'Awesome Mix' of 'Guardians of the Galaxy' tops Billboard 200

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[August 14, 2014]  By Piya Sinha-Roy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The alien superheroes of Disney's "Guardians of the Galaxy" not only stormed the movie box office, but the Marvel superheroes' throwback 1970s-style soundtrack climbed to the top spot on the weekly U.S. Billboard chart on Wednesday.

"Awesome Mix Vol. 1," which includes classic hits such as Blue Swede's "Hooked on a Feeling," The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back," and David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream," sold 109,000 copies in its second week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

It had entered the chart last week at No. 3 with first-week sales of 60,000.

The 12-track retro mix is featured heavily throughout the film as rogue hero Peter Quill's own soundtrack as he battles evil intergalactic villains to save the galaxy. It is the second soundtrack this year to top the album chart, following the success of Walt Disney Co's animated hit "Frozen."

At No. 2 this week is the 51st installment of the "Now That's What I Call Music!" album franchise, featuring hits by Iggy Azalea, Katy Perry and Justin Timberlake, which sold 94,000 copies in its first week.

Other new entries in the top ten of the weekly Billboard 200 chart include metal rockers Godsmack at No. 3 with "1000hp," which sold 58,000 copies.

Rock group Spoon debuted at No. 4 with its latest record "They Want My Soul," and British boy band The Vamps rounded out the new entries at No. 10 with its "Somebody To You EP."

Last week's chart topper, "Hypnotic Eye," by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, dropped to No. 6 this week.

For the week ended Aug. 10, total album sales clocked in at 4.27 million, down 9 percent from the comparable week in 2013, while year-to-date album sales totaled 146.4 million, down 14 percent from the same period a year ago, Billboard said.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; editing by Patricia Reaney, G Crosse)

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