Pop Album Chart : Salt-N-Pepa Scores a ‘Necessary’ Hit

Salt-N-Pepa’s “Very Necessary” moved up two notches to No. 10, boosted by the album’s second hit single, “Whatta Man.” No other female rap act--and few male rappers for that matter--can touch the group’s commercial success. Mariah Carey continues to lead a chart that contains a few surprises, among them the alternative-rock group Counting Crows, whose hit “August and Everything After” wings its way from No. 32 to No. 13.

Ace of Base’s album “The Sign” rose two rungs to No. 16, proving that the group is no one-hit wonder. Following the success of the band’s “All That She Wants,” the album’s title song climbed on the singles chart from No. 16 to No. 5. Tom Petty’s “Greatest Hits,” which moved from No. 9 to No. 5, is enjoying an unusually good run in the Top 10, lasting long after the Christmas season when such packages are at peak popularity. The jazz-rap group Us3 is scoring big with its first album, “Hand on the Torch,” up from No. 52 to 43.

* The hottest new album is the “Philadelphia” soundtrack, featuring Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia.” It jumped from No. 34 to No. 17.

Source: Billboard/SoundScan

Rank Rank 2 Weeks Last Weeks on the Week Ago Chart 1.”Music Box,” Mariah Carey 1 1 21 2.”Doggystyle,” Snoop Doggy Dogg 2 4 9 3.”Diary of a Mad Band,” Jodeci 5 8 5 4.”janet.,” Janet Jackson 7 6 36 5.”Greatest Hits,” Tom Petty 9 10 10 6.”So Far So Good,” Bryan Adams 6 7 11 7.”Vs.,” Pearl Jam 3 2 14 8.”The One Thing,” Michael Bolton 4 3 10 9.”Bat Out Of Hell II,” Meat Loaf 8 5 19 10.”Very Necessary,” Salt-N-Pepa 12 26 15 * “Philadelphia” soundtrack, Various artists 34 74 3