The Spin Doctors : Pop music: Record retailers, hard hit by the recession, are counting on superstars’ new fall releases to get healthy.

Fast-selling new albums by Bobby Brown and Garth Brooks will both enter the pop charts this week in the Top 5--and the news couldn’t come at a better time for the nation’s recession-squeezed record retailers.

Plagued by tepid sales for the second consecutive summer, retailers have been looking to fall superstar releases to bring more customers into the stores. Album sales since June 1 totaled 125 million units, a gross of about $1.5 billion--or 3% above the same period last year.

While any gain could be viewed positively in a recession period (film box-office gross is down 8% this year from 1991), record retailers have been used to brisk summer business.

“If only Bobby and Garth would come out with a new record every month, then we’d be in great shape,” said Jim Dobbe, vice president of sales and merchandise at the 304-outlet, Torrance-based Wherehouse Entertainment.

“But the fact is that summers just aren’t what they used to be in the record business. The recession hit many retailers in Southern California pretty hard this year. I think we’re all looking forward to some relief from the new lineup of upcoming fall releases. It looks promising.”

Brown’s “Bobby” album, the long-awaited MCA follow-up to 1988’s 6-million-selling “Don’t Be Cruel” collection, and Brooks’ “Beyond the Season” Christmas album on Liberty Records will be No. 2 and No. 5 on pop charts that will be published Saturday by Billboard magazine.

The albums sold approximately 107,000 and 79,000 copies, respectively, for the week ending last Sunday, according to SoundScan, the New York research firm that monitors sales for Billboard magazine. Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Some Gave All,” which is now in its 14th week at No. 1, sold 118,000.

Here are other albums that retailers are counting on this fall to jump-start sales:

* Garth Brooks’ “The Chase.” Due Sept. 22 from Liberty Records with a $16.95 CD price tag ($1 more than any previous single disc pop album), the package features 10 new songs by Nashville’s biggest-selling act. Brooks’ last three albums have sold more than 18 million copies over the last two years. The fact that Liberty would release two albums so close together--the Christmas album, released Aug. 25, and “The Chase”--shows how confident the company is of Brooks’ continuing sales appeal.

* Madonna’s “Erotica” on Sire. This collection is due Oct. 13, just in front of her highly publicized book of poems, essays and nude photos bearing the same title. The album contains a selection of new sultry pop tunes, including a sizzling rendition of Little Willie John’s ‘50s hit “Fever.” Her last album, a “greatest hits” package titled “Immaculate Collection,” has sold more than 3 million copies.

* Prince’s new collection of salacious funk tunes--due out Sept. 29 on Paisley Park/Warner Bros. Records--sports a male/female biological symbol as its title and includes his controversial single “Sexy MF.” Time Warner--which is on the verge of signing a multimillion-dollar contract with the Minneapolis superstar--will release the album in both “clean” and “dirty” versions.

* Michael Bolton’s “Timeless (The Classics).” This selection of the pop/soul stylist’s favorite standards will be released on Sept. 29 by Columbia Records, also with a hefty CD $16.98 price tag. Bolton’s last two albums--”Time, Love and Tenderness” and “Soul Provider” have sold a combined 9 million copies.

* R.E.M’s “Automatic for the People.” Due Oct. 6. from Warner Bros. Records, the Georgia-based rock quartet’s new album reportedly expands musically upon the eclectic mix of rock, acoustic and orchestral elements explored in its “Out of Time” album, which sold an estimated 4 million copies.

“As far as I’m concerned, the more superstar releases, the better,” said Angie Jacobs, head of marketing at the 91-store, Los Angeles-based Music Plus. “It’s been a tough summer for retailers, no matter what product you’re selling. All of us have had to do a lot more aggressive promotion this season just to keep our heads above water.”

However, some industry sources challenge the theory that the health of the industry is tied to superstar releases. The thinking for years has been that fans, lured into stores by the superstar albums, will also purchase another album or two while shopping.

Recent statistics indicate that superstar releases in the past year have had very little effect on the overall sales picture, which in 1992 has regularly registered at about 9.5 million units per week.

Retailers said new acts--notably Cyrus, rappers Kris Kross and hard-rock group Pearl Jam--helped make up for what they termed disappointing showings in recent months by such artists as Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson and Hammer.

These days, record store owners said, the high price of CDs has caused most customers to limit their purchases to one item only. Indeed, statistics show that national sales spurts do not coincide with superstar releases but occur primarily during holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Christmas.

During the summer, record store owners have traditionally counted on mall-roving students to spend summer vacation allowances on pop music. But the recession has significantly reduced foot traffic at indoor shopping centers, causing sales this year at record store mall outlets to shrink as much as 5%, retailers say.

“There’s no question about it, mall stores are showing less traffic compared to a year ago,” said Jeffrey Jones, senior vice president and chief financial officer of the 630-outlet Albany, N.Y.-based Trans World Music Corp. “No matter what anybody tells you, this country is still in a major recession. Prices keep going up and consumer confidence keeps going down.”

Mike Fine, chief executive officer at SoundScan, however, said his firm’s statistics indicate that cost-conscious consumers who abandoned the malls are now buying their music at discount stores such as K mart, Wal-Mart and Target, where business is reportedly up as much 10%.

“The perception among consumers on tight budgets could be that music--like everything else--might cost less at discount stores,” Fine said. “It’s difficult to determine what’s causing the shift in buying patterns. Whatever the reason, sales for companies that service discount stores are definitely up.”

Jason Berman, president of the Recording Industry Assn. of America, the Washington-based organization that represents the nation’s major record companies, said his group’s mid-year report--scheduled for release in October--also registers a slight increase in sales over the summer.

“From the point of view of the labels, business is up,” Berman said. “The economy is not helping us any, but I think the industry can expect a rather strong showing in the fall.”