Four years ago this week, Alanis Morissette was receiving some uninvited attention from morning radio kingpin Howard Stern.

The infamous talk show host was miffed that Morissette declined to appear on his syndicated program during her tour's two-night stopover in New York, where Stern's show originates from K-Rock, WXRK-FM. Stern took his displeasure straight to K-Rock program director Steve Kingston, calling Kingston at home to demand, on-air, that the station stop playing Morissette's music until she paid him a visit.

Kingston agreed to comply with Stern's wishes, calling Stern "a very vocal and passionate" Morissette fan. The Morissette camp meanwhile had no comment on the situation.

The incident mirrored a similar move Stern made a year earlier, when the shock jock had the Goo Goo Dolls removed from the influential station's playlist until the band agreed to perform on his show. When the group did, Stern and other members of his show danced around the Goo Goo Dolls in thongs.

Down South, Usher had just returned home to Atlanta after wrapping up a role in the feature film "Light It Up" with Sara Gilbert and Vanessa Williams. But the R&B crooner's time off would be short, because he had to fly out to Los Angeles a week later to reprise his role on Brandy's UPN sitcom, "Moesha."

In between upcoming live gigs, including a visit to South Africa, Usher also planned to sponsor a talent search in Atlanta as part of his fan appreciation conference. He said he was starting a music and film production company and that he hoped to sign some of the aspiring acts he discovers.

That is, if he could figure out what he wanted to delve into first. "I'm losing my mind here," he said. "I just bought a house in Atlanta, Georgia. I couldn't decide whether to put an editing studio into it, because I want to get over into films and directing eventually, but I also have a [recording] studio downstairs, so I don't know."

Proto-metal outfit Sevendust don't have their own studio, but four years ago they were booking some time at one to work on the follow-up to their 1997 self-titled debut.

Toby Wright, who co-produced Korn's Follow the Leader, was due to join them at Boston's Longview Studios, along with Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French, who produced Sevendust's first LP. After laying down tracks in Boston, the band planned on heading to New York to mix the album with Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine).

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