Manilow scores with tunes from his youth

The music of the ‘50s has given crooner Barry Manilow his best chart success since the ‘70s. His new album, “The Greatest Songs of the Fifties,” debuted at No. 1 on the national sales chart Wednesday.

The collection, for which he reunited with Clive Davis, includes such Eisenhower-era staples as “Unchained Melody,” “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing” and “It’s All in the Game.” It sold 156,000 its first week in stores, Manilow’s highest sales week of the Nielsen SoundScan era.

The second-highest debut this week belongs to “popera” star Andrea Bocelli, whose new album of love songs, “Amore,” sold 113,000 in its first week of release, placing him at No. 3, his highest chart position ever.

Two other acts made Top 10 debuts: Tony Award winner Heather Headley checked in at No. 5 with “In My Mind,” which sold 95,000 copies, and Train’s “For Me It’s You” logged sales of 62,000 to chug in at No. 10.

Last week’s No. 1 album, Il Divo’s “Ancora,” dropped to No. 6 after second-week sales fell to 93,000. Mary J. Blige’s “The Breakthrough” jumped from No. 4 to No. 2 after a 24% sales increase last week, to 123,000.

Onetime British soldier James Blunt’s “Back to Bedlam” sold almost 47% more than the previous week, up to 71,000 copies, enough to push it to No. 9.