IT'S SHOWTIME FOR GUADAGNO

The late Terry Magovern carried a lot of clout, and not just on the East Coast within the Bruce Springsteen community.

Earlier this year, when producers of the Showtime/David Duchovny series Californication were looking to learn more about Matawan singer/songwriter Pat Guadagno, they called Magovern, who gave his OK.

Thanks in part to Magovern's seal of approval, Guadagno's cover of the Warren Zevon song "Don't Let Us Get Sick" will be featured in Californication near the end of the Sept. 17 episode, which will begin at 10:30 p.m.

Guadagno performs regularly along the Jersey Shore and is perhaps best known for organizing Bob Dylan birthday shows at such venues as Red Bank's Two River Theater Company.

He'll perform tonight (Aug. 31) at Windansea in Highlands and Monday (Sept. 3) at the Sugar Shack, also in Highlands.



HOLIDAY SOUNDS ON THE HORIZON

Labor Day weekend has arrived, and technically, there are a few weeks of summer left.

Nevertheless, the Christmas album push has already started.

Raul Malo, the former lead singer for the country-rock band The Mavericks, has recorded a batch of yuletide classics for Marshmallow World & Other Holiday Favorites. The album is due Sept. 25 via New Door Records/UMe, and Malo will support it with his Christmas Party Tour, which is scheduled to begin Nov. 28 in Ridgefield, Conn. Other stops include New York (Dec. 12) and Atlantic City (Dec. 14).

Then there's Relient K, which will release Let It Snow, Baby … Let It Reindeer on Oct. 23 via Capitol. The pop-punk band has added seven songs to 2003's Deck the Halls and Bruise Your Hand; among the new tunes is one called "I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas."

TV TIME FOR ATKINS

It's not often that a choir performs on the Late Show With David Letterman.

To be more specific, a choir dressed in white featuring notable names from the rock 'n' roll community.

For her Letterman performance of "1 2 3 4" on Monday (Aug. 27), Canadian singer/songwriter Feist had vocal support from members of The National, New Pornographers and Broken Social Scene, as well as Jersey Shore-bred Nicole Atkins.

A clip of the performance is available via YouTube.

Atkins will return to the Letterman show on Oct. 30. But for that performance, she'll be in the spotlight as she promotes her album Neptune City (Columbia), due in stores that same day.

"The Way It Is," the first single from Neptune City, can be heard via her MySpace page.

A SMART DECISION

A band worth its salt will opt for making an album over working on summer tans any day of the week.

Choosing a recording studio over the sun, The Brilliant Mistakes have spent recent months in a dark Bronx basement facility called Lincoln's Log Cabin with producer Lincoln Schleifer. In a recent e-mail, the musicians claimed their "lily-white skin" is a testament to their commitment "to make the best album of our questionable career."

Whether in conversation or with lyrics, the crafty New York power-pop band has a way with words. Musically and sonically, singer/bassist Erik Philbrook says his group has broadened its horizons this time around, using a variety of vintage keyboards and compressors.

"I'm really excited about 'Becoming,' " says Philbrook. "It has sort of a dreamy, stream-of-consciousness vibe to it. I had always imagined it as a very quiet, acoustic song. In the studio, Lincoln suggested using a drum effect he found on this vintage Hammond Aurora Classic organ. When we recorded the song, he cranked up this drum track, and we played to it to great effect. The recorded song now has this casual funk to it that I never expected.

Thematically, says Philbrook, there are a few "post-9/11 songs” on the new album, "but they weren't written necessarily in response to that event. I guess they just resonate differently in light of the world in the past few years. So, in that regard, they are about soldiering on, trying to live the life that's in front of you, and not letting the distress of our times keep you down."

The new Brilliant Mistakes album, the follow-up to 2003's Dumb Luck, should see the light of day in November via Aunt Mimi's Records, the band's own label. Meanwhile, listen for some new material at 9 p.m. Thursday (Aug. 30) when the group performs at The Living Room, 154 Ludlow St. in Manhattan. Call (212) 533-7235 for more information.

IF YOU WANT BOTH (YOU GOT IT)

Some AC/DC fans prefer the Bon Scott era, while others gravitate toward the music made during the Brian Johnson years.

All parties should be pleased with Plug Me In, a DVD boxed set due Oct. 16 via Columbia Records that will feature performances from both singers, as well as interviews.

The first disc focuses on the Scott era, including a TV performance of "High Voltage" from October 1975. The second disc covers the Johnson years and features more than 20 performances.

A deluxe edition of Plug Me In will contain a third DVD of additional Scott and Johnson performances.

SPRINGSTEEN'S ROCKING 'RADIO'

Attention all Bruce Springsteen fans who have wanted him to curb his folk tendencies -- your prayers have been answered.

"Radio Nowhere" -- a no-doubt-about-it rocker from Magic, his new album with the E Street Band -- has been leaked. There isn't much to it lyrically, but the tune has a steady backbeat, snarling guitars and a blast of sax courtesy of Clarence Clemons.

Magic is due Oct. 2.

BACH IS BACK

In recent years, former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach has done some reality TV and Broadway work, plus had a recurring role on The Gilmore Girls and, of course, performed his share of concerts around the globe.

On Nov. 20, the longtime Jersey Shore resident will end an eight-year gap between solo albums with the release of Angel Down via Merovingian Music and Bach's own Get Off My Bach Productions.

Bach and his band recorded Angel Down this summer at Sound City Studios in Hollywood, Calif. He wrote or co-wrote nine of the album's 14 songs, including "(Love Is) A B----slap," the first radio track. Angel Down also includes Bach's take on the Aerosmith classic "Back in the Saddle."

The cover art for Angel Down is an original painting called "David's Watching," the last work done by Bach's father, David Bierk, who died in 2002. (Skid Row fans might recall that Bierk created the cover art featured on the band's Slave to the Grind album.)

"(Love Is) A B----slap," which already has been played on some terrestrial radio stations even though its official add date is Sept. 4, can be heard now via the Octane channel on Sirius Satellite Radio.

ROCKING GOTHAM

It's only fitting to have a New York-based band play the first show at a new Manhattan concert venue.

That's what is scheduled to happen on Oct. 11, when The National (above) plays Terminal 5, a Bowery Presents venue at 610 W. 56th St. that Billboard.com says has a capacity of 3,000.

Other confirmed shows include The Shins (Oct. 23-24) and The Decemberists (Nov. 1-2).

Tickets for the National show go on sale Friday (Aug. 17); tickets for the Shins shows go on sale Saturday (Aug. 18). Go to www.bowerypresents.com for more information.

NO KIDDING AROUND

Its target audience is children, but there's a grown-up flavor to Nickelodeon's Yo Gabba Gabba!

The live-action music series, which will premiere Aug. 20 at 10:30 a.m. ET, will feature such guests as Mark Mothersbaugh, The Shins and Sugarland, as well as Mya, Biz Markie and Sean Kingston.

Visit www.nick.com for more information.

ROKY TO THE RESCUE

Underdog, Bratz, I Know Who Killed Me -- in case there was any doubt, this cinematic crud proves that the dog days of summer movies are upon us.

For those with a rock 'n' roll movie jones to fill, the situation gets worse: Shine a Light, the Rolling Stones film directed by Martin Scorsese, is more than a month away from hitting the big screen.

Of course, there always are rentals to fill the void. As for recent rockin' home-viewing releases, You're Gonna Miss Me (Palm Pictures), a documentary that traces the ups and downs of singer/guitarist Roky Erickson, does the trick.

Erickson, while far from a household name, can be considered a contemporary of Brian Wilson in terms of musical talent and mental illness. As a member of the Austin, Texas, band The 13th Floor Elevators, Erickson had a flash of fame when "You're Gonna Miss Me" hit No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1966. (In 2000, the song was featured in the John Cusack film High Fidelity.)

He went on to make some great music after that (most notably as a solo artist and with The Aliens), but Erickson's struggles with mental illness, as well as prescription and psychedelic drugs, would dominate his life and career.

You're Gonna Miss Me traces the highs and lows, along with Erickson's dealings with his mother and siblings.

Thanks to his brother Sumner, Erickson is back on track and in recent years has returned to performing. His next U.S. gig is Aug. 24 in Seattle.



FIT FOR THE KING

Elvis Presley loved his peanut butter -- more precisely, his fried peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches.

If the King of Rock 'n' Roll were still alive (and not on a strict diet), most likely he would have enjoyed the new Reese's product that bears his name and likeness on the wrapper and features a thin layer of banana creme.

There are four collector-edition packages, and they contain game pieces that might be good for a number of prizes, among them a 1957 Cadillac Elvis Tribute Car and a trip for four to Presley's Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn.

ON THE TUBE

MyNetwork will air the World Music Awards 2007 on Wednesday night (Aug. 8); look for appearances by Beyonce, Nelly Furtado, Michael Jackson and others.

WE'RE LEFT TO WONDER

Baltimore and Boston both are a reasonable car or train ride away from the Jersey Shore.

And unless Stevie Wonder adds concerts in or near the Garden State, those cities will be the closest his headlining tour comes to New Jersey.

Wonder announced Thursday that he will hit the road for the first time in more than a decade. The final two shows of the 13-date "A Wonder Summer's Night Tour" will be Sept. 16 at Baltimore's Pier Six Pavilion and Sept. 20 at Boston's Bank of America Pavilion. Tickets for at least some of the shows will be available starting Saturday (Aug. 4) via www.ticketmaster.com.

"I am looking forward to performing in these venues under the stars," Wonder said via a statement.

Hey, Stevie, please don't overlook Holmdel's PNC Bank Arts Center or Camden's Tweeter Center at the Waterfront -- they’re amphitheaters, too. And New York's Central Park isn't a bad outdoorsy place to play, either.

Speaking of New York, Wonder will perform at Radio City Music Hall on Sept. 18 as part of The Dream Concert, an all-star show to raise funds for the building of a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Tickets for this show are available now; go to www.radiocity.com or www.ticketmaster.com for more information.