SPICE GIRLS GIVING BIRTH ... TO MORE MUSIC.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Melanie Chisholm, a k a Sporty Spice, is recording her debut Virgin Records solo album in L.A. - with no time to spare.

She plans to wrap up work on the October-release disc in time to head into the studio with her fellow Spice Girls to begin their third album in August. The quartet recently announced a string of concert dates in the U.K. for December - and they sold out in hours.

``It's nice to know, with the time away and all, that we've still got it,'' says Mel.

She admits that after Geri Halliwell (a k a Ginger Spice) left the Spice Girls, and Melanie Gulzar (a k a Scary Spice now using her married name) and Victoria Adams (a k a Posh Spice) announced pregnancies and marriage plans, ``it was a worry of mine'' that the group would be finished. However, she says Gulzar and Adams ``have been adamant that they're going on. We all love the Spice Girls so much, it's not time to call it a day. Not yet. Not when the fans, who've been so loyal, still expect something from us.''

She lets us know, ``The babies are so gorgeous! Having them around has made us even closer. Emma (Bunton, a k a Baby Spice) and I are like the aunties.'' Melanie is sure the infants will be along for Spice Girls tours, too. ``Their mothers wouldn't want to leave them! We'll have a backstage creche. It will be lovely, though not very rock 'n' roll.''

Chisholm's been reaching out artistically. She electrified the crowd at L.A.'s Viper Room this week by joining the Neurotic Outsiders (made up of former members of the Sex Pistols, Guns N' Roses and Duran Duran) on stage, unannounced. She duets with Bryan Adams on his ``When You're Gone'' song - and video.

As for her own album, she says her songs have been inspired by her own emotional journey of the last few years. ``Like all people, like all women, there are times I get down on myself, times I feel lonely. I haven't been in a relationship for a long time. ... I'd like to meet Mr. Right. He must be stuck in traffic on a freeway somewhere.''

Don't Force it

George Lucas has forbidden DK Publications, which is coming out with a trio of new ``Star Wars'' books, from discussing their contents or showing any of their images at this time.

Still, that hasn't stopped more than 500 people from RSVPing for tonight's blast-off book party. It will kick off at 20th Century Fox - where a soundstage has been transformed into a huge science-fiction set, with aliens and all. Then guests will be transported to the L.A. Convention Center, where the Book Expo America convention is being held.

Accompanying the invitations were the books - secured in a steel lockbox that can't be opened until the combination is released May 3. As for the contents, we can tell you all three hardcover texts have to do with ``Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace'' (surprise!), that one is a visual dictionary, one shows the inner workings of the Star Wars ships and such, and one is a sticker book aimed at little kids. Sorry about that, George.

In the making

This ought to be a colorful location shoot. Pearl S. Buck's ``Pavilion of Women'' is being adapted to film with Willem Dafoe as the American missionary priest in China circa 1937 and Chinese actress Yan Lou playing the woman who falls in love with him at the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War. The feature is being planned for shooting in China.

On another hemisphere, Joe Mantegna has been set for the role of Fidel Castro in the cable pic ``Little Assassin.''

And heading North, a June 21 production start has been set for ``The Perfect Storm,'' much of which is set off the coast of Gloucester, Mass. It boasts Barry Levinson and Paula Weinstein producing, and Wolfgang Peterson at the helm. In fact, Peterson, whose contributions include ``Das Boot,'' will be navigating the filmic seas again with the tale involving a fishing boat that encounters an horrific storm.

With reports by Stephanie DuBois.

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3 Photos

Photo: (1) CHISHOLM

(2) LUCAS

(3) DAFOE