Somebody up there likes Chumbawamba. Or maybe not: The communist Brits proclaimed disbelief in Jesus at their recent KROQ Christmas-concert appearance. In any case, their thriving Tubthumper moved up a notch to No. 7 amid some serious sellers. Meanwhile, American capitalist Garth Brooks held on to No. 1 with 609,000 more Sevenses sold. The all-star Princess Di tribute album debuted at just No. 15 but even in that modest position sold a decent 110,000 copies. Hanson's Christmas album, Snowed In, dipped two spots to No. 12, but their earlier Middle of Nowhere edged back up four places to No. 10. If Hanson can get both in the top 10 at once, that'll be something to thump a tub about.
POP ALBUMS
LAST WEEK WEEKS ON CHART 1 1 GARTH BROOKS Sevens, Capitol 2 2 3 CELINE DION Let's Talk About Love, 550 Music/Sony 3 3 4 BARBRA STREISAND Higher Ground, Columbia 4 4 6 LEANN RIMES You Light Up My Life, Curb 13 5 2 2PAC R U Still Down?, Amaru/Jive 2 6 9 SPICE GIRLS Spiceworld, Virgin 5 7 8 CHUMBAWAMBA Tubthumper, Republic/Universal 11 8 5 METALLICA Re-Load, Elektra 3 9 7 SHANIA TWAIN Come On Over, Mercury 5 10 14 HANSON Middle of Nowhere, Mercury 31
R&B ALBUMS
1 1 2PAC R U Still Down?, Amaru/Jive 3 2 2 ERYKAH BADU Live, Kedar/Universal 4 3 3 LSG Levert.Sweat.Gill, EastWest 4 4 6 MASE Harlem World, Bad Boy/Arista 7 5 5 MYSTIKAL Unpredictable, No Limit/Jive 5 6 4 VARIOUS ARTISTS In tha Beginning...There Was Rap, Priority 3 7 7 SOUNDTRACK Soul Food, LaFace/Arista 12 8 12 USHER My Way, LaFace/Arista 12 9 10 JAY-Z In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, Roc-A-fella/Def Jam 6 10 11 JANET JACKSON The Velvet Rope, Virgin 9
POP CATALOG
1 1 KENNY G Miracles -- The Holiday Album, Arista 47 2 2 MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER Christmas in the Aire, American Gramaphone 35 3 3 MARIAH CAREY Merry Christmas, Columbia 39 4 4 HARRY CONNICK JR. When My Heart Finds Christmas, Columbia 40 5 8 VARIOUS ARTISTS Disney's Christmas Collection, Walt Disney 8 6 5 MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER A Fresh Aire Christmas, American Gramaphone 82 7 6 MICHAEL BOLTON This Is the Time -- The Christmas Album, Columbia 19 8 9 AMY GRANT Home for Christmas, A&M 52 9 7 MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER Christmas, American Gramaphone 63 10 19 VARIOUS ARTISTS A Very Special Christmas, A&M 64
(C)1997 BPI COMMUNICATIONS INC./SOUNDSCAN INC. USED WITH PERMISSION FROM BILLBOARD, DEC. 20, 1997.
