Lit's Allen Shellenberger
Photo: Ethan Miller/ Getty Images

Allen Shellenberger, drummer of rock band Lit, died Thursday after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. He was 39 years old.

Shellenberger founded Lit in Fullerton, California, during the early 1990s (first as a glam-rock outfit called Razzle) alongside brothers A. Jay and Jeremy Popoff and bassist Kevin Baldes. The quartet released a handful of albums before breaking through in 1999 with the modern-rock hit "My Own Worst Enemy," from their A Place in the Sun album.

The song sat at #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and eventually pushed sales of Sun past the 1 million mark. Lit toured with No Doubt, Garbage and the Offspring in support of the album and released a pair of memorable follow-up singles, including "Zip-Lock," the video of which parodied Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock" clip (and featured a cameo by a then up-and-coming Blink-182), and "Miserable," which saw the band performing on Pamela Anderson's posterior.

Lit's discography also includes 2001's Atomic, a 2004 greatest-hits comp and a self-titled album released that same year after the band had split with RCA Records.

In 2008, Shellenberger was diagnosed with a malignant glioma brain tumor and immediately underwent clinical trials, chemotherapy and radiation at the Cedars-Sinai Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute. His treatments were documented in an "ABC World News Tonight" piece that aired in May of that year.

To pay for those treatments, his Lit bandmates threw benefit shows — featuring performances by their friends Sugar Ray and Adrian Young of No Doubt — and held eBay auctions, with bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Maroon 5, the Dave Matthews Band and Queens of the Stone Age donating items for bid.

Shellenberger is survived by his daughter, Giovanna Mackey; his mother, Connie James; and his father, Paul Shellenberger. In a statement released Friday (August 14), his former bandmates expressed their sorrow and remembered a man who was very much their musical brother.

"To know Al was to know laughter," the statement reads. "He had a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone. Words cannot begin to express how much he will be missed. This was our brother and not a day will go by that we won't think about him. Right now we're trying to find the balance of mourning his loss and celebrating his life. Allen has experienced more in his 39 years than most people dream of in 10 lifetimes. This is a tremendous loss for us, our fans and also for Allen's family who took such good care of him during his battle with cancer."

• Lit

Jadakiss (file)
Photo: Appio

In this week's batch of new releases, an experimental rock group gives birth to a ghost, a rapper plants a deadly smooch on the shelves of record stores, and a couple of hard rock groups hurl the metal at their fans with full force.

Given all the excitement and anticipation surrounding the release of Wilco's new album, it's hard to believe that the band was dropped by its label in 2001 after handing in what would become 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Wilco's newest effort, A Ghost Is Born, hits stores Tuesday (June 22).

Rapper Jadakiss really wants to make sure you remember his name when you pick up one of his albums. In 2001, he released Kiss Tha Game Goodbye, and on Tuesday he puts out Kiss of Death. Moving from rap to R&B, newcomer JoJo releases her self-titled debut this week, fueled by the single "Leave [Get Out]."

On the harder side of things, Ministry, Motörhead and the Scorpions all have albums hitting stores this week. After having allowed a few years to pass between past records, Ministry accelerate the process with Houses of the Molé, the follow-up to 2003's Animositisomina. Motörhead heat it up with Inferno, while the Scorpions put out Unbreakable, the band's first studio release in four years.

File under fusion: Los Angeles' Ozomatli combine salsa, hip-hop, rock, jazz and funk on Street Signs, while Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante releases his fifth solo album (and second this year), The Will to Death.

Beach Boys member Brian Wilson releases his solo effort Gettin' in Over My Head, and Morris Day, a founding member of Prince's band the Time, drops his first solo album since 1992, appropriately titled It's About Time.

Out Tuesday, June 22:

• Age of Ruin - Tides of Tragedy (Eulogy)
• The Album Leaf - In a Safe Place (Sub Pop)
• Bobby Bare Jr.'s Young Criminals' Starvation League - From the End of Your Leash (Bloodshot)
• Belles - Idle Acres (Second Nature)
• David Benoit and Russ Freeman - Benoit/Freeman Project 2 (Peak)
• BoDeans - Resolution (Zoë/Rounder)
• Trina Broussard - Same Girl (Motown)
• Chronic Future - Lines in My Face (Interscope)
• Consequence - Take Em to the Cleaners (Sure Shot)
• Morris Day - It's About Time (Hollywood)
  Buy Now: It's About Time (Hollywood)
  
• Despistado - The Emergency Response (EP, Jade Tree)
• DJ Spooky - Celestial Mechanix: The Blue Series MasterMix (Thirsty Ear)
• Nick Drake - Made to Love Magic (Island)
• Fourplay - Journey (Bluebird)
• John Frusciante - The Will to Death (Record Collection)
• Benny Golson - Terminal 1 (Concord Jazz)
• Rachel Goswell - Waves Are Universal (4AD)
• Benny Green and Russell Malone - Bluebird (Telarc Jazz)
• Mark Holland - For Such a Time as This (Cedar n Sage)
• Jadakiss - Kiss of Death (Interscope/A&M)
  Read: "Nate Dogg, Neptunes, Kanye West On New Jadakiss LP"
• Jahsir - Stress Free (X-Ray)
• JoJo - JoJo (Blackground)
• Keoki - The Great Soundclash Swindle (Hypnotic)
• Lit - Lit (DRT/Nitrus/Dirty Martini)
  Buy Now: Lit (DRT/Nitrus/Dirty Martini)
  
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Lyve (Sanctuary)
• Miriam Makeba - Reflections (Heads Up)
• Maroon 5 - 1.22.03 Acoustic (RCA)
  Read: "Maroon 5 Plan To Keep It Hot And Steamy In Next Video"
• Edwin McCain - Scream & Whisper (DRT)
• Ministry - Houses of the Molé (Sanctuary)
  Read: "Ministry Visited By Aliens While Making Killer Mole"
  Buy Now: Houses of the Molé (Sanctuary)
  
• Motörhead - Inferno (Sanctuary/Metal-Is)
  Buy Now: Inferno (Metal-Is)
  
• Mystic Chords of Memory - Mystic Chords of Memory (Sanctuary/Rough Trade)
• Ozomatli - Street Signs (Concord)
• Paulson - Variations (Initial)
• Elvis Presley - Elvis at Sun (BMG Heritage)
• Pretty Boy Floyd - Size Really Does Matter (Deadline)
• Qntal - Qntal III (Noir)
• The Race - If You Can (Flameshovel)
• Jonathan Richman - Not So Much to Be Loved as to Love (Sanctuary/Vapor)
• Robots in Disguise - Robots in Disguise (Recall)
• Salvatore - Tempo (Racing Junior)
• Scorpions - Unbreakable (Sanctuary)
• Erick Sermon - Chilltown New York (Universal)
• Ravi Shankar & Gingger - Celestial Body (Ark 21)
• Sonia Dada - Test Pattern (Calliope/Razor & Tie)
• Sweetback - Stage 2 (Epic)
• Tilly and the Wall - Wild Like Children (Team Love/Saddle Creek)
• Toy Crayzy - She So Crayzy (X-Ray)
• McCoy Tyner - Illuminations (Telarc Jazz)
• Bebo Valdes and Diego Cigala - Lagrimas Negras (Bluebird)
• Wilco - A Ghost Is Born (Nonesuch)
  Read: "Wilco: Ghost Stories"
  
  
• Brian Wilson - Gettin' in Over My Head (Rhino)
• Various artists - America Will Always Stand (Time-Life Music)
• Various artists - Bombay Beats (Varese Sarabande)
• Various artists - Electro Cured: An Electro Tribute to the Cure (Cleopatra)
• Various artists - Mento Madness (V2)
• Various artists - "Queer as Folk - 4th Season" soundtrack (Tommy Boy)
• Various artists - "Spider-Man 2" soundtrack (Columbia)
  Read: "Hoobastank, Jet, Yellowcard Spin Songs For 'Spider-Man 2' Soundtrack"
• Various artists - "Two Brothers" soundtrack (Decca/Universal Classics)
• DVD: Flotsam & Jetsam - Live in Phoenix (Deadline)
• DVD: KMFDM - WWWIII Tour 2003 (Sanctuary)
• DVD: Bernie Williams - The Journey Within (GRP/Verve)
• DVD: Various artists - Toronto Rocks (Rhino)
• DVD: Various artists - Vans Warped Tour '03 (Kung Fu/Image Entertainment)

June 29:

• Lloyd Banks - Hunger for More (Interscope)
  Read: "G-Unit's Lloyd Banks, Young Buck Recording Solo Albums"
• Brandy - Afrodisiac (Atlantic)
  Read: "Brandy On Growing Up: A Candid Chat"
• The Cure - The Cure
  Buy Now: The Cure (Geffen)
  (Geffen)
• Dave Matthews Band - Live at the Gorge (RCA)
• Lil Wayne - Tha Carter (Cash Money)
• The Tragically Hip - In Between Evolution (Zoe)
• Uncle Kracker - 72 & Sunny (Lava)

July 6:

• Ray Manzarek - Golden Scarab (Lemon Records)
• Poco - Indian Summer (Lemon Records)
• Angie Stone - Stone Love (J Records)

July 13:

• Jimmy Buffet - License to Chill (RLG)
• Roots - Tipping Point (Geffen)
• They Might Be Giants - Spine (Zoë)

• Jadakiss
• Wilco
• Ministry
• Motörhead
• Ozomatli

Lit
Photo: Martin Schoeller

HOLLYWOOD — The band best known for asking "Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk?" is posing a more serious question. Can we forget about iTunes?

Last week, Lit launched their own download service, offering three new songs exclusively on their Web site (www.Litlounge.com) for 99 cents apiece.

"We almost feel like we're getting away with something because we just parted ways with RCA a few months ago and this is the first time we have new music and we haven't had anyone telling us what to do with it or when it's going to come out or how much it's going to cost," guitarist Jeremy Popoff said before a recent benefit performance at the House of Blues. "I have a feeling a lot of bands will be following suit."

"Everything's gone to hell in a handbasket and we kind of like to think that maybe this is the answer," singer A. Jay Popoff added. "But if not, we'll continue putting out records the way everyone else does."

Actually, Lit still plan to release an album in the spring, after offering three or so more songs online between now and then. Of course, the Orange County rockers will closely monitor the number of downloads on their site and may alter that strategy.

"We may talk to you in six months going, 'We don't need a record company now,' " Jeremy said. "No one knows, but this is one of the possibilities and we're one of the first bands to try it on our own. Our RCA stuff is on iTunes, but we'll never see a dime from that because bands don't see a dime from record companies anyway."

Along with the possible business perks of Lit's new plan, it has artistic benefits as well. Immediately after recording songs, the band can test them out on fans and just live with them in the public for a while before deciding which ones they want to push on the radio.

The three tunes recently made available happen to be what Lit consider three of the best the band has written.

Bassist Kevin Baldes described "Looks Like They Were Right" as "picking up where 'My Own Worst Enemy' left off."

"It's got a jumpy feel to it, kind of a pick-me-up," A. Jay said. "The words are kind of self-abusive, facing the fact that you can be an idiot sometimes."

The second song, "Too Fast for a U-Turn," also has similarities to Lit's 1999 breakthrough hit in that it flaunts the band's wild side.

"It's about getting so far into trouble that there's no way to get back, so you just go for it," Jeremy explained. "You pass the point of no return."

The final download is a rare departure from Lit's signature sound. Titled "Lullaby," the ballad was written by Jeremy for his 2-year-old son, Jake, although A. Jay, who has a 1-year-old daughter, Presley, had no problem relating.

"We're big fans of Monster Ballads so we're trying to get on part two," Jeremy joked, before getting more serious. "At first we questioned it like, 'Does that make us seem old?' Then we started looking around and man, everyone's having kids. Whether you're 18 or 48, people are having kids all over the place. Or even if you just have a little brother or there's thousands of kids in the Middle East right now. They had to leave their families behind and it's a song about having to leave someone behind you really care about.

"It's a little personal. It feels a little weird putting that out there, but I think a lot of our new songs have that," the guitarist continued. "We're getting better as songwriters, more willing to open ourselves up. Before, we'd touch on something personal and make it universal in the process and not open up ourselves too much."

Lit have written several other songs that are not yet available for download, with titles such as "Over It," "Times Like This" and "Throw Away." The follow-up to 2001's Atomic (see "Like A Mullet Haircut, Touring Has Highs And Lows, Lit Say") is tentatively titled Weapons of Mass Distortion.

"Our tour manager blurted it out and we were like, 'That's the most brilliant thing I've heard all year,' " A. Jay said. "And we're a loud band so it fits."

Lit will premiere the new songs and see how fans are enjoying the available downloads on a short West Coast tour beginning November 16 in Moscow, Idaho.

"It's a little bit of road-testing and little bit of us [being] sick for not being out there," A. Jay said. "It sucks seeing a show when half of the songs are new, but [the downloads] are a way for them to get to know the songs before we come to their towns."

Lit tour dates, according the band's spokesperson:

• 11/16 - Moscow, ID @ Sub Ballroom/University of Idaho
• 11/17 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin
• 11/19 - Orangevale, CA @ The Boardwalk
• 11/20 - Palo Alto, CA @ The Edge
• 11/21 - Bakersfield, CA @ Montgomery World Plaza
• 11/22 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
• 11/24 - West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues
• 11/25 - San Diego, CA @ 'Canes
• 11/26 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues

• Lit

Getting sent to the principal's office may not be such a bad thing after all if Eve or Ricky Martin rule the school. Along with more than 1000 civic leaders and celebrities, the First Lady of Ruff Ryders and the hip-swiveling pop star will serve as principals for a day as part of an education initiative in New York City taking place April 19. ...

Outkast, Nickelback, P.O.D., Godsmack, Alien Ant Farm, Sevendust, Default and Injected will take the stage for the third annual Rolling Rock Town Fair, taking place July 27 at the namesake beer's birthplace of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Last year's concert featured Stone Temple Pilots, Staind and Incubus, among others. ...

Sheryl Crow, the Goo Goo Dolls, Jewel, Five for Fighting, Ryan Adams and John Mayer will perform at the second annual Fan Nation concert April 27 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, California. Each of the acts will participate in autograph sessions at a special interactive tent. ...

No Stranger to Shame, the second album from Kid Rock DJ Uncle Kracker, will hit shelves in mid-summer. Among the tracks slated for the follow-up to 2000's Double Wide is a version of Kracker's concert staple, Dobie Gray's 1973 hit "Drift Away," featuring Gray himself on backing vocals. ...

Sarah McLachlan and her drummer husband Ashwin Sood welcomed their first child Saturday, a baby girl named India. McLachlan and the baby are doing well. ...

SoCal punks Lit are going back to school — Paloma Valley High School in Menifee, California, that is, to host a fund-raising concert on April 10, called the Punk Rock Prom. Proceeds from the advance sale of 1,500 tickets have helped the school — located in Riverside County, adjacent to Lit's home turf of Orange County — meet its financial goal of building a new athletic complex. ...

Barenaked Ladies keyboardist Kevin Hearn will hit the road for a few weeks to promote his 2001 solo album, H-Wing. The tour begins May 5 in Montreal and ends May 18 in Ferndale, Michigan. ...

Goldfinger will release their fourth full-length album, Open Your Eyes, on May 21. The band recently filmed a "Twilight Zone"-like video for the title track first single. ...

Trance wizard Paul Van Dyk has remixed "Be Angled," the latest single from fellow German electronic artists Jam & Spoon. ...

Charleston, South Carolina's Jump, Little Children recently filmed a hometown show to be the centerpiece of a DVD titled "J,LC Return to the Farm," due this summer. Meanwhile, the band, whose 2001 album, Vertigo, is a favorite at college radio, will sing the national anthem at a Boston Red Sox game May 1. ... Ohio roots rockers O.A.R. will release the double-disc live album Any Time Now on May 7.

04.07.02

Ozzy Osbourne will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday. The metal-pioneer-turned-TV-star will be immortalized in front of the Ripley's Believe It or Not? Museum. ... Rapper Capone's day in court to face charges of second-degree assault has been adjourned to April 29. The accusations stem from a fight at a Queens, New York, nightclub last September, in which Capone was allegedly involved. ... Boomkat, a duo composed of multi-instrumentalist Kellin Manning and his actress sister, Taryn — co-star of Britney Spears' "Crossroads" and the upcoming Eminem flick, "8 Mile" — have inked a deal with DreamWorks Records, which will release their debut in September. A yet-to-be-determined single is expected to surface at radio in late May. ...

Darling buds of punk Green Day have posted news of a forthcoming B-sides, covers and rarities compilation on their Web site. Among the tracks that may end up on the disc, which is expected this summer, are covers of the Kinks' "Tired of Waiting for You" and the Ramones' "Outsider." ... Punk-O-Rama Vol. 7, the latest addition in the popular (and cheap) punk compilation series, is due June 25. Among the 19 tracks on the album are Guttermouth's "My Girlfriend" (from their upcoming summer release), Bad Religion's "The Defense," Rancid's "Bob," the Hives' "Supply and Demand" and "Black City" from the Swedish garage band the Division of Laura Lee. ...

Electronic music innovator Frank Tovey, perhaps better known as Fad Gadget, died of heart failure April 3 at his London home. Tovey, who suffered from heart problems since his childhood, recently toured with Depeche Mode and was working on new material at the time of his death, according to Mute Records, his longtime label, which released The Best of Fad Gadget in December. ... To commemorate this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, event promoter Goldenvoice has produced trading cards featuring performers on the eclectic lineup, according to the Los Angeles Times. Artists taking the stage at the event include headliners Björk and Oasis, the Foo Fighters, the Strokes, Dilated Peoples, Pete Yorn, Belle and Sebastian, Queens of the Stone Age, the Beta Band, Cake, Jurassic 5 and Saves the Day. ...

Alcon III, a fan convention in honor of crown prince of parody "Weird Al" Yankovic, is set for April 26-27 in Elk Grove, Illinois. Although the creator of such classics as "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" and "The Night Santa Went Crazy" won't be attending the event — which is scheduled to include live performances, lookalike contests, lip-synchs and a charity auction of "weird" wares — the presence of drummer Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz should appease the 400 fans expected to attend. ... The Who will issue four previously unreleased songs June 11 on a new best-of record called The Who: Ultimate Collection. ... Goo Goo Dolls drummer Mike Malinin performed with his Latin-flavored side project, Act of Faith, Thursday at the Roxy in West Hollywood. Ex-Oingo Boingo bassist John Avila is in the band as well. ... The Flying Tigers, the Los Angeles rock trio featuring ex-Powerman 5000 bassist Dorian Heartsong, will release their self-titled debut on April 16. "Maybe" is the first single. ...

• Eve
• Ricky Martin
• Uncle Kracker
• Sheryl Crow
• Sarah McLachlan

Outkast, the Roots, Talib Kweli, Blackalicious and Mos Def will fill the hip-hop portion of the Audiotistic - The Future Sound Festival on April 13 in San Bernadino, California. Roni Size, DJ Q-Bert and Money Mark, DJ Swamp, Pete Rock, King Britt, DJ Dan, Donald Glaude and Jason Bentley are among the electronic music entertainment scheduled for the sixth annual event. ... David Bowie will release his new album, Heathen, on June 11 on Columbia Records via his own ISO label. The disc is Bowie's first studio venture in three years and reunites the Thin White Duke with producer Tony Visconti, who worked with Bowie on Young Americans, Low, Heroes and Scary Monsters. ...

The laws of space and time can't get more bent than with "Love Song" and "Dead or Anything," two tracks written in Scotland by Australian singer/songwriter Ben Lee and former Lemonhead Evan Dando and recorded in New York with help from 51-year-old Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson and 21-year-old Phantom Planet drummer Jason Schwartzman. The two-song single will become available April 1 through the Web site of Australian indie label Trifekta (www.trifekta.com.au). ... Portishead's performance with the 30-piece New York Philharmonic at New York's Roseland Ballroom in July 1997 will be released on DVD on April 30. "PNYC" will include the entire show, which featured favorites such as "Cowboys" and "Sour Times," along with an unreleased acoustic version of "Wandering Star," short films for "To Kill a Dead Man" and "Road Trip," a documentary on the performance and additional tour footage. ...

"Addicted to Love," "Simply Irresistible," "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" and eight other Top 40 hits will be featured on Best of Both Worlds: The Robert Palmer Anthology (1974 - 2001). Due April 30, the 42-track collection will also include tracks from Palmer's stint with the Power Station and live cuts from last year's Live at the Apollo. ... Elvis Costello will promote his first album in six years, When I Was Cruel, due April 23, with a U.S. tour beginning May 18 in Portland, Oregon, and ending June 24 in Atlanta. The legendary crooner will also make in-store appearances at Tower Records in Philadelphia, Chicago and New York and perform at a free, radio-sponsored show on April 21 in Chicago. ... Meanwhile, Costello will join U2 singer Bono and Tom Waits on the board of advisors for DMZ Records, a new label founded by producer T-Bone Burnett and filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, the team behind the Grammy-winning "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack. ...

Former Wallflowers guitarist Michael Ward's new band, Ward, will open for Crystal Method, Cake and Stone Temple Pilots at Rock for the Roses in Austin on April 12. Ward left the Wallflowers last October to work on new music with former Cupcakes member Preston Graves. ... Lit will launch an upcoming tour with an April 7 radio show in Austin, Texas, and play 16 dates before ending May 8 in Boston. ... Pressure 4-5 will join Lit's tour on April 18 after wrapping their own headlining outing, which begins March 31 in Los Angeles. On May 7, they'll join the MTV2 Handpicked Tour with Lost Prophets and Apex Theory. ... India.Arie and Joe Henry will appear on Concrete Love, English singer-songwriter Julia Fordham's first album in five years, due June 18. ... Laptop-toting duo Plaid, who toured with Autechre last year, will release a new EP, P-Brane, on April 30. Now on a North American tour, they hit Brooklyn Thursday (March 28) and will continue down the East Coast before finishing up in Los Angeles on April 11. ...

03.27.02

Lil' Romeo and Silkk the Shocker have been added to the roster of celebrities, athletes and industry execs who will compete at the third annual T.J. Martell B-Ball Classic, taking place in New York City on April 25. Master P was previously announced as the event's Commissioner of Basketball, and Hot 97 DJ Miss Jones will sing the national anthem. ... Kelly Osbourne and ex-Smashing Pumpkins-heads Melissa Auf Der Maur and James Iha were among those taking in the Andrew W.K. show at New York's Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday. ...

Marilyn Manson's crotch-rubbing case in Clarkston, Michigan, progresses, as a pre-trial hearing date has been set for April 25, at which the rocker plans to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges (assault and battery, disorderly persons). At a motions hearing on Wednesday (March 27), Judge Gerald E. McNally denied a request by the prosecution to recuse himself, leaving the prosecution with 21 days to appeal ... Actor Billy Bob Thornton will show off the crooner within when he launches a two-week tour to promote his debut album, Private Radio. The eight-city jaunt will start in Los Angeles on May 17, according to Reuters.

• OutKast
• Portishead
• David Bowie
• Mos Def
• Lit

Orgy drummer Bobby Hewitt  
Photo: Warner

The only thing that comes between Korn's Jonathan Davis and his couch is a kilt, and the only thing standing between you and that very same couch is a winning bid.

StarTrader, a new online auction site, also boasts clothes right out of Tommy Lee's closet and a drum machine used by Orgy drummer Bobby Hewitt.

So how does a Web site only 3 months old have so much cool stuff? Well, it helps that it was launched by Hewitt himself.

Not only does he have connections, Hewitt has been around the rock 'n' roll block enough times to realize how much stuff artists accumulate.

"Bobby wanted to create a way for artists to auction and sell stuff that they had collected from years of touring and being involved in music and entertainment," StarTrader co-founder Skip McNevin explained. "Many artists like Bobby have tons of stuff in their houses, but don't feel comfortable using eBay or Yahoo auctions."

Since StarTrader works closely with groups like the Musicians' Assistance Program, the Domestic Violence Intervention Service and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the site also gives artists an easy way to make charitable donations.

"They are thrilled to help others, while at the same time safely selling their extra stuff and in some cases making some extra space in a closet or bedroom at home," McNevin said.

Aside from Davis' couch, which at press time was going for $800 and closes Tuesday, StarTrader is also auctioning an autographed Linkin Park poster, Go-Go's CD and Meat Loaf autobiography. Items from Kid Rock, Blondie, Godsmack, Lit and Jimmy Page are also available, though McNevin's favorite item is an autographed backstage pass from Sugar Ray drummer Stan Frazier for a concert sponsored by none other than Enron.

Hewitt came up with the idea for StarTrader in the spring of 2000 and got it off the ground when he met McNevin, a former Web designer and television producer for NASA, at an Orgy show.

Hewitt, McNevin and entertainment attorney Richard Joseph spent more than a year studying auction sites and building StarTrader before launching it in December.

The Web site is centered around the celebrity memorabilia auction but also features links to Web sites of participating artists and charities and a collector-to-collector marketplace where anyone can auction items.

Although only about a quarter of the roughly 200 items on StarTrader are from celebrities (actors and athletes are also auctioning items), that's the driving force behind the Web site. "Everyone who has bought an item from a celebrity has sent some incredibly great feedback about the site, working with us, and how cool it was to get something that used to be owned by their favorite artist," McNevin said.

• Korn
• Tommy Lee
• Linkin Park
• The Go-Go's
• Meat Loaf

Lit's Jeremy and A. Jay Popoff
Photo: MTV News

Sometimes touring in a successful rock band can be a double-edged sword. Fans shower groups with adoration when they're onstage, but once they come down, the artists alone must endure physical exhaustion, cramped tour-bus quarters and having every minute of their day accounted for.

Lit guitarist Jeremy Popoff has felt the blade one too many times, so he wrote a song about it. "Lipstick and Bruises," the first single from the Orange County pop-punk band's third album, Atomic (October 16), exposes the darker side of the road.

"'Lipstick and Bruises' is kind of the way we feel a lot of times when we're on the road," explained singer A. Jay Popoff, Jeremy's brother. "You wake up in the morning and sort of feel like you're covered in bruises. Mentally and physically, we put ourselves through [a lot] on tour — you feel beat up at times.

"At the same time, we're doing what we love. You're playing the show and feeding off the crowd, and you definitely feel the love. That's where the 'lipstick' comes from. But you wake up feeling pretty tore up. [It's an] 'abuse me more, I like it' kind of thing."

Another road hazard presents itself in Lit's video for the song. While the band is performing onstage, an 8-foot-tall robot named Mulletron saunters through the crowd and gives concertgoers notoriously bad '80s haircuts. Just as he's about to zap the Popoffs and bandmates Kevin Baldes (bass) and Allen Shellenberger (drums), they beat a hasty retreat to safety — or do they? The clip leaves viewers wondering if this is the last they'll see of the dreaded Mulletron, and while not giving away any specifics, Jeremy warned that the robotic menace might be back.

"That was a wacky idea," A. Jay said of the giant, mechanized barber with a retro fashion sense. "It started out with Kevin. We were at a supercross race and there [were] lots of people around with mullets. And [we] just let our imaginations run around like crazy."

Considering that the group was swallowed whole by a super-sized Pamela Anderson in the video for "Miserable," off 1999's A Place in the Sun, imaginations like Lit's could prove disastrous if they fell into the wrong hands.

"A lot of people sit around when they're drinking with friends and make up all these crazy ideas," Jeremy said. "But when you're a band with enough creative control, it's dangerous because you can actually implement some of the ideas. So Mulletron was born, and he's coming to a town near you to bring joy and mullets."

But what is it about these multi-tiered haircuts that makes them so utterly hilarious, even more so than other outdated styles like the fade, beehive or pompadour?

"It's just silly that some people feel that they've got the business in the front and the party in the back," A. Jay said of the 'do known to some as the Camaro cut, mudflap, neckwarmer, hockey hair, soccer rocker, Canadian passport or achy breaky bad mistakey (named for country mullet-bearer Billy Ray Cyrus). "You can show up to work and be cool business guy, and then when you want to let loose at night, you let it rock. It's pretty funny."

The singer speaks from experience, as he admits to rocking the Missouri compromise back in the day. "I had the Ralph Macchio mullet — feathered on the sides and kind of long. I had that going on in junior high."

• Lit

Smash Mouth
Photo: Interscope

Everyone knows extreme sports and rock go together like Oreos and milk. That's why this year's Gravity Games, which run September 7-9 in Providence, Rhode Island, will feature performances by Smash Mouth, Lit and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

The bands will each play a 90-minute set at the Downtown Waterplace Park, and festival organizers expect between 45,000 and 50,000 people to attend each night, according to a publicist for the event. Sevendust and Oleander played at last year's Gravity Games and drew similar crowds.

The Bosstones will play on September 7, with the pop punk band Riddlin' Kids opening. The second day will be headlined by Smash Mouth, with melodic punk act Unwritten Law warming up the crowd. Lit will perform on the final day, and eclectic sonic combo Sound of Urchin will open that show.

Admission to all concerts and sporting events is free. Gravity Games 2001, which showcases aggressive inline skating, downhill skateboarding, freestyle motocross, stunt skateboarding and street luge, is expected to draw upwards of 400,000 people over the three-day event.

• Smash Mouth
• Lit
• Mighty Mighty Bosstones
• Unwritten Law

Lit's A. Jay Popoff
Photo: RCA

LOS ANGELES — When Lit returned home after two years of roadwork supporting their breakthrough album, the pop punk foursome opted to live a little rather than fret about how much was riding on their next record.

"We didn't touch our instruments for like three months," guitarist Jeremy Popoff said last week, while sitting with his bandmates in the lobby of a San Fernando Valley studio. "We all bought places right around the corner from each other, and we were just being domestic local guys. All of a sudden being back with our friends and going to the same bars that we used to go to and hanging out in our environment that we used to hang out in made us wanna write songs again.

"It was interesting to see how all of the touring and the craziness and the success really didn't inspire us to write — it was coming back to reality." The still-untitled follow-up to 1999's platinum A Place in the Sun is due October 9. Lit hope to finish mixing the album, which they're considering calling either Lit III or Payola Amigos, late this week.

Singer A. Jay Popoff said the band embraced a back-to-basics approach in the studio, determined not to mess with what worked so well for them last time. Sun producer Don Gilmore was again at the boards.

"Our goal was really not to change it much — the whole 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' mentality," he said. "I think it's more of a continuation of A Place in the Sun. It's the next obvious place to go for us ... We really focused more on getting great sounds — getting a great guitar sound and vocals, and not worrying about loops and samples and bells and whistles. It's pretty much just the four of us, recorded well and turned up. We took kind of a classic rock approach to the recording of this record." Lit, which also includes bassist Kevin Baldes and drummer Allen Shellenberger, used '70s rock records by AC/DC, Foreigner, Billy Joel, the Rolling Stones and the Cars as models for obtaining a thick, warm rock and roll feel without over-the-top production. The quartet didn't strive to branch out much in subject matter either this time around, sticking with familiar topics like drinking, cars and girls who make them complete and completely miserable. The Elvis Costello-esque "Addicted" features the chorus, "I'm so addicted to you/ And you're such a di-- to me." "You don't normally call a girl a di--, but there are times when you feel like it," A. Jay Popoff said. "It's turning roles around a little bit. It's sort of like 'Miserable' — you're addicted to this girl, but she steps all over you, but you kind of dig it." "Addicted" is a contender for the album's first single, as is the crunchy, punchy "Last Time Again" and the sing-along stomper "Lipstick and Bruises." One departure on the album is the stripped-down ballad "Happy in the Meantime," which features strings by David Campbell, Beck's dad.

"It's really how it was written with Jeremy and I and a friend getting together with acoustic guitars," A. Jay Popoff said. "We wrote it for the whole band to play, but in pre-production Don wanted to hear the lyrics and the melody really clear, so we turned everything down. Everyone thought it was really cool to do it that way." "She Comes" and "Over My Head" are both collaborations with producer Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, No Doubt); the latter song originally appeared on last year's Titan A.E. soundtrack.

Lit are also planning to release a two-hour home video documentary tracing their career, including in-studio footage from the making of all three of their records. The band plans to mount a full-scale tour early next year.

• Lit

Twisted Sister's Dee Snider
Photo: Atlantic

A little rouge goes a long way.

Lit, Motörhead, Sevendust, Joan Jett, Anthrax and Chuck D are among the acts lined up to salute Twisted Sister on Twisted Forever, a 16-track tribute to the '80s glam metal icons due in August.

Joan Jett has recorded the band's signature hit "We're Not Gonna Take It," while Lit (who landed Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider for their "Zip-Lock" video) will offer a version of "I Wanna Rock." Motörhead, Sevendust, Anthrax and Chuck D dig deeper into the band's catalog, pitching in renditions of "Shoot 'Em Down," "I Am (I'm Me)," "Destroyer" and "Wake Up (The Sleeping Giant)," respectively.

Sebastian Bach, Fu Manchu, Nashville Pussy, Nine Days, Overkill, Cradle of Filth, Vision of Disorder, the Step Kings and Hammerfall also step into the band's color-coded boots for the album.

Twisted Sister themselves even get in on the act, offering a cover of AC/DC's "Sin City," a favorite during the band's early rehearsals.

The project has been in the works for years, and at one point, Slipknot, Kittie and Type O Negative were also talked about for the album (see "Lit, Slipknot, Others May Tribute Twisted Sister"). However, those acts will not appear when the album arrives on August 14.

Twisted Forever tracklist:

• Lit - "I Wanna Rock"
• Joan Jett - "We're Not Gonna Take It"
• Motörhead - "Shoot 'Em Down"
• Nashville Pussy - "The Kids Are Back"
• Nine Days - "The Price"
• Chuck D - "Wake Up (The Sleeping Giant)"
• Anthrax - "Destroyer"
• Overkill - "Under the Blade"
• Cradle of Filth - "The Fire Still Burns"
• Vision of Disorder - "Don't Let Me Down"
• The Step Kings - "Burn in Hell"
• Fu Manchu - "Ride to Live, Live to Ride"
• Sebastian Bach - "You Can't Stop Rock 'N Roll"
• Hammerfall - "We're Gonna Make It"
• Sevendust - "I Am (I'm Me)"
• Twisted Sister - "Sin City"

• Twisted Sister
• Sevendust
• Lit
• Chuck D
• Joan Jett

• Lit