MAN OF LISTS

I should have suspected.

After I finished reading Robert Hilburn’s Top 100 Songs of 1985, I was shocked (“The Top Albums: Assessing the Real Pop World,” Jan. 19).

First of all, I thought the whole list was a joke--reading something written by a “non-existing” music critic. But the last and most shocking item was that Bobby Hilburn listed a surprise album released in 1964 by the Beatles, “Meet the Beatles.”

How can an album make a Top 100 List of the past year after 21 years have passed since its original release? Is this man alive or dead? Or is he still living in the ‘60s?

JORGE ELIAS

Calexico

Neither. According to a reliable Calendar editor who claims to have spoken to Hilburn recently, the insertion of the Beatles LP was a test to see who was paying attention.