Jim Guerinot

Jim Guerinot considers the most successful moment of his professional life to have been the day back in 1982 when he stopped going to work. Oh, he still reports to an office regularly, and he draws a respectable salary: These days, he carries the imposing title of executive director of artist development at A&M Records in Hollywood.

No Doubt, Orange County's hottest-selling rock band, has chosen Jim Guerinot, the county's highest-profile music executive, as its new manager. Guerinot's Laguna Beach-based Rebel Waltz management company also represents the Offspring, another heavy-hitting O.C. rock act, with total worldwide record sales rivaling the 14 million No Doubt reaped with its 1995 release, "Tragic Kingdom." Guerinot also owns a record company, Time Bomb Recordings, financed by the German conglomerate Bertelsmann.

No Doubt, Orange County's hottest-selling rock band, has chosen Jim Guerinot, the county's highest-profile music executive, as its new manager. Guerinot's Laguna Beach-based Rebel Waltz management company also represents the Offspring, another heavy-hitting O.C. rock act, with total worldwide record sales rivaling the 14 million No Doubt reaped with its 1995 release, "Tragic Kingdom." Guerinot also owns a record company, Time Bomb Recordings, financed by the German conglomerate Bertelsmann.

Marketing ace Jim Guerinot, who is credited with helping mastermind commercial breakthroughs for Offspring, Rancid, Sheryl Crow and Soundgarden, has launchedhis own label, Time Bomb Recordings. Based in Laguna Beach and financed by German conglomerate Bertelsmann, Time Bomb plans to employ a new financial architecture for music deals pioneered by independent labels, including paying unknown artists twice the going royalty rate and charging retailers 20% less for albums than competitors.

Marketing ace Jim Guerinot, who is credited with helping mastermind commercial breakthroughs for Offspring, Rancid, Sheryl Crow and Soundgarden, has launchedhis own label, Time Bomb Recordings. Based in Laguna Beach and financed by German conglomerate Bertelsmann, Time Bomb plans to employ a new financial architecture for music deals pioneered by independent labels, including paying unknown artists twice the going royalty rate and charging retailers 20% less for albums than competitors.

A platinum band makes a lovely 15th anniversary present. That's the gift the Offspring have bestowed on the Orange County punk-alternative scene. The musical movement that began shouting to the world in 1979, when the Crowd became the first Orange County punk band to get airplay on KROQ, has just produced its first million-selling album. If you don't count Nirvana as a punk band, the Offspring's prophetically titled "Smash" may end up the biggest-selling album in punk-rock history.

In its glory days, the Forum was Southern California's preeminent entertainment venue, a behemoth with Roman columns where adoring fans came to see the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Wayne Gretzky and Bob Dylan. But the famous round building fell on hard times. The Los Angeles Lakers and Kings moved downtown. Other venues in up-and-coming neighborhoods came along to nab the concert business. And, in the end, the Forum was bought by the Faithful Central Bible Church and all but forgotten.

First they put a lid on it, and now they're pulling the plug. Universal City's Gibson Amphitheatre, a fixture on the Southern California live music scene for more than 40 years, will close in September and be demolished to make room for the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction at Universal Studios theme park, officials announced Wednesday. The announcement came a day after Universal Studios Hollywood won approval from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to begin construction on its planned $1.6-billion expansion of the theme park.

Total album and single sales of compact discs and audio cassettes for the week ended Dec. 14, compared to sales of the previous week and the same week of 1993, in millions of units sold: Latest week Albums: 21.2 Singles: 1.9 Week-ago Albums: 15.9 Singles: 1.8 Year-ago Albums: 19.6 Singles: 2.

A platinum band makes a lovely 15th anniversary present. That's the gift the Offspring have bestowed on the Orange County punk-alternative scene. The musical movement that began shouting to the world in 1979, when the Crowd became the first Orange County punk band to get airplay on KROQ, has just produced its first million-selling album. If you don't count Nirvana as a punk band, the Offspring's prophetically titled "Smash" may end up the biggest-selling album in punk-rock history.

Jim Guerinot considers the most successful moment of his professional life to have been the day back in 1982 when he stopped going to work. Oh, he still reports to an office regularly, and he draws a respectable salary: These days, he carries the imposing title of executive director of artist development at A&M Records in Hollywood.

Dear thief or thieves: No Doubt and the Fullerton Museum Center admire your athleticism, but isn't it about time you returned Gwen Stefani's dress? The red vinyl number that Stefani is pictured wearing on the cover of No Doubt's 1995 album "Tragic Kingdom" was stolen from the Fullerton Museum Center in a midafternoon caper on Jan. 11. It was part of the exhibition "The Orange Groove: Orange County's Rock 'n' Roll History." The dress was displayed behind a 7 1/2 -foot sheet of plexiglass.

The world's largest music store, Apple's iTunes, plans to boost the price of many hit singles and selected classic tracks to $1.29 on April 7, breaking the psychological barrier of 99 cents in what could be the first big test of how much consumers are willing to pay to download individual songs. Although the date for higher prices has not been publicly announced, Apple has been notifying record labels it will go into effect on that date, industry executives said.