With Gift-Buying Time Near, Superstars Vie for Holiday Sales

The presidential race and the World Series aren’t the only things that heat up in October: This is also the month that record companies release their biggest guns in anticipation of the Christmas gift-giving season.

Bon Jovi, whose 1986 album “Slippery When Wet” sold more than 8 million copies in the United States, got a head start on the annual crush of superstar product when its “New Jersey” album was released three weeks ago. The LP is already the No. 1 seller nationally.

But it will have to fend off some fierce competition to stay there. U2’s “Rattle and Hum,” the follow-up to the Irish band’s Grammy-winning “The Joshua Tree,” hit stores last Monday. And new albums are due before Thanksgiving from such platinum sellers as Barbra Streisand, Anita Baker, Tiffany, Kenny G, Duran Duran, Pink Floyd, R.E.M. and the Bangles.

When the smoke has cleared, key music retailers surveyed by Calendar expect U2, Bon Jovi and Baker to be the season’s top sellers.

But don’t bet the rent on it. Last year, most in the industry expected Michael Jackson’s “Bad” or Bruce Springsteen’s “Tunnel of Love” to be No. 1 during Christmas week. But the “Dirty Dancing” sound-track album surged past both to take the top spot.

More than egos are involved in these chart wars. Record sales are two to three times as brisk in December as in the other months. Mitch Perliss, director of purchasing for the 50-store Music Plus chain, noted, “The four weeks of December are worth about 10 weeks the rest of the year.”

That’s good news for U2, whose “Rattle and Hum” is expected to debut in the Top 10 next week. The album, the sound track to U2’s film of the same name, features a fast-climbing single, “Desire.” The fact that “Rattle” is a two-record set listing for $14.98 (compared to $9.98 for most single albums) is not expected to inhibit sales.

Bon Jovi’s swift ascent to No. 1 was a foregone conclusion, given the fact that its last album hit No. 1 and generated back-to-back No. 1 singles. It’s always hard to follow a blockbuster like “Slippery When Wet,” but this LP has the advantage of coming out at a time when metal-oriented rock is the hottest sector of the pop market.

The timing also seems right for Anita Baker’s “Giving You the Best That I Got,” which is due next week. The singer’s 1986 album, “Rapture,” sold more than 3 million copies and won two Grammys. Baker is on tour with Luther Vandross, whose latest album, “Any Love,” was released last week.

Jim Dobbe, who oversees music buying for the 220-store Wherehouse chain, expects Baker’s album to be a smash. “I think this one will be a great gift item for people to buy for their folks or for themselves,” he said.

Barbra Streisand, who has reached the Top 10 in six of the last 10 Christmas seasons, weighs in Oct. 25 with “Till I Loved You,” her first pop-oriented studio album in four years. The title track, a duet with Don Johnson, has already been released as a single.

The album is almost assured of being a platinum (1 million) seller, but retailers are uncertain whether it will advance to the multi-platinum levels of “The Broadway Album,” a collection of show tunes that topped the charts three years ago.

Dick Odette, vice president of software merchandising for the 633-store Musicland chain, predicted that Streisand’s wide demographic appeal would push the album into the Top 10. “Streisand has a great history at Christmas, when you’ve got more shoppers of all ages out at the mall looking for records,” he said.

The Wherehouse’s Dobbe was less certain. “ ‘The Broadway Album’ did great, but that’s what everybody wanted out of Streisand, and she’s not doing that this time,” he said.

The biggest question mark this year is Tiffany, whose second album, “Hold an Old Friend’s Hand,” is due next month. Even though the 17-year-old’s first album sold more than 4 million copies, many in the industry suspect she will be a short-lived phenomenon.

“We’re going to play it real cautiously,” said Perliss, anxious not to be stuck with a lot of unsold inventory. Dobbe was more optimistic. “The first album did so phenomenally well that just riding on that she’ll get a lot of kids to buy the music,” he said.

A surer bet is “G N’ R Live,” a new release by Guns N’ Roses, the heavy-metal band whose 1987 debut album, “Appetite for Destruction,” has sold more than 4 million copies. The new LP, due Nov. 22, includes the four songs that appeared on the band’s pre-”Appetite” live EP as well as several newly recorded acoustic studio tracks.

Among other albums that are likely to wind up under more than a million Christmas trees this year are Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “American Dream,” their first studio album since 1970; Kenny G’s “Silhouette,” his follow-up to the smash album “Duotones,” and R.E.M.’s “Green,” its first album since breaking into the Top 10 last year with “Document.”

Other key releases include “Pink Floyd Live,” Duran Duran’s “Big Thing,” the Pet Shop Boys’ “Introspective,” the Bangles’ “Everything,” Sheena Easton’s “The Lover in Me” and Robbie Nevil’s “A Place Like This.”

Three unique multi-artist projects are also expected to find an audience.

“The Travelling Wilburys Vol. 1,” an all-star group featuring George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison, is due Oct. 25, and “Stay Awake,” an album of songs from Walt Disney films recorded by such pop and rock stars as James Taylor, Suzanne Vega, Tom Waits and Los Lobos will be released Tuesday.

Marlo Thomas & Friends’ “Free to Be a Family,” the sequel to her 1973 gold album “Free to Be . . . You and Me,” is due next month. The album--a mixture of music and spoken-word--features such guests as Robin Williams, Christopher Reeve and Pat Benatar.

Greatest-hits albums and movie scores often dominate the Christmas sales period, and this year should be no exception. Paul Simon’s “Negotiations & Love Songs 1971-1986” is due in stores Tuesday, to be followed a week later by Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing.”

Compilations due in November include “The Best of Fleetwood Mac,” KISS’ “Smashes, Thrashes & Hits,” Journey’s “Greatest Hits,” the Who’s “Who’s Better, Who’s Best” and Bananarama’s “Greatest Hits Collection.”

The definitive pop compilation is due Nov. 8, when Capitol releases “The Beatles,” a boxed set of the group’s 13 original studio albums.

The top film scores set for the season are “1969,” featuring pop and rock hits from that year plus the Pretenders’ remake of Dionne Warwick’s “Windows of the World,” and “Scrooged,” featuring Al Green and Annie Lennox’s remake of the old Jackie DeShannon hit “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.”

The sound-track LPs from “Cocktail,” “Buster,” “Imagine” and “Heartbreak Hotel” have already been released.

More heavy-metal albums are on their way, seeking to vie with current Top 10 albums by Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard and Metallica. Ozzy Osbourne’s “No Rest for the Wicked” reached stores last week, and still to come are Dokken’s “Beast From the East,” Ratt’s “Reach for the Sky” and Quiet Riot’s “Quiet Riot.”

Winners From Yules Past

Following are the best-selling albums during the last five Christmas weeks, the music industry’s peak sales period.

1987

1--”Dirty Dancing” sound track.

2--”Bad,” Michael Jackson.

3--”Faith,” George Michael.

1986 1--”Live/1975-1985,” Bruce Springsteen.

2--”Slippery When Wet,” Bon Jovi.

3--’Third Stage,” Boston.

1985

1--”Miami Vice” TV sound track.

2--”Heart,” Heart.

3--”Scarecrow,” John Cougar Mellencamp.

1984

1--”Purple Rain,” Prince sound track.

2--”Born in the U.S.A.,” Bruce Springsteen.

3--”Like a Virgin,” Madonna.

1983

1--”Thriller,” Michael Jackson.

2--”Can’t Slow Down,” Lionel Richie.

3--”What’s New,” Linda Ronstadt.

Source: Billboard magazine Top Pop Albums chart.

LIVE ACTION: Tickets go on sale Sunday for three Universal Amphitheatre concerts: Freddie Jackson on Nov. 18 (two shows), Pat Benatar on Dec. 10-11, and Molly Hatchet and Pat Travers on Dec. 13. . . . Tickets will be available Monday for the Jerry Garcia Electric Band’s Nov. 25-27 engagement at the Wiltern. . . . Jackson Browne will be joined by David Crosby & Graham Nash Nov. 6 at the Shrine Auditorium in a benefit for the Christic Institute. . . . Tickets go on sale Monday for AC/DC’s Forum concert Nov. 13. . . . Thomas Dolby headlines the Hollywood Palladium Nov. 11.