the band he formed after the Beatles, and spoke at length about his late wife, Linda McCartney, who was part of the group and died of breast cancer in 1998.

“Wingspan” is a two-disc package that includes 40 songs, including the hits “Band on the Run,” “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “Live and Let Die.”

Destiny’s Child’s “Survivor” topped the chart again after selling 359,000 copies last week. That gives the R&B-pop; package a total of just more than 1 million since its release May 1. Janet Jackson’s “All for You” finished third with sales of 216,000. The album has sold 1.1 million three weeks.

The soundtrack for the film musical “Moulin Rouge” also made an impressive showing. Though the movie doesn’t open nationwide until June 1, the album got off to a quick start because of the heavy radio-TV exposure for the single “Lady Marmalade.” The remake of LaBelle’s 1975 hit features the vocal team of Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya and Pink. The album ranks No. 5, thanks to sales of 118,000.

None of these albums is expected to withstand the sales punch of Tool’s long-awaited “Lateralus,” which got off to a smashing start in its first day in the stores Tuesday, retailers reported. Pagano said the new releases by Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott and R.E.M. also did well in their first day, but both lagged behind Tool, whose tenacious, hard-rock style has won it an intensely loyal following.

The remaining positions in the Top 10 this week are held by the hits compilation “Now That’s What I Call Music! 6” (No. 4), Tim McGraw (No. 6), Tupac Shakur (No. 7), Shaggy (No. 8), Stevie Nicks (No. 9) and Uncle Kracker (No. 10). The nation’s singles chart is headed by Lil’ Romeo’s “My Baby.”