Fans who pick up a copy of Aerosmith's new double-live disc, A Little South of Sanity, may want to be careful how loud they crank up the volume, based on a lawsuit filed on Monday by a concertgoer who attended an October 1997 Aerosmith show. The plaintiff, Mark Meto, claims that he suffered permanent hearing loss following an Aerosmith performance at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, California, and that he was not made aware of the possibility of such a hearing loss prior to the show, according to the Associated Press. Meto's suit cites both Aerosmith and the publicly-owned Concord Pavilion as the parties responsible for his condition and seeks damages based on incurred medical expenses and lost wages.

There will be a rebroadcast of the Howard Jones RealVideo cybercast from Homdel NJ on LiveConcerts.com, tonight! (October 23rd at 6:30 pm PDT 9:30 pm EDT. 1:30 am GMT). (This performance and original cybercast took place on August 2nd 1998.) http://liveconcerts.com/events/981023howardjones

If you think it’s been a while since you've heard from New Edition or Bell Biv Devoe, you are not alone. The group members (Michael Bivins, Ricky Bell, Ronald Devoe, Ralph Tresvant, and Johnny Gill) are being sued by MCA Records for breach of contract. The record label claims that it is still owed six albums from the New Edition camp, two from Bell Biv Devoe and four from New Edition. In related news, Bivins has moved on to form a label of his own, Biv10 Records, and is currently working on a release from his youngest signees, the pee wee hip-hop outfit Magnificent 7.

Electronic, the duo consisting of Bemard Sumner of New Order and ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, are currently mastering their third album, tentatively titled Twisted Tenderness. The album is due to be released early next year and currently are shopping for a U.S. label. Electronic had originally planned on a pre-Christmas release for Twisted Tenderness, but the New Order reunion obviously has taken a large chunk of Sumner’s time away from the album in the past nine months. Touring looks unlikely for Electronic with Sumner leaning towards a ‘99 New Order schedule.

Before hitting the road in support of their latest Greatest Hits album (due Oct. 27th on Beyond/Motley Records), Motley Crue hits the wrestling mats. After a live taping of Raw Is War, the Monday night wrestling show on the USA Network this week they head to Madison, Wis. to tape a live performance. The Crue’s live debut of “Bitter Pill” will air on the USA Network wrestling show Sunday Night Heat on Oct. 25th. They will also perform “Wild Side,” with D-Generation X wrestler Road Dog Jesse James helping out on vocals. “Wild Side” will air Oct. 26th on Raw Is War.

Even after turning up on Christmas ornaments, golf balls, credit cards, and a seemingly endless parade of merchandise, the guys in Kiss are still finding new things to put their faces on. The glam metal icons will take on the Beanie Babies with their own line of bean bag dolls, which fans can order through David Snowden Promotions (at www.davidsnowden.com). Individually, the four dolls are going for $13, but die-hards can order all four in a numbered limited edition set that comes complete with a “Psycho Circus” wagon for $100. The collectibles recently made a brief debut on the Home Shopping Network, where they will turn up once again on October 29th.

De La Soul has been sneaking into the studio to record their follow-up to 1996’s Stakes Is High. After 13 years together and four albums, De La Soul is planning to mix up the chemistry a little for the new album and bring in both old school and contemporary rappers for a string of guest appearances. “De La has always been self-contained over the years,” De La Soul’s Maseo told the MTV Radio Network. “We’ll always do De La records, but there’s so many people in the business we respect and before we say, 'Yo, we retire,' we want to get an opportunity to work with some of the artists that are out there from new to old.” The rappers are being very tight-lipped on who they are working with for the new album, but Maseo did say that it may be a triple album, and according to De La Soul’s label, the as-yet-untitled record should be out in May of next year.

Morrissey returned to the High Court in London this week to appeal against the 1996 ruling that left him over a million pounds poorer following a suit brought forth by former Smiths members Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce. Rourke and Joyce sued Morrissey for performing and recording royalties; their QC claimed that Morrissey and Johnny Marr (the songwriting team behind The Smiths) had paid themselves four times as much as Joyce and Rourke without their knowledge. The appeal rests on a challenge to the understanding of the original agreement between the members of The Smiths.

On the heels of a brief and alluring television commercial that ran in September during the MTV Video Music Awards broadcast, there is now a print version of the ad — which teases the release of the new NIN recording — in the pop-culture magazine Gear. However, the ad offers little more than a few odd clues. “It will all begin to make more sense over time,” explained NIN spokeswoman Sioux Zimmerman. “There will be a little bit here, a bit there. It will all build up [to the album’s release].” The print ad, like the televised clip that gave the first clues of a release, features the word “ninetynine” in orange with the band’s trademark backward 'n's in the same font used on the cover of NIN’s 1992 EP, Broken. It also includes the logo of bandleader Trent Reznor's label, Nothing Records, and a copyright notation. The new album will be NIN’s third studio LP of all-new material since the band’s formation in 1987. In addition to its 1989 debut, Pretty Hate Machine, which featured the alt-rock hit “Head Like a Hole.”

While the Rolling Stones get ready for next month’s release of their new live album, No Security, Mick Jagger is busy lining up a pair of new film deals — one of which may become an acting vehicle for the singer, while the other has drawn the interest of director Martin Scorsese. Jagger is co-writing a movie based on his 30 years worth of rock & roll experiences with Scorsese and Rich Cohen, and Scorsese says he eventually wants to direct the picture, according to ‘Variety.' The Stones singer, who was in drag for his last on-screen appearance in “Bent,” the 1997 film about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals, has also just sold the rights to “Swap,” a role-reversal comedy based on the lives of rock stars and roadies.