Santa Vs. ‘Bodyguard’

Though “The Bodyguard” soundtrack and its love theme, “I Will Always Love You,” head both The Times’ Southern California pop album and singles charts, the big news again is the phenomenal sales of Christmas albums.

Three--Amy Grant’s “Home for Christmas,” “A Very Special Christmas 2” and Neil Diamond’s “Christmas Album”--are in the Top 10. Grant’s second-ranked album could easily be the chart-topper next week.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 The Bodyguard, soundtrack (1) 1 2 Home For Christmas, Amy Grant (5) 6 3 Breathless, Kenny G. (9) 3 4 Timeless, Michael Bolton (2) 7 5 Unplugged, Eric Clapton (6) 5 6 A Very Special Christmas 2 (7) 8 7 Aladdin, soundtrack (22) 12 8 Love Deluxe, Sade (13) 4 9 The Predator, Ice Cube (12) 2 10 Christmas Album, Neil Diamond (8) 9

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TOP 10 SINGLES

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston (1) 1 2 Rump Shaker, Wreckx-N-Effect (2) 2 3 If I Ever Fall in Love, Shai (3) 3 4 In the Still of the Night, Boyz II Men (4) 4 5 Back to the Hotel, N2Deep (13) 5 6 Homies, A Lighter Shade of Brown (67) 11 7 I’d Die Without You, PM Dawn (5) 6 8 Flex, Mad Cobra (10) 14 9 Rhythm Is a Dancer, Snap (6) 8 10 Ditty, Paperboy (72) --

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TOP 10 R&B; ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 The Bodyguard, soundtrack (1) 1 2 Breathless, Kenny G (2) 3 3 Love Deluxe, Sade (4) 4 4 The Predator, Ice Cube (3) 2 5 What’s the 411?, Mary J. Blige (5) 5 6 3 Years, 5 Months. . ., Arrested Dev. (12) 7 7 Hard or Smooth, Wreckx-N-Effect (9) 6 8 Bobby, Bobby Brown (7) 8 9 Funky Divas, En Vogue (8) 9 10 Ooooohhh--On the TLC Tip, TLC (10) --

Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ending Dec. 6