RANDY NEWMAN Little Criminals (Warner Bros.)

Randy Newman is the great genius of American popular music. He knows everything about it, and so can work in any style, because he is a connoisseur, as Bob Dylan is of folk. He may be too good for his own good. I would no more expect him to top the charts than I would expect one of Sir Laurence Olivier’s revivals of classic American plays to beat out Laverne and Shirley in the ratings. We get the music we deserve, too.