BO AIN’T DIDDLEY:

Bo Diddley has been ripped off so many times during his career that the R&B; legend now has a firm rule--he doesn’t perform anywhere until the money shows up. That dictum even applied to the Snakes, a young band who persuaded Diddley to perform on a tribute song for their new Curb Records album. Aptly titled “Pay Bo Diddley,” the tune features a guest spot by Bo--and such lyrics as: “What ever happened to Bo Diddley’s money, call the FBI and the IRS, BMI and Leonard Chess, pay Bo Diddley, C . . . A . . . S . . . H . . . Cash!” . . . Phil Collins’ new album, “. . . But Seriously,” features such guests as Eric Clapton (who plays guitar on “I Wish It Would Rain Down”), Steve Winwood (organ on “All of My Life”) and David Crosby (who croons on “Another Day in Paradise”). Vinyl junkies are in for another unpleasant surprise--the CD and cassette versions have two bonus tracks, “Heat on the Street” and “Saturday Night, Sunday Morning.” . . . And our favorite review of Terence Trent D’Arby’s new album comes from Brit-crit Charles Shaar Murray. Writing in Q magazine, Murray says: “ ‘Neither Fish nor Flesh’ is relentlessly peculiar and wildly squiffy , but for its sheer creative pigheadedness and refusal to pander to conventional marketing wisdom, it deserves a bonus star.” Consider us puzzled--is squiffy good or bad? Since we couldn’t locate Murray, we looked up squiffy in “Understanding British English,” a Yank’s guide to obscure British slang. It says squiffy means drunk. Our British expatriate pals say Murray finds D’Arby’s album squiffy-- as in giddy or dizzy with inventiveness. Oh.