It doesn't take much to top the charts these (dog) days.

Byline: Jan DeKnock

The lazy, hazy days of August _ when many radio programmers go on vacation and record companies hold back on releasing superstar product _ can be almost as slow as the year-end holidays, at least when it comes to action on Billboard magazine's pop music charts.

And by the looks of this week's lists, the dog days of summer have certainly arrived.

Just a few weeks ago, it took weekly sales in the million-plus range for a CD to rank at No. 1 on the top albums chart. This week's winner, the multi-artist package "NOW That's What I Call Music 4," did it with a sales total of only 258,000 units. That's pretty paltry, especially when you consider that's this is only its second week on the list, after scoring a No. 1 debut last week.

Still putting on the pressure from the No. 2 spot is Britney Spears' former No. 1, "Oops! I Did It Again," which still sold 243,000 copies despite having been on the chart for 11 weeks. And the sales difference between those two records _ only 15,000 _ was one of the smallest in chart history.

The only Top 40 debut this week came from Eve 6's "Horrorscope," which came in all the way down in the No. 34 spot. The multi-artist compilation "Monsters of Rap" did evn worse, with a No. 52 debut.

The lack of new product means that five of the top seven titles this week are former No. 1 CDs. The two exceptions: Nelly's "Country Grammar," up this week from No. 4 to No. 3; and Papa Roach's "Infest," down from No. 5 to No. 6.