FIRST OFF . . .

Frustrated in his recent attempts to buy the bones of the Elephant Man, Michael Jackson appears finally ready to renew the search for the pop primacy that he achieved in 1984 with “Thriller,” the biggest-selling pop LP of all time (with 35 million copies sold worldwide). This much is certain: The long-awaited announcement of the enigmatic singer’s world tour, presumably slated for this summer, is scheduled to be made Tuesday (11 p.m. Monday, Los Angeles time) in Japan, where the concert tour will begin. The Tokyo press conference will be conducted by Jackson’s manager, Frank Dileo. Since a world tour is usually undertaken to support a new LP, the word on the street points to a summer release of the eagerly anticipated “Thriller” follow-up LP. Billboard magazine speculated the untitled LP would be released in July, but Epic Records spokesmen say “no way.”