Rock Band

Tim Kelly, a Philadelphia-area native and lead guitarist in the popular hard-rock band, "Slaughter," admittedly helped to arrange the cross-country delivery of about 2.2 pounds of cocaine to a Bucks County man in 1987. The band's tour manager, Scott Cadwallader, also participated in the single drug transaction, his attorney, William T. Cannon, acknowledged yesterday. Both Kelly, 30, a native of Bucks County and West Trenton, and Cadwallader, 27, who also was raised in this area, were arrested on the drug charge last month in Las Vegas by agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Secret Service, a duo that often performs at the Jersey Shore, will play tonight at the Main Lion Restaurant & Sports Bar at 629 Lancaster Ave., Strafford. "They really get the crowd involved in the show. They love to get people on stage," said Bridget Collins, a waitress at the Main Lion. They perform familiar sing-along pop/rock hits from the '70s and '80s. The show starts about 10 p.m. The cover is $5. Tomorrow night, Backstreets will play a tribute to Bruce Springsteen.

It's easy to figure out why Dionne Warwick's Friends (Arista ) is so good - Warwick hasn't sung this well on record in years. Her voice has a power here that is mediated by the delicacy of her phrasing. Then, too, "That's What Friends Are For," the all-star bash featuring the soulful harmonies of Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder and Elton John, is a terrific, stirring hit. But Warwick's achievement is even more impressive when you realize that this album features five sets of producers and rather weak material most of the time.

On his studio albums, blues guitarist-singer Stevie Ray Vaughan has made skillful but rather chilly, self-conscious music. His new in-concert double album Live Alive (Epic ), however, is another matter. These recordings, culled from four performances from Vaughan's most recent tour, display him and his band, Double Trouble, in a loose but adventurous mood, tearing through songs as various as Hank Ballard's "Look at Little Sister" and Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" with blithe abandon.

The Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police hoped to rally public support for police a decade ago with a poster bearing a photograph depicting a fictitious officer lying dead from bullet wounds near his police cruiser. "Citizens . . . You wouldn't sacrifice your life for a million bucks. A Philadelphia police officer does it for a lot less," was the message of the poster, which came out while city police contract negotiations were under way. So it's understandable that FOP officials recently got upset when they discovered that a rock band with an anti-cop message and a dirty name had used the FOP photo on the back and front covers and on the lyrics booklet of a 1992 compact disc.

The University of Pennsylvania's Irvine Auditorium was sold out Saturday night for a performance by the Bangles, four Los Angeles women currently prominent on the record charts with the hit single "Manic Monday" and a new album, Different Light (Columbia). The reasons for the Bangles' considerable success aren't difficult to figure out: The band makes irresistibly catchy music influenced by interesting pop-rock acts ranging all the way from the Monkees to the Beatles, with the Mamas and the Papas and Sonny and Cher somewhere in between.

Timothy Patrick Kelly, 35, formerly of Lower Makefield, lead guitarist and backup vocalist for the rock band Slaughter, died Thursday of head injuries suffered in a three-vehicle accident near Bagdad, Ariz. In a press statement, the Arizona Department of Public Safety's Highway Patrol said a tractor-trailer, going north on Highway 96, crossed the centerline and struck Mr. Kelly's southbound car. Mr. Kelly's car went out of control and hit another southbound car. Mr. Kelly was pronounced dead a short time after the 5:30 p.m. accident.

Since the death in 1997 of singer Michael Hutchence, the world has heard little from INXS. Until now. Recently the Australia-based rock band resurfaced with "Shine Like It Does (1979-1997): The INXS Anthology," promising the double-disc collection of radio hits, B-sides, alternative mixes and rare tracks on Rhino Records is only the beginning. In fact, the band is planning to embark on a world tour later this year and begin a new studio album - although there is still no word on a permanent replacement for Hutchence, who was found hanging in his hotel suite.

Funk and rap music will be amply showcased at the Spectrum on Sunday with a show featuring Midnight Star, Whodini, Doug E. Fresh and Eric B. The vocal group Midnight Star makes music that ranges from the frantic funk of "Freakazoid" to the sultry balladry of "Feel So Good. " The seven-member band's latest hit is "The Midas Touch" (Solar), which manages to combine elements of funk, rap and pop in one neat song. Whodini's latest single, "Growing Up" (Arista), continues a string of successes for this Brooklyn-born, London-based act. Like Whodini's best music, "Growing Up" is more melodic than most rap, and features smooth vocals with smart lyrics.

In 2003, Brendan Walter, guitarist for the rock band Valencia, was sued by the Recording Industry Association of America in the first wave of illegal-downloading lawsuits - now, he's a member of the same association. "I am definitely guilty of downloading music," Walter said. "On one hand, I know how expensive and time-consuming it is to make a record and how it's worth every penny," he said. "On the other hand, this day and age creates a whole new level of people's ability to check out music - you can download 15 albums in one day. " Although piracy is relatively simple with the technology available today, bands and recording compnaies say it is stealing money out of their pockets.