Numbers mount up for ‘3121’

PRINCE can party like it’s 1989 -- the mercurial star has his first No. 1 album in 17 years with “3121,” which sold 183,000 copies during its first week in stores, according to the retail reports of Nielsen SoundScan.

The last time Prince had the nation’s bestselling album it was “Batman,” the music collection tied in to the Tim Burton superhero film at the close of the 1980s. This time, with “3121,” he ventures into funk, R&B; balladry, inspirational music and Latin stylings, such as the single “Te Amo Corazon.”

Also debuting this week is “The Heart of Tha Streetz, Vol. 2: I Am What I Am,” the new CD from B.G., the New Orleans rapper whose 1999 hit “Bling Bling” added that term for jewelry to the popular lexicon and, eventually, to the Oxford English Dictionary. His new CD sold 62,000 copies to finish No. 9 on the chart.

Ben Harper’s “Both Sides of the Gun” sold 59,000 copies in its first week in stores to finish at No. 10, enough to edge past the 56,000 total for “Underage Thinking,” the debut album by Rochester, N.Y., singer Teddy Geiger, who is being described as a sort of John Mayer for the high school set. Geiger enters the chart at No. 11.

The power of “American Idol” was proved again by the 140% sales jump for Barry Manilow’s “The Greatest Songs of the Fifties.” The veteran singer’s performance on the show helped his CD to sell 78,000 copies, enough to claim the No. 4 spot.