In the wake of Clay Aiken's single falling from the #1 slot in the U.S. after 10 weeks on top, the Associated Press reports that release dates have finally been set for the full-length CDs from Clay and his fellow American Idol 2 finalist Ruben Studdard. Both CDs were delayed from their original August 19 release date, probably because the success of Clay and Ruben's singles made album quality more important.
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The new release date for Clay's RCA Records CD, which was originally titled Measure of a Man but is now untitled, is October 14. All that is known is that the CD is supposed to feature contributions from such producers and songwriters as Steve Mac, Cliff Magness, Desmond Child, Steve Morales and Rick Nowels. Despite the dearth of information, Clay's CD is the tenth best-selling album on Amazon.com as of August 21 -- and it has consistently been in the Top 20 since late July.
Meanwhile, Idol winner Ruben's J Records CD, to be named Soulful, will not be released until November 11, four weeks after Clay's. Currently, Soulful ranks only 504th on Amazon. According to Ruben, the month difference happened because Clay's disk is done, while Ruben is still working on his. However, as we noted in a prior article, the fact that Ruben's single "Flying Without Wings" / "Superstar" went gold and yet never reached #1 created a public-relations problem for Ruben's career ... as reflected in the AP article, which notes for no particular reason that Clay not only outsold Ruben but also got a Rolling Stone cover first. The four-week separation between the CDs will give Ruben a great chance to bump Clay out of the #1 slot when Soulful is released.
In the interview, Ruben notes that his single has sold over 900,000 copies, so he may soon join Clay with a rare platinum single. However, he clearly hasn't adjusted to the massive difference in sales between his single and Clay's, stating, "Should I be upset that I sold 951,000 singles, and he sold 961,000 singles?" Uh, Ruben, Clay's single had sold more than 961,000 copies over a month ago, and yours isn't there yet. Better luck with Soulful, which will feature guest appearances by Fat Joe and gospel star Fred Hammond along with production work by R. Kelly and Missy Elliot.