GROCERY LISTS

Part of my Thanksgiving weekend was spent watching the MTV/Rolling Stone special on the top 100 pop songs of all time. It was a bit suspicious that so many MTV-friendly songs were on the list, though. Is Blink-182's "All the Small Things" really one of the best 100 pop songs ever written, or was that just an excuse to show naked men in a video? Still, that's part of the point, I suppose-lists are fascinating because you can argue with them. So if you need more material to argue with, Julian's Rocklist Site (www.rocklist.net) is an amazing site, collecting pop music lists (top 100 pop songs, top albums of 1968, whatever) by various publications and leading critics.

SUPERSIZE ME

ODB sightings: it's like the Elvis thing, except you know he's alive! The rapper reappeared at a release party in New York for the Wu-Tang's new album. Then he was arrested in Philly while signing autographs at a McDonald's. For a fugitive, the man certainly did get around.

ONE IS A BLOODY NICE NUMBER

Nice to see the Beatles' 1 album at number one in the album sales charts. The thing about compiling an album comprised solely of chart-toppers is that it ignores perfectly good songs that missed the number one spot... for instance, "Penny Lane" may have been an American number one, but it was ignominiously beaten in Britain by, of all people, kitsch crooner Engelbert Humperdinck ("Release Me").

An album based on Beatles non-number ones wouldn't be half-bad either. Just looking at those that made Billboard's top 10 but missed the top spot, you could have: "Twist and Shout" (no. 2), "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" (no. 2), "P.S. I Love You" (no. 10), "She's a Woman" (no. 4, although really it was the B-side to "I Feel Fine"), "Nowhere Man" (no. 3) and last but certainly not least "Strawberry Fields Forever" (no. 8, although really it was the double-A side to "Penny Lane"). And that's not even counting the great songs that were never released as singles, such as "Norwegian Wood" or "Here Comes the Sun."

TRENDSPOTTING

Minor music trend: using U2 songs in movie trailers ("One" for The Family Man, "Even Better Than the Real Thing" for Proof of Life).

Minor music trend two: Backstreet Boys revisionism. It's trendy for music critics to now claim that "I Want It That Way" is a classic pop song. I say you can't tell until at least two years after a song comes out. But for those of you who need opinions fast, our Backstreet Boys review is conveniently on page B-3....