Someday They’ll Be Together, or Will They?

Ross or Roth?

“Stop! In the Name of Love” or “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”?

The summer’s hottest pop concert tickets--or overpriced bombs?

When the nation’s top concert promoters met this past week in Las Vegas for the annual Concert Industry Consortium convention, that question generated a lot of the buzz as they considered the merits of expected reunions of Diana Ross & the Supremes and Van Halen with singer David Lee Roth.

The Supremes tour, with Ross to be joined by original member Mary Wilson and later entry Cindy Birdsong (the third original member, Florence Ballard, died in 1976), is being shopped to promoters, with a generally enthusiastic response. It would be the first performances by the Motown act in more than 30 years.

“Everybody’s making a run at it,” says Brian Murphy, president of Los Angeles’ Avalon Attractions, part of the giant SFX Inc. family of promoters and venue operators. “I think a tour like this could do incredible business. Summertime was made for sitting outdoors and watching shows like these. Many people will be excited to hear those songs again.”

But at what price? Word among promoters is that the tour could command a nightly guarantee as high as $700,000. Figuring in added costs for facilities and advertising, that could mean an average ticket price of as much as $100 if the promoters want to make any profit. That kind of pricing has worked for such acts as Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, the Eagles and the Rolling Stones. But it hasn’t really been tried with an act that hasn’t been active since the ‘60s--though the Supremes’ songs have remained part of pop culture.

“This is totally unique,” says Alex Hodges, senior vice president of talent for House of Blues Concerts. “It would be appealing in theory to fans spanning three decades, maybe four. But will those people spend the money? They haven’t seen Diana Ross [solo] in some time except for Super Bowl-type things.”

Arthur Fogel, president of Toronto-based TNA International--the firm of Michael Cohl, who has promoted such major ventures as the Stones and U2 stadium tours--notes that doubts were expressed about the sales potential of the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunion tour, but that so far it’s doing quite well.

“You tend to have naysayers more vocal than yeasayers when you speculate on tours like this,” he says. “The silent majority sits and waits for the tickets to go on sale.”

Similar price questions surround the Van Halen rumors, though talk is at a very preliminary stage amid reports that original singer Roth, whose reunion with the group two years ago was aborted when singer Gary Cherone was instead brought in to replace the departed Sammy Hagar, is again recording with the band. In recent years, the Roth/Van Halen combo has been considered among the hottest potential bills in rock. But some promoters wonder whether all the maneuvers have hurt the band’s stature.

“If they really want to do it big, I would put together a tour with both Sammy and Dave and call it the farewell tour,” says one promoter who asked not to be named. “That’s the way to make up for the mistakes of the past few years.”

THE ENVELOPE PLEASE: There’s a lot of speculation that when Oscar nominations are announced Feb. 15, Aimee Mann could get an original song nod for her work in “Magnolia.” One thing is certain though: If she does get a nomination, it won’t be for “Wise Up,” the melancholy centerpiece of the film (in a sequence in which all the actors, including Tom Cruise, sing lines over Mann’s vocals). It’s also the song that is becoming a big radio hit, with KROQ-FM (106.7) taking time out from its young, male-oriented hard stuff to play it regularly.

The problem is that “Wise Up” was not written for the film. Rather, the film was written for it, with writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson using its lyrics and several other Mann songs as inspiration. What’s more, “Wise Up” was even used in the soundtrack for “Jerry Maguire,” which also featured Cruise.

Instead, the song being pushed for a nomination is “Save Me,” which was written specifically for “Magnolia.” A video for “Save Me” was shot during filming with key members of the ensemble cast, and the track is expected to get a big push on radio and MTV/VH1, especially if it is nominated.

But with “Wise Up” getting the attention now, New Line Cinema, which released the film, and Warner Bros. Records, which released the soundtrack album, are brainstorming on ways to capitalize on that interest. A video incorporating the movie sequence is likely to be prepared.

Meanwhile, Jon Brion’s evocative score music from the movie will be released as a Warner Bros. album on March 14.