POP/ROCK - Feb. 21, 1996

Pulp Disruption: A performance by Michael Jackson during Monday’s Brit Awards--the U.K. version of the Grammys--was disrupted when Jarvis Cocker, lead singer of the band Pulp, climbed on stage with a friend. Jackson was being lowered by wire when the pair began dancing below him. The performance continued, but three children who were part of Jackson’s dance troupe were reportedly injured as security officials removed Cocker and his friend. Both were arrested, but later released without charges being filed. A statement from Epic Records said that Jackson “feels sickened, saddened, shocked, upset, cheated and angry, but is immensely proud that the cast remained professional and the show went on despite the disgusting and cowardly behavior of the two characters that tried to disrupt it.” Neither Cocker nor his record company had issued a statement as of Tuesday. The incident overshadowed the band Oasis, which lead the evening with three awards, including best group, best video and best album for its “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory.” David Bowie received a Lifetime Achievement honor, and Jackson was named “Artist of a Generation.”

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Record Industry vs. Amway: Several of the music industry’s largest record companies--including Arista, BMG, Motown, PolyGram, Sony, EMI, MCA, Capitol and Virgin--filed a multimillion-dollar copyright infringement lawsuit Tuesday against the Amway Corp., claiming Amway distributors used without authorization recordings by top artists including the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Michael Bolton in the company’s motivational and promotional videos. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Orlando, Fla., alleges 108 instances of unauthorized commercial use involving 57 different recordings. The lawsuit resulted from a two-year investigation of the Amway videos spearheaded by the Recording Industry Assn. of America. A spokeswoman at Amway’s headquarters in Ada, Mich., said the lawsuit had come as a “complete surprise.” She declined to comment directly on the suit, saying no papers had been served as of Tuesday.

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Rockin’ Granny: Jeanne Calment, a French woman who on the basis of documented evidence is believed to be the oldest person who ever lived in modern times, is marking her 121st birthday today by attempting to launch a career as a pop star. Calment, who was born 10 years after the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and turned 65 the year France was invaded by Hitler’s Nazis in 1940, held a news conference in the Southern French town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer on Monday to unveil a four-track compact disc entitled “Mistress of Time” on which she speaks to a backing of funk-rap, techno and dance music. Calment hopes to use proceeds from the CD to buy a minibus for her companions at a retirement home in Arles, many of whom are a generation younger than herself.