THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with JOHN HUGHES! The sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, buds, wasteoids, dweebies and dickheads, they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude. The writer/director behind "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club," "Pretty in Pink," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Weird Science," National Lamppon's "Vacation" movies, "Home Alone," "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" and many more died at the age of 59, two years ago Saturday.  Hughes masterfully married music to movies, so I pay video tribute to him today, starting (of course) with "Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds from The Breakfast Club (the drumming o­n this song is impeccable), and Karla DeVito's "We Are Not Alone," along with the Ramones playing "Blitzkrieg Bop" (from National Lampoon's Vacation), David Bowie's "Young Americans" and The Vapors o­ne-hit wonder, "Turning Japanese" and Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" (all from Sixteen Candles, which opens to a clip of veteran WLS DJs Larry Lujack and Tommy Edwards), Van Halen's cover of "(Oh) Pretty Woman" and General Public's "Tenderness" (both from Weird Science), the Psychedelic Furs re-recorded title track from Pretty In Pink, which also featured Jon Cryer lip-synching to Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness" (that last clip is a blistering live take from the 1967 Stax tour -- and excellent, btw), The Smiths' "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" (a Hughes perennial), and OMD's "If You Leave," plus two more from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, "Danke Schoen" and "Twist and Shout" (which was shot o­n Dearborn and Randolph Streets in Chicago, with International Polka Queen Vlasta atop the float, though Cameron and Sloane were in front of the Post Office), plus Yello's unforgettable-no-matter-how-you-try "Oh, Yeah." Videos are scarce for Some Kind of Wonderful, but I found Flesh for Lulu's "I Go Crazy" and the March Violets' take on the Stones' "Miss Amanda Jones."

THE FRUIT BATS stopped by KEXP for a mini-set.

THE SAM ROBERTS BAND has an interview plus live tracks at World Cafe.

120 MINUTES returned to MTV. Watch the first show online.  Host Matt Pinfield spoke to Talk of the Nation about MTV, the show and its reboot.

BOB DYLAN & THE GRATEFUL DEAD: The Unreleased Live Album.

NAME THAT DRUM FILL, Part 3.

BEST COAST drops "How They Want Me to Be," which  Bethany Cosentino calls "a small taste of what's to come."

JENS LEKMAN has "An Argument With Myself," the ttile track of his upcoming EP. 

JAY & THE AMERICANS "Come a Little Bit Closer" on Friday.

ARCHERS OF LOAF (and Crooked Fingers) frontman Eric Bachmann is interviewed by Band of Horses frontman Ben Bidwell and Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn at the Village Voice. 

CULTS talks to Tuscon Weekly about sudden success.

MOUNTAIN GOATS: John Darnielle talks to the Chicago Daily Herald about recording All Eternals Deck.

JANE'S ADDICTION: At The Quietus, Perry Farrell discusses his wilderness years spent making jewellery, impersonating David Bowie and domestic spats with his girlfriend while living in a car.

ADELE will be spending time in America's Deep South to learn more about country music and bluegrass for her next album.

SHE & HIM are releasing a Holiday album this year. Rejoice!

THE TOMMY STINSON Panty Caper.Not the name of his band.

CUTOUT BIN: From Tones on Tail to Richard & Linda Thompson, from Alien Ant Farm to Booker T & the MGs, from the Marvelettes to Led Zeppelin, plus the Black Keys, Beach Boys, Grand Funk Railroad, REM and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are now streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are: Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which is currently scoring 85 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and The Change-Up, scoring 24 percent.

KIM KARDASHIAN's wedding may be a four-hour TV special, climaxing with the opening of the seventh seal.

LINDSAY LOHAN: Back to falling down outside the Chateau Marmont.

JENNIEFR LOPEZ is ready to let go - but Marc Anthony isn't.

VAL KILMER's ex-wife claims the actor has stiffed her on child support payments.

DEMI LOVATO talks about her meltdown at Elle.

FAYE DUNAWAY tells her side of the housing court story.

SUPERMAN: Your first pic of Henry Cavill as The Man of Steel.

ANNETTE CHARLES, who played Cha Cha in the 1978 movie Grease, died in her L.A. home, due to complications from cancer.  She was 63.  Tell me more.

SYRIA: Security forces killed another 45 anti-regime protesters and other civilians during operations in Hama.

LIBYA: Gaddafi's son said his family would ally with Islamist terror groups, including the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.

EGYPT's widest-circulation newspaper editorial maintains anti-Israel line, says Sharia is about 'equality,' and fears of Islamic state are overblown.

IRAQ: All of Iraq's major parties, minus the Sadrists bloc, want US forces to stay beyond the December 2011 deadline.

BARKING CAT starts meowing once caught.

MUTTON BUSTING: The rodeo where sheep are scared.

UKRAINIAN BEARS to be liberated from forced vodka drinking.

DOGS in mid-shake.

CHEETAH CUB & PUPPY, wrestling playfully...