MIXED MEDIA

** 1/2

“BILLBOARD’S HOTTEST 100 HITS”

Fred Bronson

Billboard Books paperback ($19.95)

This looks promising if you are into lists because there are about 200 of them, from a ranking of the most popular records by top artists (the Beatles to Madonna) to the most popular songs by year. While it makes for fun skimming, there is a nagging problem. The lists are based strictly on objective measurements (pop chart performance)--and an artist’s most popular records aren’t always the ones that happened to register highest on the charts. What really is Elton John’s most popular song: “Philadelphia Freedom” (which is listed at No. 1) or “Your Song” (No. 15)? And is “Little Jeannie” (ranked No. 3) more enduring than “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” (No. 24)?

Items in this survey of pop-related books, videocassettes and laser discs are rated on a scale of one asterisk (poor) to four (excellent).