PRETTY RICKY, SHINS, GRAMMYS, MELLENCAMP BOW TOP 5

After three weeks of desultory sales and no new releases of note, things picked up a bit this week, as Atlantic’s hip-hop quartet of Miami brothers Pretty Ricky and Sub Pop’s Garden State indie darlings The Shins debut 1-2 on HITS’ Top 50 album chart.

Pretty Ricky, thanks to their sassy hit single about phone sex, “On the Hotline,” sold more than 133k, while The Shins scored 105k+ for their third album, Wincing the Night Away.

Grammy Nominees 2007, the compilation album spotlighting this year’s award ceremony on Sony’s Commercial Music Group, debuts at #4, while UMe/Universal Republic’s John Mellencamp scores a #5 bow with Freedom’s Road, featuring his hit Chevy commercial ode to patriotism, “This is Our Country.”

The lone holdover in the Top 5 is RCA’s Idol alum Daughtry at #3, who could be joined next week by the debut from fellow contestant Katharine McPhee, fueled by massive airplay.

Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax’s Dreamgirls (#6), Disney’s Jump In (#7), Star Trak/Interscope’s Robin Thicke (#8), Jive/ZLG’s Justin Timberlake (#9) and Roadrunner rock mainstay Nickelback (#10) round out the weeks’ Top 10 finishers.

Island/IDJ’s Saliva (#17) is the week’s other chart newcomer.

WB’s multi-Grammy nominated Red Hot Chili Peppers lead the double-digit gainers with a 43% jump (#41-24), followed by Robin Thicke (#15-8, +33%), Daughtry (+24%) and Curb’s Rodney Atkins (#34-30, +14%).

Hitting the streets today is Not Too Late, the much-anticipated third Blue Note album from Norah Jones, which will debut #1 next week, with more than 1.5 million shipped as well as the debut from Idol Katharine McPhee. Manhattan/EMI’s Celtic Women, Hidden Beach/UMGD’s Jill Scott, Columbia’s Harry Connick Jr. and Capitol’s Lily Allen also hit retail shelves today and will debut on next Tuesday’s album chart.