Videos That Missed the Point : Music: Too often the video seen on television has no apparent connection to the song heard on the radio.

Q: Who’s more likely than the PMRC or any given sticker-happy state legislature to misunderstand or misrepresent the true content of a rock ‘n’ roll song?

A: Any number of rock video directors.

If you’re a discerning pop fan, you probably know the feeling: You catch a terrific new song on the radio, then see the incongruous video on television and wonder if the director heard the same song you did. This edition of Sound & Vision--a monthly roundup of recent pop videos, rated on a scale of 0-100--starts off by taking a look at this epidemic of Videos That Miss The Point.

Surely, many thirtysomething-and-up listeners who heard and loved Don Henley’s “The Last Worthless Evening” related to its poignant expression of the need to let defenses down and find a lasting love before the clock runs out, with “time, time ticking, ticking, ticking away.” The video, however, reveals that the weary, commitment-shy veteran of the romantic battlefield described in this hesitantly romantic ballad is actually a gorgeous blond woman who looks nary a day over 22. Not to deny a less experienced woman her own brand of loneliness, but this babe’s biological time clock has a lot of tick left in it. It’s an insult to those who truly relate to the tune to make it an exercise in young-models-in-distress. (Rating: 65.)

A director also risks missing the point by indulging in over-literalism, as in the clip for Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’. “ Here, some creative type has lazily used Petty’s line about his ex-love being “crazy ‘bout Elvis” and his pointed San Fernando Valley milieu as an excuse to place most of the video in ‘50s or ‘60s-era teen Valley suburbia, complete with Presley albums glaringly planted right in front of the camera. Somehow, we suspect that an exercise in nostalgia isn’t what Petty had in mind. To add insult to injury, the present-day version of the Valley is represented not by the Galleria but . . . the Westside Pavilion. (Rating: 60.)

Sometimes, one agenda just ends up taking priority over another. Queen Latifah’s “Ladies Choice” is, by anyone’s interpretation, a strong rap feminist anthem and no more. The dominant imagery in the video, however, is of South African unrest and fists raised in black pride. Feminism and apartheid are both weighty topics, and women play an indisputable part in the freedom fight, but no one involved here seems to have bothered making a connection between the struggles. Thus, the strange incongruity of a song about women being illustrated by shots of very male activists. (Rating: 55.)

Most typical in its egregiousness, perhaps, is Alannah Myles’ “Black Velvet.” The bluesy song, perhaps the best mainstream single of the year to date, is about Elvis and the “new religion” he established. The video is a shrine in its own right, one dedicated solely to the worship of Alannah as a stone-cold fox in lace, leather and lingerie. She’s too busy establishing herself as the new post-Benatar rock queen to let on that she’s crooning about the King. (Rating: 40.)

On the other hand, the narcissistic lyrics for Madonna’s “Vogue” match right up with the even more amazingly narcissistic video. “Strike the pose,” she commands right at the start, and that’s most assuredly the point here, from the rapped litany of glamorous antecedents (“They had style, they had grace / Rita Hayworth gave good face”?) to the display of the title dance itself. Never has her love affair with the camera seemed so illicit, so utterly pointless.

That Madonna would indulge in such a shameless exercise in style over substance after her last album’s stab at honest confessional songwriting isn’t surprising, but that she would jump on a trend that’s just about dead and try to revive it is a shocker. True, the vogue --a “dance” in which participants wield their arms in ways characteristic of icy-cool, artificial fashion poses--isn’t quite as annoying when Madonna does it; at least she moves her legs as well as her arms. (Rating: 50.)

How much more enjoyable, then, is Janet Jackson’s “Alright,” which also pays tribute to the stars of the ‘40s and ‘50s. Unlike Madonna’s nod to the glorious faces of Bette Davis and her like, though, Jackson celebrates such celebs as Cab Calloway, the Nicholas Brothers and Cyd Charisse, all of whom make cameo appearances in this buoyant, 7-minute mini-musical, set in a fantasy version of the recent past. We’ve seen this sort of epic galloping-through-the-streets routine from Jackson before, but it’s so well done it hasn’t gotten old yet. Madonna mentions Astaire and Rogers; Jackson actually evokes them. (Rating: 85.)

A New Direction for the Pop Beat Column

Starting today, Pop Beat, Calendar’s Saturday pop music column, will showcase critical appraisals or news reports of the latest developments in specific genres of pop. Today’s column focuses on current pop videos. In subsequent weeks, the column will concentrate on such areas as rap, heavy metal, alternative rock, dance, singles and country.