A country singer’s spirited subject

You won’t mistake Brad Paisley for Carrie Nation, but the country singer has become something of a one-man temperance league.

Paisley’s song “Alcohol,” released last month, is one of the fastest-rising country singles at the moment. And though its approach -- taking the point of view of alcohol itself about the bad and embarrassing things it can make people do -- isn’t as heavy as his 2004 hit “Whisky Lullaby,” it still runs against the grain of the current atmosphere of such hits as Gretchen Wilson’s rowdy “Here for the Party” album and Toby Keith’s “Whiskey Girl” single.

“I can make anybody pretty,” he sings in the voice of spirits. “I can make you believe any lie.... I’ve been known to cause a few births.... You had some of the best times you’ll never remember with me.”

Though he’s just started his concert tour in preview of the Aug. 16 release of “Time Well Wasted,” the album that will contain the song, “Alcohol” has already become a popular concert feature, with fans singing along to such lines as the chorus zinger about drink “helpin’ white people dance.”

Paisley, himself pretty much a nondrinker who serves on the advisory board of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, says the idea was to focus on common foibles.

“With ‘Whiskey Lullaby,’ that was the worst-case scenario of alcoholism,” he says. “Having tackled that, this song is the lighter side. ‘Helpin’ white people dance,’ ‘get you fired from work’ -- those are the things that people laugh about later.... My intention was to give perspective, not a judgment.”

Paisley says that when he wrote the song he was afraid it might hit a little too close to home for some people. But he’s had no negative feedback -- even at concerts in Denver (home of Coors) and St. Louis (Anheuser-Busch territory), he notes.

“The way the song’s written, a lot of people can relate,” says Tonya Campos, music director of Los Angeles country radio station KZLA-FM (93.9). “We haven’t had any negative reactions at all.”

Given the good-natured approach and the singalong aspect, could the song backfire and be taken by some as a celebration of alcohol?

That does concern Dr. Drew Pinsky, program director of chemical dependency services at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, host of the KROQ-FM (106.7) “Loveline” advice show and the Discovery Channel’s new “Strictly Sex.” But overall, he believes the song hits its mark.

“Anything that might romanticize our experience with alcohol and drugs tends to work against the message we give,” he says. “But he [Paisley] clearly understands what alcohol can do, and even if it comes off as a little fun, well, there’s a saying I like: ‘It’s hard to give messages to people if they’re not listening.’ If he’s able to get people to listen even a little bit, God bless him.”

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DJs arriving by the busload

What do you get if you have a couple of buses full of electronic music DJs?

That’s not the setup for a joke, but a question English DJ Paul Oakenfold hopes will lead to a new phase for electronic music in pop culture as well as some special moments for fans. Oakenfold is launching the Spectrum of Sound tour with a roster of top colleagues in hopes that it will grow into something of near-Lollapalooza scale. Oakenfold, Liquid Todd, Sandra Collins, Armin Van Buuren and other leaders of their field will bus around the country starting July 3 with a show at New York’s Crobar. After an August break for Europe’s festival season, SOS will resume in the fall, with a possible Hollywood Bowl show in October to conclude.

One challenge is for this music to succeed in the many sit-down facilities on the schedule. But Oakenfold, who headlined a sold-out Hollywood Bowl show in 2003, is not worried.

“From my experience playing the likes of the Hollywood Bowl and Red Rocks in Colorado, people stand up in their seats whether it’s a rock band or DJ and dance where they are,” he says.

Plans are to expand the concept next year, adding acts that are more band-oriented. This year, though, with the busloads of DJs, he expects unique collaborations as the participants create new music on their laptops while they cruise through the countryside.

“I’m sure that will happen,” he says. “With the technology it’s pretty easy to do, and people like Sandra Collins would certainly be up for that.”

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Comets to streak through L.A.

The five surviving members of Bill Haley & the Comets, creators of the first rock ‘n’ roll hit, “Rock Around the Clock,” will participate in a series of events that nearly lives up to that title.

The “Rock Around the Clock-a-Thon” will be the kickoff event for the American Cinematheque’s 12-day “Mods & Rockers Film Festival,” back for a sixth edition after taking last year off. It starts at 8 p.m. July 5 at Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre with a double feature of the movies “Rock Around the Clock” and “Don’t Knock the Rock,” both featuring Haley and the Comets. The five Comets will then participate in a Q&A; session along with Cuppy Haley, who was married to the group’s late leader in the ‘50s.

From there it moves to the neighboring Pig & Whistle restaurant-pub for a late-night hang. After a few hours of sleep (the Comets are in their 70s and 80s, after all), things start again at 8 a.m. with breakfast at Duke’s Coffee Shop on the Sunset Strip, with a jukebox packed with 50 versions of the song “Rock Around the Clock” by artists ranging from Mae West to the Sex Pistols. At 1 p.m., the Comets will be inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk at the Guitar Center store, followed by a 4 p.m. visit to the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills to view a display of Gibson guitars and watch a “Rock Is Fifty!” video program of rare performances from “The Ed Sullivan Show.” It all caps off with a 9 p.m. performance by the Comets at the Viper Room.

For more info on the event and the film festival, check www.ModsAndRockers.com and www.RockIsFifty.com.

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Small Faces

* There’s no word on the next Los Angeles edition of the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, but L.A. band the Mars Volta will curate the original London event, Dec. 2 to 4. Aside from the Volta, acts booked include Blonde Redhead, Acid Mothers Temple, the Kills and Diamanda Galas....

* Beck, Stereolab and the Eels are among those participating in “Dimension Mix,” an album of music by electronic and children’s music pioneers Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson. A benefit for autism charities, the album (due Aug. 23) features new versions of music originally created in the ‘60s and released by the pair’s Dimension 5 label, a staple of classrooms and libraries....