THREE-WAY RACE
LOOMS NEXT WEEK

It’s an old-fashioned three-way dog fight for #1 next week, if you're to believe our usually reliable retail spies from around this great, big, politically divided Red State/Blue State/White Stripes/Paisley country of ours.

Bon Jovi’s Island album Lost Highway, thank to selling digital albums as part of the band's tour deal with Ticketmaster, is currently in the lead at 230-240k, and could go even higher, depending on ticket sales.

The White Stripes’ Icky Thump, their first for Warner Bros., is up next at 210-220k, but coming on strong with a huge iTunes number and help from Starbucks.

SBMG Nashville’s Brad Paisley is at 200-210k, for his critically acclaimed new album, 5^th Gear, but not completely out of it with accounts like Costco sure to weigh in.

Geffen’s Lifehouse is at around 45k, Universal Republic’s Shop Boyz at 40-50k on the heels of their hellacious “Party Like a Rock Star” hit, Jive/ZLG’s Huey at 30k, give or take, and the new album from Mandy Moore, her first for The Firm Music, at 25-30k.

Next week, pop queens RCA’s Kelly Clarkson and Disney’s Hannah Montana hit the streets and go after the top spot.

Overall, the market was up 9.5% vs. last week, down 8% vs. same week last year and now down 15.7% year-to-date.