Will the Fans Be Thrilled or Chilled by Jackson ‘HIStory’? : Pop music: The pop star’s upcoming two-disc set pairs new material with his greatest hits. Despite a $31.98 list price, many bet it will be summer’s bestseller.

Depending on whom you talk to, it’s either a huge risk or a brilliant concept, but despite a hefty $31.98 price tag for Michael Jackson’s upcoming package of greatest hits and new material, record retailers can’t wait to get their hands on the two-disc set. Many are already predicting that it will be the summer’s best pop seller.

“This is great,” says Lew Garrett, vice president of buying and merchandising for the Camelot chain based in Canton, Ohio. “Michael still attracts incredible media attention wherever he goes and whatever he does. We need this to bring some excitement back to the business.”

Retailers are so excited about the music that few of those interviewed even mentioned that much of Jackson’s media attention in recent months has been largely centered on allegations of child molestation that once seemed potentially career-threatening.

Jackson, though continuing to proclaim his innocence, last year paid a huge sum--reportedly between $15 million and $25 million--in an out-of-court settlement in a suit filed on behalf of the teen-age boy who made the allegations. Unable to get the boy to testify against the singer, the Los Angeles district attorney’s office closed its investigation last fall.

The new collection, titled “HIStory Past, Present and Future Book I” and due in stores June 20, is believed to be the first time a major artist has put together a “hits” album that also includes a second disc of new songs.

The first disc will include 16 hits while the second features 15 songs recorded in the last 18 months. The package totals 150 minutes of music and will come with a lavish, 52-page booklet.

“HIStory” was originally designed along more conventional lines: a single disc with around a dozen hits plus four or five new songs. When Jackson announced the change to one “hits” disc paired with a completely new set, some in the industry questioned the idea. Wouldn’t he be better off with simply a single disc, at around $15, that would capitalize on Jackson’s status as the top-selling pop artist of the ‘80s?

The combined package in effect forces fans who want the old stuff to buy the new music, and vice versa. Will the 26 million people who bought “Thriller” in the United States alone really pay for “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” all over again?

“Even though Michael Jackson fans may already have recordings of the songs on the ‘greatest hits’ CD, they may have them on (vinyl) or cassette,” says Wally Knief, spokesman for the Florida-based Blockbuster Entertainment Group, which operates the Blockbuster Music Plus stores. “Now they’ll want that earlier music on CD.”

Dan Beck, senior vice president of marketing for Epic Records, which releases Jackson’s music, says that the hits are in state-of-the-art digital, revealing “new twists and turns” in the old songs.

Any retailers’ doubts about the collection’s appeal stem largely from uncertainties about the new material.

“The ‘greatest hits’ package seemed great to me--there’s definitely a market for that,” says Violet Brown, urban music buyer for the Wherehouse chain. “But what is half of this music? Music has really changed (since Jackson’s last album) and the kids who would have bought his stuff in the past are listening to different stuff.”

But Epic’s Beck is confident that the new material will reassert Jackson’s place at the forefront of pop trends.

Five of the new tracks were previewed for retailers earlier this year at the National Assn. of Record Merchandisers’ convention in San Diego. They included the likely first single, “Scream,” a guitar-driven track featuring Jackson’s sister Janet.

The other songs played were two upbeat numbers, “Money” and “They Don’t Care About Us,” the ballad “Stranger in Moscow,” and “Earth Song,” said to be in the anthem tradition of “We Are the World.”

To help hone the new material, Jackson reportedly utilized the production talents of rapper Warren G, the team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (who are behind most of Janet’s hits) and David Foster (whose credits include Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”). Boyz II Men also guest on one track. The word is that one potential guest vocalist--Jackson’s wife, Lisa Marie Presley--isn’t on the album.

Despite retailers’ general confidence in Jackson’s star quality, look for many to hedge their bets by discounting the album dramatically. Many stores are expected to offer the package for less than $25.

“The (list) price could curtail the amount of purchases,” says Bob Delanoy, retail vice president of the Tower chain. “That’s big bucks to be spent. . . . But at this point, believe me, the industry will take anything by Michael Jackson. The business is slow and we need a hit.”