THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with POWER POP (REDUX)! For whatever reason, I have considered Summer the ideal season for gems like Badfinger's "No Matter What" (which Pate covered on occasion) and "Baby Blue", and even Todd Rundgren's "I Saw the Light" and Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me."  Ditto for more obscure tracks like The Rubinoos "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (see also their vintage cover of "Please Please Me"), Off Broadway's "Stay In Time" and "Full Moon Turn My Head Around," and Pezband's "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "Close Your Eyes."

SLEAFORD MODS plays KEXP.

LEGION OF MARY, Live at  Milwaukee’s Oriental Theatre in April of ’75.

OHSEES shares "Goon."

JOHN GRANT & EMILE SANDE share Nick Drake covers.

SON VOLT: Jay Farrar, on his Doug Sahm tribute album. And here also.

PERFUME GENIUS: Mike Hadreas, on figuring out your artistic identity, learning to collaborate, and transforming ideas into action.

TICKETMASTER, Live Nation, and SeatGeek have agreed to an “all-in” pricing model that discloses junk fees.

WHAM! the documentary has a trailer online.

ASTEROID CITY: Jeffrey Wright and Adrien Brody talks about Wes Anderson’s latest.

CONOR McGREGOR has been accused of raping a woman at Game 4 of the NBA Finals earlier this month; the UFC star says the allegations are not true. 

BILL COSBY:  Nine women have accused the disgraced TV star of sexual assault and battery that they said occurred in the comedian's Las Vegas hotel suite, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

D+ is adding classic animation shorts to the rotation.

MEGXIT: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not join the royal family at the first public birthday celebration of his father King Charles' reign.

AL PACINO is officially a father at 83.

CAMERON DIAZ proudly flaunts a fridge filled with nothing but salad and white wine.

THE IDOL:  The Weeknd is said to not be planning a second season  — amid backlash over outrageous sex scenes on the controversial series and the singer's “egomaniacal” behavior on set.

GLENDA JACKSON, a two-time Academy Award-winning performer who had a second career in politics as a British lawmaker, has died at 87. Loved her in Hopscotch.

MISSION IMPAWSIBLE: It's the pivot that impresses.

THERE ARE Two Types of Dog.

A KITTEN's first sunbeam.