A thousand pairs of Pharrell Williams-designed Nike shoes sold out of select stores in New York and Los Angeles over the weekend. The limited-edition kicks are part of a series of Nike commissions from artists in different creative media. The Neptune reworked the classic black Nike "Dunk Hi" shoes, fitting them with black leather and a N.E.R.D. brain logo on the side. At New York's Niketown, people began lining up on Friday at 7 a.m. to purchase the sneakers, 26 hours before they went on sale. All proceeds from Pharrell's shoe go to Goodwill's Good Books program, which provides free books to kids. Graffiti artist ESPO and actress Halle Berry also designed shoes that went on sale over the weekend. ...

Kinks singer Ray Davies was shot in the right thigh Sunday in New Orleans while chasing two men who allegedly stole his female companion's purse at gunpoint. Davies was admitted to the Medical Center of Louisiana, but his injuries were not considered serious, according to wire-service reports. One arrest has been made. ... Ten days after allegedly assaulting a Phoenix post-office security guard, who then shot him, former Meat Puppets bassist Cris Kirkwood remains in custody. Federal judge Virginia Mathis denied him bail, ruling that the 43-year-old rocker, who's been charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon at a federal facility and faces 10 years in prison, is a flight risk and a danger to others. The post-office incident stemmed from an argument Kirkwood had with a woman over a parking spot. ...

Courtney Love takes on her public image in the surrealistic video for her new single, "Mono." According to the treatment for the clip, which is being helmed by director Chris Milk (Chemical Brothers' "Golden Path"), Love appears as a Sleeping Beauty-like character awakened by fairies and flashbulbs, only to then be immediately on the run, chased by a mob of zombie-like paparazzi, pepper-spraying rent-a-cops, police officers and bodyguards. Not that some of this isn't without cause — Love wreaks havoc in her wake, demolishing a Christmas-tree lot, a phone booth, a Wal-Mart store and suburban homes in the pursuit. During the chase, Love is aided by a half dozen heavily armed pre-teen beauty queens, which helps blur the line between victims and villains. ... Ozzy Osbourne claims he died twice after an ATV accident last month broke eight of his ribs, his collarbone and a neck vertebra, and twice caused him to stop breathing. The 55-year-old rocker credits his new lease on life to his bodyguard Sam Ruston, who returned him from the brink of death with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The crash occurred December 8 at Ozzy's estate in Buckinghamshire, England, when the four-wheeled vehicle he was riding flipped over on him. He spent the next eight days in a coma. ...

The world's largest music conglomerate, the Universal Music Group, and the entrepreneurs behind the Vivid Video porn empire are attempting to launch their own music-minded cable network, according to the Los Angeles Times. Called 1 AM, an abbreviation for "First Amendment," the channel promises to air uncut videos and uncensored content. The Endeavor talent agency and Eminem's Shady Records reportedly also have a small stake in the venture, which may begin broadcasting in July. ... Industrial metal pioneers Ministry have entered a Texas studio to record their next album, Houses of the Molé. The title of the album, scheduled to drop in spring, is a play on the name of Led Zeppelin's 1973 LP, Houses of the Holy. ...

Taking Back Sunday, a mainstage act on this summer's Warped Tour, are in a Long Island, New York, studio working on their follow-up to 2002's Tell All Your Friends. The emocore quintet's second album will be the first to feature new bassist Matt Rubano and guitarist Fred Mascherino. The latter is scheduled to make a guest appearance with his former band Breaking Pangaea on Friday at Philadelphia's First Unitarian Church. ... Wu-Tang Clan affiliate Killah Priest should be busy behind his pulpit in the new year. Besides working on his fifth solo LP, which he hopes to begin recording next month, the rapper plans to work on full-length albums with his groups Black Market, which features Tragedy Khadafi, and the Four Horsemen, with Kurupt, Ras Kass and Canibus. On Friday, he plans to join the Wu-Tang's RZA at a show in Chicago. ...

Rick Van Santen, one of the cofounders of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and an influential Southern California concert promoter, died December 28 of flu-related complications. As co-president of Goldenvoice, Van Santen was best known for bringing punk shows to respectable venues. He was 41. ... RAM Squad rapper John "Tommy Hill" Wilson, who was arrested on December 23 on cocaine charges, was denied a lower bail by a Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge on Wednesday. Prosecutors showed that Wilson had maintained several different aliases and addresses and the judge agreed Wilson posed a flight risk. Bail was kept at $145,000. ...

12.31.03

After being arrested for felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to do bodily harm Tuesday morning, Meat Puppets bassist Cris Kirkwood remains in FBI custody. He appeared in court on Tuesday in a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown. On Friday, Kirkwood allegedly assaulted a security guard who intervened in an argument he was having with a woman outside a post office in Phoenix. At his detention hearing, the prosecution is expected to ask that he remain behind bars until his trial. ...

A new version of the video for Limp Bizkit's "Behind Blue Eyes" is expected to replace the original, Halle Berry-featured clip. The performance-based video was shot by frontman Fred Durst's brother Cory during the Back 2 Basics Tour in November. On the band's Web site, Durst said the video was "dedicated to everyone who's supported us through the good times, the rough times and all the real times." ... For its seventh annual Christmas present, the Nirvana fan club (www.nirvanaclub.com) has posted audio recordings of the band's first show, which took place at a house party in March 1987 in Raymond, Washington. Among the nine songs are "Spank Thru," "Aero Zeppelin" and a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker." ...

Pop singer Natalie Imbruglia and Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns were married Wednesday (December 31) in a private ceremony in a secluded tropical location in Australia. The couple were engaged earlier this year. ... A 22-year-old man was arrested Tuesday in connection with the death of New Orleans rapper Soulja Slim, who was shot multiple times in November. Police charged Garelle Smith with first-degree murder. ...

David Banner is launching a line of jerseys emblazoned with the number 55 to honor Emmett Till, a Mississippi teen who was murdered in 1955 by two white men (who were later acquitted by an all-white jury) for whistling at a white woman. The line is due in the summer. ... Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige and Anthony Hamilton are among the first artists confirmed for the 10th annual Essence Music Festival at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Gladys Knight, the O'Jays, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Kenny Lattimore, Chanté Moore, the Ohio Players, Freddie Jackson and Sinbad will also perform at the event, scheduled for July 2-4. ...

Puddle of Mudd, who will perform on FOX's New Year's Eve special in Las Vegas, have been using their holiday vacation as recovery time. Singer Wes Scantlin came down with bronchitis earlier in December and guitarist Paul Philips broke his right index finger. "For some reason, I thought I could jump off stage and fly," he wrote on the band's Web site. "Well, I couldn't." ... Papa Roach are about to begin mixing their fourth full-length studio album, which will be called either Dancing in the Ashes or Getting Away With Murder, according to a posting on the group's Web site. Meanwhile, frontman Jacoby Shaddix is also gearing up to record Seven Deadly Songs (set for release on Papa Roach's El Tonal imprint) with his side project Fight the Sky, which the singer described as "just straight metal hardcore, all screamy and sh--." ...

Russell Simmons and his older brother Danny Simmons have teamed with the nonprofit job-placement organization Strive to create the Simmons Brothers Art Scholarship for prisoners incarcerated under the Rockefeller Drug Laws to attend City College of New York. Danny served time under the controversial laws, which mandate prison terms for people caught with a relatively small amount of drugs. ... Damien Rice has scheduled his most ambitious North American tour yet in support of his Shortlist Music Prize-winning album, O. The outing begins March 23 in Boulder, Colorado, and ends April 29 in St. Louis. ...

• The Neptunes (Hip-Hop)
• The Kinks
• Ray Davies
• Courtney Love
• Eminem

Yo La Tengo
Photo: Matador

He wrote the soundtrack for the 1985 film "Return to Waterloo" and released the 1998 live album The Storyteller, yet Kinks frontman Ray Davies has never released a solo studio album. That's soon to change.

Over the last 18 months, Davies has finished a batch of songs he's been working on for five years and demoed a bunch of newly written material. At present, his publicist said, Davies has about 40 songs to pick from for an upcoming record, which is tentatively scheduled for release by next winter. The disc is still untitled, though the publicist said Davies is considering Why Suddenly Now?

Last August, Davies showcased a handful of the new songs with indie rockers Yo La Tengo during three shows at New York's Jane Street Theater. Although the relationship took over eight more months to develop into something substantial, in July Davies invited the group to lay down tracks with him at Konk Studios, where the Kinks recorded.

Davies and Yo La Tengo recorded four new songs: "Next-Door Neighbor" (which "rocks like vintage Kinks," according to Yo La Tengo frontman Ira Kaplan), the uptempo rocker "The Morning After," the poppy "Vietnam Cowboys" and the ballad "Creatures of Little Faith," said Davies' publicist. They also recorded a version of the Kinks' "This Is Where I Belong," which Yo La Tengo had previously covered. The track will likely appear as a B-side.

In addition to Yo La Tengo, Davies' touring guitarist Pete Matheson will play on the album. Other guest musicians are likely to appear on the disc, the publicist added.

On September 18 in Philadelphia, Davies will launch a 23-date U.S. tour, which wraps up in Seattle October 25. Along the way, he will make stops in Chicago, Minneapolis, Houston, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

When he gets off the road, the publicist said, Davies will enter a New York studio with Yo La Tengo to work on more new material.

The Ray Davies tour, according to his publicist:

• 9/18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
• 9/19 - Plainview, NY @ The Vanderbilt
• 9/21 - Portland, ME @ State Theatre
• 9/22 - Cambridge, MA @ Sanders Theatre
• 9/23 - Concord, NH @ Capitol Center
• 9/24 - Buffalo, NY @ The Tralf Music Hall
• 9/26 - Falls Church, VA @ State Theatre
• 9/28 - Cleveland, OH @ Odeon Concert Club
• 9/30 - Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room
• 10/2 - Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
• 10/3 - Madison, WI @ Barrymore Theatre
• 10/5 - Minneapolis, MN @ Women's Club Theater
• 10/6 - St. Louis, MO @ American Theatre
• 10/7 - Kansas City, KS @ Memorial Hall
• 10/10 - Houston, TX @ Aerial Theatre at Bayou Palace
• 10/12 - Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa
• 10/14 - Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater
• 10/16 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
• 10/17 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
• 10/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ John Anson Ford Theatre
• 10/20 - Los Angeles, CA @ John Anson Ford Theatre
• 10/24 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theatre
• 10/25 - Seattle, WA @ King Cat Theatre

• Ray Davies
• The Kinks
• Yo La Tengo