Abdul’s Year-Old ‘Girl’ Takes No. 1 Spot

With a mighty surge, Paula Abdul’s “Forever Your Girl” album climbed two rungs to the top of the Billboard magazine pop chart. That’s news, considering this album isn’t exactly new. It’s been on the chart 64 weeks and has sold more than 2 million units. Albums that have been around this long usually don’t have much surge left in them. The publicity from Abdul’s MTV Awards victories and her hot new single, “(It’s Just) the Way That You Love Me,” fueled the surge. Aerosmith’s “Pump” jumped to No. 9 in just its second week on the chart. This band would love to overtake heavy-metal rival Motley Crue, whose “Dr. Feelgood” is No. 5.

* Look out, Paula Abdul. Your major competition for the dance-music-diva crown, Janet Jackson, is rocketing up the pop album chart with her new “Rhythm Nation” album, which entered at No. 28 and should crack the Top 10 next week.

POP LP CHART

Rank Rank 2 Weeks Title (Label) Last Week Weeks Ago on Chart 1. “Forever Your Girl” ’ 3 3 64 Paula Abdul (Virgin) 2. “Girl You Know It’s True” 1 1 29 Milli Vanilli (Arista) 3. “Steel Wheels” 4 12 4 Rolling Stones (Columbia) 4. “Hangin’ Tough” 2 2 59 New Kids on the Block (Columbia) 5. “Dr. Feelgood” 8 24 3 Motley Crue (Elektra) * “Rhythm Nation 1814” ... ... 1 Janet Jackson (A&M;)