‘PRINCE LIVE’ MAY BECOME NEW KING OF THE HILL

As expected, the videocassette of a live Prince concert, “Prince and the Revolution Live,” is the week’s hot new seller.

Since its release Monday, Prince fans have been flocking to the stores for the two-hour cassette of concert filmed in Syracuse, N.Y., in March, near the end of the “Purple Rain” tour.

Spot checks of stores around the country indicate “Prince Live” is on its way to becoming the best-selling cassette, overshadowing “Pinocchio,” released two weeks ago, and “We Are the World: The Video Event,” which dominated the charts last month. “Prince Live” won’t show up on the Billboard charts for a week or two, but it should debut in the Top Five on the sales chart.

“Prince Live” may not do as well as a rental. According to reports from various stores, many fans are buying rather than renting. A Beverly Hills retailer noted that, in his stores, for every 10 sales there was just one rental--the reverse of the usual situation. “For a new movie, we usually get 20 rentals to one sale,” he said.

“Prince Live” is a more attractive sales item for two reasons. First, at $30--relatively inexpensive for a cassette-- it costs about $50 less than the average new movie. Also, a concert cassette is likely to be played as much as an album--and certainly more frequently than a movie. So, to all those Prince fanatics, buying this cassette makes better sense than renting it.

A few retailers indicated some customer confusion about “Prince Live.” Apparently some fans, not realizing it’s a videocassette, have been asking for a copy of the new Prince live album.

There may be complaints about the lighting in “Prince Live.” In spots, it’s bad. The screen is even dark in some places. Whoever handled the lighting ignored certain basic principles about what to do when shooting a live concert.

One Prince fan griped a bit about the poor lighting but took comfort in the fact that “Prince Live” was significantly better than his bootleg copy of Prince concert shot in a Minneapolis two years ago.

Most hard-core Prince fans probably won’t be put off by an irritation like bad lighting. To them, two hours of Prince for $30--in any kind of light--is a bargain.

MUSIC: Reliable sources were predictably noncommittal when questioned about two rampant rumors concerning music videocassettes. You often hear from fans and industry personnel that live concert cassettes featuring two of the biggest stars in pop music--Madonna and Bruce Springsteen--will soon be available.

Executive Paul Wagner of CBS-Fox, which would release a Springsteen cassette, commented vaguely about it. Jim Wagner of Warner Music Video was equally vague about a Madonna cassette. Neither would even admit that plans for a cassette are in the works. That’s understandable considering video companies like to make big announcements of release dates, usually about two months early. If those executives knew anything they weren’t about to spill the beans prematurely.

A Huey Lewis cassette (Warner Video, $29.98) will be released on Sept. 30. “Huey Lewis and the News: The Heart of Rock ‘n’ Roll” was filmed at the Kabuki Theater in San Francisco. At the same time, Warner Video, for $39.98, will put out “AC/DC: Let There Be Rock,” a 1980 Paris concert by the Australian heavy metal band.

Long before this AC/DC cassette is in the stores, a more recent one, “AC/DC: Fly on the Wall,” will be released by Atlantic Video probably at the end of this month. It includes videos from the “Fly on the Wall” album, which are introduced by a novel host, an animated fly. The half-hour video will sell for $19.98.

If you’re in the market for tranquility, try the Windham Hill videos. Noted for its instrumental albums that blend folk, jazz and classical music, the company is entering the home video market with four cassettes--”Water’s Path,” “Western Light,” “Winter” and “Autumn Portrait,” featuring musicians like guitarists William Ackerman, Alex de Grassi and Michael Hedges.

These cassettes combine mellow music with beautiful nature scenes--shots of mountains, streams, flowers, etc. It’s audio-visual Muzak, guaranteed to lull you into a state of serenity. Distributed by Paramount, they’ll be available on Sept. 20 for $29.95.

FOREIGN FILM REPORT: According to foreign film video expert Meir Hed, co-owner of the westside Videotheque stores, no blockbuster foreign film has been released in recent months. But he said he expects “Bizet’s Carmen,” a 1984 film version of the classic opera starring Placido Domingo and Julia Migenes-Johnson, to be popular. It will debut on cassette (RCA/Columbia, $79.95) in the first week in September. According to Hed, no other major releases are planned before then.

Of the current crop of foreign films, Hed predicted that the oddball South African comedy, “The Gods Must Be Crazy,” will be a hit whenever it’s released in cassette form. It’s doing well in theaters now. Hed said he knew of no plans to put it out on cassette any time soon.

The classics, Hed observed, have traditionally been the best sellers in the foreign film video market: “People want films like ‘8 1/2,’ ‘La Dolce Vita,’ ‘Breathless,’ ‘Rashomon’ and ‘Exterminating Angel.’ That’s the bulk of the foreign film business now.”

A film not available in cassette so far is “A Man and a Woman,” the romantic Claude Lelouch film that was such a big hit in 1966 and would likely be a popular cassette today. But it probably won’t be out any time soon.

“Lelouch came into my store one day,” Hed recalled. “I asked him about ‘A Man and a Woman.’ He said he has the rights and doesn’t want to release them.”

NEW AND COMING MOVIES: There are no major recent movies debuting on cassette this week. Next week’s top releases are “Stick,” with Burt Reynolds,” and “Blood Simple,” the stylish, low-budget thriller that was a sleeper hit early this year. Both on MCA at $79.95.

The best film being released next week is an oldie, the 1931 Marx Brothers classic, “Monkey Business” (MCA, $59.95), featuring Harpo, Groucho, Chico and Zeppo as stowaways on an ocean liner.

In two weeks, the major release will be “King David,” the biblical movie starring Richard Gere (Paramount, $79.95).

“Police Academy II,” the successful sequel that has grossed $55 million domestically so far, will be out on Sept. 30 (Warner, $79.95). This should be one of the fall’s big rental hits.

“The Breakfast Club,” the spring teen hit starring Emilio Estevez and Judd Nelson, will also be a popular fall title. It’s due Sept. 19 from MCA, at $79.95.

CHARTS: “Pinocchio” debuted on the Billboard magazine sales chart at No. 4. The only surprise is that it didn’t enter higher. . . . “The Falcon and the Snowman” is a rental hit, jumping from No. 20 to No. 4 on the Billboard rental chart. Its early success was unexpected considering it wasn’t big box office.

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, RENTALS

1--”The Karate Kid” (RCA/Columbia).

2--”Starman” (RCA/Columbia).

3--”The Flamingo Kid” (Vestron).

4--”The Falcon and the Snowman” (Vestron).

5--”The Terminator” (Thorn/EMI).

6--”2010: The Year We Make Contact” (MGM/UA).

7--”Micki & Maude” (RCA/Columbia).

8--”A Nightmare on Elm Street” (Media).

9--”Places in the Heart” (CBS-Fox).

10--”Missing in Action” (MGM/UA).

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, SALES

1--”We Are the World: The Video Event” (MusicVision ).

2--”Jane Fonda’s Workout” (Karl).

3--”Wrestlemania”(Coliseum).

4--”Pinocchio” (Disney)

5--”Singin’ in the Rain” (MGM/UA).

6--”Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” (Paramount).

7--”Prime Time” (Karl).

8--”Life With Mickey” (Disney).

9--”The Karate Kid” (RCA/Columbia).

10--”Wham! The Video” (CBS-Fox).