THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE PAISLEY UNDERGROUND!  A two-part (Part 1, Part 2) feature from the Old Grey Whistle Test on L.A.'s psychedelic-flavored, West Coast scene in the mid-80s. Bands featured include the Long Ryders, Prime Movers, Thin White Rope, Pontiac Brothers and the Rain Parade with a 6 minute live version of No Easy Way Down. The Long Ryders get short shrift so I'll add in their later OGWT appearance to play "Looking For Lewis & Clark." The term "Paisley Underground" is believed to have been jokingly coined by Michael Quercio of the band The Three O'Clock, so I'll toss in the clip for "Her Head's Revolving" as a bonus. Abther band associated with the scene not featured is The Bangs, a/k/a The Bangles, with an early track, "The Real World."  DOUBLE BONUS: The Guardian Music Blog has a link-rich piece on the Rain Parade and other Paisley Underground bands.

THE JONI PROJECT: Artists are paying tribute to Joni Mitchell at WFUV.

SHOPPING plays for KEXP.

DEEP SEA DIVER does a virtual seesion at The Current.

THE ANTLERS share "It Is What It Is."

THE 80 GREATEST ALBUMS of 1980, according to Rolling Stone.

THE TOP 25 SONGS of 1990, according to Paste.

20 SONGS that would prompt copyright lawsuits were they released today.

THE NUMBER ONES' Bonus Tracks looks at Mark Morrison's "Return Of The Mack."

THE WEEKND is playing the Super Bowl.

DENZEL WASHINGTON's Beverly Crest pad got a visit from the fire department.

JOHN WATERS bequeaths his art collection to Baltimore Museum of Art, whose bathrooms will be named in his honor.

NETFLIX: What happens to viewership of their big original movies over time? 

UNSTOPPABLE Turs 10: The cast and crew emember the wild stunts, meticulous attention to detail, and visionary directing that made the film such a success.

FREAKY: There's a Reason Why Hollywood Loves a Good Body Swap.

TITANIC: Was Jack a time-traveler?

RACCOONS -- a lot of them -- when treats are distributed.

THE EXPLODING SPERM WHALE INCIDENT turns 50.

A SNAKE EEL, bursting through a heron's stomach in mid-flight.

SCIENTISTS claim that they've created the first human-animal hybrid in a Chinese laboratory. What could possibly go wrong?

CHEAP TRICK: "I Can't Take It." An overlooked gem.

GILLIAN WELCH & DAVID RAWLINGS visit with World Cafe.

SHIRLEY COLLINS, English folk legend, plays a Tiny Desk Concert from home.

TEENAGE FANCLUB returns with "Home."

PARQUET COURTS returns with "Hey Bug."

PHOEBE BRIDGERS shares the orchestral version of "Kyoto."

THE ENDURING RELEVANCE of College Radio.

THE GODMOTHER OF SOUL: Roseanne Cash essays Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

LAURA VEIRS offers tips on songwriting.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin's gooey, heartsick, Oscar-nominated ballad "Separate Lives."

MADS MIKKELSEN is reportedly in early talks to replace Johnny Depp as the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts 3.

BRITNEY SPEARS lost her legal bid to have her father removed as conservator of her estate. Her lawyer said she fears her father and will not perform while he remains in control.

JASON MOMOA said his family was "completely in debt" and "starving" after Game of Thrones.

HUGH GRANT describes his covid symptoms.

DAVID FINCHER has signed a four-year deal with Netflix.

TAIKA WAITITI (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok) directed Coca-Cola's Christmas Commercial.

WHAT ALEX TREBEK thought of SNL's "Celebrity Jeopardy."

A PIGLET gets footloose with some socks.

A NEW & ENDANGERED PRIMATE has been discovered in Myanmar.

MARTY, the cat who lived at the summit of Mount Washington, has died aged 14.

I MAY TAKE VETERANS' DAY OFF, SO:

THE WRECK of the EDMUND FITZGERALD: The legend lives o­n from the Chippewa o­n down of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee. This is the 45th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald -- 729 feet-long, 75 feet in breadth, 39 feet in depth, weighing 13,632 gross tons -- an ore bulk carrier with a capacity of 25,000 tons. When it was launched o­n June 7 1958, at the Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Michigan, Fitzgerald was the largest ship o­n the Great Lakes. Here's misty, water-colored video of the launch.

The "Queen of the Great Lakes" sank in the eastern end of Lake Superior during a fierce storm -- including snow squalls -- that pounded the ship with 30-foot waves. The crew of 29 men perished; without witnesses, a definitive reason has never been determined. A Coast Guard report suggested that faulty hatches failed to keep water out of the ship's cargo holds, though others believe the ship struck an uncharted shoal and took o­n water. A documentary created and aired by the Discovery Channel concluded the loss was due to freak waves that overwhelmed the faulty hatches.

After the wreck, the Rev. Richard Ingalls went to Mariners' Church in Detroit and rang its bell 29 times, o­nce for each life lost. The church continues to hold an annual memorial, which includes reading the names of the crewmen and ringing the church bell. Here's video of Rev. Ingalls recounting that night.  More than 250 people gathered at the church for the 40th anniversary, which was expanded to remember victims from all tragedies on the Great Lakes. And here's a remembrance from a brother of one of the lost crew members.

At the request of family members surviving her crew, Fitzgerald's 200 lb. bronze bell was recovered by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society in 1995, as a joint project with the National Geographic Society, Canadian Navy, Sony Corporation, and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The bell is now o­n display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. Here's a brief video from o­ne of the underwater explorations of the wreck. Fmr newsman Larry Elliot recalls the remote expedition.  And here is a story from one of the two scuba divers to ever reach the sunken hull.  Throw in the 3-D animation, and you'll feel just like Bill Paxton.

The song by Gordon Lightfoot spent 21 straight weeks o­n the pop charts, peaking at No. 2. Here, Lightfoot discusses writing the song, and the lyrics he's changed.  And there's a homemade video for it, which I highly recommend. Beats the tar of Celine Dion! (PS:  Ken King -- who has lived o­n the U.P. of  Michigan, says the gales of November are quite something.)

***

UNEARTHED, VOL. 13: All Wrongs Reversed, incl. Pavement, Guided By Voices, Yo La Tengo, and more.

MICKEY GUYTON plays a Tiny Desk Concert from home.

BJORK shares "Cosmogony."

LOU BARLOW covers the theme to Paw Patrol.

DEAN & BRITTA, Forever at Home.

THE BALLAD of Billy Joe Shaver And Jerry Jeff Walker, Country Outlaws.

45 GREAT MUSIC DOCUMENTARIES TO STREAM, according to BrooklynVegan.

IS SPOTIFY'S new discovery mode a form of payola?

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Starship's "We Built This City," the fabled general-consensus worst song of all time.

AMC & CINEMARK stock soared on news of a coronavirus vaccine.

REGAL CINEMAS will shutter the 18 locations the chain left open in New York and California, effective Thursday.

HOW JOHNNY DEPP got pulled from the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

DOMINIC WEST's marriage is “as good as over” thanks to his relationship with Lily James, if one believes The Sun.

JON HAMM, on filming Top Gun: Maverick with Tom Cruise.

STOOGES IN SPACE: How John C. Reilly, Tim Heidecker, and Fred Armisen teamed up for ‘Moonbase 8,' and ended up trapped in isolation together.

KEN SPEARS, co-creator of the beloved animated series "Scooby-Doo" and co-founder of Ruby-Spears Productions along with the late Joe Ruby, died Friday. He was 82.

VETERANS' DAY: Tomorrow is the observation of the anniversary of the end of WWI; thank a vet today, and read the excellent 2009 piece by the WaPo's David Ignatius that may be more true today.

POTATO does not like Daylight Savings Time. 

TINY TIM, a baby bunny rescued on Easter.

DID YOU LOSE a Goat named Maverick?

NEW RELEASES: Paste has Wilco, Pylon, Neil Young, Adulkt Life and more.

BILL'S INDIE BASEMENT has Tunng, Andrew Carroll, Lunchbox, and more.

SAM MORROW's country rock gets funky on World Cafe.

THE FOO FIGHTERS played SNL and debuted "Shame Shame."

SPRINGSTEEN, ranked by NME.

TOM PETTY's Last Dance.

AN ANIMATED TIMELINE of how music is bought and consumed.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Jan Hammer's pulse-pounding cop-rock instrumental "Miami Vice Theme."

ALEX TREBEK, the revered and beloved “Jeopardy!” host since 1984, whose calm but witty presence was must-see television for millions of Americans — has died at 80 after receiving a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in 2019.  Here's the LAT obit also. The New York Post collects some of his best moments, though I like this one too.  This 2012 profile is also quite good, as well as this brief essay by Bill Ryan.  And here he was hosting a music show at age 23.

AL ROKER has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE?  Let Him Go debuts atop the chart with 4.1MM, while Come Play places with 1.7MM on a 45 percent drop, giving specialty studio Focus Features the top two slots. War With Grandpa shows with 1.5MM on a 19 percent bounce in its fifth week.

MEGXIT: Prince Harry's request for a wreath to be laid at the Cenotaph in London on his behalf for Remembrance Day was refused.

DAVE CHAPPELLE's SNL monologue ended on a serious note.

NORM CROSBY, the stand-up comedian who spent more than five decades amusing and bemusing audiences in nightclubs and on television as the “Master of the Malaprop,” has died at 93.

MAN'S BEST FRIEND, and King of the House.

TWO NEW MAMMALS have been discovered in Australia.

CYBORG COCKROACHES are coming for your home.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with NEIL YOUNG!  Live on the Beeb, circa '71. Your setlist includes: "Out on the Weekend," "Old Man," "Journey Thru the Past," "Heart of Gold," "Don't Let It Bring You Down," "A Man Needs A Maid," "Love in Mind," and "Dance, Dance, Dance."

PYLON shares heir first ever recording, 'Razz Tape.'

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED dives into the new Joni Mitchell box.

JADE BIRD returns with "Headstart."

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, ranked by Consequence of Sound.

THE 35 BEST SONGS of the past 35 years, according to SPIN.

PIXIES: How we made "Where Is My Mind?"

KEN HENSLEY, former keyboardist, vocalist and founding member of hard rock/prog band Uriah Heep, has died at age 75.

BRITNEY SPEARS' attorney has filed court papers in a bid to remove the singer's father, James Spears, as the co-conservator of her estate.

JESSICA HENWICK is so hot right now.

A JUDGE ruled it was unlikely that Amber Heard pooped in Johnny Depp's bed.

WEDDING CRASHERS: Talks on a sequel are underway.

PATRICK DUFFY is dating LINDA PURL.

LILY JAMES dines with DOMINIC COOPER, who is not DOMINIC WEST.

EMILY BLUNT tops “Hollywood’s Top 10 Most Foul-Mouthed Actresses” list.

THE LEGO STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL has a trailer online.

DENMARK, the world's largest producer of mink furs, plans to cull all mink in the country to contain a mutated form of novel coronavirus.

DOG shoots MAN.

AN ANCIENT SQUID with a shell that looked like a 1.5-metre-long paperclip may have typically lived for 200 years.