Robin Thicke lands his first top 10 hit as “Blurred Lines” jumps from #12 to #6 in its sixth week on the Hot 100. Thicke’s mother, Gloria Loring, cracked the top 10 in August 1986 with “Friends And Lovers,” a collabo with Carl Anderson, an African American singer and actor. (The elegant pop ballad peaked at #2.) “Friends And Lovers” took off due to exposure on the soap opera Days Of Our Lives, on which Loring was a regular from 1980 to 1986.

Several other current stars who have landed top 10 hits are the offspring of parents who also had one or more top 10 hits. Among them: Enrique Iglesias, son of Julio Iglesias; Miley Cyrus, daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus; and Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith.

It’s interesting that Loring’s biggest hit was an interracial duet, because Thicke’s entire persona and musical style is based on blurring racial lines, to borrow his current song title. And he has been very successful at it, too. While this is his first top 10 hit on the Hot 100, he has had four top 10 hits on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, including the #1 hits “Lost Without U” and “Sex Therapy.”

Thicke’s style used to be called “blue-eyed soul,” but that sound is no longer the semi-novelty that that term suggests. With Thicke joining Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, it may well be the hottest sound of the year.

Daft Punk’s fourth studio album, Random Access Memories, enters The Billboard 200 at #1 with first-week sales of 339,000. That’s the second best opening so far this year, trailing only Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience, which opened with sales of 968K in March. While Timberlake has been putting up these kind of numbers for 15 years, dating back to his days with *NSYNC, this is a breakthrough for Daft Punk. The duo’s biggest sales week before this week came when its soundtrack to TRON: Legacy sold 71K in its first week in December 2010.

These two albums have something in common besides their blockbuster first weeks. Both albums were made available for free streaming on iTunes for a week prior to being released commercially. The idea behind this strategy is that the buzz and word-of-mouth created during the free streaming period offsets the lost sales. And it seems to be working. Billboard’s Alex Phem reports that more than 30 other artists have participated in Apple’s promotional program since it began in August 2011 with Red Hot Chili Peppers’ I’m With You. Other outlets have gotten in on the action, including YouTube, Spotify and Pandora.

Music From Baz Luhrmann’s Film The Great Gatsby enters The Billboard 200 at #2, just behind Lady Antebellum’s Golden. Gatsby sold 137K copies, about 50% more than initially forecast. This is the biggest one-week sales tally for a soundtrack since The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 And Beyond sold 175K in its first week in March 2012.

This is the third soundtrack to a film directed by Luhrmann to reach the top three. Romeo + Juliet hit #2 in January 1997. Music From Baz Luhrmann’s Film Moulin Rouge hit #3 in June 2001. All three of these albums have spawned hit songs. Romeo + Juliet featured the Cardigans’ “Lovefool” and Garbage’s “#1 Crush.” Moulin Rouge yielded a chart-topping remake of LaBelle’s 1975 smash “Lady Marmalade” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya and P!nk. The Great Gatsby has spawned Lana Del Rey’s “Young & Beautiful” and “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)” by Fergie, Q-Tip & GoonRock.