PEARLS OF WISDOM: Another album coming out...

PEARLS OF WISDOM: Another album coming out too close to Christmas to suit retailers is Pearl Jam’s “Vitalogy.� A limited vinyl release of the album is in stores now, but the full run of CDs and cassettes won’t hit until Dec. 6, leaving only 18 holiday shopping days for fans.

But that doesn’t mean they can’t hear the album: Several radio stations have played it in its entirety, allowing fans to tape it. The first was L.A.’s KROQ-FM, which obtained a copy on Nov. 17 and played it twice that day--defying an embargo set by Epic Records asking that it not be aired until last Monday.

Then the floodgates opened: KLOS-FM started playing individual songs about an hour after KROQ’s breach. The station then played the whole album last Sunday and others around the country ignored the Monday directive and played it all weekend.

KROQ program director Kevin Weatherly says that his voice mail was filled to the brim with calls from livid Epic Records executives the day after he aired the album.

“Every time a leak like this occurs people get all uptight and bent out of shape,� says Weatherly, who would not reveal how he got a copy of the album. “But the bottom line is we’re here to do what we feel is the best thing for KROQ listeners, and a Pearl Jam release is a big event. We’ve earned a reputation for getting things early and we hope to do more in the future.�

Epic Records executives were unavailable for comment.

Radio programmers couldn’t have asked for a better Hanukkah present: the most-talked-about new album in rock, available only on the radio.

“It’s great for radio to have a hit album that nobody can buy yet,� says programming consultant Jeff Pollack.

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WHO’S THAT GIRL?: We sneered two years ago when Courtney Love was quoted in Vanity Fair saying that she expected Madonna to steal her punkish look:

“I don’t care how vain and arrogant this sounds, but just watch. . . . Madonna’s going to have roots (showing), she’s going to have smeared eyeliner,� Love said. “And that’s me. . . . She wants my image.�

Madonna’s quoted response: “Who is Courtney Love?�

Well, have you seen the latest issue of Details magazine?

“I thought it was Courtney,� says an associate of the singer who asked not to be named, after viewing the cover photo featuring the Material Girl with ratted blond hair (roots a-showin’) and smeared black eyeliner.

Madonna spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg acknowledges that a lot of people have mistaken the photo for Love, but says that Madonna is not guilty of copping Love’s look.

“It’s not like this was the first time she had smeared eyeliner or roots showing,� Rosenberg says, noting that in an upcoming video Madonna has an entirely different look that’s nothing like Love’s.