DMX fans holding tickets to the latest Family Values Tour be warned: The rapper will not be appearing on the first half of that event's dates, as originally planned.| According to DMX's label spokesperson, as well as a representative of the tour, the rapper announced his change of plans just days before the tour kicked off on Tuesday (Sept. 21) in Pittsburgh. Neither rep could provide a reason for his decision. Filling his slot during the first several dates will be Ja Rule and Mobb Deep, who will drop off after Oct. 2. Method Man and Redman join the tour on Oct. 15, but who will fill the requisite hip-hop slot for the interceding shows remains to be determined...

After much dilly-dallying, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE have finally settled on a title for their long-awaited third album. The Brendan O'Brien-produced effort will be called The Battle of Los Angeles. The twelve-song album comes out on Nov. 2, but if you can't wait that long, you'll be able to download three new tracks -- two from the album, one a live track -- by visiting RealNetwork's site at www.realguide.com/ratm, beginning in early October. Plus, anyone who buys Rage's new album will be able to connect the CD to a private website offering an exclusive live track...

While you're trolling around Real.com, may as well avail yourself of another cool offer: You can download the full video for NINE INCH NAILS's "We're In This Together Now" -- for free, for keeps! -- to your computer's hard drive with the help of RealJukebox. Go to either the official Nails site (www.nin.com) or RealJukebox's site (www.realguide.com) for the clip...

METALLICA have dubbed their upcoming live album with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra S & M (due Nov. 23). And to think people were worried they were becoming high-brow . . .

Note to cynics: It's finally officially cool to love the cute Beatle. "This beats sitting around with bunch of suits in an office," cooed SIR PAUL McCARTNEY to a small crowd of contest winners gathered in New York's Hammerstein Ballroom Wednesday to preview his raucous new rock & roll tribute album, Run Devil Run. After the crowd on the floor (and VIPs like WOODY HARRELSON upstairs) rocked out to Macca's impassioned versions of vintage standards like "All Shook Up," "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," "She Said Yeah" and a trio of strong new originals like the Chuck Berry-worthy title track, Sir Paul returned to the stage to field audience questions with goofy, self-effacing charm. "Can you hold my hand?" he said in response to one woman's question. "No. But...I wanna hold your hand." You devil, you . . .

PERRY FARRELL and EVERCLEAR's ART ALEXAKIS have joined the Spitfire spoken-word tour, which already includes RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's ZACH DE LA ROCHA, X's EXENE CERVENKOVA, former DEAD KENNEDY JELLO BIAFRA, former NIRVANA bassist KRIST NOVOSELIC, SPEARHEAD's MICHAEL FRANTI and BAD RELIGION's GREG GRAFFIN. The tour begins Oct. 16 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Bring your thesaurus. . .

STING, WYCLEF JEAN, 98 DEGREES and TONY BENNETT are among the performers set for New York's Radio City Music Hall's grand reopening celebration on Oct. 4. The legendary hall just underwent a $70 million restoration. The grand reopening will air on NBC on Dec. 1. . .

Performance, starring MICK JAGGER, was named one of the British Film Institute's hundred favorite British films of the Twentieth Century. Other rock-related films honored were: the BEATLES' A Hard Day's Night; Blowup, which features an appearance by the Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page-era YARDBIRDS; and Trainspotting, which yielded two of the Nineties most popular soundtracks. . .

TRAMPS, the closest thing to a New York City honky tonk dancehall and a favorite stomping ground for touring country, alternative, blues and classic hip-hop acts, hosted its last night of music Thursday with a double dose of No Depression-style roots rock from SON VOLT and the recent Razor & Tie-signed CONTINENTAL DRIFTERS (an eclectic ensemble that counts former Bangle VICKI PETERSON among its many members). Nobody who ever saw a show at Tramps will miss that damn column smack in front of the stage, but its eclectic lineup up (from Willie Nelson to Sebadoh to Public Enemy) will be hard to beat. Word on the street is, it's now gonna be a restaurant or something. Snooze . . .

We all know that James Brown is the hardest working man in show business, but there needs to me more acknowledgement of the fella at the other end of the spectrum -- the absolute laziest man in rock 'n' roll. And after a long and tortuous competition, we've found the lucky laggard -- none other than DEEP PURPLE's JON LORD. The keyboardist forged what may have been the first rock/classical bond back in 1969 when he penned "Concerto for Group and Orchestra," which he and his Purple pals performed just twice -- because Lord misplaced the only existing copy of the full score and couldn't be bothered to re-create it. Thirty years after the fact, an obsessive (not to mention hobby-less) Dutch music student named Mario de Goiej came to Lord with a made-from-scratch rendition of the score that he'd cobbled together from countless airings of audio and videotapes of one of the aforementioned performances. To celebrate the occasion, Purple will convene with the London Symphony Orchestra this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) to test-drive de Goiej's score. We'll assume the l'il Dutch Boy is on the guest list...

Can the BEE GEES take a lickin' and keep on tickin'? We'll get a chance to answer that age-old question next month when the tiny British territory known as the Isle of Man issues a set of stamps honoring the cultural contributions of the Gibb Brothers -- all of whom were born on the Isle before their family migrated to Australia. While images of the Gibbs themselves will not be going postal (British law requires you to kick the bucket before receiving such an honor), eight of their songs will be immortalized in paper and tasty glue. Oddly, before steering the family Down Under, Mama Gibb actually ran the post office on the Isle of Man -- which is still better known as the birthplace of those creepy-looking cats with no tails. If you've got no Manx pals willing to buy a set of the philatelic treasures for ya, grab a set at http://www.beegeesstamps.com...

Stories about guys being reunited with estranged siblings after decades apart...those are a dime a dozen. But a story about a man being reunited with a long lost guitar? Now that's news -- at least it is when the guy in question is country-rock legend CHARLIE DANIELS, who'd probably long forgotten about a once-prized axe he had stolen from his car after playing a dance clear back in 1961. Well, proving that good things come to those who wait, a Tennessee guitar collector called Daniels' management after ponying up a hundred bucks for the instrument and noticing a badly-damaged inlay of the star's signature. Much rejoicing was heard throughout the Volunteer State after a return was arranged -- and Daniels is currently working on restoring the old Gretsch to her former glory...

CINDY WILSON is rejoining the B-52's for the fifth annual Party Out of Bounds, an AIDS benefit to take place Oct. 7 at the Athens Music Factory, in the band's hometown of Athens, Ga. Wilson took a hiatus from the band this summer to have baby. Wilson's brother and former B-52's guitarist RICKY WILSON died of AIDS in 1985. . .

TINA TURNER's new album, Twenty Four Seven, will be released overseas on Nov. 1, but not 'til Feb. 1, 2000 in the U.S. The first single will be "When the Heartache Is Over," and the album includes a guest appearance by BRYAN ADAMS. . .

The DIXIE CHICKS have donated a double-sided, autographed photo from the album art to Fly to the World Wildlife Fund Auction (worldwildlife.org). Minimum bid is $125, but before you jump into the bidding frenzy, make sure you've got room for the silly thing -- it measures five feet by five feet . . .

That '70s band, CHEAP TRICK, will be joining the cast of TV's That '70s Show at Hollywood's Wherehouse Music store on Monday night (Sept. 27) to fete the show's new season and soundtrack album, which both drop the next day. The Tricksters will be playing a brief set -- including "That '70s Song," their reworking of the show's current Big Star-soundalike theme song, "In The Street" -- and, along with the show's stars, will sign copies of the soundtrack album after their performance...

BILL CRANDALL, JENNY ELISCU, RICHARD SKANSE, DAVID SPRAGUE, JAAN UHELSZKI
(September 24, 1999)