Curiosity lifts Jack Johnson

JACK JOHNSON, the former surfing pro whose mellow hits are ready-made for beach bonfires, debuted at No. 1 Wednesday on the national album sales chart with the soundtrack to “Curious George,” the children’s film that opened Friday. “Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies From the Film ‘Curious George’ ” features 13 tracks by Johnson, who also happens to be a new father. The CD has guest appearances by G Love, Ben Harper and Matt Costa. It sold 163,000 copies in its first week in stores, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Last week’s No. 1 album, Barry Manilow’s “Greatest Songs of the Fifties,” dropped to No. 3, behind Mary J. Blige’s “Breakthrough.” Dem Franchize Boyz, a four-man hip-hop collective from Atlanta, debuted at No. 5 with “On Top of Our Game,” which sold 108,000 copies.

That was the only other debut in the Top 10, but the Grammy Awards telecast last week gave a weekend sales surge to a number of artists. Blige, who performed with U2, saw sales for “Breakthrough” rise 24%. Mariah Carey, a three-trophy winner and a performer on the show, had a 70% bump from the previous week’s sales for “The Emancipation of Mimi,” which finished at No. 7 with 90,000 more copies sold.

Kelly Clarkson, who performed on the show and also won two Grammys, saw sales of her album “Breakaway” more than double from the previous week, to 83,000, and it jumped 16 spots to claim the No. 8 slot. John Legend, another Grammy performer and winner of new artist honors, catapulted from No. 187 to No. 18 on the chart, and the 52,000 copies sold last week of “Get Lifted” represented a 700% increase.