Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland has recorded about 10 songs that may land on another solo album someday, but it won't be anytime soon. "I've sort of stockpiled them ... but I don't see [a solo record] as anything that's in the near future because all my musical energy is focused on STP," the singer said recently. Weiland released his solo debut, 12 Bar Blues, in 1998, while STP were on hiatus. ...

Pop-rockers Fastball will release "You're an Ocean" as the first single from their upcoming third album, The Harsh Light of Day (Sept. 19), according to their Hollywood Records publicist. The track listing for the album, which follows their 1998 breakthrough, All the Pain Money Can Buy, is: "This Is Not My Life," "You're an Ocean," "Goodbye," "Love Is Expensive and Free," "Vampires," "Wind Me Up," "Morning Star," "Time," "Dark Street," "Funny How It Fades Away," "Don't Give Up On Me" and "Whatever Gets You On." ...

Launch Media Inc. announced on Monday (June 18) its acquisition of the Warped Tour, an annual concert series featuring punk rock and extreme-sports performers. Skateboarding shoe company Vans will continue to have its name on the tour, whose 2000 lineup includes Green Day and NOFX. ...

Embattled MP3 file-sharing software company Napster has enlisted the legal help of noted attorney David Boies, who has argued the federal government's prosecution of software giant Microsoft. In a statement released Friday, Boies said the Recording Industry Association of America's copyright infringement case against Napster — as well as those brought by hard-rockers Metallica and veteran rapper Dr. Dre — "raises important questions of how the copyright laws are to be applied to this new medium." Boies also alluded to a general acceptance of small-scale home recordings, such as dubbed and mixtapes, as a possible precedent to explore in Napster's defense. ...

Paying heed to urban legend, Capitol Records and the Turner Classic Movies cable TV channel will simulcast psychedelic-rock veterans Pink Floyd's 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon with an airing of the classic film "The Wizard of Oz." Rumors that the album was recorded to synchronize with the film — charges that members of Pink Floyd have repeatedly denied — have circulated widely, fueled by several apparently coincidental moments where the music and lyrics on the record eerily reflect the scene onscreen. The simulcast, set for 11 p.m. EDT July 3, will use an SAP audio channel, usually used for descriptive video programming for the visually impaired, to broadcast Dark Side of the Moon. Viewers without SAP can press the CD play button at the MGM lion's third roar. ...

No Doubt, Lit and Black Eyed Peas will join the Vans Warped Tour at the July 11 stop in Minneapolis for a special performance at Hubert Humphrey Metrodome Lot. All three are veterans of the skater-punk trek, which is headlined this year by San Francisco Bay Area punks Green Day. Weezer also has been confirmed for the first eight dates of the tour, from the June 23 kickoff in Fresno, Calif., to July 1 in San Francisco. ...

Hole drummer Samantha Maloney is rehearsing with Mötley Crüe while regular drummer Randy Castillo recovers from stomach surgery he underwent June 10, according to Ashley Smith at Beyond Records. After assessing Castillo's condition Monday (June 19), the band will decide if Maloney will be needed for the its June 24 tour opener with Anthrax and Megadeth. ... Rockers Sleater-Kinney have announced European tour dates for the summer beginning July 9 at Belgium's Dour Festival and ending July 30 in Brighton, England. The tour will include performances with Sonic Youth and Henry Rollins, according to a publicist at Kill Rock Stars. ...

Veteran rockers Cheap Trick will kick off a 29-date summer tour in Saratoga, Calif., on June 30, according to Wes Kidd, at the band's management office. ... The MTV Video Music Awards will return to New York City's Radio City Music Hall on Sept. 7, according to Elena Diaz, a publicist at MTV. Nominees and performers have not been announced for the live-broadcast show. (Sonicnet.com's parent company, Viacom, also owns MTV.) ... Backstreet Boys, Kid Rock, Jewel, Alanis Morissette, Matchbox Twenty, Dave Matthews Band and P.J. Harvey are a few of the three dozen artists who have donated items to an online auction benefiting the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). Items ranging from Tori Amos' baby grand piano to Shania Twain's custom-made white crop top can be bid on until June 25 at Yahoo! Charity Auctions. ...

Bob Rolontz, a reporter, editor, producer and record executive who designated the platinum album to signify the sale of 1 million records — for the 1968 Cream album Wheels of Fire — died on Wednesday at 79, of complications from Parkinson's disease. Rolontz, who produced Mickey and Sylvia's 1957 hit "Love Is Strange," was vice president of publicity and advertising at Atlantic Records in the late 1960s, where he worked with the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin and Yes. He also wrote and edited for Billboard magazine. ... New York hip-hop label 75 Ark, whose lineup includes Automator and Anti Pop Consortium, entered an agreement with MP3-trading software company Napster, according to an announcement Thursday (June 15) by the two companies. The agreement, Napster's first with a record label, includes plans for exclusive monthly downloads of unreleased songs. ...

James Brown and Paul McCartney shared a microphone during a version of "Stand by Me" at the conclusion of the induction ceremony for the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York on Thursday (June 15). They were joined onstage by James Taylor, Brian Wilson, Hanson, Ben E. King and other inductees and guests. ... Four CDs of rare and previously unreleased recordings from legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix will be released Sept. 12 in the box set The Jimi Hendrix Experience, according to MCA Records. The 56 songs on the album range from rare live recordings of a 1966 performance in Paris to the final studio sessions before Hendrix's death in 1970. ... Former Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid will perform with a new, unnamed band June 24 at New York's Mercury Lounge, according to his publicist. ... Video clips of Bruce Springsteen singing "Two Hearts" and "Prove It All Night" at his June 12 Madison Square Garden show in New York have been posted at VH1.com. The show, Springsteen's first of 10 at the New York venue, generated controversy because of the singer's performance of "American Skin," a song sympathetic with slain immigrant Amadou Diallo. ...

— sonicnet.com staff report