Acoustic Jesus and Mary Chain set an American hit
Carrie Borzillo / Billboard
17.09.1994
17.09.1994
LOS ANGELES - The Jesus and Mary Chain may reap the fruits of a decade of labor with its sixth album, "Stoned & Dethroned," on American Recordings. The release became its highest charting album on the Billboard 200, when it bowed at No. 98 the week of Sept. 10. Although the Scotish act's last album, 1992's "Honey's Dead," never reached 10 on the Billboard 200, it spent time on the Heatseekers chart. This time around the band becomes Heatseekers Impact Artist.
This week, "Stoned & Dethroned," which features a more acoustic based sound rather than the band's trademark feedback-ridden riffs (Billboard, July 16), is No. 129 on the Billboard 200. It has sold more than 22,000 units according to SoundScan.
Fueling the album is "Sometimes Always," the moving duet with Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star. The song moves from No. 5 to No. 4 with a bullet this week on the Modern Rock Tracks charts.
Marc Geiger, head of American's division, and Mark Neiter, VP of alternative promotion, say that the Jesus and Mary Chain is benefiting from the success of Mazzy Star (Billboard Aug. 13), whose "Fade Into You" moves from No. 4 to No. 3 this week on the Modern Rock Tracks charts.
"That's exploding, and the industry's eyes may be more open [to the Jesus & Mary Chain] than they might have normally been because of it," says Geiger.
Sandoval, girlfriend of Jesus and Mary Chain guitarist William Reid, was chosen to sing the duet with the band before Mazzy Star's album, "So Tonight That I Might See" on Capitol, became a success. The album is No. 45 on the Billboard this week.
"It's all a wonderful coincidence," says Geiger. "The one thing we did that made this record sell better than any other [Jesus & Mary Chain album] out of the box is we put the single out way in front of the album."
The import of "Sometimes Always" was serviced to modern rock, album rock, and album alternative stations on July 16. The album was released on Aug. 23.
The label chose not to release a commercial single of "Sometimes Always" to encourage fans to buy the album if they wanted the song.
"We knew we had a potential hit single," says Geiger. "But what we didn't expect was to get as many stations as we did right away. KROQ [Los Angeles] and WDRE [Long Island, N.Y.] got on the song before we even serviced it."
Modern rock XTRA-FM (91X) San Diego PD Mike Holloran says, "This is the best response we've recieved from them, and it helps that it's hot on the heels of the Mazzy Star record."
Geiger says the label doesn't plan to release "Sometimes Always" as a commercial single until it becomes a "hit." He says if the album sells 250,000 - 300,000 units, the label will consider the track as a single.
"They have a 150,000 - 200,000 record barrier and we're just looking to get past that," he says. "We can do a lot better." According to Sound-Scan, "Honey's Dead" had sold more than 113,000 copies to date. Geiger says another part of American's stategy was to not go "gaga on pricing and positioning" initially at retail outlets.
However, the label took part in some positioning programs, such as the 126 - store, Carnegie, Pa. - based National Record Mart, Chain's developing artist program.
"We knew their base would buy it early," he says. "They have approximately a 125,000 unit sales base. So to spend a lot of money in pricing and positioning for those that we know will buy it doesn't make much sense. Instead, we're waiting until we have a real hit with the record and video and then go for the non-base audience we're hoping to get."
John Artale, purchasing manager at National Record Mart, says "Stoned & Dethroned" sold very well out of the box in college markets.
"It came in at No. 116 the first week and looks pretty good," he says. "It's nice that people haven't forgotten them."
CHALLENGE AT VIDEO AND RADIO
Gieger says the one "holdout" is MTV. However, the striking clip, which feature the band members and Sandoval hanging out in a bar, is in minimal rotation on the network. Geiger says that he is well aware that the band faces a challenge at video outlets and radio.
"I heard something from programmers that made me want to throw up," Geiger adds. "They said that English bands just weren't happening, because kids want to hear guitar based rock. It blows my mind that alternative music is being even further formatted. Jesus is one of the Mid-'80's founders of feedback and guitar rock."
On Oct. 15, the Jesus and Mary Chain and Mazzy Star are set to embark on a five-week nationwide tour. (An early incaration of Mazzy Star, Opal, opened for the Mary Chain in the late '80's). Geiger is optimistic about the effect the tour could have on sales of "Stoned & Dethroned."
"You've got two bands with current activity and a cool base audience," he says.
Reid says that "Stoned & Dethroned" struck the band as having breakthrough potential : "When we stepped back and looked at the music, we thought that maybe this would be the one that would get us success."
This week, "Stoned & Dethroned," which features a more acoustic based sound rather than the band's trademark feedback-ridden riffs (Billboard, July 16), is No. 129 on the Billboard 200. It has sold more than 22,000 units according to SoundScan.
Fueling the album is "Sometimes Always," the moving duet with Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star. The song moves from No. 5 to No. 4 with a bullet this week on the Modern Rock Tracks charts.
Marc Geiger, head of American's division, and Mark Neiter, VP of alternative promotion, say that the Jesus and Mary Chain is benefiting from the success of Mazzy Star (Billboard Aug. 13), whose "Fade Into You" moves from No. 4 to No. 3 this week on the Modern Rock Tracks charts.
"That's exploding, and the industry's eyes may be more open [to the Jesus & Mary Chain] than they might have normally been because of it," says Geiger.
Sandoval, girlfriend of Jesus and Mary Chain guitarist William Reid, was chosen to sing the duet with the band before Mazzy Star's album, "So Tonight That I Might See" on Capitol, became a success. The album is No. 45 on the Billboard this week.
"It's all a wonderful coincidence," says Geiger. "The one thing we did that made this record sell better than any other [Jesus & Mary Chain album] out of the box is we put the single out way in front of the album."
The import of "Sometimes Always" was serviced to modern rock, album rock, and album alternative stations on July 16. The album was released on Aug. 23.
The label chose not to release a commercial single of "Sometimes Always" to encourage fans to buy the album if they wanted the song.
"We knew we had a potential hit single," says Geiger. "But what we didn't expect was to get as many stations as we did right away. KROQ [Los Angeles] and WDRE [Long Island, N.Y.] got on the song before we even serviced it."
Modern rock XTRA-FM (91X) San Diego PD Mike Holloran says, "This is the best response we've recieved from them, and it helps that it's hot on the heels of the Mazzy Star record."
Geiger says the label doesn't plan to release "Sometimes Always" as a commercial single until it becomes a "hit." He says if the album sells 250,000 - 300,000 units, the label will consider the track as a single.
"They have a 150,000 - 200,000 record barrier and we're just looking to get past that," he says. "We can do a lot better." According to Sound-Scan, "Honey's Dead" had sold more than 113,000 copies to date. Geiger says another part of American's stategy was to not go "gaga on pricing and positioning" initially at retail outlets.
However, the label took part in some positioning programs, such as the 126 - store, Carnegie, Pa. - based National Record Mart, Chain's developing artist program.
"We knew their base would buy it early," he says. "They have approximately a 125,000 unit sales base. So to spend a lot of money in pricing and positioning for those that we know will buy it doesn't make much sense. Instead, we're waiting until we have a real hit with the record and video and then go for the non-base audience we're hoping to get."
John Artale, purchasing manager at National Record Mart, says "Stoned & Dethroned" sold very well out of the box in college markets.
"It came in at No. 116 the first week and looks pretty good," he says. "It's nice that people haven't forgotten them."
CHALLENGE AT VIDEO AND RADIO
Gieger says the one "holdout" is MTV. However, the striking clip, which feature the band members and Sandoval hanging out in a bar, is in minimal rotation on the network. Geiger says that he is well aware that the band faces a challenge at video outlets and radio.
"I heard something from programmers that made me want to throw up," Geiger adds. "They said that English bands just weren't happening, because kids want to hear guitar based rock. It blows my mind that alternative music is being even further formatted. Jesus is one of the Mid-'80's founders of feedback and guitar rock."
On Oct. 15, the Jesus and Mary Chain and Mazzy Star are set to embark on a five-week nationwide tour. (An early incaration of Mazzy Star, Opal, opened for the Mary Chain in the late '80's). Geiger is optimistic about the effect the tour could have on sales of "Stoned & Dethroned."
"You've got two bands with current activity and a cool base audience," he says.
Reid says that "Stoned & Dethroned" struck the band as having breakthrough potential : "When we stepped back and looked at the music, we thought that maybe this would be the one that would get us success."
