AND NOW HERE’S THE NEWS: The Pretenders...

AND NOW HERE’S THE NEWS: The Pretenders have been hard at work on a new album, tentatively due out this fall. But expect to see Chrissie Hynde accompanied by some outside musicians on at least some of the tracks, including ex-Elvis Costello bassist Bruce Thomas and session hands Steve Jordan and Simon Phillips. . . . Billy Joel has been in the studio, working with Ray Charles on a song called “Baby Grand,” which should be part of the next Joel album, scheduled for later this year. . . . Little Richard has signed an overseas record deal with WEA Inc., which makes it “likely” that Warner Bros. will release his new album, due out later this year, in the States as well. . . . It seems as if every big TV star is making a record these days. First Philip Michael Thomas, then Don Johnson, and now “Moonlighting” star Bruce Willis, who’s signed with Motown Records, which will release his debut album later this year. . . . Speaking of TV: Mick Jagger’s special pal, model Jerry Hall, will co-star with Dinah Manoff in an NBC pilot called “She’s With Me,” about a jet-setting model who befriends an ordinary working woman (guess which part Hall plays). The show, if picked up, could air this fall. . . . And Billy Idol’s new album, “Whiplash Smile,” is due out next month.