It's not a gag. Limp Bizkit have set April Fool's Day as a tentative release date for their new Rick Rubin-produced album. ... Jimmy Fallon will open for the Strokes on six dates of the New York band's current tour, beginning November 22 in Boca Raton, Florida. Fallon's first album, The Bathroom Wall, was released in August. ... He's scooped up Grammys and Moonmen and he's tipped for an Oscar, but believe it not, Eminem has never snagged the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart -- until this week, according to his label. "Lose Yourself," from the "8 Mile" soundtrack, gave the rapper his first #1 single, knocking Nelly and Kelly Rowland's "Dilemma" from the top spot. ...

Nü-metal architect Ross Robinson will produce the next record from the Cure. It will be released next year by ArtistDirect. ... You've heard Snoop Dogg put his stamp on "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," but what if the big Dogg could make the whole Internet speak his language? See what a Snoopified Web might look like by visiting http://capitolrecords.com/snoopdogg/shizzolator/ and typing in the address of a site you'd like to see shizzolated. ... It'll be "Sk8er Boi" meets the "Witchy Woman" when Avril Lavigne makes an appearance on "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" November 15. The tie-tethered tart will perform her current single in a club on the episode, directed by Anson Williams, better known as Potsie of "Happy Days" fame. ... Mark your calendars, but be sure to use a pencil. The new release date for We're a Happy Family, the long-awaited Ramones tribute album spearheaded by Rob Zombie, is March 18, following previous due dates in August, November and December. ...

Drummer Bobby Hewitt has quit Orgy and joined Snake River Conspiracy, who are working on landing a new record deal. The band's new three-song demo features "Shut Up," "Methlahem" and "Not Long for This World." ... World Champion Anaheim Angels first baseman Scott Spiezio will have some impressive company when his hard-rocking band, Sandfrog, play Fox Sports Net's "The Best Damn Sports Show Period!" on Friday. With his regular lineup unavailable, Spiezio is bringing in some ringers, including ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez and ex-White Zombie drummer John Tempesta. ... Rocker Joan Jett filed a lawsuit Wednesday against producers of the film "Prey for Rock & Roll," claiming she has been paid only $20,000 of the $100,000 fee she was promised for filming a cameo in the film and contributing to its soundtrack. The movie, about an all-girl rock band called Clam Dandy trying to make it in the late-'80s L.A. club scene, stars Gina Gershon and "Sopranos" actress Drea de Matteo. ...

10.29.02

Hip-pop hooray -- Justin Timberlake, Destiny's Child, Nelly, Avril Lavigne, Ja Rule, Ashanti, Kylie Minogue and "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson are set to perform at Jingle Ball 2002. The show, put on by New York radio station Z100, will take place December 12 at Madison Square Garden. ... Andrew WK will support Aerosmith for several dates in December beginning December 2 at the Memorial Coliseum in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. ... After hyping it for four months, VH1 has canceled "Liza and David," its planned reality show about dinner parties hosted by Liza Minnelli and David Gest. "Although we continue to believe that Liza is an amazing talent, we were not given the cooperation that we were promised," said Rob Weiss, one of the show's executive producers. ...

Better Dayz, a new collection of material by Tupac Shakur is scheduled to be released in the next few weeks. It features production by 7 Aurelius on the title track and a song called "Thug Mansion." ... Godsmack frontman Sully Erna will open his own bar in New York City on Halloween. The opening-night guest list at Dorsia -- named after novelist Bret Easton Ellis' fictional status-symbol restaurant -- includes members of Box Car Racer, the Used, Slipknot, Opeth and Naughty by Nature. ... Lil Jon of Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz fame is producing a few tracks for a former Lil', the artist presently known as Bow Wow. The album is due next year. ...

David Gray will hit North American stages in January when he kicks off a 14-city tour in support of A New Day at Midnight, the follow-up to his 2000 breakthrough album White Ladder, due November 5. The tour will begin on January 26 at the Fox Theatre in Detroit and run through a February 16 date at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. ... DJ Shadow has added a handful of U.S. dates to his globe-crossing jaunt in support of his Shortlist-nominated album, The Private Press. Shadow hits Cincinnati on November 17, wings through Pittsburgh, New York, Rhode Island and San Francisco, then wraps up in Los Angeles on November 25 before heading off to Auckland. ...

Roots rockers the Blasters have extended their year-long reunion tour which is currently scheduled to wind up with a December 14 date at the House of Blues in West Hollywood. Among their upcoming dates is their first-ever hometown show in Downey, California, a Wednesday night benefit at the Rio Hondo Country Club for Johnie's Broiler, one of the last car-hop restaurants in California. ... For the second year in a row, Yo La Tengo will give a Hanukkah present to their fans: eight nights of shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey (November 29-December 6). Last year's event featured opening sets from Lambchop, Antietam and Jon Spencer as well as comedians Janeane Garofalo, David Cross and Penn Jillette; a roster of openers and comedians will be announced soon. ...

In an attempt to offset the greenhouse gases produced by the manufacturing and distribution of their new album, the Foo Fighters have hooked up with the London-based environmental group Future Forests for a unique environmental project in which they will be the first U.S. band to go "CarbonNeutral." The deal calls for the band to sponsor two anti-global warming initiatives, one that will help preserve old growth Pacific forests and another that will fund the planting of trees in a forest/wildlife reserve in Tensas River, Louisiana. ... The Fire Theft, a new band featuring three of the four members of defunct Seattle emocore architects Sunny Day Real Estate (including Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel and onetime Foos drummer William Goldsmith), have posted a song from their as-yet-untitled debut album online. Tentatively titled "It's Over," the track can be found at TheFireTheft.com. ...

Seminal Los Angeles punks X are set to launch a two-week trek November 12 in Scottsdale, Arizona, marking first tour to feature the four original members in five years. Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom, DJ Bonebreak and John Doe (whom many know from his role on TV's "Roswell," among other screen appearances) conclude the jaunt November 26 in San Francisco. ... 3 Doors Down will hit the road beginning November 2 for a month-long North American tour in support of their second album, Away From the Sun, due November 12. Kicking off with a date at the New River Amphitheater in Jacksonville, North Carolina, the tour will make its way West, winding up at Seattle's KeyArena on December 12, according to the band's Web site. ...

A DVD chronicling Lenny Kravitz's 2002 tour, "Lenny Live," will be released on November 26. The film features behind-the-scenes footage as well as performances of such hits as "American Woman," "Stillness of Heart," "Again," "Are You Gonna Go My Way," "Let Love Rule," "Rock and Roll is Dead" and "Fly Away." ... Southtown quintet P.O.D. will drop their first long-form DVD, Still Payin' Dues, November 12, which should encapsulate the band's decade-long existence in approximately two hours. Included are performances from their recent Youth of the Nation Tour, all seven of the band's music videos and backstage footage shot by the band and its crew. ...

LFO member Brad Fischetti will launch his online record label, 111 Records, on Friday (November 1) with the debut release from his trio, Sari (pronounced sha-DEE). The music is described as a mix of Coldplay, Jackson Browne and Pink Floyd, yielding "an eerie, thought-provoking record that mirrors his somewhat reclusive mind." ... Next up for 111 Records is an album from Fischetti's Sari cohort, singer/songwriter Dan Walters, and the debut of Dusty & Jawn, "a brutally candid exploration of anger, love, and frustration, with the encompassment of melodic punk, rock, and rap." ... Fresh off of their Epitaph Records EP collaboration with Mike Patton and several European dates supporting System of a Down, the Dillinger Escape Plan have written five new tracks for their next album. The as-yet-untitled platter will be the mathematically-inclined noisecore band's first with new vocalist Greg Puciato. ...