Lovable, huggable Monkey boy IAN BROWN gets released from the pokey this week on good behavior, after serving half of his sentence in Strangeways Prison for his infamous airborne antics earlier this year on a trans-European flight. Brown has cancelled all pending tour plans to instead begin work on his second solo album. In the meantime, we can look forward to a one-off single with Brown and U.N.K.L.E., due out in the UK in February.

IAN BROWN is singin' those jailhouse blues again, after his appeal from a four-month sentence for threatening behavior on an airplane was denied. His UK tour, scheduled for November, has now been rescheduled for after his release. In the U.S., his long-delayed "Unfinished Monkey Business" album has been pushed back yet again, this time to early 1999. It is doubtful he could tour the U.S. until around April or May of 1999. Meanwhile, OASIS frontman Liam Gallagher had another run-in with "The Man" earlier this week after reportedly smashing up a photographer's camera.

Just when we thought King Monkey was all tied up in the pokey, IAN BROWN has been freed from jail after only a couple days, pending an appeal. All touring and promotions commitments appear to be pushed back to the New Year.

IAN BROWN, of course formerly of the STONE ROSES, was sentenced last week in Manchester Magistrate's court to spend the next four months imprisoned, due to that infamous air scuffle earlier this year, where he threatened to cut off the hands of a flight attendant while onboard a British Airways flight from Paris to Manchester. Thoughts of the post-jail, hard-edged, street-savvy New Millenium Monkey are disturbing indeed, but perhaps we can hope that he'll use his newfound spare time to learn to sing, eh?