HAMMER TIME: So crisp, so concise, so...

HAMMER TIME: So crisp, so concise, so elegant. The pop star with one name: Madonna. Prince. Cher. And ( ahem ) Gerardo. Now you can add rap kingpin M.C. Hammer to the list. With the release of his new album, “Too Legit to Quit,” due Oct. 28 from Capitol Records, Hammer drops his M.C. handle, perhaps to put a little distance between himself and the rap genre. The album certainly takes a big step away from classic hip-hop, with Hammer writing a bundle of original music--and using a live band, with horns--on all the new material. Of the 16 fresh songs, highlights include “The Addams Groove” (which will appear as the featured song in the upcoming film “The Addams Family”), a pair of socially conscious songs (“Brothers Hang On” and “Living in a World Like This”), an update of the old gospel tune “Do Not Pass Me By” and such dance-grooves as “This Is the Way We Roll” and “Good to Go.” . . . Like a drowsy horror movie hero, Tone Loc has finally risen from his grave and--after 32 lo-o-o-ng months--is releasing a new album. Called “Cool Hand Loc,” it’s full of surprises, most notably its lead-off single, “All Through the Night,” a Barry White-style ballad (with El Debarge) that establishes Loc as a songwriter and vocal smoothie. Due out Nov. 19, the album also features such songs as “Fatal Attraction,” “Freaky Behavior,” “Mean Green” and “Funky West Side.”