FIRST OFF . . .

Avid Springsteen-watchers had today circled on their calendars as the release date of “Brilliant Disguise,” the first single from Bruce’s long-awaited album “Tunnel of Love.” But “Disguise” won’t be out today, after all. Actually, the single, whose flip side is a non-album track called, “Lucky Man,” was never scheduled to arrive in stores today at all. The erroneous information, widely circulated in the media, was apparently based on a Columbia Records in-house schedule with today as a tentative target date. Even now, the label is not announcing an official release date. But the artwork has been completed, and the label is aiming for a Sept. 17 release, with the album following around Oct. 5.