Spencer Elden on the cover of Nirvana's <i>Nevermind,</i> 1991
Photo: DGC

Most of us buy records for the music, but an album's cover imagery can also play a role that can't be overlooked. Think back to some of your favorite records: Don't the covers of those discs immediately jump to mind? A cover image can help a band's earnings: From posters and T-shirts to key chains and lunchboxes, that single image is an important promotional tool used to market an LP.

Some of the most vivid album covers in history featured young kids — where are they now? MTV News tracked down some of our favorites to see what they've been up to since finding their ways into our CD collections — and to find out how being on some of rock's most iconic album covers has affected their lives.

(Check out then-and-now snaps of the Nirvana baby, Korn's little girl and more.)

Spencer Elden
Famous For: His appearance on the cover of Nirvana's breakthrough 1991 LP, Nevermind

When Spencer Elden's parents agreed to let their friend, photographer Kirk Weddle, snap a whole roll of film of their infant son swimming underwater in a crystal-clear swimming pool, they couldn't have known that, eventually, more than 9 million people would own a picture of their naked son.

"Yeah, it's kind of creepy that that many people have seen me naked," Elden said. "I feel like I'm the world's biggest porn star."

While that might be a stretch, Elden has become something of a celebrity because of his appearance on Nevermind, and often sits for radio and camera interviews (he gets a fee for the latter) to discuss his life as the Nirvana baby. But otherwise, now-17-year-old Spencer is like most teens. He's about to enter his junior year at Eagle Rock High School in Eagle Rock, California, and works a typical high-school job at a local juice shop. He has aspirations of one day becoming an airline pilot; he surfs, snowboards and loves playing water polo.

"It's kind of cool, knowing that I've been on an album cover, but I feel pretty normal about it because growing up, I've always known I was the Nirvana baby," he said. "It never really struck me as like, 'Oh, sh-- — that's me on the cover.' It's always just been whatever for me. At the time, my parents didn't know who Nirvana was. No one really knew who they were. And then all of a sudden, it took off, and I just happened to be on the album cover."

Elden said he is a true Nirvana fan but has never met any of the bandmembers. He's had a platinum record for Nevermind hanging in his bedroom since his first birthday. But Spencer hasn't seen any royalties from the record's sales; his parents were paid just $200 for allowing him to be photographed.

"My dad went to art school over here in Pasadena, and while he was going there, he had a good friend named Kirk, who was, at one time, a Navy Seal and an underwater-demolition expert," Elden, who is often asked to sign copies of the album, explained. "And so, to go to art school, he gave up diving. One day, he and my mom were sitting at the dinner table during a party, and my mom actually came up with the idea. He was saying how he missed scuba diving, and she said, 'Why don't you just do underwater photography?' When he graduated, the first gig he got was the Nirvana album, and he needed a baby. So they just threw me in the pool, snapped a whole roll of film in like a second, and that's how it happened."

Of course, being the Nirvana baby has helped him with the ladies: "I have to use stupid pickup lines like, 'You want to see my p---s ... again.' " But being on the album's cover has led to some strange encounters as well. He was once invited to swim in a rather wealthy woman's pool for the mere fact that he was the Nirvana baby. Another time, he even met "Weird Al" Yankovic, who famously lampooned the cover on his 1992 disc, Off the Deep End.

"I ran into him when I was going to do a TV interview," Elden said. "He was in the hallway, and he actually signed the back of my platinum record."

Billie Jo Campbell
Famous For: Gracing the cover of the Violent Femmes' self-titled 1982 debut

Believe it or not, that little girl on the cover of the first Femmes record wasn't posing. In fact, she wasn't even aware that she was being photographed. Really, that 3-year-old girl, named Billie Jo Campbell, was perturbed at the moment that picture was snapped.

"I remember looking into that building, and they kept telling me there were animals in there, and I was pissed off," explained Campbell, who's now 27. "I didn't know why they were making me look in this building. I had no idea there were photographers there. I was ... pissed off that I couldn't see the animals and I was all cranky by the end of it."

Like Elden, Campbell, who is engaged and plans to wed next spring, was paid a paltry fee for being part of rock and roll history — $100. She was chosen for the album cover after being discovered by a photographer outside her mother's work.

"My mom is a designer, and I went with her to work one day," she said. "We were walking down the streets of L.A., and this guy came up and said, 'Your daughter is adorable,' and that he wanted me for the album cover. My mom is a free spirit, and thought it was great, and they set it up — I guess that house is somewhere in Laurel Canyon. It wasn't this crazy photo shoot, because the band was unknown at the time."

These days, the graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder lives in Los Angeles and works with her mother running Hangover Designs, their women's-casual-wear company. A framed copy of the vinyl album's cover in her apartment often strikes up conversation during dinner parties.

"People are always like, 'Wow, you're like a Violent Femmes junkie,' and I tell them the truth," said Campbell, who notes that she is a Femmes fan. "You always have people who go, 'Oh you're lying.' It's something I am very proud of. It's a neat thing. It's not like being on the cover of a Britney Spears album. I do get some respect from people when they find out. Sometimes people are totally shocked and they can't even believe it. You will find people my age who [say] that's their favorite album of all time. It's just a cool aspect of who I am, and I think it makes me more dynamic."

The album didn't really resonate with her until her teens, when she'd hear "Add It Up" and "Blister in the Sun" at high-school dances and bat mitzvahs. And when she was in school, and even in college, Campbell said she used to get a great deal of attention because of the picture.

"If it came on at a party, people would point out that I am on it, but it never dawned on me what a huge deal it was until I got to college," she said. "This was my bragging point. I'd be at parties, and if the girls in the dorm knew you were trying to meet cute boys, they'd tell them I am on the cover."

Campbell said whenever she's in a record store, she checks to make sure the album is in stock, and yes, she has been asked to sign several autographs. There was one time when she was actually recognized.

"When I was in junior high, a bunch of us went to a record store, and our whole day was shaped around going to see how many stores we could find my picture in," she recalled. "So we were looking at the CD, and some guy was just like walking by, and was like, 'Oh my God.' He actually recognized me, and was like, 'That pointy nose — I'd recognize it anywhere.' It gave me quite a complex, especially for a girl at that age: 'Oh my God — is my nose that pointy?' "

Justine Ferrara
Famous For: Being the little girl on the cover of Korn's 1994 self-titled debut

All Justine Ferrara can remember from the shoot that eventually led to her being on the cover of Korn's inaugural studio outing was how nice the man standing in front of her was. He stood there, innocently casting a long shadow across the sand beneath her swing — but later on, the image was digitally manipulated so that it appeared he was carrying some lethal tools.

"It confused me," she said, recalling the first time she held the record in her hands. "He was a super-nice guy; he was doing me a favor, by blocking my eyes from the sunlight."

Ferrara, who was 6 at the time of the shoot, is now a 20-year-old communications major at New York University. She was approached for the album cover by her uncle, Paul Pontius, who had signed the band to Immortal/Epic Records. "They were pretty insignificant at the time, and no one knew who they were, and they needed a little girl for the cover," she said. "My uncle was like, 'I know one.' "

Ferrara, who was paid $400 to be a part of nü-metal lore, never thought being on the album's cover was a big deal; she was in second grade at the time, and it took a while before the record became popular. Her parents, though, were somewhat miffed by the imagery inside the album sleeve, and feared their daughter might get in trouble for wearing her actual private-school jumper in the picture. Oh, and the idea that Korn fans would always recognize her wasn't something her folks were too kosher with.

"I think my parents were a little shocked," she said. "They didn't want a lot of our acquaintances to see it because they thought it might have made them look a little crazy. I never was really one to let people know. My close friends knew, and [a platinum Korn record] is in my room at home. It's weird that millions of people have my picture in their house. It's weird even seeing the CD in the store; it's something I'll never get used to."

But a Korn fan, she is not — she prefers bands like Bright Eyes, she said. She does, however, have aspirations of working in the music industry; she has interned for Island Records, and hopes to one day work as a publicist. "But I appreciate Korn and what they did for their genre," she said. "It's just never been my taste in music."

Carl Gellert
Famous For: Being the boy on the cover of the Goo Goo Dolls' 1995 LP, A Boy Named Goo

The picture of a 2-year-old Carl Gellert — with dirt smeared across the lower half of his face — that serves as the cover imagery for the Goo Goo Dolls' breakthrough release wasn't actually commissioned by the band's label, Warner Bros., for the disc. It was a photo his father, Vance, a professional photographer, had taken of him for a book he later published called "Carlvision."

"At the time the album came out, I was just going into seventh grade, so I was 12 or something like that," Gellert remembered. "I don't really know how it happened. I think somehow my dad knew the band's publicist, and the Goo Goo Dolls discovered the book, and they really liked the one picture so they went with it."

Carl's dad was paid $6,000 for use of the image that helped earn Gellert, now 24, the nickname "Goo" — one that's stuck with him throughout his entire adult life.

"I was actually going into a new school that year, and pretty much instantly earned the name 'Goo' before I even started school," he said. "At first, it was kind of lame, and I didn't like people calling me Goo. But by the end of that year, I had pretty much embraced it, and my friends still call me Goo."

Like Ferrara, Gellert's not what you could call a Goo Goo Dolls fan ("I didn't dislike the album, I just wasn't a fan at all"). But his residence hall director in college was maybe a little obsessed.

"He had the poster up in his room, and had me autograph things," Gellert said. "He'd pester me almost every day about it. When he found out they were coming to town to play, he'd ask if I could get him free tickets, or get him backstage and meet the band. But in my apartment, there's no Goo Goo Dolls paraphernalia. The album is hanging up in my parents' houses, and I had it hanging up for a while. But I can't stand having it up any more. I have seen that picture way too much."

Like Elden, Gellert — who lives in Minneapolis and will be entering grad school soon to work on his doctorate in art history with a focus on archeological research — was initially, well, "mortified" when he learned his naughty bits (which are barely visible in the picture) were plastered across posters, T-shirts and billboards. "I thought it was cool after I got over my initial embarrassment," he said.

He also looks for the record when he goes into music stores, and has been asked more than a handful of times to sign copies of the disc. And he's often introduced to people by his friends as the kid who was on the Goo Goo Dolls' album cover, which sometimes leads to confusion.

"Most people, when they see me again, mistake me for the Nirvana kid," he said. "I'm always like, 'Nope, that was someone else.' Other people think I'm in the band — I'm just the baby on the CD. I'm not even the same guy anymore. It does make me feel like I have some small niche of fame. But at the same time, it wasn't anything I did for myself, so I'm not terribly proud of it. It is pretty cool, and I like that people think it's so cool and want my autograph."

Lisa Farnsworth
Famous For: Appearing on the cover of the Lemonheads' 1987 debut, Hate Your Friends, with her brother David Peretz

Lisa Farnsworth wasn't photographed chomping down on a slice of pizza and holding a semi-automatic explicitly for the cover of Hate Your Friends, but rather, was related to one of the band's founders, bassist Jesse Peretz. (He now directs music videos and was awarded a Grammy for helming the Foo Fighters' "Learning to Fly.")

The photo of Farnsworth — who is 45 and lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with her husband and two children — with David, who is a teacher in Boston, was snapped by their mother in Vermont. Brother Jesse liked it so much that he later asked his mother if he could use it for the cover of his band's first record.

"It was taken 40 years ago, when I was 5 or 6," Farnsworth, a former therapist, said. "I think I was 26 when the album came out, and back then, they weren't really that well-known, so nobody really thought anything of it. I don't have a copy of the album hanging up in my house; I own the album on vinyl, but it's stuffed in a box in the basement."

And no, her kids don't think it's even remotely cool that their mom's on an iconic album cover. "They're so jaded," Farnsworth said. "My friends think it's funny, but most people who look at it think it's two boys, so they don't really believe it's me anyway. Really, I don't think it's even such a big deal. My brother and I think it's funny, because my mother would always say, 'No guns.' We never even had water pistols when we were young, and there's this picture of us walking up a road with semi-automatics. They must have belonged to the neighbors."

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• Then And Now: Nirvana Baby, Korn Girl And More

• Nirvana
• Korn
• Violent Femmes
• Goo Goo Dolls
• The Lemonheads

Ludacris' <I>Release Therapy</I>
Photo: Def Jam

Everybody Loves 'Cris: After years pushing the limits of the afro and mimicking Austin Powers, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges is taking a turn toward the serious with his Release Therapy. The rapper takes a seat on the couch, mulling topics like child abuse and politics as Mary J. Blige ("Runaway Love"), Young Jeezy ("Grew Up a Screw Up"), Field Mob ("Ultimate Satisfaction") and Beanie Sigel ("Do Your Time") lift up Luda throughout. He does lighten up a little, though, on the Pharrell-produced "Girls Gone Wild."

Jackson Action: She's up against country hero Alan Jackson and his Like Red on a Rose and R&B crooner Freddie Jackson and his Transitions, but Janet hopes to edge them out with her own new album, 20 Y.O. With a five-part saga that includes the intro, three interludes and the outro, Janet manages to squeeze in 11 additional cuts, like "Get It Out Me," "Show Me" and "Do It 2 Me." The special edition boasts a bonus DVD with dance auditions, in-the-studio material and the making of the "Call on Me" clip.

Christmas in September: Aly & AJ get a jumpstart on the holiday-album thing with this week's Acoustic Hearts of Winter, which may or may not wind up being as successful as Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas, being reissued today. The sparkly CD has "Greatest Time of Year," which will also be on "The Santa Clause 3" soundtrack, plus "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Little Drummer Boy" and "Joy to the World."

Oh Brother: Horns, accordions and organ make their way onto Brother, Sister, the second offering from hippie Christians Mewithoutyou. Fans who preordered at Interpunk.com got an exclusive T-shirt, but everybody can get their ears on "A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains," "Brownish Spider" and "In a Sweater Poorly Knit." Ex-Sunny Day Real Estate singer Jeremy Enigk joins them for two tracks, and Seattle's favorite producer, Brad Wood, twiddles the knobs.

Oh Sister: Scissor Sisters are loading up ardent fans with even more gifts with the deluxe edition of their Ta-Dah — it's got a bonus six-song CD with a demo, remix and four more tunes. Both versions find the burlesquers hailing "Paul McCartney" and declaring "She's My Man" and "Everybody Wants the Same Thing."

Weird Science: Leave it to "Weird Al" Yankovic to brew up good-natured send-ups of familiar Green Day, Chamillionaire and R. Kelly cuts. Straight Outta Lynwood, his first LP in three years, is a DualDisc frothing over with two stereo mixes, instrumental-only versions of all 12 tracks, an onscreen lyrics option, nine behind-the-scenes clips and six new videos. Now that's straight-up.

Breaking Their Silence: In case you missed them at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, the Warped Tour or MTV's very own "You Hear It First" series, this week will be your chance to hear electro wizards Mute Math.The New Orleanians' record is actually a joint effort between their own label Teleprompt and Warner Bros., an unlikely deal that should probably benefit both sides, seeing as how the band has sold more than 45,000 CDs on their own so far. The first 25,000 copies are slapped with a bonus live EP that has six songs — do the math.

Curse of the Bandino: Have enough Dave Matthews Band live albums but not enough sports memorabilia? Make an excuse for yourself with Fenway Park, Boston MA, July 7-8, 2006, a quadro-CD set that brims with a whopping 38 tracks over four discs. Copies ordered through the Live Trax 6 store will have a sticker commemorating the event, plus the chance to win a Red Sox jersey signed by Matthews.

Morning Glory: Cameron Crowe faves and former Boston Pops collaborators My Morning Jacket remind us what makes their live shows so memorable with Okonokos: Double Live Album, mixed by Bob Dylan buddy Michael Brauer and mastered by the legendary Bob Ludwig. The set actually precedes a more comprehensive document of MMJ's explosive concert. Let the press-release description do the talking: "Inspired by a fairytale-like performance in Tokyo, the band decided to adorn their mysterious set with qualities akin to an old growth forest, capturing the essence of a timeless, nameless, anonymous place. The theme of straddling the line between the surreal and the actual is introduced at the film's prologue when a cast of characters draped in Victorian-era costume, along with one alpaca, are introduced." Right on.

Song Title of the Week:

"Polyester Meth Zeus" from Velvet Acid Christ's Lust for Blood

Other Notables:

Botch's Unifying Themes Redux: Botch gave birth to These Arms Are Snakes, Minus the Bear and Roy, but the Seattle hardcore heathens are being judged by their own merits on this LP, the first in a series of discs culling the band's archives. Unreleased tunes, comp-only tracks and other rarities flesh out the set.

Ladyfinger (ne)'s Heavy Hands: The Omaha, Nebraska, group — who use that (ne) at the end of its name, just so you don't forget — drop a new disc on (where else?) Saddle Creek Records of Bright Eyes and Faint note. Speaking of which, Ladyfinger share members with the Faint, Mayday and the lesser-known Race for Titles and Bleeders for Treats. So if you dig that stuff, look no further.

Lucero's Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers: David Lowery of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven fame stepped behind the boards to document this, the fifth opus by the soothing Memphis, Tennessee, band. Organs and pianos seep onto songs like "What Else Would You Have Me Be?," "I Can Get Us Out of Here" and "She's Just That Kinda Girl."

New Releases:

• Adem - Love and Other Planets (Domino)

Buy Now: Love and Other Planets (Domino)

• Airpushers - Themes for the Ordinarily Strange ... (Sarathan)

Buy Now: Acoustic Hearts of Winter (Sarathan)

• Aly & AJ - Acoustic Hearts of Winter (Hollywood)

Buy Now: Acoustic Hearts of Winter (Hollywood)

• Arma Secreta - A Century's Remains (Rithmetic)
• As Tall as Lions - As Tall as Lions (Triple Crown)

Buy Now: As Tall as Lions (Triple Crown)

• Bobby Bare Jr.'s Young Criminals Starvation League - Longest Meow (Bloodshot)

Buy Now: Longest Meow (Bloodshot)

• Jay Bennett - The Magnificent Defeat (Rykodisc)

Buy Now: The Magnificent Defeat (Rykodisc)

• Tony Bennett - Duets: An American Classic (Columbia)

Buy Now: Duets: An American Classic (Columbia)

• Bridges and Powerlines - Bridges and Powerlines (self-released EP)
• Brothermandude - Brothermandude (Adrenaline)
• Solomon Burke - Nashville (Shout! Factory)
• By the Tree - World on Fire (Fervent)

Buy Now: World on Fire (Fervent)

• Richard Cheese - Silent Nightclub (Surfdog)
• Mark Chesnutt - Heard It in a Love Song (CBUJ)
• Natalie Cole - Leavin' (Verve)
• Al Di Meola - Consequence of Chaos (Telarc)

Buy Now: Consequence of Chaos (Telarc)

• Dirty Projectors - New Attitude (Marriage)
• Enigma - A Posteriori (Virgin)

Buy Now: A Posteriori (Virgin)

• Escape the Fate - Dying Is Your Last Fashion (Epitaph)
• Dizzy Gillespie's All-Star Big Band - Dizzy's Business (MCG Jazz)
• Amy Grant - Time Again ... Live (Word)
• Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton - Knives Don't Have Your Back (digipak; Last Gang)
• Hedley - Hedley (enhanced; Capitol)
• Honeycut - The Day I Turned To Glass (Quannum)

Buy Now: The Day I Turned To Glass (Quannum)

• Vanessa Hudgens - V (Hollywood)
• Alan Jackson - Like Red on a Rose (Arista)

Buy Now: Like Red on a Rose (Arista)

• Freddie Jackson - Transitions (Orpheus)

Buy Now: Transitions (Orpheus)

• Janet Jackson - 20 Y.O. (Virgin)
  Read: "Jermaine Dupri Promises Mariah, Janet Duet On New Album"

Buy Now: 20 Y.O. (Virgin)

• Boney James - Shine (Concord)
• Keith Jarrett - The Carnegie Hall Concert (two CDs; ECM)

Buy Now: The Carnegie Hall Concert (ECM)

• Jupiter Rising - Jupiter Rising (Chime)
• Kaskade - Love Mysterious (Ultra)
• Eric Klinger - The Book of Mourning (Da' Core)
• Ladyfinger (ne) - Heavy Hands (Saddle Creek)
• The Lemonheads - The Lemonheads (Vagrant)

Buy Now: The Lemonheads (Vagrant)

• Jeffrey Lewis - City & Eastern Songs (Rough Trade)
• Jerry Lee Lewis - Last Man Standing (Artist First)
• Michael Lington - A Song for You (Rendezvous)
• Lucero - Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers (Liberty & Lament)

Buy Now: Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers (Liberty & Lament)

• Ludacris - Release Therapy (Def Jam)
  Read: "Therapy Session: Ludacris Previews New LP, Shows Off Home Studio"

Buy Now: Release Therapy (Def Jam)

• Dave Matthews Band - Fenway Park, Boston MA, July 7-8, 2006 (four CDs; RCA)
• Paul McCartney - Ecce Cor Meum (EMI Classics)
• Audra McDonald - Build a Bridge (Nonesuch)
• Stephanie McKay - Stephanie McKay (EP; Astralwerks)
• Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood - Out Louder (Indirecto)
• Mewithoutyou - Brother, Sister (Tooth & Nail)
  Read: "Mewithoutyou Confront Rock's Limitations: 'You Can't Give People Hugs In A CD' "
• Travis Mitchell Band - Forget What's Wrong (Rock Ridge)
• Stanton Moore - III (Telarc)
• Mute Math - Mute Math (Teleprompt/ Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Electro-Poppers Mute Math Work Hard To Bring Back The Keytar"
• My Morning Jacket - Okonokos: Double Live Album (ATO/RCA)
• Nina Nastasia - On Leaving (Fatcat)
• NewFound Road - Life in a Song (Rounder)
• Only Son - The Drop to the Top (Cassette)
• Oohlas - Best Stop Pop (Stolen Transmission)
  Read: "Oohlas Have Spastic Frontwoman, Ex-Everclear Drummer — Is Fame On The Way?"
• Cale Parks - Illuminated Manuscript (Polyvinyl)
• Rhapsody of Fire - Triumph of Agony (special edition; Steamhammer)
• Samiam - Whatever's Got You Down (Hopeless)
• Saosin - Saosin (Capitol)
• Mark Schultz - Broken & Beautiful (Word)
• Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah (deluxe edition due same day; Motown Universal)
• Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars - Living Like a Refugee (digipak; Anti)
• Sol.iLLaquists of Sound - As If We Existed (Anti)
• Sparklehorse - Dreamt for Years in the Belly of a Mountain (Astralwerks)
• Mario Vazquez - Mario Vazquez (Arista)
  Read: " 'Idol' Dropout Mario Vazquez Shows 'Grittier' Side On Debut, Hopes For Spot On Christina Tour"
• Velvet Acid Christ - Lust for Blood (Metropolis)
• Paul Westerberg - "Open Season" soundtrack (Lost Highway)
• Westbound Train - Transitions (digipak; Hellcat)
• Wolf Eyes - Human Animal (digipak; Sub Pop)
• "Weird Al" Yankovic - Straight Outta Lynwood (DualDisc; Jive)
• Richie Zito Project - Avalon (Frontiers)
• Various artists - Think Global: West Arica Unwired (World Music Network)
• Various artists - Why the Hell Not ... The Songs of Kinky Friedman (Sustain)
• Various artists - "Dora's World Adventure!" soundtrack (Nick)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

• Tori Amos - A Piano: The Collection (five CDs; Rhino)
• The Black Crowes - The Lost Crowes (two CDs; Rhino)
• Tommy Bolan - Whips & Roses II (Steamhammer)
• Botch - Unifying Themes Revisited (Hydra Head)
• The Byrds - There Is a Season (box set with four CDs and one DVD; Columbia/Legacy)
• Farmer Jason - A Day at the Farm With Farmer Jason and Rockin' in the Forest With Farmer Jason (Rhino)
• Fear Factory - The Best of Fear Factory (Roadrunner)
• Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas (Capitol)
• Jerry Garcia - The Very Best of Jerry Garcia (two CDs; Rhino/ J. Garcia)
• David Gray - Sell Sell Sell (Nettwork)
• George Harrison - Living in the Material World (limited-edition version with DVD due same day; Capitol)
• Holy Moses - Finished With the Dogs (Locomotive)
• Ill Niño - The Best of Ill Niño (Roadrunner)
• Waylon Jennings - Nashville Rebel (four-CD box set; RCA Nashville/ Legacy)
• John Lennon - "The U.S. Vs. John Lennon" soundtrack (Capitol)
• Little Feat - The Best of Little Feat (Rhino)
• Ziggy Marley - Love Is My Religion (Cooking Vinyl)
• Sarah McLachlan - Mirrorball: The Complete Concert (two CDs; Arista/Legacy)
• Steve Reich - Phases: A Nonesuch Retrospective (five-CD box set; Nonesuch)
• Sepultura - The Best of Sepultura (Roadrunner)
• Type O Negative - The Best of Type O Negative (Roadrunner)
• Fats Waller - If You Have to Ask, You Ain't Got It (three CDs; Bluebird/Legacy)

Music DVDs:

• Depeche Mode - "Touring the Angel: Live in Milan" (with bonus CD; Reprise)
• Dwarves - "Fefu: The DVD - Special Edition Director's Cut" (Music Video Distributors)
• Hot Tuna - "25 Years and Runnin': Live at Sweetwater" (Vestapol)
• Isis - "Clearing the Eye" (Ipecac)
• Buddy Rich - "Jazz Icons: Live in '78" (TDK)
• Seven Witches - "Years of the Witch" (Screaming Ferret)

Coming Attractions:

October 3:

• Beck - The Information (Geffen)
  Read: "Beck Giving Fans Sticky Fingers With Quasi-Hip-Hop Album"
• Evanescence - The Open Door (Wind-Up)
  Read: "Amy Lee Says New Evanescence LP Has More Sensuality"
• Killers - Sam's Town (Island)
  Read: "Killers Album Preview: Massive Sound, Epic Ballads, Big Ideas Fill Sam's Town"

• The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes (V2)
• Rod Stewart - Still the Same ... Great Rock Classics of Our Time (J)
• Various artists - "American Hardcore - The History of American Punk Rock (1980-1986)" soundtrack (Rhino)

• C-Murder - The Tru Story ... Continued (limited-edition version with DVD and bonus tracks; Koch)
• Glenn Danzig - Black Aria II (Megaforce)
  Read: "Glenn Danzig Preps 'Final' Tour, Film, Box Set And, Uh, Dolls"
• Xzibit - Full Circle (Koch)
  Read: "Xzibit's An Indie Rapper Again, With Game And Quik In Tow"

• Ludacris
• Janet Jackson
• Aly & AJ
• Mewithoutyou
• Scissor Sisters

Angelina Jolie
Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Angelina Jolie opens up about expecting a child in an interview with NBC News, scheduled to air Thursday at 7 a.m. on "Today" and Sunday at 7 p.m. on "Dateline." Jolie's sit-down took place in Namibia, where she's currently focused on a new venture — and it's not delivering a baby (Jolie says she her pregnancy is not yet eight months along). The actress/activist is promoting Global Education Week, an effort to ensure that education is available to all of the world's children, millions of whom do not have the opportunity to go to school. The actress, who says she knows the sex of her baby, did answer questions about Brad Pitt during the rare interview, saying, "I don't talk about our, my, relationship in public. But we also don't talk about it at home. You know, it's one of those funny things that like just happens, you live your life and you're a family. But you never actually discuss [it]. ... So that's why I giggle about it. I just don't know how to address that kind of thing." ...

John Legend and John Mayer are among the acts scheduled to perform at the fifth annual Jazz at Lincoln Center Spring Gala benefit at New York's Apollo Theater on June 5. Tracy Chapman, Joe Cocker and Natalie Merchant are also on the bill and Bernie Mac is hosting. ... After announcing a lawsuit against New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday, designer Marc Ecko just released the bill for his second annual Save the Rhinos Benefit Concert, to be held in New York on June 8. Rakim, Common, newcomer Lupe Fiasco and Rhymefest are among those tapped for the event. ...

Dave Matthews Band want to help New Orleans recover, so they're offering a $1.5 million challenge grant to help build the New Orleans Habitat Musicians' Village, which would consist of Habitat for Humanity-constructed homes and feature the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. "After [Hurricane Katrina] first struck, we were shocked by the destruction, and we knew we wanted to help," DMB said in a statement. The grant money comes from a fundraising concert in Denver that also featured the Neville Brothers and the John Butler Trio. "Many people donated their time and resources to keep costs to a minimum so we could maximize the donation," DMB said. "This is our way to get the word out that there is more work to do, and ask people to step up to the challenge and make a donation to help." Contributions, which can be made online at Habitat-NOLA.org, will be matched dollar-for-dollar through the grant, raising the total donation potential to $3 million. ... Shinedown are doing their own part to help rebuild the Crescent City. The Jacksonville, Florida, rock band will take a day off from touring in New Orleans next week to team with Habitat and help rebuild homes. Singer Brent Smith recently wrote "New Orleans" on the front of his shirt for two national television performances of their current single, "I Dare You," as a reminder that work still needs to be done in the city. ...

Mandy Moore is a home-wrecker on the season finale of "The Simpsons," voicing a character named Fiona, the sexy singing wife of a struggling second baseman who seeks marital advice from Homer and Marge. In an episode called "Homer and Marge Turn a Couple Play," airing May 21 at 8 p.m. on Fox, Moore's character seems to be getting back on track with her husband, Buck (voiced by Stacy Keach) — until Buck catches Homer giving Fiona a post-show neck massage, causing both couples to separate. ... Tom Petty's also in for some voiceover action when he returns to "King of the Hill," resuming his role as Lucky in an episode called "Edu-Macating Lucky." On the show's season finale, airing May 14 at 7:30 p.m. on Fox, Lucky gets schoolteacher Peggy to tutor him for his GED, which Peggy hopes will prod him to take a job far away from Luanne — but when she discovers he's planning to propose to Luanne, she purposely teaches him incorrect material. ...

Producer Jazze Pha has put together an R&B quartet called Cherish. The group's debut, Unappreciated, is due August 1, but single "Do It to It," featuring a guest rap from Sean Paul of Youngbloodz and produced by Don Vito, was just released. ... 30 Seconds to Mars, actor Jared Leto's band, recently shot a video for "The Kill" that he is calling an homage to "The Shining." Leto will debut a portion of the video during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on May 2, the night before the band performs on the show. ... Ben Folds recently helmed the soundtrack for "Over the Hedge," the animated comedy featuring the voices of Bruce Willis and Steve Carell. The album is due May 16. ...

A new Web site — NationalDayofSlayer.org — is calling on all metalheads worth their salt to celebrate the legendary thrashers on June 6. According to the site, "6/6/06 isn't a date that comes around very often ... and while plenty of stupid horror movies and terrible albums will be released for the hype value of the day that bears 'the number of the beast,' [we've] decided that this would be a perfect day for Hessians across the country to come together and engage in something upon which we can all agree — listening to Slayer." The site suggests that Slayer fans honor a National Day of Slayer by listening to the band's albums "at full blast" in their cars, homes, workplaces and in public because "national holidays in America aren't just about celebrating; they're about forcing it upon non-participants." The site also suggests staging a "Slay-out" by staying home from work and listening to Slayer all day. ...

Mick Jagger has signed on for a sitcom pilot for ABC's fall schedule, with a working title of "Let's Rob Mick Jagger." The Rolling Stones singer shot his scenes for the pilot last week in an Auckland, New Zealand, hotel room, although the show would take place in New York. In the series, the janitor for Jagger's building would try to rob his apartment over the course of a 24-episode season. If the pilot is picked up, Jagger would appear occasionally, but not in every episode, as the plot revolves around the would-be thieves. Meanwhile, the Stones deny reports that they refused to give up their reservations at the Imperial Hotel in Vienna, Austria, to accommodate President Bush this June. The band's camp issued a statement saying that no one associated with Jagger, other members of the Stones, the tour director or those responsible for travel arrangements for the tour were ever contacted by the Imperial Hotel, Bush or anyone on his behalf requesting them to change their reservation. ...

Counting Crows and Goo Goo Dolls are joining forces this summer for a 45-city North American tour. The jaunt, which kicks off June 17 in Las Vegas and wraps up September 9 in Dallas, marks the first time the two bands are heading out on the road together. They'll hit cities including Denver, Detroit, Atlanta and Boston, as well as the Crows and Dolls' respective hometowns, San Francisco and Buffalo, New York. ... The Lemonheads have been playing reunion shows since they re-formed last year, and now the Boston alterna-folk rockers are making it official by signing to a new home, emo/punk label Vagrant Records. The band is currently putting the finishing touches on what will be its eighth studio album, due in the fall. The record was self-financed and co-produced by Lemonheads impresario Evan Dando and drummer Bill Stevenson (Descendents, Black Flag). The band is rounded out by bass player Karl Alvarez (Descendents).

04.25.2005

BET is developing a new DMX reality series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Revolving around the rapper's life, "DMX: Soul of a Man" is slated to be part of the channel's next season of programming. ...

Coldplay, Gorillaz, James Blunt and Kaiser Chiefs are among the artists nominated for the 51st annual Ivor Novello Awards, songwriting honors presented by the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters. Coldplay lead the list with three nominations — "Speed of Sound" is up for International Hit of the Year as well as Most Performed Work (running against Blunt's "You're Beautiful" in both categories), while "Fix You" faces off with Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and KT Tunstall's "Suddenly I See" for the Best Song Musically and Lyrically prize. The awards will be presented May 25 in London. ...

In related news, a songwriters panel consisting of Jimmy Jam, Linda Perry, John Rich of country duo Big & Rich and Michael Giacchino — the composer for "Lost" and "Mission: Impossible III" — convened on Thursday in Hollywood for the "I Create Music" Expo. The first-time event, put on by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, also featured Tom Petty, Jill Scott, Glen Ballard, Mike Elizondo and John King of the Dust Brothers sharing words of wisdom with 1,000 budding songwriters and composers. "Songwriting is interesting because it's done behind the scenes and everybody kind of has their own way of doing it," said Jimmy Jam, who took a break from producing Janet Jackson and Jessica Simpson's new records to attend. "The artists make the songs come alive, but without the songs, the artists don't really have anything. Songwriting is the backbone of music, so this is all about music creation, the music creator and to shine a little spotlight on them, which I think is fantastic." ...

The funeral for Keith Bender Jr., the 35-year-old Detroit man police say was shot by D12's Proof at the CCC Nightclub on April 11, has been scheduled for Thursday morning at New Galilee Baptist Church in Detroit. A Keith Bender Jr. Memorial Fund has been established for his family, and donations may be made at any Chase bank in the Detroit area. Proof was fatally shot during the April 11 incident, allegedly by Bender's cousin, Mario Etheridge. ... Lil Jon shot the breeze with none other than Kid from '80s rap group Kid 'N Play at a screening of Larry Clark's "Wassup Rockers" in Santa Monica, California, Monday night. Actor Michael Rapaport also kicked it with Jon for a bit. ...

Phil Spector's murder trial will hardly be a speedy one. The music producer's murder case has been pushed all the way to January 16, The Associated Press reported Tuesday. The trial had been set for September, but Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler told lawyers he had scheduled another trial for the same date. Spector is accused of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in February 2003. ...

"American Idol" producers are assigning two voting phone numbers to each contestant beginning Tuesday (April 25). "We're getting like 33 million, 34 million calls each week, and we've never gotten quite that many before," Co-Executive Producer Ken Warwick explained. "We normally went to the two and three phone numbers in the finale, but this year, we start this week." ... Pink Floyd's Roger Waters will perform the band's classic 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, from start to finish on his forthcoming North American tour. The 19-gig trek kicks off September 6 in Holmdel, New Jersey, and wraps up October 12 in Seattle. Waters will perform two nights at New York's Madison Square Garden. ...

Want to see a private performance by the All-American Rejects with 15 of your friends? If you answered "You bet," check out the American Eagle Outfitters Web site, where entries for the "Road Trip Party" contest are being accepted until May 2. The grand-prize winner — along with guests — will be flown out to Los Angeles in June for the concert. Before the show, the winner and his or her lucky friends will get to hang out with the band, and the prize also includes hotel accommodations and a $500 shopping spree. First-prize winners will win an All-American Rejects autographed guitar and a $500 American Eagle gift card. The second prize is a $50 gift card and an AAR CD signed by the band. ... Dashboard Confessional's forthcoming album has been given a title: Dusk and Summer. A summer release is planned. ...

OK Go will open select dates for She Wants Revenge as well as Panic! At the Disco this summer — when they're not headlining their own shows, that is. In most of the cities they're scheduled to play, the bandmembers will pair with YouTube.com and select a fan to shoot a 10-minute interview and the band's performance in exchange for editing something for the site. OK Go will release their new single, "Invincible," at the end of May. ... The Fiery Furnaces are hitting the road from June 8 in Detroit to June 30 in Washington, D.C. The duo are supporting the just-released Bitter Tea. ... Slipknot turntablist Sid Wilson will release his debut full length, The New Leader, in June. The album, to be issued under the alias DJ Starscream, will showcase a heavier side of mash-ups, which Wilson has dubbed "mosh-ups." ...

Metric frontwoman Emily Haines is taking a break from her synth-rock day gig to make her solo debut with Knives Don't Have Your Back, due September 26. Recorded over four years in four cities — New York, Los Angeles, Montreal and her hometown of Toronto — the 12-track album was produced by John O'Mahoney (Strokes, System of a Down) and Metric guitarist Jimmy Shaw. Knives also includes collaborations with fellow Canadian musicians Justin Peroff (Broken Social Scene) and Evan Cranley (Stars). ... Arcade Fire's touring violinist, Final Fantasy (a.k.a. Owen Pallet), will release his sophomore solo album, He Poos Clouds, on June 13. Eight of the album's 10 songs have a rather interesting inspiration: "Dungeons & Dragons." After his European trek comes to an end, Final Fantasy will play several American dates, including stops in New York; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Columbus, Ohio.

Hoboken, New Jersey, indie rockers Yo La Tengo are self-releasing an album of covers played at annual WFMU fundraisers from 1996-2003. Songs on the 31-track album, titled Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics, were recorded during the eight-year period when the band played requests on host Gaylord Fields' show in exchange for donations to help fund the independent radio station. For sale on the band's Web site, the disc includes the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," T. Rex's "20th Century Boy" and Velvet Underground's "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'." ... FX's fireman drama "Rescue Me" will release a soundtrack May 30 to coincide with the premiere of its third season. Bands on the disc include the Von Bondies (whose "C'mon, C'mon" serves as the series' theme), Stereophonics, the Subways, Ray LaMontagne, Wolf Parade and Our Lady Peace. ...

• Dave Matthews Band
• Mandy Moore
• Mick Jagger
• Counting Crows
• Goo Goo Dolls

50 Cent is set to make his motion-picture debut in a semiautobiographical film called "Locked and Loaded," Billboard reports. Terence Winter, a writer and executive producer on "The Sopranos," is writing the screenplay, in which 50 will portray a former drug dealer who tries to put his criminal past behind him to pursue a career on the mic. ...

Usher, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones and Mary J. Blige are a few of the artists slated to perform at the Ray Charles tribute concert "Genius: A Night for Ray Charles," which will take place on October 8 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The event, which will be taped to air later on CBS, will be hosted by Jamie Foxx. Ticket prices are between $45 and $75. ...

Lindsay Lohan gets a little revealing in the new issue of GQ, on newsstands next week. Of her well-publicized curves and the tabloid debate "Are they real?," she said that it makes her uncomfortable when people talk about her breasts, though judging by the photos accompanying the story, she's not terribly uncomfortable highlighting them in poses. "What are they trying to do by saying I'm 'baring it all'?" she asked the magazine. "I'm wearing a normal top that my friends have worn. Go pick on someone else. It's getting a little old. Like, I didn't get implants — deal with it!" And on her relationship with "That '70s Show" actor Wilmer Valderrama, she said that it's getting serious. "This is my first boyfriend," she said, "and we're just starting to talk about what we're going to say in interviews and stuff. And it's cool, but I've gotten a lot of feelings toward him really fast, which I'm not used to ... I can be kind of negative, sometimes, with the whole boyfriend situation. I get very insecure. Just because there are a lot of girls who like him." ...

Ketchup lovers Lindsay Lohan, William Shatner and Mia Hamm are among the stars sounding off on the thick red condiment for Heinz Ketchup's "Celebrity Talking Labels" campaign. Available at your local grocery store now and for a limited time only, the bottles' labels feature quips like "Fixes Burgers at Warp Speed" (Shatner) and "Burger-licious" (Lohan). A portion of the proceeds from the series will go to a number of charities including the Mia Hamm Foundation and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. ... DMX, Trick Daddy, Nate Dogg and DJ Quik are among the guest artists who came out for Ludacris' forthcoming album, Red Light District. Due November 23, the album is the Atlanta MC's follow-up to 2003's Chicken-N-Beer. ...

DMX was due to be arraigned on drug and weapons charges Tuesday (September 21) in Queens County criminal court, but his hearing has been adjourned until October 13. The charges stem from an incident in June at New York's JFK Airport in which he and another man attempted to steal a car. If convicted, X faces up to seven years in jail. ... An assault hearing for rapper Beanie Sigel scheduled for Monday was postponed until November 3. The charges stem from an altercation in January 2003 in which the MC allegedly punched a man in the face. Sigel is still scheduled for sentencing on October 8 on federal gun charges and has a January 12 date set for his retrial on attempted-murder charges. ...

PJ Harvey is hitting the road again for a monthlong North American tour. The trek will kick off on October 1 in Minneapolis and end in Mexico City on November 2. ... There's a new album on the way from the Lemonheads. Singer Evan Dando, who had been touring with the re-formed MC5, wrote on his Web site, "After doing 42 shows I decided to leave the tour. I need to finish writing the next Lemonheads record. The MC5 tour inspired me greatly and I'm now ready to get back to working on my own music." The Lemonheads' last album, Car Button Cloth, was released in 1996. ...

Sprint PCS has launched BlingTones, which the company is calling the first mobile-phone record label. BlingTones offers Sprint phone owners original beats from hip-hop producers like Rockwilder, Hi-Tek and Jay Dee that can be downloaded directly from phones or through the company's Web site. ... DJ Spooky "That Subliminal Kid" has collaborated with Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid and producer Meat Beat Manifesto for his next release, Drums of Death. "This project is about rhythm dialog, building bridges between scenes and styles," Spooky said. "Slayer was one of the only rock bands on early Def Jam, and they influenced my style." ...

For the next two weeks, R.E.M.'s new album, Around the Sun, will be streamed on MySpace.com, marking the first time an album is "leaked" on a social portal and not an exclusive music destination. Besides previewing the band's music, the site also offers links to tour dates, mobile ring tones, photos and other features. R.E.M.'s latest is due in stores on October 5. ... A new Fishbone collection is coming out on DVD. "Critical Times: The Henhouse Sessions" will feature the band recording new material at the Hen House, a free community recording studio, via multiple DV cameras. Songs include "Last Dayz," "Critical Times," "Demon in Here" and "Skank N' Go Nutts." It's due out October 5. ...

09.20.2004

A November 4 release has been set for Ruben Studdard's upcoming gospel album, the start of a barrage of "American Idol" music. Clay Aiken's holiday record is due November 16, Fantasia's debut album is due November 23, Kelly Clarkson's sophomore set will follow November 30, and Diana DeGarmo's debut will round things out on December 7. ...

At least half of Metallica know what they'll be doing in early 2005: entering the studio. In two separate newspaper interviews, guitarist Kirk Hammett and drummer Lars Ulrich said that the band plans to log studio time sometime after the completion of its North American tour on November 20. ... Vanessa Carlton will embark on a 17-date tour next month in support of her new album, Harmonium, due November 9. The singer/pianist is bringing a full orchestra with her on the outing, which begins October 21 in Minneapolis and ends November 21 in Portland, Oregon. ...

Like Slipknot? Old enough to drive? Fluent in German? If you meet those three qualifications, then head on over to the German version of eBay, where you can bid on an official Slipknot Mercedes-Benz. The car features the Slipknot logo on its hood and doors and was used to promote the band's latest album, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). Bidding — in Euros — was at the equivalent of $1,473.30 as of press time. ... Like countless bands before them, Yellowcard are getting in on the live DVD market. "Beyond Ocean Avenue: Live at the Electric Factory," in stores November 2, features concert footage taken from the band's two sold-out performances at Philadelphia's Electric Factory in May. Also included on the DVD is the "Beyond Ocean Avenue" documentary, a behind-the-scenes look at the band's rise to fame. ...

The Reverend Al Sharpton, Styles P and Marsha Ambrosius, one half of Floetry, all took the stage Sunday night at the Anthony Hamilton and Angie Stone concert in New York. ... The ill-fated Field Day festival is having another go at it. A year after plans for a two-day festival in a pasture on Long Island, New York, were downsized to a miserable, rain-soaked single-day affair at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, promoter Andrew Dreskin has gotten permission from the town of Red Hook, New York, to put on the show next July. Although bands have yet to be confirmed, he hopes to get Radiohead, Beck and the Beastie Boys — all of whom played Field Day in 2003 — to return. ...

P. Diddy, Dame Dash and the rest of the music moguls may need to make room for one more. Joe Simpson, father and manager of Jessica and Ashlee, has formed JT Records, named for Joe and his wife, Tina Simpson. The first act signed to the imprint, to be distributed by Ashlee's label Geffen, is the band Barefoot. ... California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order on Friday demanding the state chief information officer develop a policy regarding the illegal use of peer-to-peer file-sharing applications on state computers. Schwarzenegger, much to the delight of the recording industry, is the first state executive to enact such an order. ...

"Something the Lord Made," the HBO television movie starring rapper Mos Def as surgical pioneer Vivien Thomas, picked up three Emmy awards Sunday night, including one for outstanding Made for Television Movie. While he didn't win, Mos Def had been nominated for Outstanding Actor for a Made for Television Movie. ... Television are re-forming for a concert at New York's Roseland on October 2, and Patti Smith and her band will share the bill. ...

Former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra plans on joining Ministry onstage in the next few days to perform some tunes by Lard, Biafra and Ministry singer Al Jourgensen's side project, which released two albums in the '90s. The five-date string of shows begins Friday in Los Angeles. Ministry are on the road to support their latest album, Houses of the Molé, which dropped in June. ... Even with three solo albums under her belt, Moldy Peaches member Kimya Dawson remains relatively unknown, but a crop of her friends, including Third Eye Blind's Stephan Jenkins, Vanessa Carlton, Daniel Johnston and GN'R/ Primus drummer Brain, is trying to change that. They all appear on Dawson's fourth LP, Hidden Vagenda, due October 5. ...

Brooklyn, New York, production team/record label DFA — a.k.a. Death From Above — will release DFA Compilation #2 this November. The 18-track LP collects music previously released on a series of 12-inch singles over the past two years. Artists on the album include the Rapture and LCD Soundsystem. ... Collective Soul are returning after a four-year hiatus with Youth, due November 16. The album's first single, "Counting the Days," was released to radio earlier this month. ...

• 50 Cent
• Usher
• Lindsay Lohan
• Ludacris
• DMX

The Dandy Warhols
Photo: Ray Gordon

So, what have the Dandy Warhols been up to in the three years since Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia came out? Why, more monkey business, of course.

The Portland, Oregon, band's long-in-the-works new album, Welcome to the Monkey House, will come out in May in Europe and July in the U.S., the band's publicist said. The album was named after a book of short stories by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and will feature several veteran musicians.

Dandy Warhols' vocalist and guitarist Courtney Taylor co-produced the disc with Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes, who also plays on the album. The pairing might seem strange to indie hipsters, but the collaboration was long in the works. Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmstrom were big fans of Duran Duran's first record growing up, and Rhodes and Duran Duran singer Simon LeBon both ranked Dandy's Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia in their top 10 albums of 2000, according to the Dandy Warhols' publicist.

The Dandys and Rhodes first met last March at London's NME Awards and two months later they began working together. Veteran English producer Tony Visconti, who has worked with David Bowie, T. Rex and many others, produced two songs on the album.

The first single will be "Used to Be Friends." Other tracks include "The Last High," which was co-written with ex-Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando, and "The Scientist," which features Nile Rodgers, member of the '70s disco outfit Chic and onetime producer for Duran Duran.

Welcome to the Monkey House was written on and off last year between tours of Australia, Japan and Europe. The band recorded in its Portland home studio and did additional work in the U.K. Final mixes were finished last September.

The group's Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia sold 110,000 copies, according to SoundScan, thanks largely to the single "Bohemian Like You," which was also featured in the soundtracks to "Clockstoppers," "Summer Catch" and "Six Feet Under."

• The Dandy Warhols
• Duran Duran
• Chic
• The Lemonheads

Auf Der Maur, Adams, Iha, Dando (clockwise from top left)
Photo: Virgin, Lost Highway, MTV News

Former members of the Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Whiskeytown and the Lemonheads have formed a new rock supergroup of sorts called the Virgins.

Ex-Lemonheads singer Evan Dando, ex-Whiskeytown singer Ryan Adams, ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and ex-Hole bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur are scheduled to record an album together this winter, according to a spokesperson for Iha at his label, Scratchie Records.

The Virgins, the brainchild of Adams and Auf Der Maur, will record at Stratosphere Sound, the new Manhattan recording studio owned by Iha, Fountains of Wayne/Ivy guitarist Adam Schlesinger and Ivy's Andy Chase. The album will be released on Lost Highway Records, home of Adams, Lucinda Williams and other alt-country acts.

Iha is also lined up to record his second solo album in the spring, the spokesperson said.

Adams released his second solo album earlier this year (see ), while Dando has been touring solo and made headlines in May when Auf Der Maur's former bandmate Courtney Love took the stage at one of his gigs (see "Courtney Love Sings, Strums, Flashes During Surprise Performance").

The spokesperson for Iha said it was too early to say if the Virgins will tour behind their album.

• Ryan Adams
• The Smashing Pumpkins
• Hole
• Whiskeytown
• The Lemonheads

Courtney Love
Photo: Bruce Weber

Courtney Love put in her first live performance in two years during a surprise appearance with former Lemonheads singer Evan Dando at a Vancouver nightclub Saturday night.

Love, dressed in a black halter top, gray swing skirt and striped black nylons, first jumped onstage guitarless for Dando's encore rendition of the Lemonheads tune "Into Your Arms," according to fans in attendance. The singer complained that she couldn't play thanks to her "movie nails," but she soon took care of that problem by leaving the stage to chew them off. That allowed Love to borrow an instrument and return for an acoustic version of the Hole hit "Doll Parts." The evening's highlight was an improvised song that offered up lyrics about her life. The tune asked listeners if they wanted to be like her, and touched on topics ranging from being strung out on drugs to walking the red carpets of Hollywood. In the song she asked the audience if they wanted to know if she slept with "Gladiator" star Russell Crowe, and talked about hanging out with Oasis' Liam Gallagher. It also covered her early days in Vancouver, where she pretended to work on the set of the TV series "21 Jump Street" while dancing at a nearby strip club. Also referenced was her appearance at the "Pearl Harbor" premiere, which she said she attended because she couldn't resist the Versace gown being offered to her.

"She sounded great and she looked great," house sound technician Rob Foort said. "I'm kicking myself for not having a tape running — it was classic." Unfortunately, the club's management wasn't quite as impressed. According to a club employee, the Dando show, which had started at 8 p.m., was supposed to wrap up by 9:30 in order to turn the small house (estimated at just 100 or so fans) for the club's regular disco night. By 10 p.m., with Dando and Love still onstage, the staff aggressively tried to wrap up the performance. Love offered to buy the house a beer with actress Charlize Theron's platinum credit card, fans in attendance said, and offered to recap her sexual history (prompting a retort from Dando that it would take way too long). But what ended up buying the duo another 10 minutes was Love pulling up her halter top and flashing her breasts for the benefit of the staffers who were trying to evict them. The Hole frontwoman is in Vancouver shooting the movie "24 Hours" with co-stars Theron and Kevin Bacon. Oddly enough, her last live performance was also in Vancouver when Hole played the final date of the Edgefest Festival tour in July 1999 (see "Hole Ends Touring Year; New Album Planned").

Love is scheduled to perform a set of jazz and blues standards that she's recording for another movie, "Hello Suckers," at the Russian Tea Room in New York on June 11, according to movie director Scott Elliott's theater company, the New Group (see "Courtney Love Sings The Blues").

(This story was updated at 3:29 p.m. ET Tuesday, May 29, 2001.)

• Hole
• Evan Dando
• The Lemonheads

Schoolhouse Rock<BR>from<BR>"I'm Just a Bill"
Photo: ABC Children's Entertainment

"Schoolhouse Rock" creator Thomas G. Yohe died of cancer on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. He was 63.

Yohe, the creative director of the ABC animated series during its 1973–85 run, came up with the idea for a cartoon that blended educational messages with ear-candy pop music while working at an advertising firm in 1971.

" 'Schoolhouse Rock' gave him the most pride in the world," Yohe's wife, Diane Sanden Seely, told AP. Michael Eisner, former head of ABC's children's programming and now chairman of Walt Disney Co., championed the show, which went on to win four Emmy Awards and spawn such classic tunes as "Conjunction Junction," "I'm Just a Bill" and "Interplanet Janet." Those songs and several others were remade for a 1996 tribute album that featured the Lemonheads, Ween, Moby, Buffalo Tom, Biz Markie, Better Than Ezra, Pavement and Blind Melon, who scored a minor hit with their rendition of "Three Is a Magic Number," featuring Shannon Hoon softly crooning the words originally written and sung by jazz legend Bob Dorough.

In 1998, the Roots and John Popper joined an array of artists on Schoolhouse Rocks the Vote, a benefit album for Rock the Vote that featured "Schoolhouse" covers such as Joan Osborne and Isaac Hayes' "I'm Just a Bill." Yohe graduated from Syracuse University and began his career in advertising in 1961. His survivors include Seely, two sons, two daughters, two stepsons, a brother and four grandchildren.

• The Lemonheads
• Ween
• Moby
• Buffalo Tom
• Biz Markie

Abba, the dance-pop group that wouldn't die, will get the tribute treatment courtesy of Evan Dando, Ash, Bananarama, and a host of others next month.

• ABBA
• Ash
• Bananarama
• Evan Dando
• The Lemonheads

The group released "Car Button Cloth" in 1997 and garnered positive reviews, but little sales steam as Soundscan reports that the album sold only 84,000 copies. The Lemonheads, which in recent years has become lead singer Evan Dando and a rotating group of musicians, were frustrated by the label's promotional strategy for the album.

Dando, who recently moved to Tucson, Arizona, swears that the Lemonheads will continue to put out music. He is currently working on new material.

Sources close to Atlantic say the label has the option to put out a Lemonheads greatest hits package, and may do so in the near future.

• Evan Dando
• The Lemonheads