SPRINGSTEEN HITS CHARTS AT NO. 1

“Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Live/1975-85” has entered the Billboard magazine sales chart at No. 1--the first album to do so since Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” in 1976. The only other LPs to enter at No. 1 are two by Elton John: “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” and “Rock of the Westies,” both in 1975.

The big difference is that Springsteen’s album is a five-record set that retails in the $25 range. Columbia Records’ initial shipment of 1.7 million copies is reportedly close to sold out, making “Live” the first five-record set to sell at least 1 million copies. No other five-record set has even made the Top 25 of Billboard’s chart.