MIXED MEDIA : <i> A occasional look at pop-related books, videos and laser discs that are of special commercial and/or critical interest. The rating system: five stars (a classic) to one star (poor). </i> : * 1/2 “ARETHA FRANKLIN” By Mark Bego <i> St. Martin’s Press</i> ($18.95)

A biography of the Queen of Soul ought to hold some insight into the soul of the Queen. But Bego, who has written profiles of such music and TV personalities as Michael Jackson and Linda Gray, makes it clear early on that his main interest is gossip. Even sections about the singer’s family and personal tribulations often conclude in unsupported, catty speculation. Interviews with a tight-lipped Aretha herself and people who have worked with her stick pretty much to the surface, adding up to a clunky, often redundant series of details. Buy her best records instead; her voice contains all the insight into her life.