Walt Disney Records

In a surprise union of two quintessentially American composers from different eras, one the 1960s mastermind of "Good Vibrations," the other the Jazz Age creator of "Rhapsody in Blue," former Beach Boy Brian Wilson has been authorized by the estate of George Gershwin to complete unfinished songs Gershwin left behind when he died in 1937. He plans to finish and record at least two such pieces on an album of Gershwin music he hopes to release next year. The Gershwin-Wilson project may strike some as an odd coupling: one New York musician famous for sophisticated 1920s and '30s pop songs including " 'S Wonderful" and "Someone to Watch Over Me" as well as such expansive, classically minded compositions as "Rhapsody"; the other the driving force behind Southern California beach culture hits such as "Surfin' U.S.A.

Walt Disney Co. named David Agnew president of Walt Disney Records, a new position. Agnew will direct Disney Music Group, publisher of soundtracks and recording artists such as Rascal Flatts, Burbank-based Disney said Tuesday. Agnew has worked for Disney's music division since 1998, most recently as an executive vice president overseeing Walt Disney Records, publisher of the soundtrack for "High School Musical," last year's top-selling compact disc.

Russ Bach, who as president helped to streamline Walt Disney Records, is resigning from the company. Bob Cavallo, chairman of Walt Disney Co.'s Buena Vista Music Group, said Bach, 64, will retire Friday after 2 1/2 years at Disney. Cavallo hired Bach, a former president of distribution for EMI, to improve morale and help reorganize Walt Disney Records. The division releases soundtracks for Disney movies such as "Tarzan" and "Fantasia/2000." "He accomplished the task," Cavallo said.

Audio O'Sullivan Stew, Children's Book-of-the-Month Club. Cassette: $10 (book published by Putnam, $16). Children's Book World: (310) 559-2665; BMOC: (800) 348-7128; http://www.amazon.com/. In Scheherazade fashion, young Kate O'Sullivan saves her brothers Kelly and Fergus and her father, Seamus, by telling tall tales to a king in this colorfully performed theatrical audio version of the children's book by Hudson Talbott.