POP/ROCKGood News for Michael: Epic Records, which...

POP/ROCK

Good News for Michael: Epic Records, which is hoping to boost interest in Michael Jackson’s “HIStory--Past, Present and Future Book 1,” got some good news Wednesday when it learned that “You Are Not Alone,” the second single from the album, became the first record to enter the Billboard singles chart at No. 1 since the chart began reflecting SoundScan sales statistics in 1991. The chart measures sales and radio airplay. On sales alone, Jackson’s ballad was No. 2 behind Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise.” The latter is included on the country’s top-selling album, the “Dangerous Minds” soundtrack, which sold 210,000 copies last week. The previous high for singles-chart entry during the SoundScan era was held jointly by Jackson’s “Scream” and Notorious B.I.G.’s “One More Chance.” Both entered the chart at No. 5 earlier this summer.

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Garcia’s Estate Divided: Jerry Garcia’s widow will get the largest share of the late Grateful Dead leader’s estate, including his art and comic book collection. Under the terms of his 16-page will, signed in 1994 and filed Friday in Marin County Superior Court, Deborah Koons Garcia will get one-third of his estate, including many personal effects. Most of the balance goes to Garcia’s brother, Clifford, Garcia’s four daughters from previous relationships and the daughter of a former wife. The value of the estate was not specified, but the Grateful Dead has been one of the nation’s most popular concert acts, grossing more than $50 million in ticket sales last year alone. Garcia died Aug. 9 at age 53.

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More on Garcia: Fans of Garcia’s can look forward to the Sept. 26 release of “Hundred Year Hall,” a live, two-CD set recorded by the Dead in 1972 in Frankfurt, Germany. . . . Meanwhile, shipments of Ingram Periodicals’ A Tribute to Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, a limited-edition magazine published by H&S; Media in the wake of Garcia’s death, have been delayed to many area stores. The magazine, originally expected to be on sale last Monday, is now available at some local stores, including Sunset Boulevard’s Tower Records. Additional copies of the edition, which sells for $5.99, should be widely available by this weekend at local outlets including Tower, Borders, B. Dalton and Waldenbooks. It should also be available at many of the larger independent newsstands.

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Philippine Ban Proposed: U.S. lawmakers aren’t the only ones unhappy with rock lyrics. A Filipino senator wants to ban records by the American heavy metal rock band Slayer, saying some of its songs espouse satanism. Sen. Vicente Sotto, a former recording artist, said Slayer’s songs contain phrases that curse God--such as “death to God” or “God is failed”--and have no place in a largely Christian country such as the Philippines. Sotto said such songs “threaten to weaken the moral values of music-loving Filipino youths.”

THE ARTS

Cross-Border Collaborations: Sixty artists, writers, dancers and cultural projects from the United States and Mexico were awarded grants of up to $21,000 each on Wednesday as winners of the 1995 U.S./Mexico Fund for Culture, an annual grants program sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Bancomer Cultural Foundation and Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and the Arts. Among the funded projects were Santa Barbara’s U.S.-Mexico Festival 1996, featuring Mexican composers and musicians performing in various locations May 3-5; the traveling exhibition “Mexico 1941: Photographs by Helen Levitt”; “Chiapas: A 20-Year Retrospective,” a traveling exhibition and catalogue of the photographic works of Antonio Turok; and the production of “Dialogues,” a video installation by Lourdes Portillo representing the views of people in both countries. The grants, totaling $977,000, are intended to support collaborative projects that promote cultural exchange between the neighboring countries.

TELEVISION

It Was a Very Good Year: Frank Sinatra will celebrate his 80th birthday with a two-hour prime-time special to be taped Nov. 19 at the Shrine Auditorium and aired on ABC-TV at a later date. Called “Sinatra: 80 Years My Way,” the program will feature performances by yet unannounced entertainers, plus clips highlighting Ol’ Blue Eyes’ career in music, film and television. Sinatra’s 80th birthday is Dec. 12.

QUICK TAKES

Cable’s USA Network is getting into the post-”ER” hospital craze with “Life & Death,” an in-the-works reality series featuring the actual goings-on in the emergency room at Houston’s Ben Taub General Hospital. . . . “Days of Our Lives” star Deidre Hall will play herself in “Deidre Hall’s Story: After All,” a two-hour ABC-TV movie based on her real-life battle with infertility. The movie, slated to air sometime in the 1995-96 season, was written by Hall’s husband, writer-producer Steve Sohmer. . . . The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced that there will be no Emmy winners this year in the category of outstanding individual achievement in animation.