London - Record executives are looking hangdog today as Variety and Melody Maker magazines in separate articles are revealing less-than-expected sales figures for Sir Elton John’s musical tribute to the late Queen Mum. As of last night only 23 units of Sir Elton’s "Mum’s the Word" have been sold out of 17 ½ million units shipped worldwide. In a related story, PC World reports in today’s edition that only 6 bootlegged mp3 files of "Mum’s" have been downloaded from Napster and WinMX during the past week.
"We’re at a real loss to explain the numbers for "Mum’s," said record mogul Clive Davis from his Manhattan office. "We had Jimmy Jam and Don Was both producing and Springsteen and Dylan were singing backup. What more can you ask for?"

Industry watchers are expressing concern over the impact of the "Mum’s" debacle and, added to the recent buyout of Mariah Carey’s contract, are anticipating major shakeups at all of the major labels.

"I thought EJ had a monster hit when the Queen Mum croaked," said mega-producer Quincy Jones while in London for the celebrity-studded Queen Mum funeral after-party. "The units just flew out the door after Princess Di’s death. I guess lightning just can’t strike twice."

Although Sir Elton has not been seen publicly since the disappointing sales figures for "Mum’s" were released, sources close to the musician say that he is back in the studio hard at work on a remix of "Goodbye Charlie" in anticipation of the death of Prince Charles.