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) . . .

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