She’s No Secret

Forget that nonsense about Madonna’s career slipping down the drain. As long as she can get a hit single, she can sell albums--and “Secret,” the first single from her upcoming album, is off to a flying start. “Secret” debuted at No. 10 on The Times’ Southern California pop singles chart and No. 18 nationally--both very impressive numbers.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

Title, Artist (Nat’l Rank) Last Week 1 Monster, R.E.M. (1) -- 2 From The Cradle, Eric Clapton (3) 1 3 Barbra: Live, Barbra Streisand (10) -- 4 II, Boyz II Men (2) 3 5 Tuesday Night. . ., Sheryl Crow (11) 6 6 Rhythm Of Love, Anita Baker (4) 2 7 Smash, Offspring (7) 7 8 Dookie, Green Day (9) 4 9 The Lion King, soundtrack (6) 5 10 Divine Intervention, Slayer (8) --

TOP 10 SINGLES

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 I’ll Make Love, Boyz II Men (1) 1 2 Never Lie, Immature (3) 3 3 Playaz Club, Rappin’ 4-Tay (36) 8 4 At Your Best, Aaliyah (4) 2 5 Stroke You Up, Changing Faces (6) 4 6 Endless Love, Luther Vandross/ Mariah Carey (2) 5 7 Bop Gun, Ice Cube (16) 6 8 I Wanna Be Down, Brandy (9) 10 9 Thuggish Ruggish Bone, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (11) 14 10 Secret, Madonna (18) --

TOP 10 COUNTRY ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Sundown, Brooks & Dunn (1) -- 2 When Love Finds You, Vince Gill (6) 1 3 Who I Am, Alan Jackson (4) 3 4 Boomtown, Toby Keith (9) -- 5 Not a Moment, Tim McGraw (2) 2 6 What a Crying Shame, Mavericks (17) 6 7 Read My Mind, Reba McEntire (5) 4 8 Make a Living, Clay Walker (7) -- 9 In Pieces, Garth Brooks (14) 5 10 I See It Now, Tracy Lawrence (3) 8

Source: SoundScan Inc., for week of Oct. 2