Sugar Ray Wins on the Home Front

The country at large may be swooning for Britney Spears, but in Southern California, Orange County-bred Sugar Ray rode its local popularity and its shift from hard-edged rock to a reflective, poppish tone to the top of the album sales chart. Teen-pop princess Spears’ debut album, No. 1 nationwide, finished in the No. 8 position in Southern California.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

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Title, Artist (Nat’l Rank) Last Week 1 14:59, Sugar Ray (19) -- 2 The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill (5) 2 3 Americana, the Offspring (4) 1 4 Greatest Hits, 2Pac (6) 4 5 #1’s, Mariah Carey (14) 3 6 ‘N Sync, ‘N Sync (2) 7 7 Romanza, Andrea Bocelli (60) 8 8 Baby One More Time, Britney Spears (1) -- 9 Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood, DMX (3) 5 10 Spirit, Jewel (10) 6

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TOP 10 SINGLES

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Title, Artist (Nat’l Rank) Last Week 1 Baby One More Time, Britney Spears (1) 1 2 Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here, Deborah Cox (2) 2 3 Have You Ever, Brandy (3) 4 4 Ghetto Cowboy, Mo Thugs Family (5) 5 5 I’m Your Angel, R. Kelly & Celine Dion (4) 3 6 Believe, Cher (12) 14 7 It’s All Because of You, 98 Degrees (6) 8 8 Goodbye, Spice Girls (11) 6 9 When You Believe, Whitney Houston & Mariah Carey (7) 16 10 Trippin’, Total (9) 9

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Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ended Jan. 17