Kid Stuff

JUST KID-DING? Call them People Eternally Ticking off Artists. Animal rights group PETA recently issued its 10 ''worst dressed'' celebs list, which takes a jab at Kid Rock and his late sidekick, Joe C., sneering that the ''midget...must have died of embarrassment.'' Rock's camp thinks it's a low blow. ''That's f---ed up,'' says DJ Uncle Kracker. ''It makes me want to buy mink coats for everybody this Christmas.'' But PETA's Joey Penello thinks Joe C. ''had a great sense of humor about himself'' and would've gotten the joking tone. Kracker isn't buying it: ''That's humorous? I don't know. Joe C. was always humorous, but...he might've set up a website for PETA called www.cometalkthats---indetroitandgetyourasskicked.com. That's humor.''

THE DEAL THING VH1's highly entertaining reality series ''Bands on the Run'' is about musicians getting wasted and acting stupid. But it's also about music, sort of, which got us wondering: Are these groups attracting label interest? Johnny McDonald, manager of SoCal goof punks Soulcracker, says he's heard from more than a dozen labels since the show's April 1 debut, while Paul Bassman, who represents Dallas' Flickerstick, says they were in talks with A&R reps before ''Bands'' even launched.

So far, neither's inked a deal, but it's a matter of ''when -- there's no if whatsoever,'' says Bassman. Meanwhile, L.A. Goth metal quartet Harlow will initially hawk their Pat Smear produced CD on Harlowland.com despite calls from several majors. ''I don't even know if we want to get signed,'' says singer Amanda Rootes. ''We might go the Ani DiFranco route.'' As for NYC's Josh Dodes Band, well... ''I got one call,'' says manager Scott Friesen. ''If that's how it's going to be, we'll do it without them, but labels are foolish to be passing this up.'' Maybe, but not as foolish as Flickerstick's liquored up shtick.