"Whazzup," David Lee Roth's official Web site inquires. Well, for starters, Diamond Dave has a new single and video available, the former via radio airwaves, the latter as a download on www.davidleeroth.com. Roth's "Look at All the People Here Tonight!" was released to radio on Nov. 5, and according to Dave's official Web site, it was the first time a single had ever been made available exclusively to radio through the Internet. "[The single] can be heard by calling your local radio station and demanding to hear your brand new Diamond Dave," Roth's site claims. A day later, Roth's made the video for the tune available for download on his site . . .

Blink-182 have cancelled their tour of Australia and New Zealand. According to a rep for the band, drummer Travis Barker came down with a case of strep throat, forcing the band to nix the trip down under. The five-date tour was scheduled to begin with a Nov. 4 performance in Auckland and wrap up on Nov. 12 in Perth. According to the source for the band, the dates will be rescheduled . . .

Garth Brooks filed for divorce from Sandy, his wife of fourteen years, in a Nashville court on Monday citing irreconcilable differences as the cause of the split. The couple, who have three children, have been separated since March, 1999. Last month, Brooks told Billboard, "We need to get a divorce, but the effect it will have on the children is weighing very heavily on our souls right now." Brooks camp had no comment on the split, but Sandy Brooks attorney told the Nashville Tennessean, "It's safe to say there's an agreement in principle but the details have not been worked out. They'll do their best to work that out without being adversarial" . . .

Taking a break from working on their next album, the Bangles have been added to the lineup for the eleventh annual Gimme Shelter concert, to be held Dec. 11 at the Roxy in Los Angeles. Also on the bill are Shelby Lynne, Remy Zero, Maria McKee, Five for Fighting and Shannon McNally. The concert benefits the non-profit H.E.L.P. Group, which aids children with special needs. After the gig, the Bangles -- who reunited earlier this year -- plan to take their time writing and recording until the end of the year, according to the band's management, at which point they'll start mapping out a tour for 2001 . . .

Ricky Martin will host a documentary on HIV and AIDS to air on MTV for World AIDS Day (Dec. 1). "Staying Alive 2" is a follow-up to 1998's "Staying Alive," which was hosted by George Michael and won an Emmy. This time, the program focuses on six young people from around the world infected by HIV. "AIDS continues to be a serious issue," Ricky Martin said in a statement, "and there is still a lot of work to be done to raise awareness around the world . . . I truly hope this documentary inspires people to take the necessary precautions as well as show compassion towards those affected by AIDS" . . .

Rage Against the Machine timed the release of their first single from their new album to coincide with election day. The band sent "Renegades of Funk," from their upcoming album, Renegades, to radio stations on Nov. 7. The track was originally recorded by Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force and is a tribute to Malcolm X, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and other American political renegades. The Rick Rubin-produced Renegades, which also features covers of songs originally recorded by the MC5, the Stooges, Rolling Stones, Devo and others, is set for a Dec. 5 release . . .

System of a Down raised $20,000 for the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) at their benefit concert for the recognition of the Armenian genocide, held Saturday for an over-capacity crowd at the Palace in Los Angeles. The show featured new material from the band ("Psycho," "Walls" and eight other new songs) as well as a short documentary that featured a report on the genocide by ABC newsman Peter Jennings . . .

Fueling persistent rumors that David Lee Roth has rejoined Van Halen comes the news that Diamond Dave is putting up the vintage car featured in Van Halen's 1984 video "Hot For Teacher" that the once and former lead singer directed. The 1932 Ford Hi-Boy Phaeton, called "Tom's Tub Two," so named after the builder Tom McMullen, features a 700 horsepower Chevy engine with less than 10,600 miles fiberglass body construction. If you want a chance to own the hot rod that carried Roth in the video, go over to www.davidleeroth.com, and click on the Wazzup section. So far bidding is up to $35,000 . . .

The Deftones, along with Erik Brunetti, owner of FUCT, a Los Angeles-based clothing company, have sent $5,000 to Nora Garza, the former features editor of the McAllen, Texas' local daily newspaper, the Monitor. Garza was fired from the newspaper after running a publicity photo on the front page of the Oct. 27 issue of the paper that featured Deftones frontman Chino Moreno donning a t-shit with the FUCT logo. "All of us in the band feel terrible about Mrs. Garza being fired," Moreno said. "[We] wanted to do something to help her out, especially when we were told that the paper didn't give her much of a severance. To be honest, I'm offended that a newspaper has no problem running gruesome photos of dead bodies or horrifically malnourished people, but fires a woman for running a photo that contains a word that resembles an obscenity" . . .

Two of the year's chart-topping hip-hoppers, Nelly and Ja Rule, will take to the stage at New York City's Roseland Ballroom on Thursday. The meeting of hip-hop forces from St. Louis and Queens, N.Y., is part of the launch efforts for Sprite.com. The soft drink is hosting the launch party as part of their cybermall that caters to a credit-card free teenage audience. Fans can view the performance the night of the show on Sprite.com, as well as enter for a chance to win the $1,000-a-minute RocketCash giveaway, the fairly self-explanatory promotion that will give a cool grand to a winner every minute of the hour-long Webcast. To register for the Webcast and RocketCash go to www.sprite.com . . .

As Madonna did this past weekend, Ricky Martin will play an exclusive one-off club gig in New York City to usher in support of his new album. Martin will take the stage at Irving Plaza on Nov. 13, a 1,000-capacity club, the day before the release of his second English-language album, Sound Loaded. According to a source at the venue, no tickets will be sold for the event, as attendees will be composed of contest and fan club winners. There is no word yet as to whether Martin will be the sole act on the bill . . .

The Red Hot Chili Peppers returned to open up for long-time band-buddies Pearl Jam, performing the middle set at a pair of benefit shows at the city's Key Arena, which wound up Pearl Jam's 2000 U.S. tour. Supergrass opened Sunday's night's show, while Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron's band, Wellwater Conspiracy, was scheduled to open Monday's show. Pearl Jam, who have hosted benefits in Seattle since 1994 and have raised over $1 million in the past two years, are donating all of the proceeds from the shows to a bevy of hand-picked charities. Among the eighteen local and national recipients are the Seattle Center Arts Academy, the Northwest School, Home Alive, the Bra Show, the Red Feather Development Group, Voters for Choice and Concerned United Birthparents Inc. . . .

Bruce Springsteen showed up onstage at the reopened Stone Pony, the small Asbury Park club where he and the E Street Band got their start, to take part in a benefit to help raise money for the Parkinson's Disease Foundation on Nov. 3. The benefit, organized by Houserockers manager Bob Benjamin who was diagnosed with the disease four years ago, was dubbed "Light of Day," possibly a tip to actor Michael J. Fox, who was also stricken with Parkinson's Disease, and who had starred in the film titled after that particular Springsteen song. Springsteen joined pal Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers on the stage of the legendary club, soon after the band began their set. Wearing a Miami Dolphins cap, Springsteen shared vocals with Grushecky on a few of the band's standards, before singing some of his own songs including "Murder Inc." "Ramrod" and "Light of Day," which he dedicated to Benjamin, before concluding the show with a jam of "Twist and Shout," and a duet by Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa, and Grushecky on "I Don't Want to Go Home" . . .

Limp Bizkit had to cancel their Nov. 3 show at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., due to frontman Fred Durst's throat troubles. This is the second date of the Anger Management tour in the past two weeks that has been cancelled because of Durst's sore throat. The dates have yet to be rescheduled . . .

A hardcore British Elvis fan took the King's U.S. Army uniform out of mothballs and is putting it up for sale. Insiders speculate that the uniform, issued for the Elvis's tour of duty in Germany could fetch as much as $36,000. During a press conference heralding the singer's arrival on German shores in 1958, Presley leaned against a freshly painted window and covered the arm of the dress jacket in latex paint. He was quickly issued a new jacket, but a member of the painting crew got to take home the damaged goods. That very same uniform will go under the hammer this Wednesday in London by auctioneers Bonhams and Brooks . . .

Jonathan Davis will make a cyber-appearance at a Web chat on Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. (PDT). The Korn frontman will undoubtedly chat family values and the like with fans in the "Korn Korner," part of the Palace, a graphical chat system that allows users to pick or create an avatar (visual identity) for the chat. A link for the Palace and the "Korn Korner" can be found on the band's official Web site, www.korn.com . . .

ANDREW DANSBY, STEVEN FLORIO, JAAN UHELSZKI, JENNIFER VINEYARD
(November 9, 2000)