Rank posts by popularity

Hi there,

I understand this topic may be covered somewhere in the forums but after reading through a few I can’t seem to make it work.

I am pasting the following code into a php enabled text widget.
You can see it here in the right hand column: https://sixclicks.phillipvale.com.au

<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin-bottom:1.5em;">
<?php query_posts('showposts=5'); ?>
<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
<tr style="border-bottom:1px solid #d9d9d9;">
<td width="15%" style="padding:1em 0;">
<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_date('m/d'); ?></a>
</td>
<td width="85%" style="padding:1em 0;">
<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
</td>
</tr>
<?php endwhile;?>
</table>

I was hoping to duplicate the above code (that is displaying the most recent 5 posts) so that it may display the top 5 comments and most popular comments on 3 seperate tabs. (see website link for example.)

Thanks for any help you can provide,

Phil Vale