BY MELISSA RUGGIERI

Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

Girls, let's chat.

You want the skinny on Hanson, those three cutie-pie, flaxen-haired brothers from Tulsa, Okla., who have made your hearts "MMMBop" for more than a year now?

Tired of reading the routine tidbits in Tiger Beat and Bop Magazine? Annoyed that the boys' Web site (http://www.hansonline.com) has been redesigned and is now confusing to navigate? Do you need to know what Hanson has been doing the past two days in Virginia Beach?

Well, here you have it.

On Monday, the unfailingly polite brothers Hanson phoned upon arrival in Virginia Beach, passing the telephone in order of age (Ike to Zac), as if it were time to say "Hi" to Aunt Betsy at Christmas.

Yes, they have visited Virginia Beach before (the family once lived in Arlington and took a few day trips). Yes, they planned to frolic on the beach and go roller-blading. Yes, some of the songs on "3 Car Garage" were originally mixed here in Richmond at Sound of Music studios. Yes, it's true heartthrob bro Taylor is dating Ozzy Osbourne's daughter. Oops, just kidding. He isn't, girls. Relax.

But, as usual, plenty of other rumors are churning about upcoming Hanson projects, which Isaac, 17, answered with good-natured charm and articulation.

So far in its young career, Hanson has sold more than five million albums between its debut, "Middle of Nowhere," bearer of "MMMBop," "Where's the Love," "Weird" and the shoulda-been-a-hit "Man From Milwaukee," and "3 Car Garage: The Indie Recordings '95- '96." Then, of course, there was the best-selling Christmas album, "Snowed In," a holiday TV special, countless biographies (most unauthorized by the band), a solid-selling concert tour which was recently extended to include tonight's show and a plethora of TV appearances.

The band's next move, before heading back to the studio in the fall to work on the follow-up to "Middle," will be a live album and tour video, expected, said Isaac, by early November.

"We recorded the album about 2½ weeks ago in Seattle, and are producing it with Elliott Scheiner, who worked on John Fogerty's new live album -- which is great, by the way -- and Fleetwood Mac's 'The Dance.' The whole album will be pretty much the Seattle show, but we might decide to take other versions of songs from other shows we've taped," Isaac said. "The title will probably have something to do with our tour."

This tour, which began two months ago, is dubbed "The Albertane Tour." The faithful and devoted likely know where the title comes from, but, for the uninitiated, Albertane is the fictional city from which the "big-toed, bald man" in "Man From Milwaukee" hails.

Before passing the phone to Tay, Isaac commented on the new songs the brothers have written, an audible smile in his voice.

"We're always writing songs, and we feel very, very good about what we have," he said. "It's hard to say exactly how a record will turn out, 'cause you never know until you get in there and start messing around, so maybe we can't say these songs are good because, well, we're biased."

And as for those rumors about Tay's romantic life, Issac laughed and said, "No, Taylor isn't dating Ozzy's daughter. They came to Boston to see us and we met her, and it's always great to have fans. But people just say all kinds of things that aren't true."

OK, now it's Tay time.

The tight-knit Hanson family, which also includes younger siblings Jessica, Avery, Mackie and Zoe, travels together, giving their mom plenty of opportunities to home-school them, and dad the chance to oversee the boys' career.

"Our parents are our private tutors," Taylor, 15, said. "School is gonna start again in about a week, which isn't fun, but I'll be going into 10th grade, Zac into 8th and Ike into his senior year."

College plans?

"I think Ike is just like anybody else, taking it day by day," Taylor continued. "It would be pretty weird for him to go to college 'cause it would change the dynamic of the band. But the way technology is today, you can do college from a laptop."

The boys' love of classic rock and pop from the '50s and '60s is indicative of their parents' influence. But Taylor said the brothers never looked to other famous musical families, such as the Jackson 5 and the Osmonds, for inspiration. The aforementioned are certainly "cool" and have "really good music" he said, but are only family "by coincidence."

These days, Hanson is just as likely to crank up a vintage song from Eddie Cochran or The Spencer Davis Group (and perform them in concert), as they are the latest tunes from Aerosmith and Radiohead. While in Virginia Beach, Taylor commented that he and his brothers planned to attend last evening's H.O.R.D.E. festival at the GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater, even if it meant creating a stir.

"Sometimes you get attacked by fans, sometimes you get people who just want to come up and shake your hand and say 'hi," and sometimes people are cool with you and leave you alone," Taylor said. "We try not to even think about it and just do the things we've always done."

By the time 12-year-old Zac, the band cut-up, gets on the phone, there isn't much left to discuss. Simple questions such as "How long have you been playing the drums?" and "Why did you choose the drums?" are answered flippantly with, "I've been playing three years. No, wait, I'm being corrected. Four years. Yeah, three or four years." and "I don't know why I chose the drums. It was the only instrument left, I guess."

Soon, though, Zac is pumped with excitement when speaking about the brothers' tour, especially their homecoming show in Tulsa.

"It was awesome! There were fans who came from all over to go to that show, some of them weirdos 'cause you have to be pretty hard-core to come to Tulsa, but we love the fans for doing that," he said.

Not only are they talented and handsome, but mighty diplomatic, too.