THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with THE BANGLES!  There's no better way to start than with these live takes on "Hero Takes A Fall"  and Kimberley Rew's "Goin' Down To Liverpool" for Dave in 1984. It was that sort of rawk (and the hotness of Susanna Hoffs) that got Prince to give them "Manic Monday," their first mainstream hit, from the A Different Light album, which included Jules Shear's "If She Knew What She Wants," Alex Chilton's "September Gurls," and -- inevitably -- Liam Sternberg's "Walk Like An Egyptian."  Nevertheless, their fondness for the genres of the mid-60s was still evident in their take on Simon & Garfunkel's "Hazy Shade of Winter" for the Less Than Zero soundtrack, and the psych-garage-bubblegum of "In Your Room" on the Everything album, which yielded their final No.1 hit, "Eternal Flame."  The draw from the 60s is a constant I saw them in a club, on a big stage and in a club again -- the last time was at a House of Blues, where they covered the We Five's "You Were On My Mind."  However, I'll confess that I put off featuring the band for about a bit, until the Susanna Hoffs solo cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love" popped back up on the Tube after an absence. That woman knows how to shake her tambourine.

THE BETHS play KEXP.

QUASI plays KEXP.

BECK joined GORILLAZ for "Possession Island" on Kimmel.

BULLY shares "Hard to Love."

MICHAEL STIPE shares "Give Me a Hand."

CORNERSHOP returns with "Disco's Main Squeeze."

VERA FAMIGA(!!!) bellows out a shockingly kickass Slipknot cover.

HOW THE NATIONAL became the world's most influential band.

SLEAFORD MODS, on the new record, calling out online trash talkers, and stealing beers at the pub in the old days.

JONATHAN MAJORS: Sources familiar with the matter tell Variety that multiple alleged abuse victims of Majors have come forward following his March arrest and are cooperating with the Manhattan district attorney’s office. His lawyer has sent evidence to a New York court that the lawyer says shows the woman whom he allegedly assaulted uninjured and socializing in the hours after the incident that led to the actor's March 25 arrest.

ALEC BALDWIN's criminal charges arising from the Rust shooting are going to be dropped.  They could be refiled (but likely won't be).

THE ROYALS: William and Harry still aren't talking.

CLEOPATRA's African Heritage in Netflix Docudrama Sparks Uproar in Egypt.

JOAQUIN PHOENIX once “just started screaming” on the set of Beau Is Afraid to prepare for a specific scene.

STANLEY TUCCI  “tried to get out of playing” a particular role.

AL PACINO on The Godfather vs The Godfather: Part II.

WHITE MEN CANT JUMP: The reboot has a trailer online.

STUDENTS dressed as Gandalf run into Ian McKellen.

A CAT makes the big leap.

A CAT makes the big save.

A SERVICE DOG's hospital stay.

AISIS: Stream a "lost" Oasis LP with human-generated music and an AI-generated Noel Gallagher.  Here's the reax from Liam Gallagher.  BONUS: Can pop survive AI? And a weird postscript.

THE WALKMEN play for the first time in a decade, busting out "The Rat" on Colbert. 

FOO FIGHTERS shares "Rescued," their first since the death of Taylor Hawkins.

EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL shares "No One Knows We're Dancing."

LOVE & ROCKETS' Daniel Ash on the band's reunion, vinyl reissues, Bauhaus, motorcycles, and more.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Rihanna's angry breakup ballad "Take A Bow."

TWILIGHT is getting the television treatment.

FAST & FURIOUS 11 has Louis Leterrier in the director's chair again.

WOODY HARRELSON confirms that MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY may be his brother, calls for a DNA test.

STAR TREK: SECTION 31 is moving forward as a movie starring Michelle Yeoh.

AARON CARTER took prescription pills and huffed before his death, according to the autopsy results.

MAUDE v MAUDE: Warner Bros has landed the action-thriller that has Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry attached to star.

FUBAR: A Schwarzenegger project loosely inspired by his 1994 hit True Lies has a trailer online.

DAME EDNA is in hospital.

NOT A CATAPULT so much as a Dogapult.

A BABY FLAMINGO, attempting to stand on one leg.

ONE OF THESE THINGS is not like the others.

MARTI JONES & TIM LEE (The Windbreakers) cover The dB's classic, "Neverland." With Beatle Bob cameo.

BLACK SABBATH gets three hours of discussion and analysis on the latest episode of Political Beats.

SYML visits World Cafe.

RANCID returns with “Tomorrow Never Comes.”

GARTH HUDSON played a house party, his first public performance in years.

NATALIE MERCHANT, on returning to music after losing her voice.

MUDHONEY: Mark Arm discussed the band’s discography at Bandcamp Daily.

FEIST talks to SPIN about her new album.

THE WEEKND's music for The Idol is inspired by The Wall and Purple Rain.

JONATHAN MAJORS has been dropped from a slew of projects following domestic violence allegations.

GALAXY QUEST: A TV adaptation is in the works.

SUPERMAN: LEGACY starts pre-production.

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY will be hosting a free virtual event known as “The Art Of Livin.”

CHARLIE SHEEN & CHUCK LORRE, together again.

JAMIE LEE CURTIS & JAKE GYLLENHAAL, on living together during the COVID-19 lockdown.

RACHEL McADAMS, on Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, and taking breaks from acting.

JUDY BLUME was against adapting Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret into a movie, until she got this letter.

AN EX-MEMBER OF MENUDO claims he was raped by the father of the Menendez brothers.

MOLLY RINGWALD translated a French book on actress Maria Schneider.

TEAMWORK makes the dream work.

CATS & DOGS, living together...

A DOGGO birthday party.

DOGGOS coming in too hot for icy conditions.

ROY ORBISON provides vintage performances of "Running Scared" and "Oh, Pretty Woman" for Twofer Tuesday.

BARTEES STRANGE visits World Cafe.

FRUIT BATS' Eric D. Johnson covers Ewan MacColl and Fred Neil for a Lagniappe Session.

THE LEMON TWIGS shares "Every Day Is The Worst Day Of My Life."

MO TROPER shares "For You To Sing."

JENNY LEWIS discussed her new album with The Current.

DEAN WAREHAM, on Galaxie 500, Luna, And What Lies Ahead.

SOUNDGARDEN's surviving members and and late frontman Chris Cornell‘s widow Vicky have settled their long-standing legal dispute and will release the band’s final recordings.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Lil Wayne's unlikely journey to pop stardom with "Lollipop."

F. MURRAY ABRAHAM reportedly was kicked off of Mythic Quest after sexual misconduct complaints.

ARMIE HAMMER is under investigation by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.

JONATHAN MAJORS was dropped by his manager following his arrest on domestic violence charges.

THE ROYALS: Harry had peace talks with King Charles, but not with Prince William.

BILL HADER is back on with Ali Wong.

LEONARDO DiCAPRIO and... Irina Shayk?

JACK NICHOLSON was caught on camera for the first time in 18 months, supposedly looking disheveled, but maybe just waking up from a nap.

THE BOX OFFICE is back to pre-pandemic levels.

HOLLYWOOD PLASTIC SURGEONS deal with “Ozempic body.”

CHAIM TOPOL, the late star of Fiddler on the Roof, was also a Mossad agent?

TOM and Jerry.

A SNAIL, enjoying a shower.

A CAT, learning a coin trick.

JOHNNY NASH: "I Can See Clearly Now." Because I'm hoping for a bright, sunshiney day.

NEW RELEASES: Paste will point you to Natalie Merchant, The Tallest Man on Earth, Brian Dunne, and more.

BILL'S INDIE BASEMENT has Pynch, John Vanderslice, and more.

LANA DEL REY joined BLEACHERS on “Margaret” at the High Water Music Festival.

NUGGETS: Lenny Kaye is hosting a 50th anniversary concert with Peter Buck, Elliot Easton, Scott McCaughey, Kathy Valentine, plus members of the Seeds, the Leaves, the Chocolate Watchband, and many more. 

ROYAL TRUX's Neil Hagerty has been arrested for attacking Denver police officers.

HALSEY split from Capitol Records over their TikTok strategy.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at the playfully flirty "Touch My Body," Mariah Carey's last chart-topper before the Christmas revival.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Super Mario Bros levels up with a record setting 87MM second weekend on a mere 41 percent drop.  The Pope’s Exorcist looks to place with 8.5MM, while Renfield will likely show with 7.7 MM.

CLINT EASTWOOD is beginning to close in on directing what is being internally billed as the final film of his career.

THE NEXT JAMES BOND will likely be in his 30s and not particularly well-known.

NICOLAS CAGE names his Top 5 Nic Cage films.

TIMOTHEE CHALOMET and... Kylie Jenner?

GUY RITCHIE is reportedly being sued by a writer who claims The Gentleman copied scenes from a script he wrote.

THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, featuring a certain vampire, has a trailer online.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK was not mammoth on streaming (which may be the flip side of its mammoth theatrical run).

AMAZON is looking to exploit MGM properties like Robocop, Stargate, Legally Blonde, Fame, Barbershop, The Magnificent Seven, Pink Panther and The Thomas Crown Affair.

BARKOUR! Barkour!

DEAD BIRDS, converted into drones.

A POSSUM disrupted a Mets broadcast.