What would pop music be without phenomena? And since it's been nine months since the last real left-field blockbuster ("Macarena"), it's time to bring on Bob Carlisle's "Butterfly Kisses." Butterfly what? Ask your mom; it's her favorite song. And she's not the only one who likes it: For the week ending May 18, Carlisle's Christian album of the same name jumped an astounding 93 spots to come in at No. 2, according to SoundScan.
\\Overall, it was another slow week for music sales, and exactly two records among the top 70 enjoyed sales gains over the previous week. The Spice Girls' "Spice" remains No. 1 with sales of 134,000 copies last week. It's followed by Carlisle's "Butterfly Kisses" (100,000); Notorious B.I.G.'s "Life After Death" (94,000); Mary J. Blige's "Share My World" (93,000); George Strait's "Carrying Your Love With Me" (91,000); Hanson's "Middle of Nowhere" (77,000); the soundtrack to "Space Jam" (70,000); Jewel's "Pieces of You" (69,000); the Wallflowers' "Bringing Down the Horse" (68,000); and Erykah Badu's "Baduizm" (62,000).
\\Carlisle released his overnight smash over a year ago in the Christian market and had a top 5 hit in that format with "Butterfly Kisses," an achingly sentimental song about the joys of parenthood ("As I drop to my knees by her bed at night/She talks to Jesus, and I close my eyes/And I thank God for all the joy in my life.") The record then began to cross over to the mainstream, where it is now No. 1 on adult contemporary radio and is climbing the country radio charts thanks to a Nashville-friendly remix of "Butterfly." Expect it to be played to death across America during the spring and summer wedding season.
\\When the song did cross over, it became a phenomenon so quickly that Carlisle's Christian label, Diadem Music Group, could not keep up with the demand; the records shipped to Christian stores were sold out. Last week, Diadem's parent company, Jive Records, blanketed the market, and the album exploded, jumping in weekly sales from 13,000 copies two weeks ago to 100,000 last week. In fact, in the roughly nine months the record had been ou
