Smooth Move

Young R&B; vocal groups are taking over The Times’ Southern California charts, most scoring big on debut albums. An Atlanta quintet called Silk is making a big splash with its first album, “Lose Control,” which could soon take control of both the pop and R&B; charts. The album is No. 9 on the album chart and No. 5 in R&B.; “The Bodyguard” soundtrack (No. 1) and its love theme, Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” No. 2 on the pop singles chart, are still major forces in the local market. Only the unusual clout of Paperboy’s “Ditty” has kept Houston from returning to the pop singles throne in the last few weeks.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 The Bodyguard, soundtrack (1) 1 2 The Chronic, Dr. Dre (3) 3 3 Breathless, Kenny G (2) 2 4 Unplugged, Eric Clapton (5) 4 5 Aladdin, soundtrack (9) 5 6 Ten, Pearl Jam (8) 6 7 Jon Secada, Jon Secada (21) 7 8 What’s the 411?, Mary J. Blige (18) 11 9 Lose Control, Silk (14) -- 10 3 Years 5 Months. . ., Arrested Dev. (13) 10

TOP 10 SINGLES

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Ditty, Paperboy (11) 1 2 I Will Always. . ., Whitney Houston (1) 2 3 Nuthin But a “G” Thang, Dr. Dre (3) 5 4 Rebirth of Slick, Digable Planets (5) 9 5 Ordinary World, Duran Duran (7) 7 6 A Whole New World, Bryson/Belle (4) 3 7 Informer, Snow (6) 15 8 Everything’s. . .Alright, Father M.C. (22) 6 9 Hip Hop Hooray, Naughty By Nature (2) 12 10 Mr. Wendal, Arrested Development (8) 4

TOP 10 R&B; ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 The Bodyguard, soundtrack (1) 1 2 The Chronic, Dr. Dre (3) 3 3 Breathless, Kenny G. (2) 2 4 What’s the 411?, Mary J. Blige (10) 5 5 Lose Control, Silk (8) -- 6 3 Years 5 Months. . ., Arrested Dev. (7) 4 7 Love Deluxe, Sade (9) 7 8 The Nine Yards, Paperboy (29) 6 9 If I Ever Fall in Love, Shai (4) 8 10 Dangerous, Michael Jackson (12) --

Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ending Feb. 7