Glam rocker GARY GLITTER (born Paul Gadd) was in Bristol Crown Court Tuesday (Nov. 9) to face charges of sexually assaulting a teenage fan nearly two decades ago. According to Reuters, the case concerns the fifty-five-year-old Glitter's alleged repeated attacks on a young woman who was only fourteen at the time of the first reported incident in 1980. Glitter has denied the charges ...

Ska-punk band BUCK-O-NINE had their tour derailed this weekend when bassist JOHN BELL fell ill during the band's stop in Pittsburgh. According to a spokesperson for the band, Bell had been experiencing stomachaches for several days and, suspecting food poisoning, sought treatment Saturday at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The following night, he collapsed on stage during the band's sound check, began bleeding profusely and was rushed back to the hospital where doctors discovered internal bleeding. Last night Bell underwent surgery to remove a growth on his intestine. He is currently in intensive care, but his condition has stabilized he's expected to be released in another eight or nine days. The band plans to go back out on the road in December, possibly with an alternate bassist standing in for Bell...

No one has ever accused METALLICA of restraint, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the band delivered four different videos from their forthcoming symphonic album, S & M, to MTV and told the music network to decide which one they wanted to air. No word on which cut will make the cut (from among "Hero of the Day," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Until It Sleeps," and "Fuel"), but the indecisive rockers also slipped the music channel a copy of "No Leaf Clover," one of the two new songs included on the disc that will premiere on the Nov. 22 edition of Total Request Live . . .

In other live video news, GUNS N' ROSES have released a new vid for "Welcome to the Jungle" featuring live footage interspersed with news clips of such disturbing Nineties headlines as Columbine and the Rodney King beating. The song itself, of course, will be featured on the band's upcoming double live album, Live Era: '87-'93, which is due on Nov. 30 . . .

Devil Without a Cause, KID ROCK's major-label debut, was certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA. Devil has spent forty-four weeks on the Billboard Top 200. The fourth single from the album, "Only God Knows Why," is scheduled to hit airwaves in late November. Meanwhile Kid and his Twisted Brown Trucker band tour the States into December . . .

Want a raunchy outgoing message for your answering machine? Well, former 2 LIVE CREW frontman LUTHER CAMPBELL (a k a Uncle Luke) will happily record one for you. On his Web site, www.lukerecords.com, the foul-mouthed rapper is offering to sell customized answering machine messages -- as nasty as you want them to be -- for only $5 a pop. (Sample: "Yo, this is Luke. Thanks for calling Bob, but he's out right now with me with four of my dancers getting butt naked. So leave a message man. HA.") Just send a money order, a blank cassette tape and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: 231 12th Street Miami, Fl 33139...

Everybody's favorite Modfather, PAUL WELLER, will get his due in America on Jan. 27, when THE JAM tribute album hits the streets. The record, Fire and Skill: The Songs of The Jam, already on shelves this week in the U.K., will come out Stateside on Epic, the same label that Weller's biggest fans, Oasis, record for. So naturally, Liam Gallagher leads the lineup of Brit pop glitterati singing a duet on Jam classic "Carnation" with Ocean Colour Scene's Steve Craddock, who returns to croon "No One in the World" with Weller. Garbage turn in a moody performance of "The Butterfly Collector," the Beastie Boys wrestled "Start" to the ground, and Noel Gallagher does a rather atonal version of "To Be Someone," the track that he played during his acoustic mini set during the Oasis's 1997-98 tour . . .

In the wake of the death of TRIPPING DAISY's guitarist WES BERRGREN last month, the band has canceled two shows at Dallas's Curtain Club this weekend and have decided to throw a benefit for their fallen compatriot. On Saturday and Sunday, the remaining Daisys will join CENTRO-MATIC, BABOON, LITTLE JACK MELODY, JETSCREAMER and CAPTAIN AUDIO in a bash honoring the life of Berrgren. Proceeds will go to the musician's parents. The cause of death in Berrgren's death is still unknown, pending the autopsy . . .

If you still harbored any doubts about STING's status as the patron saints of Yuppies, wait until you check out his new Web site, designed by computer giant Compaq (the same folks sponsoring his current Brand New Day tour to the tune of $7 million). The spiffy site (www.sting.compaq.com) features four interactive divisions: On The Tour, which gives fans a backstage look at what goes in to mounting a major world tour; All Things Sting, featuring interviews and an amusing bio; Behind The Scenes -- a haven for tech heads and the place where Compaq sneaks in a little self promotion; and Fanfare, directing fans to downloadable freebies and other goodies. Also included is a flash movie, appropriately titled "Brand New Day," and a Shockwave game called "Lyrics In Motion, which is kind of like playing scrabble with all of Sting's songs . . .

Looking for something to do between all those Behind the Music, Legends and Where Are They Now episodes? Take a gander at the just-launched Soundtrack for a Century Web site (millennium.sonymusic.com). In honor of their new twenty-six CD box set surveying 100 years of label history (a hernia-inducing package featuring 479 artists and 547 songs), Sony has created a nostalgia freak's paradise online. Put the entire century of tunes into their "legitimate socio-political context" by delving into page after page of song clips, essays, performance video clips and memorabilia. The timeline navigation takes a bit of getting used to (and some patience), but that's easier to come by than that AL JOLSON wax cylinder your great grandma misplaced before the Depression . . .

The digital label revolution, brewing for the last half-decade, is finally going mainstream. Along with the newly announced MTV-AOL-Universal conglomerate comes word that two unknown bands from an online label are going to be featured on Wednesday's episodes of Dawson's Creek and Roswell. The Dragmatics and Skycopter 9 are signed to Fastband Digital Recordings, the cyber imprint run by producer Paul Fox (XTC, 10,000 MANIACS, WALLFLOWERS) . . .

TLC have just announced fourteen more tour dates in support of their Fan Mail album. The girls, who are currently on the road, will take the month of December off and then head back out on Jan. 3, kicking things off at San Diego's Sports Arena. CHRISTINA AGUILERA and DESTINY'S CHILD will be opening on all dates. Plus, the band is donating 25 cents from each ticket sold to the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, for which TIONNE "T-BOZ" WATKINS is a spokesperson. News of additional dates might come as a surprise, if you've been privy to the recent buzz that LISA "LEFT EYE" LOPES had resigned from the group. But a spokesperson for the band says the rumor takes the facts out of context: Lopes had sent a resignation letter to the group's label, La Face, several months ago, but, as their announcement of new dates makes clear, that situation was long ago resolved.

TLC's January tour:
1/3: San Diego, Calif., Sports Arena
1/5: Oakland, Calif., Coliseum
1/7: Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay Arena
1/8: Los Angeles, Arrowhead Pond
1/10: Seattle, Key Arena
1/14: Chicago, Allstate Arena
1/16: Detroit, Mich., Palace of Auburn Hills
1/18: Cleveland, CSU Convocation Center
1/20: Boston, Fleet Center
1/21: New York, Madison Square Garden
1/23: Washington, DC, MCI Center
1/25: Philadelphia, First Union Center
1/27: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., National Car Rental Center
1/29: Atlanta, Phillips Arena

Despite speculation that KISS would ring in the New Year with METALLICA, KID ROCK and TED NUGENT at the Silverdome in Detroit Rock City, the makeup marauders have announced that they will pop their New Year's Eve champagne corks at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium. According to insiders, great care is being given to improve the acoustics of the venue, since Kiss plan to use the show's recording as the basis for Kiss Alive IV ...

In a Sunday, Nov. 7 interview with the Los Angeles Times, GUNS N' ROSES manager Doug Goldstein revealed that the new in-progress Guns studio album, expected early next year, will be called Chinese Democracy. He also said that the single "Oh My God," featured on the soundtrack to End of Days (out Nov. 9), is "not entirely indicative of what the album's going to be." . . .

PUBLIC ENEMY, GRANDMASTER FLASH, NAS, OUTKAST, SLICK RICK and KRAYZIE BONE and more will perform at a party Wed., Nov. 10 celebrating the opening of the "Roots, Rhymes & Rage: The Hip-Hop Story" exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. The exhibit occupies three floors and will run from Nov. 11 through August 2000. Sections will include: "The Block Party," "The Roots," "The Golden Era," "Controversy, Outrage & the Rise of Gangsta Rap" and "Pop Goes the Culture" . . .

It just wouldn't be a 1999 awards show without RICKY MARTIN, BRITNEY SPEARS and JENNIFER LOPEZ, would it? The ubiquitous trio will perform at the 10th Annual Billboard Music Awards on Dec. 8 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas; the ceremony airs live on FOX at 8 p.m. ET. The RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS will also perform, alongside appearances by BLINK 182, AEROSMITH, CHRISTINA AGUILERA, MARY J. BLIGE, 'N SYNC, JUVENILE and 98 DEGREES. EMMYLOU HARRIS will be honored with the coveted Century Award . . .

SPICE GIRLS enthusiasts, prepare to settle your wagers: GERI HALLIWELL (formerly "Ginger Spice") has beaten EMMA "BABY SPICE" BUNTON to the top of the U.K.'s singles charts this week, settling what had been a feverish debate over whether Halliwell's "Lift Me Up" or Bunton's cover of Edie Brickell and New Bohemians' "What I Am" would make it to No. 1. In other Spice news, the girls plan to release a new single (without Halliwell) in March. ..

BRITNEY SPEARS and 'N SYNC will be headlining Nickelodeon's "The Big Help Holiday Jam," a concert held as part of the cable network's celebration of kid volunteerism, The Big Holiday Help-a-Thon. The teen pop stars' performances will be taped in Los Angeles on Nov. 22 and will be broadcast along with a live New York City dance party on Dec. 11 from 8 to 10 p.m. EST. Plus, the network has appointed MARIAH CAREY as the "Big Help spokesperson," and so, along with ELTON JOHN, she will participate in behind-the-scenes glimpses at celebrities' involvement in different causes...

MADONNA may be getting ready to add another band to her Maverick Records roster. She recently took the SNEAKER PIMPS, those latter-day trip-hoppers who have been label-less since the defection of their singer KELLY DAYTON, to a pricey meal in London. When the Material Mom lamented over cappuccino that she wouldn't be in town for their upcoming shows, the band told her that they would put on a special show just for her. Last Thursday, they did just that at London's ICA. As for Dayton, you can hear her on MARK ALMOND's latest disc, Into the Night ...

The scatologically-minded BLINK-182 are set to release a home video entitled The Urethra Chronicles, due out on Nov. 30. The package includes all the videos from 1997's Dude Ranch and 1999's Enema of the State as well as clips from previously unreleased live footage culled from years on the road.

JENNY ELISCU, JOE ROSENTHAL, CHRISTINA SARACENO, RICHARD SKANSE, JAAN UHELSZKI
(November 9, 1999)