POP LP CHART : Cannibals Still Cooking

Who’s going to topple Fine Young Cannibals? Probably none of the albums currently in the Billboard magazine Top 10. After five weeks this band’s “Raw and the Cooked” is still cooking--at No. 1. The old-timers are really tearing up the charts. The word around the industry was that Paul McCartney’s album, “Flowers in the Dirt,” would be another stiff. But it’s raced up to No. 21 in just two weeks. And how about the Doobie Bros.? Their “Cycles” climbed seven more rungs--to No. 17.

* Though still a very young man, L.L. Cool J is one of the grand old men of rap. In fact some of the radical young rappers who’ve surfaced since his last album have dismissed him as a relic. But this “dinosaur” still has some spring in his step. His new album, “Walking With a Panther” sprang onto the chart at lofty No. 41.

Rank Rank 2 Weeks Title (Label) Last Week Weeks Ago on Chart 1. “The Raw and the Cooked 1 1 17 Fine Young Cannibals (I.R.S/MCA) 2. “Don’t Be Cruel” 3 4 50 Bobby Brown (MCA) 3. “Beaches” 2 2 24 Bette Midler (Atlantic) 4. “Full Moon Fever” 5 6 8 Tom Petty (MCA) 5. “Like a Prayer” 4 3 13 Madonna (Sire/Warner Bros.) * “Walking With a Panther” ... ... 1 L.L. Cool J. (Columbia)