Opps...yes, TOP was added to SQL Server in version 7.0.

In Joe Celko's SQL For Smarties, Joe has the following query for finding the Top n values (pg 327)

SELECT DISTINCT COUNT(*), a.salary
FROM employees AS a, employes AS b
WHERE a.salary <= b.salary
GROUP BY a.salary
HAVING COUNT(*) <= 3 -- control parameter

Maybe you can use this? You should be able to UNION the two queries together without needing the derived tables.

-Mike