Joe Makes Name for Himself With Hot Album

His name is Joe but he’s not ordinary.

The dulcet-voiced R&B; singer who goes by the single name Joe scored the highest debut on the nation’s album chart this week. His third disc, “My Name Is Joe,” lands at No. 2, trailing only ‘N Sync’s red-hot “No Strings Attached.”

“My Name Is Joe” sold 286,000 copies on the week, a total fueled by the hit single “I Wanna Know,” which also appeared on “The Wood” soundtrack. The Georgia-born preachers’ son, who was steeped in gospel music, has benefited from film tie-in songs before, including his Top 40 hit “Don’t Wanna Be a Player” from the “Booty Call” soundtrack.

As well as “My Name Is Joe” did, it was a distant second to retail powerhouse ‘N Sync. “No Strings Attached” sold 656,000 copies during the week (up dramatically from the 422,000 sold the previous week) and has now surpassed 4.8 million copies in total sales in just five weeks.

Both ‘N Sync and Joe are on Zomba Group’s Jive Records, giving the label an impressive lock on the top two spots--and the label also has a potential blockbuster waiting in the wings with a new Britney Spears album due next month.

A squad of singers appeared to benefit last week from a sales jump-start provided by VH1’s heavily promoted concert specials “Divas 2000” and “Men Strike Back.” Sisqo and Destiny’s Child, for instance, enjoyed surges of more than 40% to claim chart spots No. 3 and No. 5, respectively. No one got a bigger boost than Christina Aguilera, whose debut album catapulted back into the Top 10 with a 71% increase in sales over the previous week. Aguilera finishes at No. 6 with 140,000 copies sold for the week and total sales closing in on 5.5 million.

Who didn’t get a boost last week? The soundtrack to “Romeo Must Die” tumbled eight spots to finish at No. 14, while Da Brat’s “Unrestricted” fell 11 spots to No. 16. No Doubt’s “Return of Saturn” also took a slight slide as the Southland favorites finish at No. 7 a week after debuting at No. 2.

After Joe, the best debut of the week was by another R&B; singer, Carl Thomas, and his first album, “Emotional.” The first male R&B; performer signed to Bad Boy Entertainment--the rap-minded label founded by Sean “Puffy” Combs--arrives at No. 9, thanks to the radio hit “I Wish.” The Chicago-born Thomas was signed by Combs in 1997 after the impresario saw him perform at a late-night open-mike session in New York.

Other albums hitting the charts for the first time include “Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live” from Pink Floyd. The double-disc concert retrospective culled from the rock band’s London shows in 1980 and 1981 sold 83,000 copies to chart at No. 19. Country singer Vince Gill’s “Let’s Make Sure We Kiss Goodbye”--which features a duet with his new wife, pop singer Amy Grant--sold 47,000 copies to open at No. 39.