Rock News Two: The week in pop music

EMINEM STILL RUNNING 'SHOW'

Korn's "Untouchables" had a pretty strong sales debut Tuesday, but not strong enough to knock "The Eminem Show" out of the top spot on the album chart.

Korn opened at No. 2 on estimated sales of 434,000, according to SoundScan. Eminem sold another 530,000 copies to hold the top spot for a fourth straight week, and run its sales overall to 2.9 million copies in less than one month.

"The Osbourne Family Album" finished at No. 13 in its debut week, with 57,000 copies sold.

MANSON FINED FOR GENITALS ACT

A judge in suburban Detroit fined Marilyn Manson $4,000 Wednesday after the shock-rocker pleaded no contest in a misdemeanor assault and battery and disorderly conduct case, in which he was accused of rubbing his genitals against a security guard's head during an OzzFest gig last July.

The judge rejected a recommendation by prosecutors that Manson be sent to jail and ordered to get counseling. Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, wore a suit and tie -- but not the makeup his fans are used to seeing.

Afterwards, he told reporters he couldn't complain about the outcome.

"I think it was very fair and very understanding," said Warner. "I think it's a bit of a victory for art and I feel justice was served."

The security guard's lawyer had a different take on the sentence -- and Manson's interpretation of it.

"There's nothing artful about sexual assault," said John Nickola, the lawyer who is handling a lawsuit for Joshua Keasler. "Art has nothing to do with it."

BILL JOEL IN REHAB

As the week came to a close, Billy Joel was expected to be out of a Connecticut substance abuse rehab center almost any day, after a brief stay for treatment of an undisclosed "personal problem.

A publicist for the Grammy-winning musician said he checked himself into the Silver Hill Hospital for a stay that he had planned weeks in advance.

"Billy Joel recently checked himself into Silver Hill Hospital for a planned 10-day stay to deal with a specific and personal problem that had recently developed," said the statement.

The Advocate of Stamford reported that the 53-year-old singer was being treated at Silver Hill's chemical dependency treatment center.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Elvis Presley has his 18th No. 1 hit in Britain, outdoing the Beatles after sharing the record at 17 No. 1's for years with John, Paul, George and Ringo.

The remix of "A Little Less Conversation" hit the top of the British chart on Monday, two months shy of the 25th anniversary of Presley's death. It's scheduled to be released in the United States on June 25.

P. DIDDY DIDN'T

Rapper Sean Combs, aka Puff Daddy aka P. Diddy, is seldom at a loss for words, but he kept a low profile while reporting for jury duty in Manhattan Civil Court.

Combs is familiar with the setting from the defendant's point of view, but this time he enjoyed the view from the jury box. Lawyers didn't question his assertion that he couldn't be an impartial juror and sent him home.

VINTAGE SIMON & GARFUNKEL LIVE

Simon & Garfunkel never released a live album when they were recording together, but fans of the group know about a state of the art recording from a 1967 Philharmonic Hall concert.

The recording will finally be released next month on Columbia/Legacy.

"Live From New York City 1967" documents a show from Jan. 22, 1967, at Philharmonic Hall in New York City's Lincoln Center. The performance epitomized the folk music era of the 1960's that was about to disappear when the set was recorded.

Liner notes are by New York Times writer and Rolling Stone contributor Anthony DeCurtis.

LITTLE STEVEN SAYS IT'S 'JUST TERRIFIC'

E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt says Bruce and the band could be on the road a couple of weeks after Springsteen's upcoming album, "The Rising," hits stores July 30 -- and could keep touring for more than a year.

Van Zandt told the Boston Herald the album sort of reminds him of the Beatles' classic, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" -- and he figures he isn't the only one who will hear that.

"It's got that 'Sgt. Pepper' kind of vibe," he said, "and I won't be surprised if that comes up in the reviews. This is the first time you'll hear traces of the Beatles' influence in the music, which has never been obvious before."

Van Zandt said the new music is "just terrific ... very different, very interesting, and absolutely tremendous." He said it contains elements from every record Springsteen and the E Street Band have done, but isn't like any of them.

GO-GO'S COMING TO SMALL SCREEN?

According to a report in Daily Variety, ABC is developing a TV movie that will tell the story of the Go-Go's -- described as the MTV era's first superstar, all-girl rock 'n' roll band.

According to the report, the picture could be ready for a February 2003 sweeps air date.

The screenplay reportedly will be an account of the rise of five suburbanite girls through the Hollywood punk scene of the late '70s, their success as mainstream rock icons and their eventual breakup in the mid-'80s -- followed by a reconciliation.

NEW U2

U2 has posted a preview of its new song "The Hands That Built America" on its official Web site (u2.com) -- featuring a video clip of the band working in the studio.

Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry actually introduced the song several weeks ago in a performance originating in Ireland, transmitted by satellite to the first Tribeca Film Festival in New York to promote the upcoming Martin Scorsese movie "Gangs of New York." The song will be on the soundtrack.

INDIGO GIRLS TOUR INFO

The Indigo Girls continue their 2002 "Become You" tour with a full band on June 26, playing the Alabama Theater in Birmingham with Norah Jones.

"Become You," the eighth studio album by Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, was produced by Peter Collins, who also produced their 1992 platinum album "Rites of Passage." Plans call for the Indigo Girls to play four more dates with Norah Jones in June, and then play several dates in July with Lisa Loeb, K's Choice and Vonda Shepard.

NEW COLDPLAY

Coldplay's second album, "A Rush of Blood to the Head," has a release date -- Aug. 27.

The album was produced by the band and Ken Nelson -- the same team that did Coldplay's platinum-selling debut album "Parachutes," which won a Grammy this year for best alternative music album. The new effort was recorded at George Martin's AIR Studios in London and Parr Street Studios in Liverpool.

Plans call for the first single, "In My Place," to be featured in an exclusive AOL "First Listen" on Tuesday at 5pm EDT (AOL KW: First Listen/music.netscape.com.ed). The video for the single will have its debut on June 22 at LAUNCH.