POP ALBUM CHART : Madonna’s Cleaning Up

C’mon, Madonna, we’re wise to you. You’re saying that making the steamy video for “Justify My Love,” which created a censorship furor, wasn’t a publicity stunt? Not only did it become a hot-selling video single but also, more important for Madonna’s bank account, it’s spurring people to buy “The Immaculate Collection,” her greatest hits package. “Justify My Love” is one of two new songs in this collection, which shot up to No. 5 on the Billboard magazine pop chart. But even a No. 1 single of the album’s title song, “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” isn’t helping to sell Whitney Houston’s album, which slipped another notch to No. 4. The irony is that Mariah Carey, who’s accused of being a Houston sound-alike, has an album, “Mariah Carey” (No. 3), that’s selling better than Houston’s, even after being on the chart six months.

* Another member of New Edition, Ralph Tresvant, has a fast-selling solo album. His “Ralph Tresvant” jumped to No. 23 in just two weeks. But it has a long way to go before matching the million-selling success of albums by the other solo acts from the group--Johnny Gill and the trio Bell Biv DeVoe.

Rank Rank 2 Weeks Title (Label) Last Week Weeks Ago on Chart 1.”To the Extreme” 1 1 13 Vanilla Ice (SBK) 2.”Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em” 2 2 41 M.C. Hammer (Capitol) 3.”Mariah Carey” 4 3 25 Mariah Carey (Columbia) 4.”I’m Your Baby Tonight” 3 5 4 Whitney Houston (Arista) 5.”The Immaculate Collection” 12 32 3 Madonna (Sire/Warner Bros.) *”Ralph Tresvant” 49 ... 2 Ralph Tresvant (MCA)