POP LP CHART : Unexpected Entrants Score on Pop Charts

It’s been a good year for young soul singers. One of the surprise pop hits of the year is Bobby Brown’s album, “Don’t Be Cruel,” which moved up four places to No. 8 on the Billboard magazine pop album chart. Keith Richards’ debut solo album, “Talk Is Cheap,” entered the pop chart at No. 75. The sometime Stone must be a little nervous about this one, since the pop audience turned its back on some other old-timers--like Brian Wilson and Patti Smith--who also had been off the recording scene for years. Maybe sax player Kenny G’s last primarily instrumental album, a 2-million seller, wasn’t a fluke hit after all. His new one, “Silhouette,” debuted at a respectable No. 63. Rapper Ice-T has a hot album, “Power” (No. 39). So does the Escape Club, with its “Wild, Wild West” album (No. 41), featuring a single of the title song that’s No. 5 on the pop chart. Phil Collins’ “Groovy Kind of Love” is the new No. 1 pop single.

* Though a superstar in soul circles, balladeer supreme Vandross still isn’t well known to the pop masses. His new album, which debuted at No. 56 on the pop chart, could be his pop breakthrough. But then, experts have been saying that about Vandross albums for years.

Rank Rank 2 Weeks Title (Label) Last Week Weeks Ago on Chart 1. “New Jersey” 1 8 3 Bon Jovi (Mercury/PolyGram) 2.”Appetite for Destruction” 2 1 61 Guns N’ Roses (Geffen) 3.”Hysteria” 3 3 62 Def Leppard (PolyGram) 4.”Cocktail” 4 4 11 Sound track (Elektra) 5.”Simple Pleasures” 7 5 27 Bobby McFerrin (EMI-Manhattan) * “Any Love” -- -- 1 Luther Vandross (Epic)