Let's just say that, chart-wise, this is

Family Values week. The Top 5 features the most

wholesome lineup since the days when the Osmond and

Partridge Families ruled the singles charts. Although the

Spice Girls hung tight to the #1 position on sales of 137,000

(tallied by SoundScan) for their debut Spice, ex-Beatle Paul

McCartney claimed the second spot with his latest release,

Flaming Pie (121,000). Close behind Sir Paul was the #3 debut of the gospel choir God's

Property (119,00). Checking in at #4 were the squeaky clean Hanson brothers whose Middle Of

Nowhere album sold 107,000 units, while # 5 went to Butterfly Kisses by Christian crossover

artist Bob Carlisle, which moved only slightly fewer copies.

Both longtime McCartney fans and young folks jazzed by the Beatles' Anthology series are

credited with Flaming Pie's high debut. The album's second place showing marks the best

opening week position of McCartney's solo career. His last disc, Off The Ground, was released

in 1993.

God's Property is the latest project by twentysomething choir director Kirk Franklin, who since

1993 has released several albums with his group, the Family. This week God's Property From

Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation is also sitting high atop the gospel and R&B charts. Franklin has

been cited for imbuing gospel music with hip cachet in the R&B arena, as well as for achieving

crossover success without compromising his message.

Many of last week's high openers fell off in their second week of release. KRS-One's I Got

Next dropped 15 places, from #3 to #18. The Foo Fighters' The Colour And The Shape slipped

nine notches, dropping out of the top 10 to #18. Sammy Hagar plummeting 40 spots to #58,

while Michael Jackson dropped 19 positions to #43.

Filling in the rest of this week's top 10 are: Notorious B.I.G. (#6), Mary J. Blige (#7), George

Strait (#8), the Wallflowers (#9), and the Space Jam soundtrack (#10).