New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre is back with a solo track and his pals at People.com posted the vid. "I've made a lot of music in my life, but this is the boldest and most raw stuff yet," McIntyre, 36, tells the web site. "I had some angst to get off my chest and I did that through this music. Bottom line is, I'm tired of saying no, so I'm saying, 'Yeah!' I wanna rock. I hope it makes you say, 'Yeah,' too!" It also makes us say, "What's with the Auto-Tune, Joe?" Here's the video.

Before his gig at the Middle East the other night, Violent Femmes frontman Gordon Gano dropped by Mullen's Boston office, treating employees of the ad agency to an unplugged version of the Femmes classic "Blister in the Sun." Why? Gano is touring with Bill and Brendan Ryan - a.k.a. the Ryan Brothers - who are pals with Mullen creative director Chris Brady.

Conductor Gustavo Dudamel is the recipient of the 2010 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT. Dudamel, one of the country's most in-demand conductors, is music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He joins a select list of distinguished recipients of the Eugene McDermott Award, including architects Diller + Scofidio, writer Junot Diaz, architect Santiago Calatrava, playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, and artist Isaac Julien. In addition to $75,000 cash prize, the recipient is offered a campus residency. (As part of his residency next April, Dudamel will visit the MIT Media Lab and conduct an open rehearsal with the MIT Symphony Orchestra on April 16, where President Susan Hockfield will present the award.) Said Dudamel: "You cannot imagine how excited I am to visit MIT and see the wonderful music program and the Media Lab first hand -- the next generation in music and technology all in one place!"

The night before her gig at the Agganis Arena, Kelly Clarkson dropped by Precinct in Somerville. The "American Idol" winner was there to see her back-up singers Jill and Kate. (Boston band Gretel was also on the bill, but we're pretty sure Clarkson was there to catch her buddies.) Despite having sold over 10 million CDs, we're told Clarkson was cool and approachable as she enjoyed a vodka drink and listened to the music. Here's a clip of Jill and Kate at Precinct.

Cascada, the German eurodance group fronted by Natalie Horler, had them on their feet this weekend at Rain. Taking the stage at the Malden nightclub, the group got the crowd going with their UK hit "Evacuate the Dancefloor." Horler's sidekicks in Cascada are producers DJ Manian and Yanou.

Can't wait to read Steven Tyler's memoir? Neither can his publisher. Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins, bid more than $2 million for the flamboyant frontman's story, but he's yet to deliver the book. And it could be awhile before he does. We're told Tyler is unhappy with the results of his work with ghost writer David Dalton, and is starting over with Mark Hudson and former Hustler editor Lonn Friend. In recent days, the three have been huddled in Sunapee, N.H., trying to salvage something of the book, which is titled "Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?" Tyler has been mostly MIA since August, when he fell off the stage during a show in Sturgis, S.D., breaking his shoulder. Dalton, a respected scribe who's written about Janis Joplin, James Dean, and Jim Morrison, had been working with the 61-year-old singer for about a year. The new team is friendly with Tyler. Hudson is an occasional collaborator who co-wrote Aerosmith's 1993 smash hit "Livin' on the Edge." (He was with Tyler at BookExpo America last spring when the scarf-wearing screamer spoke about his memoir.) Friend, meanwhile, was a protege Larry Flynt's at Hustler before becoming editor of RIP, a magazine devoted to metal bands. He chronicled his exploits with the heroes of heavy metal in his own memoir, "Life on Planet Rock: From Guns N' Roses to Nirvana, a Backstage Journey through Rock's Most Debauched Decade." Sounds like the right man for the job.

Yes, that's Wyclef Jean wandering around Berklee College of Music. The former Fugee has enrolled at the school with the aim of getting a diploma. According to a Berklee flack, Jean's taking a combination of on-campus and online classes, and his curriculum includes courses in ear training, theory, improvisation, and guitar. (His first day of class was Monday.) “I left college after only the first semester to pursue my career and after all that I’ve accomplished, going back to college was the one thing I wanted to do for myself," the Grammy winner said in a statement. Jean has a mixtape coming out next month and a solo CD titled "Wyclef Jean," which is due to be released in March.

Caption: Grammy winner Wyclef Jean speaking to students and faculty at Berklee Performance Prospective Clinic Summer program in July.

British novelist Nick Hornby was in Boston the other night to read from his new book, "Juliet, Naked," about a reclusive, Daniel Johnston-like songwriter who'se making of a comeback of sorts. Hornby, whose best known works include "High Fidelity" and "Fever Pitch," signed copies of his new novel at the Brookline Booksmith before crossing the street to read at the Coolidge Corner Theater.

The flack for "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi has confirmed to Usmagazine.com that she's pregnant. "Model, author, and Emmy-nominated Padma Lakshmi confirms that she is carrying her first child after years of struggling with endometriosis, a cause for which she has co-founded the Endometriosis Foundation of America," Lakshmi's rep told the site. "As a result of her condition, this pregnancy has been referred to by her physician as nothing short of a medical miracle, and due to its delicate nature, we ask/implore the press to respect Ms. Lakshmi's privacy at this time." The father? No one's saying, but she has been linked to Eels singer Mark Oliver Everett of late. (In 2007, Lakshmi split from "Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie - another bearded dude - after three years of marriage.) She was the object of E's desire in Eels's vid for “That Look You Give That Guy”:

Caption: Padma at the Emmys. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

PETA-loving Pretender Chrissie Hynde is protesting a product sold by the Merrimack, N.H.-based Brookstone. The rocker is railing against the store's Frog-O-Sphere, a plastic aquarium containing aquatic frogs, a bamboo plant, and a snail. "Foot massagers and grill equipment can live quite happily in boxes; animals cannot," Hynde wrote in a letter to Brookstone CEO Philip Roizin. "Customers have reported that the animals are languishing on store shelves and that they often die slow, miserable deaths." Calls to Brookstone's headquarters were not returned.

Caption: Chrissie Hynde with the Pretenders at the Band of America Pavillion (Essdras M Suarez/ Boston Globe)
Caption: Brookstone's Frog-O-Sphere