Older Pop STARS' TV Campaigns Score a Hit
Daily News, New York
Older pop stars owe a debt of gratitude to a specific audience these days: couch potatoes.

Two of the most dramatic sales surges for graying musicians of late were fired by TV campaigns that blitzed such unrhythmic outlets as "Nightline" and the Food Network. Many have remarked on the windfall that TV gave Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising." With programs like the "Today" show forking over its entire broadcast to the Boss on the album's release date, it's no surprise "The Rising" registered Springsteen's biggest opening of the SoundScan era: 525,000 copies, more than double his previous release.

Fellow oldster James Taylor benefited from an even more dramatic boob-tube boom. While Springsteen had plenty of radio formats contributing to his sales, Sweet Baby James got a sour reaction from all but Adult Contemporary. Yet the soft-voiced star had his biggest SoundScan opening to date when "October Road" banked 153,000 copies. That represented a 100 percent increase over initial numbers for his previous album, "Hourglass," which started with 72,000 copies in 1997.

To secure this, Taylor's label not only booked him on the "Today" show, "Entertainment Tonight" and "Access Hollywood," it also fashioned a slick TV ad campaign that shows the star walking into a guitar store while a teen salesman happens to be strumming "Fire and Rain." As the kid wallows in the past, 54-year-old Taylor performs the title track of his new album. The ad has been everywhere from CNN to the Home & Garden channel. As a result, "October Road," has moved 400,000 copies in just four weeks, holding at No. 12 on Billboard's Top Album list.

TV isn't the only tool the music business is increasingly turning to when radio tunes out. Taylor gained strength from the Internet, landing a No. 1 on Billboard's computer-friendly chart - no surprise, since his label launched promo campaigns on AOL, MSN and Amazon.

The DVD release of the Sean Penn movie "I Am Sam" has given new life to that flick's soundtrack. The well-reviewed album, which collects cult stars like Aimee Mann and Michael Penn covering Beatles songs, was released way back in January. But the DVD hit stores in June and bounced the CD back into Billboard, where it has remained, selling 715,000 copies - no thanks to radio.

Meanwhile, Aimee Mann is enjoying remarkable opening sales for her new album, given her lack of a major label or airplay. "Lost in Space" opened at No. 35, selling more than 30,000 copies in its first week. Credit that to the interest accrued from her last effort - the Oscar-nominated "Magnolia" soundtrack - plus a well-organized Internet campaign and most of all, mountains of glowing press. Who says nobody reads anymore?