MOVING RIGHT ALONG: If U2 is hot...

MOVING RIGHT ALONG: If U2 is hot enough to sell out a series of shows in L.A. and nab the top slot on the Billboard charts, can a book deal be far behind? But of course. The group’s first full-scale biography is already in the works, being penned by Eamonn Dunphy, a former Irish soccer star turned sports columnist. The book is expected out later this year. . . .

Our fave ad of the month appears in the current issue of Options magazine, a publication specializing in alternative music. An obvious parody of Oral Roberts’ recent fund-raising gambit, the ad touts the new album by a band called Electric Peace. It reads: “If Electric Peace doesn’t sell 4.5 million ‘Medieval Mosquito’ records by Nov. 13, 1987, God is going to call them home!!!!” (The album is available from L.A.-based Barred Records.) . . . Squeeze is finishing up its latest record, tentatively titled “Life in the Bus Lane,” which will be out later this summer. . . .

Joe Walsh’s next disc, also due this summer, is now titled “Got Any Gum?” . . . Ex-Styx member Dennis De Young, saying he was “unhappy” at A&M; Records, is finishing up a new album, tentatively titled “Boomchild,” for MCA Records. MCA is, of course, headed by Irving Azoff, who managed Styx before leaving to run MCA. . . . Also back at MCA (after a seven-year absence) is Elton John, whose first new release for the label will be a live album. Recorded during his Australian tour last winter, it’s titled “Elton John Live in Australia With the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.” The album is due out in July.