Bruce Springsteen: Tracks, a four CD set containing 66 songs and over four hours of material, will be released by Columbia Records on November 10th, 1998. The collection spans Bruce Springsteen’s entire 25 year career as a recording artist. The box set includes 56 previously unreleased masters, many of which were recorded during the making of The River and Born In The U.S.A. albums. The remaining ten masters on the collection are b-sides, some of which were released only internationally.

Through a cruel twist of editing, David Bowie’s “Sky Life” will not turn up in the upcoming animated “Rugrats” big screen debut. The track, which Bowie worked on with guitarist Reeves Gabrels and producer Tony Visconti, was cut from the film after a bit of re-editing, prompting the film’s musical coordinator, Karyn Rachtman, to say, “I have always wanted to work with David Bowie and I finally had my chance. He delivered a song far beyond my wildest dreams, and now I can’t even use it. The song is beautiful.” The song now, once again, belongs to Bowie and Gabrels, though the future of the track is undetermined. “Unfortunately, it really doesn’t fit in with what I’m doing at the moment,” Bowie said of the track in a written statement. “A shame really, as it was quite sweet for what it was.”

In an effort to help sustain momentum generated by the October launch of Depeche Mode’s first U.S. tour in four years, the band has announced plans to release a new video to accompany the compilation album, Singles 86-98, which arrived in stores this week. Entitled “Depeche Mode: Videos 86-98,” the home video will arrive on November 10th and will include 21 of the British synth-pop band’s music clips, as well as the video for Mode’s new single, “Only When I Lose Myself.” The video collection also incorporates footage of the band discussing its videos and the 25-minute promotional movie “Depeche Mode: A Short Film.”

On Tuesday, 3rd Bass rapper MC Serch confirmed that the Vanilla Ice-dissing hip-hop group is, in fact, preparing to reunite. Serch told MTV News that he will join original partners Pete Nice and DJ Daddy Rich at a surprise show next week at an undisclosed club in New York City. In addition, the band is currently working on a new album featuring cameos by Wylcef Jean and Organized Noize, and hopes to have it released in early 1999. So what have the creators of such classic songs as “Pop Goes The Weasel” and “Gas Face” been up to for the last seven years? Well, Serch currently has his own label, Serchlight Productions, while Pete Nice has apparently left the music business altogether and has been operating a baseball memorabilia business in Cooperstown, New York.

Million Dollar Hotel, the long-talked about film based upon a story idea from Bono of U2, finally appears to be heading into production. German director Wim Wenders has agreed to helm the picture, which will star Milla Jovovich, Jeremy Davies and Oscar-winner Mel Gibson. U2 is expected to provide music for the soundtrack, according to ‘Variety.' The picture will tell the story of a couple (Jovovich and Davies) who get caught up in a murder investigation at the Hotel. Gibson has been cast in a role he knows well from his four Lethal Weapon movies — that of a police detective — and Bono may also be cast in a bit role in the film. Bono has been kicking around the idea for the film for over 10 years, and was inspired after the band stayed at the actual hotel in Los Angeles. U2 even had a Million Dollar Hotel sign constructed for the set of its video for “Where The Streets Have No Name.”

The U.S. version of George Michael's Greatest Hits album will be shy one new song, and the Michael camp is none too happy about it according to his website. The international version of Ladies And Gentlemen - The Best Of George Michael will include a duet with Mary J. Blige on the Stevie Wonder-penned “As,” but Blige’s label, MCA/Universal, has declined permission for the track to be released in America. Far from retreating from the presumably embarrassing, well-publicized incident when he was arrested for performing a sexual act in front of an undercover policeman, he’s having a field day with it, much to the delight of his fans. The greatest hits package had “Ladies And Gentlemen” added to the title reportedly as a bit of toilet humor, supposedly alluding to his favorite hang out. The album’s first single, a new song called “Outside,” opens with a police siren and other similar noises, plus the tune’s lyrics also appear to address the incident. Most recently, the 'London Daily Mirror’ reports that the video for the single contains a scene shot on Wednesday depicting a man being arrested outside a public outdoor washroom after chatting with an undercover officer.