ACTION PACKED: With each of the top four titles remaining in place, the top of The Billboard Hot 100 looks deceptively sleepy -- but there's plenty of excitement afoot.

"Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer (Squint/Columbia), an act you had not heard of a year ago, forges its way into the top five with growth in sales and radio audience, moving 7-5. The title just picked up increasingly eclectic modern rocker KROQ Los Angeles and that station's sizable audience, so another jump by next issue seems a safe bet.

TLC's "No Scrubs" (LaFace/Arista), not due in stores until Tuesday (23), garners enough radio points to muscle its way forward two places, to No. 6, and seems destined to set a new Hot 100 record for radio audience. "No Scrubs" picks up an additional 14 stations, boosting its audience to 108 million at 235 stations for the week. The record was set in last year's March 7 issue, when Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" (550/Epic) drew 117 million on 233 stations.

Aside from its already-large radio sum, the prospects of TLC's multiformat hit besting Dion's mark are enhanced by the recent inclusion of R&B stations on the expanded Hot 100 radio panel. In the meantime, "No Scrubs" has already set the high-water audience mark on Hot R&B Airplay (see the Rhythm Section, page 30).

While "No Scrubs" seems destined to grab the Hot 100's top slot the issue after next, the first retail-available single in Sugar Ray's career just might make the climb in the next issue.

First-day sales of "Every Morning" have Atlantic projecting an opening week in the neighborhood of 125,000-130,000 units. If that prediction comes true, Sugar Ray has a real shot at the summit, but its prospects depend on how Cher's "Believe" fares, because the current champ continues to gain at both radio and retail. In the meantime, the nation's second-largest radio audience and pre-street-date sales of 6,000 units push "Every Morning" 9-7.

Fasten your seat belts, Hot 100 fans. We're in for a fun ride.