William Hung’s album is out now, but don’t count on his renditions of “Rocket Man” or “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” to be the can’t-go-anywhere-without-hearing-it songs of the summer.
Yes, he’s a big seller on amazon.com (No. 36 as of Monday evening) and his songs are popular downloads, but a quick poll of music stores and radio stations in Chicago shows that Hung’s “Inspiration” is seen mostly as a novelty.
“I don’t think it will stick around long,” said Jack Dreznes, owner of Beverly Records. He hasn’t ordered any Hung albums yet but expects to get 10 copies for the store.
“I’m sure with all the publicity it’s getting, people will call about it,” he said.
And don’t count on seeing a poster advertising “Inspiration” hanging in Wicker Park’s Reckless Records. But if you wait long enough–three weeks?–there’s a chance you could pick up a used copy, along with a used Clay Aiken CD.
“We definitely have that stuff when it comes in used, but we generally don’t buy it new,” said Ben Schulman, who works in the store.
Hung fans will have better luck hitting the chain stores. The Borders store on Clark Street and Diversey Avenue, for example, has 15 on the way and another 15 coming in after that, said employee Jon Schoonveld. Previous “Idol” merchandise has done well there–in the last three months, 52 Aiken albums and 29 Ruben Studdard albums were sold.
As for radio play, “She Bangs” and other Hung hits will probably get better reception during morning shows than song blocks in the afternoon or evening.
Mary Ellen Kachinske, program director for 101.9 The Mix, hasn’t heard “Inspiration,” but from what she’s heard about Hung, she predicts it won’t be the station’s Next Big Thing.
“I’m sure it will get a mention on Eric and Kathy in the morning–they’ll have some fun with it,” she said.
Afternoon DJ Dave Fogel was blunt about the new CD.
“My gut instinct is, we ain’t playing it.”
