Thanks a Lot for the Plug, Mom : Pop: Ingrid Croce gives shot in the arm to her son, A. J., during national television program.

Last week, local-boy-in-the-process-of-making-gooJ. Croce got his first mention on national television during the taping of the daytime gab-a-thon, “Vicki!,” hosted by Vicki (“The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”) Lawrence. The mentioner, it turns out, has a vested interest in the singing, songwriting and piano-playing 21-year-old.

Ingrid Croce, A. J.’s mom, was one of three guests on the show, whose wives-of-rock-stars theme made somewhat forced compatriots of Croce, Linda McCartney and Myra Williams (former teen bride of Jerry Lee Lewis). Although Croce was there ostensibly to talk about life with her late husband, singer-songwriter Jim Croce, she didn’t miss the opportunity both to plug her mini-empire of eateries on 5th Avenue and to tout A. J.’s upcoming album on the Private Music label.

That album, it so happens, remains a work in progress. In October, the younger Croce recorded 11 songs at Dr. John’s Ultra Sonic Studios in New Orleans under the guidance of producer-engineer Al Schmitt, renowned for his ‘60s-era work with Sam Cooke, Jefferson Airplane, Elvis Presley and, more recently, for his Grammy-winning effort on Natalie Cole’s “Unforgettable” album.

After hearing the rough mixes, the folks at Private Music decided they liked the songs and Croce’s performances, but were less than ecstatic about the instrumental backing provided by several N’Awlins session players. The label strongly recommended a new producer: T Bone Burnett, whose credits include Roy Orbison, Elvis Costello, and Sam Phillips.

Burnett will be in town to hear Croce and his band play at Croce’s in the Gaslamp Quarter on Saturday night. Then, with Burnett and Schmitt working together, the recording project will resume in Los Angeles the last week of December and the first week of January. Croce’s local bandmates might get a shot at playing on the album, and one rumor has Costello helping with song arrangements. Look for an April release date.

Mike Keneally has maintained an elastic connection to the San Diego music scene since moving to North Hollywood a couple years ago. And, in spite of a sporadically hectic schedule of work in the Big Orange and elsewhere, he keeps snapping back to town.

In late summer, Keneally--erstwhile leader of the local band Drop Control and celebrated guitarist for Frank Zappa--put the finishing touches on his debut solo CD, “Hat” (named for Keneally’s signature item of apparel) at Double Time Studios in El Cajon. Delays in processing the album’s artwork have pushed a projected release date of Dec. 15 to “sometime in early 1993.”

But Keneally is not one to sit idle. For the past couple of weeks, he has been in town producing albums for two local bands--Ryebabies (at Double Time) and Hate Romance (at The Studio)--both of which will be released early next year. Last weekend, an exhausted Keneally returned to L.A. to begin rehearsals for a gig Friday night at the Santa Monica venue, At My Place, with violinist Shankar. As a member of Dweezil Zappa’s band (which now goes by the name Z, Keneally also will be working on the Dweez’s next album, “Shampoo Horn,” scheduled for a March release.

Officially, Keneally’s 25-tune “Hat”--an impressive juggling act of complex structures, lucid rockin’, and ingenious musical-lyrical dementia--will be unveiled sometime in March at a CD-release party at the Rhythm Cafe.

Music clubs come and go in San Diego, but only the 18-year-old Belly Up Tavern is sufficiently well-established to support an on-site recording studio, boast a popular restaurant and bar, publish a monthly newsletter/schedule of events for an extensive mailing-list clientele, and serve as a classroom for group instruction in a variety of new and old dance styles. Now, the venerable Solana Beach venue even has its own calendar.

As of Dec. 10, $5 will buy you a 1993 Belly Up Tavern calendar featuring photos of artists captured in the act on the club’s stage. Local photographers Steve Sherman, Christina Hyde, Clark Crouse and Keith Ahlstrom have contributed black-and-white photos of Chris Isaak, George Clinton, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Australia’s Yothu Yindi, Leon Russell, John Mayall, Dave Alvin, the Paladins, the Selecter, Albert Collins, U-Roy, and even homeboy Country Dick Montana holding forth at the club.

And you might even feel better purchasing this stocking-stuffer, which is printed on heavy, glossy stock, than you would doling out big bucks for that Claudia Schiffer wall-mount you’ve been eyeing. Proceeds from the sale of the Belly Up calendar will benefit the San Diego Youth and Community Services organization, which operates an emergency shelter for homeless youth and other programs for elders and teens. The calendar will be sold at the Belly Up.

Local country artist Calman Hart has completed work on his follow-up to last year’s critically praised solo CD, “Red-Eyed and Blue.” The still-untitled new album, which features 10 new Hart originals, was recorded in Nashville with Grammy-winning producer Bill Vorndick at the controls and with a posse of in-demand session players that included dobro maestro, Jerry Douglas. Look for a February release.

BOOKINGS: (Tickets for the following concerts will be sold at all TicketMaster outlets--278-TIXS--unless otherwise specified.) Upcoming shows at the Belly Up Tavern (481-9022) include the Paladins and Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Boys on Dec. 26; and a New Year’s Eve bash featuring John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and the Juke Logan All-Stars featuring Brenda Burns. . . .

Concerts at the Rhythm Cafe (576-CAFE) include country star Gary Morris tonight; Dave Mason on Thursday; the Neville Brothers and the Gin Blossoms on Dec. 27; a rare club performance by the band X on Dec. 30; a New Year’s Eve show featuring Eddie Money; the Beat Farmers on Jan. 2; and B.B. King on Jan. 7 (two shows) . . . .

Flotsam & Jetsam and Burning Hands play Club 860 on Dec. 20 ($8.02 at TicketMaster or at the club’s box office, 272-1513). . . . And White Zombie passes through Iguanas on Jan. 23 ($12).

CRITIC’S CHOICE

CELEBRATING WITH MOJO

How better simultaneously to celebrate the holidays and to register a rebellious “Bah, humbug!” than to attend a release party for Mojo Nixon’s twisted seasonal recording, “Horny Holidays”?

You can do that Thursday night when the Moj and his band, the Toadliquors, are joined by Candye Kane and the Swingin’ Armadillos, and Jack Tempchin and the Cosmic Ramblers, for a 9 p.m. gig at the Belly Up Tavern. All for an un-Scroogey $8. For information, call 481- 9022.