Rock News: Music's high and low notes

IN LOVING MEMORY OF ROCK 'N' ROLL

The Who will continue to market the John Entwistle tribute tour even now that it's over. Each show of the tour, which went on despite charter member Entwistle's death on the eve of the first night, is being sold by the band over the Internet. Beginning with the Detroit show, EelPie.com and TheMusic.com are selling exclusive live recordings on disc of shows from the 2002 Who tour of North America. The shows were recorded and mixed live from the sound board. Profits from the sale will go to as-yet unspecified "young peoples' charities" supported by The Who.

MTV CELEBRATES VIDEO AWARDS

The MTV Video Awards don't take place until Thursday at New York's Radio City Music Hall but the music channel is planning a massive series of parties before and after to celebrate the event. The festivities begin Tuesday night with a free party at Pier 54 starring techno rocker Moby. DJs Sasha and John Digweed and Canadian rockers Our Lady Peace also are playing the party, which kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Moby needs the exposure. After selling 10 million copies of "Play," his latest album, "18," has sold a mere half-million copies, which doesn't cover the overhead these days in the high-stakes world of pop promotions.

UGLY MOMENTS BEHIND THE MUSIC RELIVED

MTV offshoot VH1 also has a big week of celebrations planned -- a birthday party for the shocking "Behind the Music" series, which hits its fifth anniversary. The music channel will present a special week of "Greatest Hits" compilations focusing on the bizarre and often disgusting antics of its subjects. The shows include "BTM's Raunchiest," the ultimate gross-out fest; "Riches To Rags," a leering look at big egos ground to dust; "Most Shocking Moments," which leaves little to the imagination; "Heartbreaks," a change-of-pace bit of fluff rehashing the Fleetwood Mac crew; "Near-Death," a ghastly look at rockers trying to croak themselves; and, "Updates and Fresh Takes," a grab bag of star gossip.

3LW BREAKUP EXPLAINED

Adrienne Bailon and Kiely Williams of 3LW are denying claims by former band member Naturi Naughton she was forced out of the group. "We've been disappointed by the comments Naturi has made on radio and most recently on MTV's TRL," Bailon said in a statement released by the group's label, Epic Records.

"Like most girlfriends, we've had our share of differences. However, at no time was Naturi subjected to any physical abuse. We totally deny claims made against us," Williams said. "I know this sounds like a juicy story to people, but it's really disappointing to see that there are those who have judged the situation before even hearing our point of view."

3LW will continue the current promotional tour in support of the upcoming album "A Girl Can Mack." The album is due in stores October 2002 and features songs produced by P. Diddy and Mario Winans, Montell Jordan and Lil Steve Russell, as well as appearances by Treach of Naughty by Nature, Loon and Lil Kim.

GUITAR TRIO PUTS OUT TWO ALBUMS

The California Guitar Trio -- Bert Lams, Hideyo Moriya and Paul Richards -- has signed with InsideOut Music America and will release two albums this year.

"CG3+2," out Sept. 3, features King Crimson bass guitarist Tony Levin and drummer Pat Mastelotto as special guests. The holiday album "10 Christmas Songs" is set for release Nov. 5.

"We got to know Tony and Pat quite well when we opened up for King Crimson several years ago," Richards said. "We had to take their schedules into consideration when we made this album. Initially, they were more available than you might expect but several things happened.

"Tony, who is always very busy, hadn't been touring with King Crimson recently, but he was supposed to go out with Seal and that eventually fell through. We then got an offer to do an album with Tony and drummer Terry Bozzio. There were some tour dates booked but Terry couldn't do it and Pat got in touch with us and suggested he fill in," Richards added.