Rock News: Music's high and low notes

KELLY OSBOURNE IN HAIRSPRAY?

The New York Post reports Kelly Osbourne loved "Hairspray" so much, she wants to be the next Tracy Turnblad. "After seeing the show last week, Kelly and her mom Sharon came backstage and told the casting director Kelly wants to star in the show," a source told The Post. Current "Hairspray" lead Jaret Winokur's contract runs through August, but if the producers have heard Osbourne sing Winokur has nothing to worry about.

LIFEHOUSE SETS U.S. TOUR

Lifehouse is set to hit the road here at home, the band's first American tour since the September release of "Stanley Climbfall." Since last September, the band has toured Europe, Australia and Japan, performed a string of radio shows in December and opened up for the Rolling Stones, but this is Lifehouse's first stateside tour in support of the new album.

This also is the first U.S. tour with Lifehouse's newest member, Sean Woolstenhulme, who officially joined the band in September. Sean is the lead guitarist, a former member of The Calling, and also the brother of Lifehouse drummer, Rick. The brothers, who are best friends and have been hoping to end up in the same band for years, joke any infamous "Oasis style sibling rivalry" is highly unlikely.

GET THE CURE

Ross Robinson, known for his production wizardry on projects with KoRn, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Sepultura, At The Drive-In, and the red-hot punksters The Blood Brothers, fulfilled a lifelong ambition to work with the legendary British band The Cure by signing them to his own imprint, I AM Recordings/ARTISTdirect Records.

"The Cure has been my favorite band for years and years," he said. "They were instrumental in my approach to production. It was The Cure that opened me up to a more sensitive, heartfelt type of music, and I've been extremely loyal to that feeling in every project I've done since then."

Led by charismatic singer/guitarist/songwriter Robert Smith, The Cure played a seminal role in launching Modern Alternative Rock after their emergence in the late '70s. In the years that have followed, the band has released a long string of hit albums and singles, during which their sound has constantly evolved, from the darkly ambitious early albums "Seventeen Seconds," "Faith," and "Pornography," into the more accessible, pop-inflected "The Head On The Door," and "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me," the landmark, "Disintegration" and the hugely successful "Wish", through to the most recent, "Bloodflowers."

DANIEL JOHNSTON COMPILATION

Dualtone Records will release a special double CD compilation of avant-garde singer/songwriter Daniel Johnston's music April 15, "The Early Recordings of Daniel Johnston, Volume 1." The album is comprised of the Texas-based performer's first two recordings, "Songs of Pain" and "More Songs of Pain," recorded in the basement of his parent's house, originally released on homemade cassette tapes and available for the first time ever on CD.

Louis Black, editor of the Austin Chronicle, and Paul Leary, member of the Butthole Surfers and producer of some of Daniel's later albums for Atlantic Records, are writing liner notes for the set and the packaging contains all new original artwork from Johnston.

A fixture on the Austin music scene since the 1980s, Johnston's music was first embraced by local musicians and then by the international music community, who discovered him through his homemade tapes, which were passed from performer to performer. Johnston soon evolved into an alternative/underground icon, becoming a favorite of Sonic Youth, the Butthole Surfers, David Byrne and Nirvana (Kurt Cobain was often photographed wearing a Daniel Johnston T-shirt).

During that time, he also made an appearance on MTV's "Cutting Edge" show. Both Nirvana and Sonic Youth performed his songs on stage. In addition to the Butthole Surfers, others who've recorded Johnston's songs include Mike Watt, Mary Lou Lord, Jad Fair and Kramer, Built to Spill, the Reivers, Yo La Tengo, the Wild Seeds, Half Japanese and the Dead Milkmen.

THE FINAL CUT

Hank Ballard, the originator of "The Twist," died Sunday without ever getting due recognition for being one of the most important figures in rock history. Ballard was a sensation in the rhythm and blues world, fronting the Johnny Otis-lead Midnighters, whose "Work With Me Annie" was the biggest soul hit of 1954, setting the stage for rock 'n' roll's big breakthrough the following year. Ballard wrote and recorded a version of "The Twist" in 1958, but his record company didn't promote the tune and Chubby Checker ended up cutting the hit version. Ballard was a true original and a far more important figure in rock than history has credited him.