SMALL FACES: Though he’ll probably be tied...

SMALL FACES: Though he’ll probably be tied up in appeals for ages after losing his London lawsuit to get out of his contract with Sony Music, George Michael is getting back to work on his long-delayed “Trojan Souls” project--writing and producing songs to be sung by others, including Elton John, k.d. lang and Aretha Franklin. Fans can also look for a concert special drawn from Michael’s December AIDS benefit at Wembley Arena, featuring guest appearances by lang and Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall, with David Bowie as emcee. The show premieres on the Disney Channel on July 24. . . .

With Bret Michaels mending from his auto accident last month, Poison is gearing up to record its next album--its first with new guitarist Blues Saraceno. Michaels is said to be healing well, considering that he broke his nose and thumb, lost four teeth and chipped his collarbone, among other injuries. The album is due next spring. . . .

We’re surprised it took this long: An L.A. rapper calling himself Steel P has written and produced a song about the O.J. Simpson saga. Titled “Illegal Procedure” and performed by rapper D-Nurse, the song makes no case for the former football star’s guilt or innocence. Steel P has previously recorded “tributes” to Tonya Harding and Heidi Fleiss. . . .

AND ONE MORE THING: If we were teaching English literature, we’d have to give an F to Stevie Nicks for her book report in the current issue of Rolling Stone, where she raves about the book “Vindication” by Frances Sherwood. Nicks gushes that it’s about “Frankenstein” author Mary Shelley (it’s actually about Shelley’s mother, writer Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin), and talks about Shelley’s having a wild affair with Lord Byron (she did nothing of the sort; her half-sister did) and that Shelley’s “mind was wrapped up in a totally crazy guy (Byron)” (actually, her mate was the generally sane, admired poet Percy Bysshe Shelley). Byron, for the record, isn’t even mentioned in the book. Maybe next time Nicks should use Cliffs Notes.*