IT’S A WOMAN’S WORLD ON POP CHARTS IN ’86

Whitney Houston is the runaway leader for most popular album artist in a year when women have dominated the pop best-seller list.

Her debut album “Whitney Houston,” which has been on Billboard magazine’s sales chart for almost two years, has been No. 1 for 14 weeks so far this year. That gives her LP 222 points in a scoring system that awards 10 points for every week the record is at No. 1, nine points for every week at No. 2 and so forth.

Heart, the rock band led by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, is a distant second with 126 points. Other women whose LPs are among the 10 most successful so far this year on Billboard: Sade, Janet Jackson, Barbra Streisand and Madonna.

Why the female domination?

Karin Berg, director of East Coast artists and repertoire for Warner Bros. Records, thinks it’s dangerous to say any one factor is at work, but believes several points are worth considering.

“The first thing that strikes me is that most of these women aren’t singer-songwriters in the traditional sense,” she said. “They either rely on outside material or co-writers. This may be the real trend at work and women may just be utilizing the ‘constructed’ album faster than men, who have been more accustomed to the self-contained, personal testimony approach.

“We may also be speaking here about a new kind of women who dominate their careers, women--Streisand and Madonna, especially--who know exactly what they want and are better at asserting themselves than some of the women in the past.”

The most important factor, however, may be a change of attitude on the part of male record buyers, she suggested.

“There used to be the feeling in the record business that women never cared if they were buying an album by a man or a woman, but men--especially young men--wouldn’t buy records by women,” Berg said.

“But men may have loosened up during this post-feminist era. They don’t feel their manhood is at stake if they buy an album by a woman. That’s why they are as apt to discuss the new Cyndi Lauper record the same way they might discuss any album by a male artist.”

Here are the most popular albums so far this year, as measured by Billboard magazine:

1--Whitney Houston’s “Whitney Houston” (Arista)--222 points.

2--Heart’s “Heart” (Capitol)--127.

3--”Top Gun” sound track (Columbia)--120.

Sade’s “Promise” (Portrait)--120.

5--Janet Jackson’s “Control” (A&M;)--114.

6--Van Halen’s “5150” (Warner Bros.)--101.

7--Barbra Streisand’s “The Broadway Album” (Columbia)--98.

8--Madonna’s “True Blue” (Sire)--93.

9--John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Scarecrow” (Riva)--92.

10--Bob Seger’s “Like a Rock” (Capitol)--84.

The 1986 singles race remains wide open.

“On My Own,” the Patti LaBelle-Michael McDonald duet, is the leader at this point, but the record only tallied 58 points--making it a relatively easy target. A new single could exceed its total by spending four weeks at No. 1 and four more anywhere in the Top 5.

Of the singles on today’s cumulative Top 10, Huey Lewis’ “Stuck With You” is the only record with a chance of catching it--since the others are well past their sales peak.

Among recent releases that could challenge “On My Own”: Madonna’s “True Blue,” Lionel Richie’s “Love Will Conquer All” Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” and even Don Johnson’s “Heartbeat.”

Here are the hottest singles at the three-quarters point of 1986:

1--Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald’s “On My Own” (MCA)--58 points.

2--Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love” (Arista)--55.

Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder’s “That’s What Friends Are For” (Arista)--55.

4--Mr. Mister’s “Kyrie” (RCA)--54.

5--Falco’s “Rock Me Amadeus” (A&M;)--52.

Prince’s “Kiss” (Paisley Park)--52.

Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls” (Profile)--52.

8--Madonna’s “Papa, Don’t Preach” (Sire)--51.

9--Huey Lewis’ “Stuck With You” (Chrysalis)--50.

Madonna’s “Live to Tell” (Sire)--50.