POP/ROCK - Aug. 19, 1995

Will Club Make the Top 10?: The Billboard Music Group, which publishes industry magazines including Billboard and Music Monitor, is getting into the nightclub act. Early next year, the company will open a club called Billboard Live at 9039 Sunset Blvd., the West Hollywood site formerly occupied by Gazzarri’s. Plans call for the combination of “a live venue, a dance club and an upscale supper club under the umbrella of the prestigious Billboard name.” Incorporated into the three-level club’s design will be screens containing various Billboard music charts. The company says it hopes to house future nationally televised music shows at the location, and it is planning additional Billboard Live venues for other major cities worldwide. . . . Also getting into the club business is Suge Knight, CEO of Death Row Records, the label made famous by such rap artists as Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg. Knight will open his venue--a Las Vegas haunt called Club 662--tonight, immediately following the Mike Tyson fight. The opening of the club will feature performances by Jodeci and other Death Row artists.

Battery Citation: Singer Bobby Brown was cited for battery at West Hollywood’s Le Montrose Suite Hotel early Friday for allegedly kicking a security guard who responded to complaints from other guests about a noisy party in Brown’s room. A court date has not been set. Brown, 26, also faces charges in Florida for allegedly beating a nightclub patron in April. In 1993, police in Augusta, Ga. cited Brown, who is married to singer Whitney Houston, for simulating a sex act with a female member of his group in front of an underage audience. He was arrested for a similar display at a 1989 concert in Columbus, Ga.

MOVIES

A Mickey Mouse Deal: With three high-profile pictures under her belt, actress Sandra Bullock has joined the ranks of Hollywood’s producers. Bullock (“Speed,” “While You Were Sleeping,” “The Net”) has entered into a new first-look production arrangement with Disney’s Caravan Pictures, where she will base her newly formed production company, Aquila Films. Bullock’s company will develop and produce motion pictures, some of which Bullock will star in. “In the pursuit of artistic freedom, being only an actor provided great opportunities, but it also had its limitations,” Bullock said. “I’ve been given an incredible opportunity to expand that freedom into a larger realm, which includes a ‘hands-on’ commitment by myself and my company.”

TELEVISION

‘Munsters’ Redux: Several original “Munsters” stars will make cameo appearances in Fox-TV’s upcoming movie “Here Come the Munsters.” The new movie, based on the classic 1960s series and set in modern-day Transylvania and Los Angeles, will air on the network during Halloween week. Executive produced by John Landis, the film stars Veronica Hamel as Lily Munster, Edward Herrmann as Herman Munster, Robert Morse as Grandpa, Christine Taylor (who also reprised the role of Marcia Brady in “The Brady Bunch Movie”) as Marilyn and Mathew Botuchis as Eddie. Original Munsters signed to appear include Al Lewis (Grandpa), Yvonne DeCarlo (Lily), Butch Patrick (Eddie) and Pat Priest (Marilyn).

JAZZ

Kitt’s Sales Power: Eartha Kitt is on the verge of doing what no one else has done at the Hollywood Roosevelt Cinegrill. With her show Sunday night, the veteran cabaret artist will be the first performer in the 150-seat room’s colorful history to play to sold-out audiences for an entire month’s run. Kitt’s publicist attributed the strong sales to the fact that she’s “made every night into a party.” Kitt’s run has been extended through Aug. 27.

New Jobim Tribute Lineup: Bossa nova legend Joao Gilberto has canceled his scheduled appearance Wednesday at the Hollywood Bowl for “personal reasons.” Gilberto will be replaced by singer-pianist Ivan Lins, composer of many jazz tunes including “The Island”; keyboardist Herbie Hancock, and the Boca Livre Quartet. Singer Gal Costa, saxophonist Joe Henderson and guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, whose group includes Paulo and Daniel Jobim, sons of Antonio Carlos Jobim, will appear as scheduled. The evening is a tribute to Jobim, the late godfather of Brazilian sound.

QUICK TAKES

KTTV-TV Channel 11 reporter Jane Wells, who has been covering the O.J. Simpson trial, has left the station. Rotating news personnel will cover the trial for the immediate future. . . . NBC News’ “Today” co-anchor Katie Couric announced on the show Friday that she is expecting her second child in January. Couric and her husband, Jay Monahan, have a 4-year-old daughter, Ellie. . . . New York City officials canceled today’s proposed Central Park memorial marking the death of Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia because organizers couldn’t raise the $100,000 required to pay for police, medical and cleanup costs.

Quotable: “Why is it when you destroy property it’s considered vandalism, but when we destroy nature it’s called progress?”-- Actor Ed Begley Jr., newly appointed chairman of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy board, discussing his desire for the acquisition and preservation of more parks.