Pop Eye

ON TAP: We knew it looked a little suspicious when the booklet for MCA chief Al Teller’s City of Hope tribute dinner included a half-page ad saluting him as “the most far-sighted executive in the music industry today.” The giveaway was the ad’s three signatures: David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls. They’re none other than the three pseudonymous leaders of Spinal Tap, the heavy-metal spoofsters who have signed with MCA Records (hence the hyperbolic homage to the label’s chief exec). If nothing else, the signing is a savvy marketing stroke--Spinal Tap’s cult following is bigger than ever. So if MCA can’t break a real rock band, maybe it can break a parody of a rock band. . . . RCA Records has a new band of British pop oddballs called the Dylans. But we hear the big action involves which record label will sign a real Dylan--not Bob, but his son, Jason, whose band, the Wildflowers, is being wooed by several major labels, including Capitol and Virgin. . . . The big box-set action this fall is led by Atlantic Records, which has a four-CD “Crosby, Stills & Nash” set due Oct. 22 that will feature 77 tracks, nearly a third previously unreleased. Highlights include David Crosby’s original demo for “Guinnevere,” a cover of the Beatles’ “Blackbird” and (horrors!) an unedited eight-minute version of “Almost Cut My Hair.”