It’s Harvest Time for Korn and Other Local Products

It’s a tangible sign of the Orange County music scene’s fecundity as a seedbed for alternative-rock music: Within the past month, new recordings by four different bands from the O.C.-Long Beach alt-rock axis have cracked the Top 40 of Billboard’s albums chart.

This week, Korn’s new album, “Life Is Peachy,” debuts on the chart at No. 3 after selling 106,000 copies in its first week of release, according to SoundScan. The wrathful punk-metal band, whose members settled in Huntington Beach in the early ‘90s after growing up in Bakersfield, thus has achieved the second highest-charting album of any O.C.-based pop act, trailing only Jose Feliciano, whose 1968 album “Feliciano!” reached No. 2 while he was a Villa Park resident.

No Doubt, the Anaheim band whose peppy, catchy, ska-meets-New Wave approach couldn’t be further in style and mood from Korn’s, has taken up virtually permanent residence in the Top 10 since summer.

Spurred by a new single, the heartbreak ballad “Don’t Speak,” the band’s “Tragic Kingdom” album is shooting upward again; after slipping to No. 16 two weeks ago, the album is back to No. 6, with 84,000 copies sold last week. No Doubt’s peak position so far has been No. 4, which also was the highest slot for “Smash,” the 1994 album by O.C.’s first mega-hit punk-alternative band, the Offspring.

Sublime, the Long Beach band that rose from the same ska-punk scene as No Doubt, is at No. 38 on the charts with its third album, “Sublime.”

Social Distortion, the long-running O.C. punk band, entered the chart at No. 27 on Oct. 5; while its “White Light White Heat White Trash” album has slipped to No. 98, manager Jim Guerinot is pleased with its steady weekly sales of 10,000 to 12,000 and with strong radio airplay and MTV exposure for the single “I Was Wrong.”

Social Distortion’s imminent return to U.S. roadwork after overseas touring is expected to give the album a sales boost; also in the works is a video for “When the Angels Sing,” one of the finest songs of SD’s 15-year recording career.

The high chart arrival for Korn’s “Life Is Peachy” was not a great surprise, said Al Masocco, the Epic Records executive in charge of the album’s marketing. The band’s 1994 debut album, “Korn,” has sold more than 800,000 copies and stands at No. 184 after 63 weeks on the chart. While never reaching higher than No. 72, “Korn” proved to be a word-of-mouth, grass-roots favorite, helped by marathon touring. Masocco said that groundwork paid off with loyal fans rushing to buy “Life Is Peachy” upon its release last week.

“They’ve really done it from the street up,” Masocco said. “The kids look at this as their own band.”

Korn currently is headlining theaters in the Midwest. It will hook up with Metallica in mid-December for a month of touring as the metal behemoth’s opening act, including a Dec. 20 show at the Forum in Inglewood.

No Doubt plays sold-out shows Thursday at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center and Nov. 1 at Universal Amphitheatre; Social Distortion quickly sold out its Nov. 14 show at the Hollywood Palladium and has added a second concert there Nov. 15.

Does all this chart-storming make Orange County a special hot spot, a la early-’90s Seattle, which led alternative rock’s charge into the mainstream with breakthroughs by the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden?

Guerinot, who manages the Offspring and Social Distortion, thinks it is less a matter of a suddenly exploding local scene than of a wide-open national market with a craving for alternative rock in general. Punk and alternative music have been flowing from Orange County since 1978, when the Crowd, from Huntington Beach, and Middle Class, from Fullerton, put out the first locally produced punk records.

“I don’t think it’s an O.C. thing,” agreed J.P. Boquette, a veteran concert promoter and band manager on the local scene. “It’s good music, and its time is now. The [local bands with current chart hits] have been around for years; they’ve done their time, and they’re reaping a few benefits from doing good music.”

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THROWING NO STONES: Speaking of Social Distortion, the group has been dropped from an upcoming Rolling Stones tribute album--at the insistence of Social Distortion.

Earlier this month, Mercury Records shipped advance copies of “Shared Vision 2: The Songs of the Rolling Stones” to reviewers in anticipation of the album’s scheduled release Tuesday. They included a previously unavailable Social Distortion live version of “Back Street Girl.”

But according to manager Guerinot, the group never gave its permission for the track to be used. As a result, said Mercury spokeswoman Lellie Pittman, a new pressing of SD-less Stones tribute albums will have to be made, and the release date has been pushed to Dec. 10.

Guerinot said that Social Distortion’s unauthorized inclusion on the CD was the result of mix-ups, not malice.

Originally, he said, Mercury planned to put out the Stones tribute in 1995. Guerinot said that producers of “Shared Vision” had contacted Sony Music, parent of SD’s label, Epic, inquiring about using the track, which had been released only to college radio stations as the B-side to SD’s 1990 single “Story of My Life.”

Guerinot said Sony gave a preliminary OK, pending the band’s final approval. Then Mercury put the Stones tribute on hold; when the project finally got back on track, officials at the two labels assumed the SD song had been cleared for use, forgetting that the band hadn’t signed off on it.

Guerinot said he had no idea SD would be on the compilation until he read about it a few weeks ago on the Internet.

“We don’t do [compilations] as a rule, particularly when nobody asked us,” Guerinot said. “We don’t want a song to come out commercially that we wouldn’t put out [ourselves].”

SD likes to control the packaging and promotion of all its releases, Guerinot said, and in this case, the call was easy because the eclectic “Shared Vision 2” would be placing the punk-rock band alongside such mainstream acts as Rod Stewart, L.A. Guns and Cinderella--not the image Social Distortion is trying to project in the marketing campaign for its recently released album, “White Light White Heat White Trash.”

“You want people to be able to find the band’s songs on the band’s records,” Guerinot said of Social Distortion’s decision to buck the trend toward appearances on compilations, tribute albums and film soundtrack albums. “You can develop and build your artist, as opposed to [having fans] open [the CD] up and see Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

Mercury’s Pittman said the label has no hard feelings over SD’s refusal to go along with the compilation, even though it will involve delays and extra manufacturing costs. “We are fine with it. It’s not a problem,” she said.

When “Shared Vision 2” does arrive, with 14 tracks instead of 15, Johnny Cash, Dramarama, the Neville Brothers, the Pogues, Marianne Faithfull, the Feelies and Buckwheat Zydeco will be among the tribute payers.

The album is the sequel to a 1993 “Shared Vision” tribute to the Beatles. Part of the series’ proceeds go to the Lighthouse Inc., a charity that helps the visually impaired.

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SUBLIME EPITAPH: Sublime’s final album--released after Brad Nowell’s fatal heroin overdose in May--is attracting a large audience for the singer-guitarist’s soulful songs. Surviving band mates, bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh, have turned to making new music under an assortment of new banners.

One of them is the punk band Juice Bros, which will headline an all-ages concert Sunday at the Foothill in Signal Hill. Mike Happoldt, the unofficial fourth member of Sublime who helped produce the band’s albums and runs its independent label, Skunk Records, is joining the rhythm duo on guitar, with guitarist Fred E. rounding out the band. Juice Bros’ first release, a five-song, 12-inch vinyl EP called “El Shermo vs. Dos Dip,” should be out on Skunk by early November, Happoldt said.

Wilson also is playing upright acoustic bass in Del Noah & the Mount Ararat Finks. Fronting the band from Long Beach are brothers Blair and Brent Walker, formerly of the Pivot Foots.

Happoldt reports that the entire surviving Sublime studio crew--himself, Wilson, Gaugh and disc jockey Marshall Goodman--has been doing remixes (sonically augmented new versions of existing recordings) for some signed acts, including the Lordz of Brooklyn, a New York City hip-hop act on American Recordings, and Born Jamaicans, a Washington, D.C., reggae band that records for Delicious Vinyl.

Meanwhile, Nowell’s friends are trying to find ways to promote Sublime’s excellent swan-song recording, absent a band to tour or make videos. MTV has been playing a video for the modern-rock hit “What I Got” compiled from footage shot before Nowell’s death.

Said Happoldt: “As it stands now, the plan of attack [for a follow-up] is an animated video” that would be created by Opie Ortiz, the Long Beach artist who did the design work and illustrations for the three Sublime albums.

Happoldt said that the next video track will probably be “Wrong Way,” a fictionalized tale about a young prostitute that Nowell based on experiences during a trip to Colombia. Before going ahead with the video, he said, Sublime’s label, MCA, wants to make sure that MTV will approve the song’s subject matter.

* Juice Bros, All Day, Slightly Stoopid and Pharmaceutical Bandits play an all-ages show Sunday at the Foothill, 1922 Cherry Ave., Signal Hill. 4 p.m. $10 (under 21) or $6 (over 21). (310) 984-8349 (taped information) or (310) 494-5196 (club).