New label benefits from Blunt force

Linda PERRY has another hit on her hands.

This time, though, it’s not as a writer or producer, the roles she’s played on Pink’s “Get the Party Started,� Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful� and Gwen Stefani’s “What You Waiting For?� among many others in recent years. Nor is it as a performer, as she was when she led the popular 4 Non Blondes in the ‘90s.

Now it’s as a label mogul. Perry launched her Custard Records last year, and her first artist is riding the top of both the album and singles charts in the U.K. Released in October, James Blunt’s debut, “Back to Bedlam,� has surged recently and has now spent several weeks at No. 1 on the U.K. album chart, nearly doubling the sales of No. 2 Coldplay’s “X&Y;� in that time. Meanwhile, the album’s single “You’re Beautiful� has held the top spot on that chart, holding off Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together.�

And Blunt is no slick pop artist but a singer-songwriter who has been getting comparisons to Jeff Buckley, David Gray and Damien Rice -- not the kind of thing that normally achieves such chart domination.

Perry says she signed Blunt “on a gut feeling� after being introduced to him and his music in London last year. Blunt had been unable to score a deal and was referred to Perry as a potential writing partner.

“He was trying to talk about writing, and I’m, ‘No, no, no -- I’m talking record deal,’ � she says. “He was thrown off.�

The deal was made right after Blunt performed at the spring 2004 South by Southwest showcase in Austin, Texas. Perry, who did not want her stamp on the music, brought Blunt to Los Angeles, where he recorded with producer Tom Rothrock (Beck, Elliott Smith), though Perry did end up producing one song, “No Bravery.� Now the challenge is to extend his success to the U.S. -- which is littered with British phenoms who have failed to break through here (just ask Robbie Williams). The album will be released here on Oct. 4, though online sales start Monday.

“Obviously it’s a different ballgame in the States,� says Blunt. “It would be foolish to assume that it will be the same there as in England.�

Craig Kallman, co-chairman of Atlantic Records, Custard’s U.S. partner, says the plan all along had been to establish Blunt in the U.K.

“Now,� Kallman says, “our staff is able to walk into every radio station, every magazine, every video channel, every Internet site and say, ‘By the way, our artist is outselling Coldplay in the U.K.’ �

Blunt already has a foothold here, with stations in such key markets as New York, Denver and San Francisco actively playing “You’re Beautiful.� At the end of October he’ll go on tour in the U.S. opening for Jason Mraz, with plans for shows of his own well into 2006.

*

No apologies for Nirvana song

“SIX FEET UNDER� music supervisors Gary Calamar and Thomas Golubic are as surprised as anyone that Nirvana’s “All Apologies� will be heard in the funeral home tragicomedy’s episode of the same name when it airs Aug. 7.

The song had been written into the fabric of the story, but the Nirvana camp is notorious for turning down such requests to use the band’s songs.

“Everybody was pretty doubtful,� says Calamar. “But it ended up going smoother than we’d expected. Either the timing was right as far as they were concerned, or they are fans of the show.�

It’s both, says Peter Asher, manager of Courtney Love, widow of bandleader and songwriter Kurt Cobain.

“We agreed that when it really made sense and would be good for the song and the show, there was no reason to automatically say no,� Asher says. Representatives for Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, the other former Nirvana members, said that since a 2003 agreement resolving conflicts between them and Love, they have generally deferred to her.

But don’t expect a sudden stampede of Nirvana songs in TV shows and movies.

“We still say no to the vast majority of things,� Asher says.