On Fire for ‘Candle’

More than a week after its European release, the hit single “Candle in the Wind” reached the shelves of Orange County record stores Tuesday and was promptly gobbled up by hundreds of Princess Diana fans.

The emotional song, performed by Elton John at Diana’s funeral, had been requested by fans eager to own a remembrance of the popular princess who died in a Paris auto wreck at the age of 36.

Many stores around the county received fewer copies than they had ordered, causing some customers to go home empty-handed or to search for a record store that had copies.

The price ranged in most places from $2.99 to $3.99, but such details mattered little to fans such as Bob Cardoza, who bought three copies, two for himself and one for his wife.

“It’s so touching and meaningful,” said Cardoza, a Costa Mesa landscape architect. “I called all the record stores on my lunch break. Now I can listen to it and be moved.”

The song, originally written about Marilyn Monroe, was hastily rewritten by John and Bernie Taupin days before the funeral and includes such lines as:

You called out to our country,

And you whispered to those in pain.

Now you belong to heaven

And the stars spell out your name.

The single’s popularity has caught even the record label by surprise, with orders increasing from 6 million last week to 8 million this week, said Diana Baron, spokeswoman for A&M; Records, the single’s U.S. distributor.

Royalties generated by the song, including artist and record company profits, will be donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, Baron said.

“No one imagined that our orders would have been as significant as they are,” Baron said. “They are getting shipped as fast as possible.”

At the Virgin Megastore in Costa Mesa, the single went on sale at midnight Monday, said manager Chris Morriss. On Tuesday, scores of fans popped in before work and on their lunch breaks to grab as many copies as they could. Though the store had ordered 4,000 copies, they received only 500, according to store officials.

The record store also offered a glossy, 67-page picture book of Diana for $6.99, which many customers bought in addition to the single.

Leslie Fidone of Huntington Beach said she had listened to the song eight times by noon Tuesday. Fidone, who watched the funeral live, also taped the event and says she has watched it again and again, possibly 30 times since.

“I didn’t even get out of the parking lot before I got the CD out,” Fidone said. “It’s just really sad.”

Though Virgin was not sold out of copies, Tower Records at two locations was sold out by 3 p.m. of the 140 copies ordered.

Store manager Bob Tracy said he expects another 420 copies to come in soon.

At the Wherehouse on Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa, assistant manager Michael Wagner said his store was benefiting from other stores selling out.

“We have had a lot of calls from people in the last two weeks saying that they want it,” Wagner said.

Blockbuster Music at the Irvine Spectrum also got a smaller delivery than ordered, and the store was sold out by late afternoon, said store employee Bryan Beckes. The store expects another 70 copies to come in soon.

“We have been getting calls nonstop,” Beckes said. “She was such a beloved person. I guess this is just a reminder of her.”