THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE...

...with THE RAMONES o­n Don Kirshner's... Rock Concert circa May 1977. Part 1 includes: "Listen To My Heart"; "California Sun"; "Judy Is A Punk"; and "I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You." Part 2 includes: "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker"; "Loudmouth"; "Beat o­n the Brat"; and "Blitzkrieg Bop." Part 3 includes: "Glad To See You Go"; "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment"; "Rockaway Beach"; and "Commando."

THE PLANET ROCK ALBUM QUIZ requires you to identify artist and title from small bits of album cover art. Not easy, though being a teenage metalhead will help.

SLIPPED DISCS: The staff at PopMatters survey the overlooked albums of 2006, with plenty of audio and video, from artists as disparate as Roseanne Cash, Cheap Trick, Mission of Burma, Jay-Z and Van Hunt.

LOVE IS A MIXTAPE: And a battlefield, but that's a whole other thing. Sometimes. Anyway, the mixtape thing is a new book by Rolling Stone contributor Rob Sheffield traces his relationship with the love of his life through stacks of revealing, worn-out cassettes. There's an excerpt at the link.

THE DECEMBERISTS' Colin Meloy tells Drowned in Sound that he misses mixtapes, but my fave part of the interview is: "Q: Who would play you in a film based upon your life? A: Samantha Morton. That would be arty."

HOLD ON TO THAT FEELIN': L.A. Weekly joins "a mixed crowd of longhaired Samoans, classic-rock dudes, hair-metal queens, lesbians and a few hoochy mamas among the club's indie regulars, all out to catch Infinity, the mustachioed, female-fronted Journey cover band..." Fortunately, through the magic of YouTube, we can enjoy(?) the original lineup's "Don't Stop Believin'."

THE MAJESTIC TWELVE: Music journo Marc Hirsh writes that "On "Break It and Breathe" The Majestic Twelve filters an entire decade's worth of what was o­nce called 'college rock,' from Devo to Husker Du to Midnight Oil, into a little more than three and a half minutes."

THE SLIP stopped by the World Cafe last week, where they talked about the value of a producer who would tell them to "sit down and shut up." You can stream the interview and mini-set via NPR.

PETE TOWNSHEND: Stylus takes a second listen to the pretentious but underrated All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes.

THE CUTOUT BIN: This Friday's fortuitous finds o­n the ol' HM include: Iggy Pop - Lust For Life; The Jam - The Modern World; The Broken West - Down in the Valley; Weezer - Susanne; David Bowie - All the Young Dudes; Frank Black - Headache; The Sonics - Strychnine; 13th Floor Elevators - It's All Over Now, Baby Blue; The Hollies - Mickey's Monkey; Sly & the Family Stone - I'm an Animal; The Rascals - People Got to Be Free; Rod Stewart - Handbags and Gladrags; The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes; Dean & Britta - You Turn My Head Around; Todd Rundgren - Hello Its Me; The Mooney Suzuki - This Broke Heart of Mine; Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper - Elvis Is Everywhere; Sid & Susie (Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs) - The Warmth Of The Sun; and The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations.

LINDSAY LOHAN REHAB WATCH: Star magazine claims that her appendicitis was the turning point: "She left the hospital with several painkillers o­n her; that was her downfall -- she was using the painkillers and continuing to go out and drink." Indeed, TMZ claims that a day after having her appendix removed, Lohan was partying at Hollywood's trendy Roosevelt Hotel, lining up mulitple shots in a row behind her so almost no o­ne could see.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's new wide release is The Hitcher -- a remake of the 1986 cult classic shockingly not being screened for critics. Expanding wide is the near-universally acclaimed The Queen, which is scoring 98 percent o­n the Tomatometer.

THE SUNDANCE FILM FEST is underway. The official website has tons of features, including plenty of short films. The Internet Movie Database has mini-guide with the complete line-up of feature films, plus a blog and a photo gallery.

STEVE BUSCEMI: New York magazine profiles "The Sundance Kid," who has two movies premiering at the festival.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Cruise is trying to recruit the Beckhams to the Scientology cult

AMERICA with RYAN ADAMS & BEN KWELLER play "Ride On" for Dave Letterman o­n The Late Show.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH: The band's next album is due Jan. 30th, but you can stream the whole thing now via TheirSpace.

SELLING OUT? An astute Indiana University student asks: "What does it say about our culture when commercials have better music than our major mass-media sources?" His ending is so good, I won't spoil it.

BECK has a live set to watch up at Yahoo Music at the moment.

THE BROKEN WEST cites George Harrison and Unicorns as influences (I hear that), while Chromewaves namedrops The Kinks and Big Star. I hear The Kinks, too, but I would swap in Teenage Fanclub, too. You can stream four fab tunes from TheirSpace or from the ol' HM.

THE RECORDS: Speaking of power-pop (and I was), it appears that "The British Big Star" is still cranking out "Starry Eyes," without Will Burch o­n guitar, but with Clem Burke (Blondie, The Plimsouls) o­n drums. Maybe even cooler is the fact that you can download a live album from the original lineup at John Wicks' website.

THE AUTUMN DEFENSE: Somehow, I overlooked this Wilco offshoot's new release this week. You can stream a few '70s soft rock and soul-influenced tunes from TheirSpace.

TWO FOR THE ROAD: Heather Browne is killing music with a double-CD download of music for the open road, including the R. Dean Taylor classic, "Indiana Wants Me."

THE FAB FOUR: George Harrison's handwritten lyrics to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" fetched 300 grand at auction. NPR interviews Giles Martin, who produced the Beatles remixes for Love with his dad, Sir George Martin.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The supposedly sober supermodel was not looking that way celebrating her birthday with the troubled singer. Drinky-looking pics at the link.

LINDSAY LOHAN ENTERS REHAB: "I have made a proactive decision to take care of my personal health. I appreciate your well-wishes and ask that you please respect my privacy at this time." Lohan was spotted at Prince

THE HOLD STEADY was "Stuck Between Stations" o­n The Late Show with David Letterman the same night Madge stopped by.

THE SMITHEREENS' frontman Pat DiNizio tells the Boston Globe that Meet the Smithereens is not o­nly a tribute to "the holy grail of all Beatles records," but also a tribute to "the importance of albums and the whole album-listening experience."

THE CLASH: IckMusic has posted their set at the US Festival in 1983 -- guitarist Mick Jones

DANCE THIS MESS AROUND with The B-52's, circa 1979, o­n the Show That Cannot Be Named, though whoever posted "Rock Lobster" did, so catch 'em before the lawyers do! BONUS: 25 years later, the band appeared o­n the Peacock network to perform the lesser-known "Whammy Kiss."

NEW RELEASES: The Smithereens release Meet the Smithereens, a full cover album of Meet the Beatles. Stream at the link. America returns with help from various indie rockers; you can stream "Ride o­n" and "Golden" via the 'gum. The Shins officially release "Phantom Limb" as the single in advance of the album. Al Green's greatest and Crowded House's last concert are streaming from AOL this week.

V2 RECORDS , home to such acts as the White Stripes, Moby and the Raconteurs, laid off its staff Friday, sending smaller bands like Margot & The Nuclear So & So's reeling.

NEKO CASE, PAOLO NUTINI and IMOGENE HEAP are the trifecta to watch in the current installment of AOL's 3x3 series.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE are set to make another album, according to frontman Kevin Shields.

SEEN YOUR VIDEO: Upcoming singer Amy Whitehouse joins Paul Weller for a cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine."

ADVANCE TRACKS: Pitchfork has posted a new track from Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, titled "The Sons of Cain," from the band's next album, due in March. Stereogum has o­ne from Patty Griffin, titled "Heavenly Day," as well as country legend Charlie Louvin with Will Oldham o­n the standard "Knoxville Girl." Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy and Superchunk are just a few of the other cameos o­n that album. There are four new o­nes from Lucinda Williams posted by her label, though you have to give your e-mail address to hear three of 'em.

DAVID BYRNE: The NYT has a lengthy profile o­n the evolution and influence of "Indie Rock

MLK DAY starts with a vintage clip of Dion playing "Abraham, Martin & John." The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn't set out to be a great man. He was a Baptist pastor in Montgomery, Alabama, until he became involved in the the 382-day boycott of the city's bus lines. Soon thereafter, he was touring the country and assisting other communities in organizing themselves for peaceful civil rights demonstrations. His argument for civil disobedience is famously set forth in his "Letter From Birmingham Jail," but he is probably most known for the "I Have a Dream" speech, given o­n August 28th, 1963, at the March o­n Washington. A bit of his prophetic last speech turns up in this clip of U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)" from the ZooTV tour. And as long as I'm dragging U2 out, I'll throw in "MLK" as well.

MICHAEL BRECKER, arguably the most influential jazz sax player of the post-John Coltrane era, died at 57 from myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood and bone-marrow disease formerly known as pre-leukemia. In addition to playing with his brother Randy as the Brecker Brothers, he recorded sessions with acts including James Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Chaka Khan, Bruce Springsteen and Parliament-Funkadelic. There's already a tribute video o­n the Tube, though you might prefer the fusion of the Brecker Bros' "Some Skunk Funk" at the Fuji Jazz Fest in 1992.

THE LOVE ME NOTS lead off the Boston Globe's "6 pop acts ready to break out in '07," which namechecks the farfisa-heavy, nugget-y sound of bands like The Lyres and The Greenhornes. It turns out the band has a soon-to-be-released record produced by Jim Diamond, who also produced The Romantics -- but don't hold that against them. Instead, stream a few from TheirSpace. "Voice In My Head" would be my pick to click, but YMMV.

MORRISSEY: News that the Moz might enter the Eurovision Song Contest has bought out those in the biz that love -- and hate -- him.

ROCK PLAZA CENTRAL: The Canadian folk-pop group's "My Children, Be Joyful" makes Song of the Day" at NPR. And Kathryn Yu knows her stuff.

SCHOOLS of ROCK: The Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp is offering the chance to perform with Paul Stanley of Kiss, or be judged by Brian Wilson. But music-blogger Heather Browne is excited about New York City's Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls. The camp is named after Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, so -- like Heather -- I'll serve up her version of "Hound Dog," but o­n video.

THE WRENS: New Jersey's Star-Ledger has a lengthy profile of "indie rock's elder statesmen": "Now, in their late 30s and early 40s, the Wrens are in limbo. They are successful enough to book gigs across the United States and Europe but can't make enough money to quit their white-collar jobs." But that could -- and should -- change. At the moment, you can stream a bunch via the ol' Hype Machine.

AN AQUARIUM DRUNKARD has posted his latest podcast, including songs from Taj Mahal to the Beastie Boys to Lou Reed to Alejandro Escovedo to Harry Nilsson to R.E.M, and many others.

SELLING OUT: The L.A. Times reports o­n the trend of rock acts playing corporate gigs and billionaire birthday parties, with some choce quotes from Sammy Hagar, including, but not limited to: "The money," Hagar said, "was very good. I won't say how much, but it was good. But I didn't do it for the money